49

Liliana

I’d been backin Everbrook for a couple of days, so I went to see Grandpa and make sure he was doing okay. I still left my phone off most of the time. I wasn’t ready to deal with texts and calls.

And the thought that maybe Alistair had stopped sending messages filled with me equal dread. If he gave up too easily, it would somehow feel even worse.

As soon as I walked into Grandpa’s room, he grinned. “Another visitor already? It must be my lucky day.”

I hugged him tightly and sat on the edge of his bed across from where he sat in his recliner. “Another visitor?”

“Your ex-boyfriend just left here. Couldn’t have been more than a minute before you got here,” he explained.

He must’ve meant Alistair. I shook my head, a knot forming in my stomach. Alistair was just here?

“Grandpa, did you mean Alistair all this time when you said my ex-boyfriend had come to see you?”

“Yes, who did you think I meant?”

“Grandpa, Julian’s my ex-boyfriend, not Alistair.”

“Sorry, sweetheart,” he said. “I know that. But I always thought Alistair should have been your boyfriend, and I guess I got that into my head.” He patted my hand. “Still think you two should have been together. And the fact that he still comes here to see me, well, I figure I’m right. I still keep hoping the two of you will get your act together one day.”

He winked at me, and I felt a tear slip down my cheek.

“If you didn’t pass him, he probably took the hall that leads to the side entrance instead of the main one,” Grandpa said, then he glanced at the window. “Sure is a beautiful day out there. I think I’ll go out to the sun porch.”

If Alistair really had left only a minute earlier, maybe I could still catch him.

For what, Liliana? You decided it was over.

“I’ll meet you out there, Grandpa. I just need to take care of something first.”

I walked down the main hall toward the entrance. If I didn’t catch Alistair, I needed to stop into the admin office anyway to be sure Cheryl knew I was going to make another payment next week.

It was going to be rough for a while until I found another job, but I was determined not to have to move grandpa to a less expensive facility, even if it meant I had to wait tables again to make ends meet.

I didn’t find Alistair in the hallway. I stood in the lobby looking out of the glass front to see if he was in the parking lot. Only cars, no people walking around that I could see.

I stepped into the admin office doorway as Cheryl came out of her office with paperwork in her hands.

“Hello, Liliana,” she said with a smile.

“Hi Cheryl,” I said. “I was planning to stop by and tell you that I can make a payment next week on Grandpa’s balance. I know it must have starting building back up since we talked.”

“It would have,” she said cheerfully, “but the bill’s just been paid.”

“Again?” I said with a gasp. “You have to tell me who’s doing that so I can thank them.”

I realized then that she hadn’t saidthe bill’s been paid. She said the bill’sjust beenpaid.

“Sorry, Liliana. They still want to remain anonymous.”

“Whenwas it paid?” I asked.

“Just minutes ago. What a happy coincidence!” Her grin broadened.

Was it Alistair? He’d just been here.

“Please tell me who. I’ll never out you as the one who let me know.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “I can’t. I—” Her eyes went wide as she looked over my shoulder. “I—excuse me, Liliana.”

She narrowed her eyes and glanced over my shoulder again, like she was trying to signal me, so I turned.

Alistair had just come out of the men’s bathroom. He stopped when he saw me, his eyes as wide as Cheryl’s.

“Liliana,” he said softly.

I burst into tears. How had I ever deserved someone as wonderful as Alistair? And how had I let it all go to hell?

“Liliana,” he said, rushing forward to pull me into his arms.