It reminded her that she still needed to wrap the gifts she’d bought for her grandpa, Cole, and Wyatt. She’d asked Cole to sign a couple of baseballs for her grandpa and—reluctantly—her father, so she wanted to get stands for those and wrap them, too. When he asked her to stay another night, she hated to say no. But she’d talked to her grandpa a couple of times in the past two days, and he sounded weary. “I can’t stay,” she told Cole as she packed her things. “I want to, really. But there wasn’t a lot of food left in the house before…the attack. I have to make sure Pee Paw’s eating right, which probably means a trip to the grocery store.” He watched her pack from his seat on the bed without comment. She looked at him when she zipped up the backpack containing her clothes and lifted it onto her shoulder. His gaze was intent. “Is there anything I can do to change your mind?” he asked. “I could pay Jonette to—” She moved forward and placed her fingertips on his lips.
