Speak to My Heart

by Rebecca Talley

  “You can put your suitcase in the back bedroom. I have it all ready for you. Then you can have some dinner with us. I made meatloaf,” Gran said with pride. “It’s my special recipe.”

  “Thanks.” Hailey noticed that Gran’s hair was whiter and her eyes looked tired, but her smile was still full of warmth and comfort like chicken noodle soup on a cold night.

  Hailey took her stuff to the bedroom. The walls were lined with photos that captured her childhood. She laughed at some of the pictures, memories cascading through her mind. Life was much simpler when she was a little girl playing in that kiddie pool or making a face while sitting in a pile of snow.

  After a trip to the restroom, Hailey sat at the dinner table. A slice of meatloaf with a hard-boiled egg cooked in the middle of it like an eye stared at her, daring her to eat it. She didn’t have the heart to tell Gran that meatloaf reminded her of dog food. She simply shoveled it into her mouth without thinking about the way it smelled or its lumpy texture.

  “Would you like another slice?” Gran asked with a silver spatula in hand.

  “Maybe later,” Hailey said, having no desire to eat another bite of meatloaf but also not wanting to hurt Gran’s feelings.

  “How about you Harry?” Gran turned to Gramps. “More meatloaf?”

  He shook his head and stood. He leaned over, kissed Gran on the cheek and squeezed her shoulder, then slowly walked over to his recliner.

  “How is your job?” Gran asked. “Your mom says you work all the time.”

  Hailey sipped her cold milk. “I do work a lot, but my job is good.”

  “I don’t know how you deal with those numbers all the time. I never had a head for numbers and neither did your father. Must be something you inherited from your mom’s side of the family.” Gran adjusted her purple-framed glasses.

  “Numbers make sense to me. I love that they are completely objective and they fit so nicely together. If I make the right computation, everything works out.” She wished relationships were as simple as math calculations.

  “But, taxes?” Gran took a sip of her milk. “Makes my head spin thinking about all that.”

  “Tax time is pretty busy and stressful, but I also handle accounting for clients all year long. I’ll be keeping up with some accounts while I’m here.”

  Gran offered Hailey some watermelon. “How long can you stay?”

  Hailey took a slice, the sweet aroma of fresh-cut watermelon tickling her nose. “As long as you need me. I’m sure Mom will come out after the baby is born.”

  “I was so relieved when your mother called to tell me. I wasn’t sure how I’d handle all of this on my own.” Gran placed her warm hand atop Hailey’s. “You are such a sweetheart to come help.”

  “I love you and Gramps.” Hailey glanced at him across the room. He was watching TV and didn’t seem to notice their lingering conversation at the dinner table.

  “I wish I’d known sooner that he’d had a stroke.” A somber expression crossed Gran’s face.

  “You did the best you could,” Hailey said, trying to reassure Gran.

  “I hope so.” Gran took another sip of her milk. “Your mom tells me that you and Kevin are kaput.”

  “Yep.” Hailey used her fingers to sweep some crumbs on the table into a pile.

  “He was sure a dashing young man. The two of you made a handsome couple.”

  “Yeah.” Hailey didn’t want to rehash the details of her breakup with the man everyone had thought she’d marry. The crater in her heart was still trying to heal. “So what’s on the agenda tomorrow?”

  “Harry has a speech therapy appointment. He can’t speak, you know. The doctor says he might regain some of his speech but probably won’t ever talk like he did before.” She shook her head, fear flickering in her eyes.

  “The doctor doesn’t know everything. Gramps could speak totally fine again.” Hailey wanted to be optimistic and bolster Gran’s spirits.

  “The stroke didn’t seem to affect too much else. It wasn’t a major one, thank goodness. No rhyme or reason with strokes, I suppose. Besides the loss of speech, it seems like his right side is weaker now, though.” Gran glanced over at Gramps.

  “Don’t you worry. I’m here now. I’ll make sure he gets to his appointments, practices his therapy, eats enough, and recovers as well as he can.” Hailey was there for Gran as much as she was for Gramps.

  Gran smoothed her short hair. “I feel bad about you putting your life on hold for us.”

  “Don’t. I love you and want to help. Besides, there isn’t much to my life but work these days. And the gym.” She laughed, but a needle of sadness pricked her heart.

  “You don’t have to take care of us twenty-four hours a day, but Harry did all the driving because of my glaucoma. If you can do the driving, that’d be the biggest help.” Gran drank the rest of her milk. “You can shop, go to the beach, have some fun. You can use our car whenever you want. Maybe you’ll meet—”

  “Gran, please. I can read your mind,” Hailey said as she sat back against her chair. “I’m not here to meet any men.” Gran needed to squelch her preoccupation with matchmaking, especially when it came to Hailey’s life.

  “You never know.” Gran’s eyes lit up. “Lots of my friends have eligible grandsons.”

  I can only imagine. “That’s sweet. But I’m taking a vacation from dating—indefinitely. I’m here to focus on you and Gramps. That’s all.” Hailey picked up her plate and stood, hoping Gran would get the hint that her love life wasn’t up for discussion.

