Still, upon entering her room, it didn't look like a renovated den. It looked like it had been a bedroom since the house was built. Clearly, he'd moved everything as she had it wherever she used to sleep and put it in here.

Again, an indication of how sweet Gray could be.

The bathroom door was closed. I went to it and knocked.

"Mrs. Cody, are you okay?"

Silence then, "Gray call Shirley?"

"Gran," Gray called from behind me, "Shirley lives forty-five minutes away. Ivey's here, you need somethin', she'll help you out."

Gray had shared that his grandmother's spinal injury was located low on her spine and it was a "partial" which meant she had total control of her torso and some control of her legs. That said, they were weak and the control unpredictable so her legs couldn't support her if she was in a walker or they would give out at random times. They knew this because they tried.

He also told me a nurse came every day but Sundays and Wednesdays to help Grandma Miriam get showered. Grandma Miriam's best friend Shirley, a retired hairdresser, came every Wednesday to give her a shampoo and set. But she could mostly clothe herself just with the use of the parts of her body that she had but also she had a bunch of tools she'd been trained to use at the rehabilitation hospital. He shared further that from all that wheeling and moving herself around, she had the upper body strength of weightlifter and she could also do her bathroom business. From what Gray said and what I'd seen, she was incredibly self-sufficient though Gray had assisted in some of this. For instance, he'd installed a mirror over the stove so she could cook on the two front burners and see what was happening on the stove by looking up at the mirror.

It was ingenious.

It was also sweet.

But Gray did not help her with personal stuff. She changed into her nightgowns; he just lifted her into bed. Or out of it. He didn't dress her and he didn't bathe her.

And now she was behind a closed door in the bathroom.

"Call Shirley!" she shouted and I understood Gray's concern. She sounded funny, not herself. It wasn't pain but I didn't know her enough to know what it was.

Though some of it was impatience and irritation, I knew her enough to hear that.

I looked up at Gray whose jaw was hard, he also looked impatient as well as worried and he was moving to her phone on her nightstand.

Before he made it there, I turned back to the door, knocked twice, put my hand to knob and called through the door, "Mrs. Cody, I'm coming in!"

Then I turned the doorknob back and forth a couple of times just to give her time before I pushed open the door and went in.

Then I closed it swiftly behind me even as my heart jumped into my throat.

She'd fallen off the toilet.

How, I didn't know. But she was on her side on the floor, her panties pulled awkwardly up, the skirt of her dress shoved down. Her chair was in an awkward place, tilted and resting on the side of the tub like she'd run into it when she fell and tipped it over. She'd gotten both panties and skirt twisted somehow, probably panic and embarrassment so her skirt was tucked in her panties in places it would be hard to get to since she had to roll back and forth in the small space she had to do it. And that rolling probably made it worse.

"I said, call Shirley," she whispered and I didn't have to know her very well to know she was mortified.

I didn't answer and I didn't look at her face. I just walked right up to her, got down on my knees and righted her clothes. I did it swiftly, efficiently and didn't say a word. Then I wrapped my arms around her, pulled her up, rolled her to her bottom and scooched her so her back was to the vanity cabinet. It was awkward to do all that, the space was small and with the chair wedged in, it didn't help.

Then I turned to the toilet, closed the lid and flushed it.

Only then, when I turned back to her, did I catch her eyes.

"Are you hurt?" I asked.

She pressed her trembling lips together and shook her head.

"Sure? No pain?" I pressed.

She nodded.

"Do you think I can get you up and in your chair without calling Gray?"

Her eyes held mine and I saw brightness glistening on the bottoms but she didn't answer.

"Mrs. Cody," I began again, "can I get you in your chair or do we need to call Gray?"

"I don't want him to know I fell," she whispered.

"Right," I whispered back, "can we get you in your chair?"

"I was reaching for something. Silly. I knew better," she told me, still whispering.

I scooted closer to her and took her hand. "We all do silly stuff but now we have to get to church. I'm not a weakling but I don't know how to do those transfers Gray talks about. Can you talk me through it so I can get you in your chair?"

She stared into my eyes and nodded.

"Bring it over here, child, then make sure the wheels are locked. I'll talk you through it."

I nodded back, gave her a small smile then did as she said and kept doing it until we had her up, her skirt down, her bottom in her chair and her feet resting on the pedals.

"Need to wash my hands, Ivey," she said softly. "But I was reaching for my perfume. Can you get it for me?"

I saw the perfume on a standing shelf across and just down from the toilet and I could see how she'd think she could make it as well as see how she did not.

I moved it to the vanity countertop as she washed her hands.

"Was running late," she said to her hands as she wiped them on a towel. "Thought I'd multitask, save time."

"Jesus!" Gray shouted from outside. "You wanna give me a clue? Is everything all right in there?"

My eyes went to the door at his first word then they went to Grandma Miriam and I saw my wide eyes reflected on her face.

Then, to my shock and utter delight, she burst out laughing.

"We're fine, Gray, keep your pants on!" she shouted back after she quit laughing. "Ivey's helpin' me with my perfume!"

Silence then through the door, "For fuck's sake, I thought a black hole swallowed both of you."

