Falling Fast

“Genevria was making dinner when we came to tell her you were almost here,” Nina informs me, taking a bowl of something that looks like pancake batter to the sink. “Normally she eats with us, but today she decided she was going to make herself dinner.”

“Well, I have plenty I can cook for all of us now,” Grandma says, and I look around.

“How about we go out to eat instead?” I suggest, hoping she will say yes. The place is a mess, and no one will be cooking anything until it’s cleaned up.

“That’s a wonderful idea, isn’t it?” Nina asks Grandma, who looks like she’s about to protest.

“Well, I suppose so, but don’t throw any of this food out. We can have it tomorrow,” she tells us, moving around the kitchen, picking up the things she left out, and taking them to the fridge. She places everything inside, including the pans and things that were made in them.

“She’s gotten worse,” Ned voices softly from beside me, and I tip my head back to look up at him. “At first, it was her just forgetting small things here and there, but she’s steadily gotten worse over the last couple of years. Her doctor diagnosed her with dementia, but she didn’t want to believe it.”

“She knows?”

“She does. I don’t think she understands what it means, but she knows. We had been coping with it, but a week ago, she wandered off when Nina took her to the grocery store. We couldn’t find her anywhere. The whole town had to be called in to help with the search. An officer finally found her down by the lake. When they asked her where she was, she couldn’t remember. She couldn’t even give him her address.”

“Oh, God.” I cover my mouth with my hand, watching my grandma looking a little lost as she follows Nina around the kitchen. “I’m so sorry. I wish I had known earlier. ”

“It’s okay. I’m just glad I was able to track you down. Your grandma told Nina years ago about your dad dying and her losing touch with you, but I hoped if I could find you that you’d want some kind of say in what happens next.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He pats my shoulder. “Your grandmother is like family to us, to most of the folks in the town. They have all been worried about her and her future, so knowing you were coming has filled a lot of them with relief.”

“Gia, darlin’, have you ever had ribs?” Nina asks, and I pull my eyes off my grandma, who is now sitting at the kitchen table, writing on a piece of paper, to look at her.

“Yeah, a few times.”

“Real southern ribs?” she asks, and I shake my head. This is the first time I have ever been to Tennessee. When I was younger, Grandma would always come to Chicago to visit us. “Well you are in for a treat, because the Purple Daisy Picnic Café has the best ribs in Tennessee, and that’s where we’re going for dinner.” She smiles at me. “I just need to run over to my house and freshen up. While I’m doing that, Ned and you can go on and empty your car. I saw you brought quite a bit of stuff.”

“That works for me,” I agree, and she smiles.

“Genevria, I’m going to go home for a few minutes, okay?” she says to Grandma, who looks up at her and nods. “I’ll be back.” She glances at me and Ned then leaves out the sliding door in the kitchen that leads to what looks like a screened in sun porch.

“She’s bossy, but you’ll get used to it,” Ned promises, and I look at him and smile then go about helping him empty my car, which doesn’t take us long. By the time we are done getting my stuff into the house and stacked up against the wall in the living room, Nina is back and changed into a simple pair of jeans and a sweater.

“I had a few of the ladies from my book club help me clean out Genevria’s storage room yesterday and pack it all up in the garage,” Nina says, pulling one of my bags with her down a short hallway, and I follow along behind her, trying to take everything in. “There’s only a bed in there now, but I have a dresser Ned will bring over later on, and Monty a friend of mine said she has some curtains she’d bring over and hang for you today.”

“Thank you,” I say to her back as she pushes open the door to the room at the end of the hall.

Stepping into the room with her, I look around. The room is tiny, with one double window over the full-sized bed pushed up against the wall with a familiar looking quilt on it. There isn’t really room for a dresser, but there also isn’t a closet, so I’m going to need somewhere to store my clothes since my suitcases will just take up more room.