  Gran stood as well, then took the serving bowl to the sink.

  “I can take care of the dishes,” Hailey said. She turned on the water to begin rinsing.

  Gran held up her hand. “No, no. I’ll do the dishes. You go in and spend some time with your grandfather. It’ll brighten him up.”

  Hailey smiled. “If you’re sure.”

  “I am.” Gran nodded and opened the dishwasher. “Go on.”

  Hailey walked into the living room and sat on the couch. “Hey, Gramps, what’re you watching?”

  He turned and looked at her. He tried to mouth something, but Hailey didn’t catch it. Not wanting to make him feel bad, she said, “Oh, look at that photo.” Hailey stood and reached for a framed picture of herself and Gramps. “I remember when we took that. I came to visit the summer before my senior year, and you took me fishing on that big boat.”

  Gramps nodded, a smile stretching across his face. He pointed at the photo and rolled his eyes.

  Hailey laughed. “I know, I know. You caught a huge fish that day, but somehow it got away. Sounds fishy to me.” She laughed at her corny joke.

  Gramps sat up. He said some garbled words that made no sense, but Hailey knew what he was trying to say.

  “Sure, sure. I believe you, Gramps.” She stretched out her hands, holding them about four feet apart. “It was this big.”

  He shook his head, held his hands about two feet apart, and then gave her a look as if to chastise her for exaggerating.

  “I loved fishing with you that day. We had so much fun.” The memories began to pour in of times they’d spent together.

  Gramps raised his eyebrows and pointed outside.

  “You want to go fishing again?” She’d love to spend the day fishing with her grandpa, not worrying about anything except trying to catch fish.

  He nodded with enthusiasm.

  “I’d love to, but I’m not sure we’d convince Gran to let you go right now. You need to recover.” Hailey didn’t want to irritate Gran with talk of going fishing or anything else except Gramps getting better.

  He waved his hand dismissively.

  “I’m here to help you recuperate, not to go fishing.” She leaned in closer to him. “But I’ll make you a deal.”

  Gramps eyed her with eagerness.

  In a whisper, she said, “As soon as you’re all better, I promise to take you fishing.”

  He stuck out his hand. Hailey took it and they shook.
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  “You focus on recovering, and I’ll concentrate on finding a great fishing spot for us.” She grinned at the familiar rapport between them.

  Gramps nodded and smiled his approval.

  “What are you two coming up with in here?” Gran asked in an accusatory tone as she walked in with hands on hips.

  Gramps wore an innocent expression.

  Hailey said, “Nothing. Just reliving some memories, that’s all.” She tried to sound as innocuous as possible.

  “I don’t want the two of you cooking anything up.” Gran wagged her finger. “You hear me, Harry? You need to use all your energy to get better. No big plans to do anything else.”

  Hailey suspected her grandmother had eavesdropped. To allay any fears, she said, “Above all else, Gramps and I are both committed to his recovery. Right?” She turned toward Gramps.

  He nodded vigorously.

  “Good,” Gran said with a flick of her head.

  When Gran looked away, Gramps winked at Hailey.

  “Your bedding is all freshly washed and there are clean towels in the bathroom.” Gran pointed down the hall.

  “Thanks, Gran. I’m excited to spend some time with both of you.” It had been way too long, and Hailey vowed to make visiting her grandparents again a much higher priority.

  “We’re both happy to have you here.” Gran sat on the couch and pulled out her knitting. “I think there’s a movie on that one channel, ACM or something like that. Harry, why don’t you find us a nice one, and we can relax.”

  “Relaxing sounds nice.” Actually, it sounded heavenly.

  “I bet you’re tired from all that traveling,” Gran said while her needles clicked together.

  “Exhausted.” Hailey made herself comfy on the couch with Gran.

  After watching an old movie about an annoying woman and her pet leopard named Babe, or something like that, Hailey said goodnight and made her way to the pink-themed guest room. It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The next morning, a shrill sound echoed through the house and Hailey bounded out of bed, her heart beating wildly, before realizing what it was.

  The smoke detector. What a way to welcome Monday.

  Combined scents of coffee, bacon, and burned toast hit her nose. Yep, she was with Gran and Gramps. As sure as the sun rose, Gran burned the toast each morning. Hailey hoped her grandparents’ house would never actually catch on fire, because she could bet the neighbors were so used to the detector going off each morning, they’d never think it was the real thing.

  “Good morning,” Hailey said as she sat at the table.

  “That darn toaster. I need a new one. I keep telling Harry that it doesn’t work right.” Gran placed a plate in front of Hailey. “I hope you’re hungry. You’re looking a little thin.”

  “I like to work out.” At least I used to. Her busy work schedule and nasty breakup with Kevin had left her with little motivation to exercise.

  “Back in my day, girls wanted some curves.” Gran shook her head as if dismayed. “I don’t understand girls these days wanting to be bone thin. Makes no sense at all.”

  “How’s Gramps?” Hailey slipped a bite of scrambled eggs into her mouth.

  “He’s resting. He needs to do a lot of that to get better.” Gran adjusted her neon-green blouse.