At that, to my further shock and still utter delight, her eyes caught mine and she rolled hers. Then she grabbed her perfume bottle and spritzed it on.

Then she shouted, "Grayson Cody, we're about to go to church and you're giving us that mouth!"

"Fuckin' hell," we heard him mutter then, "Right!" he shouted. "I'm gonna go warm up the truck."

Grandma Miriam expertly whipped around her chair, leaned in, threw open the door and then wheeled out forcing Gray, who was standing in the door, to jump out of the way.

And as she did, she replied, now sounding happy as a clam, "You do that, honey."

Gray scowled at her then he looked at me, the scowl fled and his brows went up in a clear question.

I ignored his question, pressed my lips together, put my hands to the back of her chair and started pushing. Her hands, surprisingly (again!), left the wheels and she let me.

As I did this, I stated, "Let's get our coats on while Gray starts up the truck."

"Good idea, child," Grandma Miriam muttered.

I looked over my shoulder at Gray as I wheeled her to the door. "See you out there, honey."

He stood stock-still at the side of her bathroom door and stared at me.

I wheeled her around the doorframe and lost sight of him.

Ten minutes later, Grandma Miriam's chair folded in the back, Gray at the wheel, his Gran in the passenger seat, me scrunched between them on the bench seat, we headed to church.

Seventeen minutes later...

Standing beside Gray in the Fellowship Hall, we watched Grandma Miriam do her socializing exactly like she did last Sunday (and I enjoyed watching it). This proved what Gray had told me that she was born in Mustang and lived her whole life there seeing as she knew every single person in that church.

Then I felt Gray's arm slide along my shoulders and then I felt his lips come to my ear.

"You gonna share?"

I pulled my head back, he did too and we locked eyes.

"You need to move the shelves in her bathroom so she can reach them better from the toilet," I whispered.

His blue eyes flashed exposing disquiet and understanding then he nodded and muttered, "Right."

I gave him some of my weight and smiled.

Gray's eyes dropped to my mouth and luckily, seeing as we were in a church, when his mouth dropped to it right after it was only for a touch.

Then he moved us forward so we could commandeer Grandma Miriam and get her in a pew.

Chapter Fourteen.

Feels Good Doesn't It?

Nearly two hours later...

"Maybe we can go see a movie?" I suggested.

Gray was driving. I was sitting in the passenger seat. We were headed back to his house.

Grandma Miriam had informed us after more communing in the Fellowship Hall when the singing, sermon, praying and more singing was done, she had made plans (just then) with her friend Shirley to go to Shirley's daughter's house for Sunday lunch. Then Shirley's daughter and her husband were going out and Grandma Miriam and Shirley were going to watch Shirley's daughter's kids.

She wasn't going to be home, she didn't reckon, until close to ten.

"You can," she began, her eyes slid to me, her mouth twitched then her eyes went back to Gray, "order a pizza or something."

"Think I can feed myself and my girl," Gray had muttered then surprisingly, with no further ado, he leaned right in, kissed his grandmother's cheek, grabbed my hand and dragged me right out to his truck.

During this short, fast trek, I had asked if Shirley needed any help with Grandma Miriam and her chair but Gray assured me that Shirley's daughter's husband knew the drill and would sort it.

And away we went.

Now we had the whole day. I was off again and I wanted to do something normal people did.

Back in the day, when I was still a kid, Casey would take me to see movies. Not many of them, it was a treat, but he did it and I loved it. I loved movie popcorn. I loved being in a dark cinema where you felt alone even though you weren't, your vision filled with what was on screen.

But when I grew up and learned that movies were an extravagance we couldn't afford, I put a stop to it.

Now I made my own coffee. I poured my own cereal. I went to grocery stores (kind of, if the corner store could be classed as that, but I figured it could since most of what they carried were groceries). I had a job. I owned a skirt. I had my own place.

I was nearly normal.

I wanted to do something normal.

And I hoped Gray did too.

We turned into the long lane that led up to his house and as we did, he muttered, "We're not gonna go see a movie."

My head turned to him in surprise. This was because he sounded preoccupied. This was also because it occurred to me in that instant that Gray gave me everything I wanted and I was surprised he denied me.

Not that I'd ever asked for anything. Not the finest of steak dinners no matter that it was served at the VFW. Not for him to pay for my breakfast when we went to the diner. Not for a pair of gloves I knew just looking at them but definitely by the feel they were way on the other side of expensive.

But he gave them to me all the same.

Then it hit me he had a beautiful farmhouse, a bunch of land, decent clothes and a great leather jacket but the first two had been left to him and he had upkeep. He also had a beat up pickup truck that had to be at least a decade old and a grandmother who needed a nurse to come in five days a week to take care of her.

Maybe he couldn't afford expensive gloves, taking me to the diner and a movie.

"My treat," I said brightly and it could be my treat. It wasn't like I was going to retire on the Riviera within a year but without a hotel to pay for and with Janie giving me the room for two months for free I could take us to a movie and save for all the stuff I needed to start my life.

And I was looking forward to that. Getting my own car. My own mugs. My own silverware. Buying my own comforter. Replacing Gray's TV with a new one.