Chapter 26 Goodbyes Are Never Easy
A few days after Christmas, Andrea and Case packed up to head to Seattle to spend time with his family. She was reluctant to go, even though she was eager to get to know him better and to meet his sister, Shana, who was such a fan. The idea of meeting his mom, Rhonda, who loved Sarah so much kept her stomach twisted, but Andrea was confident she’d find a way to win the woman over—one way or another.
Grandpa spent most of his time in bed, resting, watching TV, or doing crossword puzzles. When Andrea and Case walked in to tell him goodbye, he had most of his color back in his cheeks. She was so glad to see him feeling better. He set his crossword puzzle book aside. “You headin’ out?” he asked, a reluctant smile on his face.
“We are,” Andrea confirmed, sitting next to him on the bed. “How are you feeling today?”
“Pretty good.” He thumped his chest lightly and added, “Ol’ ticker’s got some time left on it.”
Smiling at him, Andrea said, “Good. It better have a lot of time left on it, Grandpa Jack. We love you too much to lose you.”
“I know, Andy, honey. But... when it’s my time, I don’t want you to be sad. You know how I miss your granny and Uncle Joe.”
The mention of her grandma made Andrea sad, but hearing Uncle Joe’s name brought back memories she’d been trying to block out for years. She took a deep breath and tried not to let Grandpa see the hint of terror in her eyes, but she couldn’t hide it.
“Sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“It’s okay,” Andrea assured him, reclaiming her smile. She let it go. “You behave yourself now. Do what Mom says, and when you go back to your own place, make sure you don’t do anything the doctor told you not to. No heavy lifting, plenty of rest....”
“Yes, yes, dear. I promise.” He made a cross over his heart.
Andrea leaned in and kissed his cheek, wrapping her arms around him loosely. “I love you, Grandpa.”
Patting her back, he said, “I love you, too, my Andy girl.”
She let him go, and Grandpa turned to Case. He offered his hand. “It was a pleasure to meet you, sir,” Case said, and Andrea could tell he meant it.
Grandpa Jack shook his hand vigorously. “The pleasure was all mine, young man. You are something special. I knew it the first time I saw you on the race track. You keep winnin’, now, and I’ll be watchin’ every race from home.”
“I’ll do my best,” Case said, chuckling at Grandpa’s insistence.
“And take care of my grandbaby here. She’s a pretty good little gal.”
“Yes, she is,” Case agreed, smiling at Andrea.
“Keep a close eye on her durin’ lightning storms, though. Thems the worst.”
Andrea’s eyes bulged. “Grandpa....” She didn’t want to tell him to hush, but the last thing she needed was for Case to know how deathly afraid of storms she was.
“Sorry, honey. I just thought... well, don’t matter. I’ll let you kids get on with it. Let us know when you get to Worshington.”
Andrea grinned at the way he said Washington. “I will.” She hugged him one more time before she pulled herself up off of the bed. She followed Case to the door but paused in the doorway to look back at Grandpa Jack. A few days ago, she’d been afraid she’d never see him again, and now, here he was, doing puzzles and smiling like nothing had happened. Thanks to Case, he’d had the surgery he needed, and the doctors said he’d make a full recovery. It was a Christmas miracle of sorts, all sparked by a chance meeting at an airport and a wonderful man she was looking forward to knowing better.
Saying goodbye to her mom was always hard. Andrea tried not to cry when they hugged goodbye. “I’ll see you soon,” she promised.
Karen had tears trickling down her cheeks. “I know. Be careful, sweetheart.” Then, she leaned in close to her ear and added, “You’ve got yourself a good man here. Don’t let anyone take him away from you, especially not that awful Sarah Lockton.”
Grinning through her tears, Andrea said, “I won’t.” She kissed her mom’s cheek and then told her step-dad goodbye before moving toward her sister.
Leslie was always aloof, but she looked slightly sad now, as if she didn’t want Andrea to leave. Her arms were folded but Andrea hugged her anyway. “Be careful, little sister.”
“You’re the one about to get on another airplane,” Leslie reminded her, making Andrea’s stomach twist. She’d been trying not to think about it. “See ya.”
Case stepped over to Leslie having said goodbye to their parents. “Leslie, I’m going to do my best to see if I can get you a singing gig at one of the races.”
“What?” Her face brightened at the idea.
“You can sing the national anthem, I assume?” he continued.
“Well... yeah.”
“Great. I’ll see what I can do.”
Leslie flung herself into his arms, making Andrea laugh. She hadn’t seen her sister so enthusiastic about anything in a long time.
Their ride was waiting, so Andrea waved goodbye one last time and then she and Case took their bags and walked out on the porch. The snow had stopped, but it was still abundant on the ground, glittering in the sun.
Even after she was buckled into the car, Andrea continued to wave at her family. She never knew when she might have a chance to see them again. Even though Grandpa was doing well right now, nothing could be taken for granted.
Thoughts of losing him reminded her of her uncle, the one Grandpa had mentioned. That horrible day when she was a little girl came back to her, and she had to take a deep breath to compose herself. She hated storms ever since.... Just like that morning when she'd been playing outside on the farm, everything seemed peaceful now. But now, headed toward an uncertain future, Andrea had a feeling there was a storm brewing on the horizon.
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