One Arctic Summer by Dani Haviland

Author:Dani Haviland [Haviland, Dani]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chill Out!
Published: 2018-07-19T16:00:00+00:00

***

“You two going to sleep all day?” Grandma hollered from the bedroom doorway.

“Not if you keep coming in and shouting,” Rocky mumbled and pulled part of the afghan over his head.

“Why are you in bed with ‘not your girlfriend’ with your clothes on? Something wrong with you?”

“We were up all night, mending cut bodies or being mended. We’re just trying to catch up.”

Grandma snickered.

“On sleep, Grandma. If there’s something you need in here, go ahead and get it, but leave us alone.”

“Sassy boy!” She poked him under the chin with her new walking stick, showing him the narwhal carved into the handle.

Rocky pulled the cover off his head. “I’ll look at it closer later but only if you leave me alone.”

“I’ll tell you the good news, then you can go back to sleep,” she said and giggled at her last word.

He pulled the afghan off his head. “Go ahead. I know you won’t leave me alone until you do.”

She poked him in the hip with her cane. “Why you sleep with a pretty woman with your pants on? Are you sure you’re my grandson?”

“You’d know better than I would,” he said. “Now, what’s so important?”

“I’m moving in with Joe. You and ‘not your girlfriend’ can have the house. I have everything I need already.” She wiggled her fanny and grinned. “Joe keeps everything he needs with him all the time, too,” then hummed, “Uh huh!”

“Congratulations, Grandma,” Rocky said, then mumbled, “again,” so only X could hear him.

Clomp! Clomp! Clomp! Grandma made her way to her rocking chair noisily, grabbed her bag of yarn and crochet project, and was out the door without another word.

“What was that all about?” X asked.

“She moves in with him every few months. It might last an hour or a month, depending on whether alcohol is involved. Joe’s nephew moved to Fairbanks, so his booze supplier isn’t around anymore. I hid the last of Grandma’s rheumatism medicine, so they might make it a month or more this time. They manage to keep themselves happy longer when liquor isn’t involved.”

Rocky sat up and ran his hand through his hair and yawned. “I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to sleep knowing that she’ll be back at least three more times for ‘one more thing I forgot.’”

Clomp! Clomp! Clomp!

And there she was again.

“I forgot my wooden spoon. Sometimes Joe’s a naughty boy and needs to get spanked.”

Rocky rolled his eyes and said softly, “Only two more to go…”

“I heard that!” Grandma called, then stomped out the door.

“How old is she? And how long has she needed a cane?”

“Grandma’s only about fifty, or so I’ve estimated. She was only about sixteen when she had my mother and my mother was about the same age when she had me. And as far as the cane, she doesn’t need it. I think it’s a prop so she can justify the need for her medicine. I’ve seen her dance around the room first thing in the morning when even I’m stiff.

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