She opened her mouth to say something else, but the door opened and her doctor walked in. Her focus was broken as she introduced me and listened for the results of the test.
Everything was developing well. The baby seemed to be a bit large, but that was the only concern. It was a relief to hear.
Grace made her next appointment and had a few morequestions, so she sent me outside to get the truck. I had a feeling they were things she thought I’d be grossed out by, even though I’d told her I was fully prepared for all of it.
I picked her up from the front of the doctor’s office. She still seemed tense, but I could tell most of her fear was gone.
“Do you have a lot to do when you get back?” Grace asked as she climbed into the truck.
I did have a lot to do, but she didn’t need to know that. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m kind of having a craving for something and it won’t leave me alone. I heard Knoxville is a good place to find it.”
“You’re having a craving? What is it? Please don’t say hot sauce and sour cream.”
“Gummy bears on ice cream.”
Thank God. Somehow, that was far more tolerable than the other one.
“Then that’s what we’re having,” I said. “Do you know a place?”
Grace told me the name of a local shop and I drove there. When she had vanilla ice cream piled high with both sour and regular gummy bears, she was bouncing on her feet as we walked to a table.
“Have you been craving this for a while?” I asked.
“It came out of nowhere last week and it’s been sticking around. Dale doesn’t stock the good kinds at Food ‘n’ Things, but I looked up the brand that this shop had.” She took a bite. “Which might make me sound like I’m nuts.”
“My mom apparently craved pickle and mustard sandwiches with me.”
Grace frowned. “That’s disgusting.”
“Definitely, but my dad knew better than to tell her that.”
“Smart man. And I see you took after him.”
Did I? Dad had faded in my mind over the years. He was a warm, fuzzy glow in my childhood. But the main thing I remembered was what happened when he was gone. I would never tell Mom because I knew it would break her heart, but time did what it always does, and wore away at him in my mind.
“I guess I do.”
Grace took another bite and moaned, unaware of my internal struggle. “Yes.A bite with both kinds.”
“Is it everything you wanted?”
She paused and then slowly nodded. “It is. Thank you for coming here for me,” she said. “We should probably head out, though. It’s a long drive back.”
I would have been content to stay longer, but I had a feeling she was tiring out.
Grace was quiet on the way back to her house, and I wondered if she was playing the day back in her head. When we pulled into the driveway, she finally spoke.
“I ... have something for you.”
I turned to her. “Really?”
“Yeah.” Her voice shook, but she reached into her pocket. “I got that tech’s number for you.”
Grace handed me a card, but I tried to push it back. “I don’t need this.”
“I know you said you don’t need it, but I also know that you’re trying to be so focused on me that you might be missing out on ... other things.”