Free Avery: Sensual Desire: New Adult College Romance (Coral Gables Series Book 2) by Drucie Anne Taylor

He tries to grin, but it looks strained.
    “ I … I have really never said thank you , Grandpa. Never. But I am so very thankful. You are the best thing that ever happened to me.”
    “ No, Dale, don’t talk as if this is the last time we’ll see each other,” he says. “In a few hours we can continue this conversation. I promise.”
    The door opens, and two nurses come in. “Mr. Walker, we’re here to get you to the OR.”
    “ All right, I’m ready.” He presses my hand. “I’m so proud of you, Dale, and I’m sure that you will find happiness in this life.” He gives me a weak smile.
    I walk beside the gurney until we reach a door and the nurse tells me I’m not allowed to follow anymore. “I love you, Grandpa,” I say, and then I realize it’s an elevator we’ve reached.
    “ I love you too, Dale.” He lets go of my hand, and I plant a kiss on his stubbly cheek. I stare after him long after the automatic doors of the elevator have closed.
    ***
    After restlessly pacing the hallway for more than an hour, I sit in a chair facing the elevator door and will my thoughts to stop chasing each other. But fear and worry have me in their grip.
    “ Dahlia?” a woman’s voice finally interrupts my thoughts.
    I raise my eyes and find Trudy looking down at me. “Oh … hi,” I say quietly.
    “ What are you doing here?” she asks, sitting in the chair next to me.
    “ My grandfather had a heart attack,” I say, and I feel it all rushing out of my mouth. “He’s in surgery. They’re giving him another bypass because he’s been ill for a long time and he … he never told me about it. He never told me that he’s had three bypasses in the last five years.” Tears start to well in my eyes.
    Trudy puts an arm around me, and I gratefully lay my head on her shoulder. “They’re going to help him,” she tells me. “I’ve been coming here for years, and I’m happy with the doctors.”
    I struggle not to cry and simply nod silently.
    “ Don’t fight it, Dahlia.”
    I sniff, and the first teardrops find their way down my cheeks. “This is so unfair. He’s the only one I have.” I sniffle. “He can’t die on me now.”
    “ He’s not going to die, child,” she soothes.
    “ But what if he does?” I cry.
    “ You mustn’t think like that.” She rubs my arm. “Let’s talk about something else, something nicer, to get your mind off things … Why did you stop coming to see me?”
    Sniffling, I confess, “I was fired for going home with that migraine and forgetting to call the agency.”
    “ Oh, dear.” She puts a hand to my cheek. “Well then you must simply start coming over again. We’ll figure out payment privately. You’re the first caretaker I actually liked having over, and I would be really glad if you came back,” she says in her warm voice.
    I sit up straight. “Really?”
    She nods, smiling at me. “Yes. I would like to be your employer, Dahlia.”
    I’m touched that she’s offering me a job. No one else would waste another thought on me after I’ve been fired, but she seems to care. “Thank you, Trudy.”
    “ Give me a phone number so I can call you.”
    “ Okay, but I-I can’t call you back. We, uh, we have some problems with our provider at the moment,” I stammer. It’s not exactly a lie, but it’s not the whole truth.
    She hands me a pen and a scrap of paper, and I write down our number. “Thank you,” she says as I hand both back to her.
    “ Don’t you have to go?” I ask.
    “ Nonsense,” she says. “Avery can wait for me, though I don’t believe he’s downstairs already anyway. Besides, once he gets bored, he’ll come up here looking for me. Then he’ll keep glaring at all the doctors.” She smirks. “You and Avery, you two would get along swell.”
    This time I’m the one who nods. “Maybe.”
    We sit together in silence, which isn’t awkward at all, but whenever a doctor emerges from the elevator, I jump up and ask after Grandpa. But nobody can