  Hailey laughed inwardly at Gran’s familiar vibrant wardrobe. I’m glad some things haven’t changed. “What time is the appointment?”

  “At eleven o’clock.” Gran poured Hailey some orange juice. “It’s with the speech therapist at some building by the hospital. Rehab something or other.”

  “So I’ll have time to do some work after breakfast and before we need to leave?”

  Gran nodded, her large yellow earrings swaying.

  “Have you met the therapist yet?” Hailey sipped the tangy juice.

  “No. The doctor said we should go to the rehabilitation place and they’d give us someone.” Gran let out a long breath. “I don’t know.”

  Hailey reached over and squeezed her grandmother’s hand, noticing the web of veins across it. “I’m here. No need to worry. I can help get Gramps ready.”

  “That’d be good. He’s a little ornery for me sometimes, the ol’ coot.” Gran pursed her lips. “That man can be so aggravating at times. But I don’t know what I’d do without him.” Fear flashed in Gran’s eyes.

  “Let’s not worry about that.” Hailey wanted to reassure Gran as much as herself.

  “Having you here is exactly what we need. You and your grandfather have always had something special.”

  Hailey smiled. She didn’t ever mention it to anyone, but she knew that she and Gramps had a unique connection. It had always been that way, even when she was a little girl. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

  ***

  “Gramps, hang onto my arm,” Hailey said as she helped her grandfather out of their silver Chevy Impala.

  “Come on, Harry, people are waiting,” Gran said, glancing around. She brushed at her yellow pants. “We’re already late. You know how much I dislike being late.”

  “It’s okay, I’ve got this,” Hailey said, sensing her grandmother’s growing agitation. “Why don’t you go into the lobby and find out where we need to go?”

  Gran nodded, then trotted over toward the entryway, her floral purse hanging down at her side.

  Hailey helped Gramps shuffle into the facility, and they made their way down the hall to a large desk where Gran stood.

  “It’s in this room.” Gran pointed ahead of them and started walking.

  By the time Hailey and Gramps reached Gran, her eyes were wide and she was tapping her foot. “Maybe we should get him a wheelchair so it doesn’t take so long,” Gran said.

  Gramps looked at his wife and said some unintelligible sounds, then reached out for her hand.

  Gran’s face softened as she placed her hand in his. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m a little on edge.”

  Gramps pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it, obviously trying to calm Gran.

  Hailey wanted to alleviate Gran’s stress, so she said, “Why don’t you go to the cafeteria and get a soda or something. I can talk to the therapist and take care of this.”

  Gran studied her.

  “Really,” Hailey insisted. “You don’t need to worry about this. I can handle it.” Gramps didn’t need Gran and her anxiety making things even more stressful.

  Gran gave her a swift hug, then turned and walked down the hall.

  Hailey looked at Gramps and he gave her a lopsided smile. “I got your back,” she said with a wink.

  They approached a small reception area, and Hailey signed in her grandfather. They sat on a long upholstered bench and waited for several minutes before being called back to a small room with a dark wood table and four brown, padded chairs. Hailey helped seat Gramps.

  After a few more minutes, Thor opened the door. Hailey’s breath caught as she did a double take and stared at the tall, blond-haired man filling the doorway. She swallowed hard. He can’t be the therapist. He wasn’t at all what she expected. His piercing pale blue eyes made her heart somersault and her stomach twist. His gray-patterned shirt fit him perfectly in all the right places, and a quick glance at his left hand showed no wedding ring. Is this room getting warmer? She resisted the urge to fan herself.

  “Hi. I’m Peter Stafford.” He extended his hand.

  As she took it, a jolt of energy surged up her arm, and she blinked. “I’m . . . uh . . . Hailey.” Real smooth. He’s going to think I’m an idiot. Say something intelligent.

  “Nice to meet you, Hailey.” His strong hand held hers a moment longer, and then he let go.

  Ignoring the musky cologne he wore, she composed herself enough to say, “And this is my grandfather.” She looked at Gramps trying to recall his name, but her mind was completely blank.

  “Harry Baker?” Peter said.

  Hailey let out a nervous laugh that made her soun
d kind of like a hyena. “Yes. Harry. That’s him. But I don’t call him Harry, of course. I call him Gramps.” Can I crawl under a rock somewhere until my brain reengages?

  Mr. Stafford acknowledged Hailey, then sat in the seat next to Gramps. “I understand you had a mild stroke.”

  Gramps gave a slight nod.

  Peter looked over the file in his hand. “I’m here to help you restore your speech. If you promise to work with me, I think we’ll have you talking again soon. How does that sound?” He smiled, exposing flawless, bright white teeth. Like the brightest teeth Hailey had ever seen.

  Gramps made a few noises.

  Peter turned his attention to Hailey. “Has he been able to say anything understandable since the stroke?”

  Hailey chastised herself. You are here to help Gramps, not drool over the very attractive therapist. “Not really. He tries, but only sounds come out. No words.” She stroked Gramps’s hand.

  “Aphasia, the inability to communicate, is common with strokes.”

  “What do we need to do?”

  Mr. Stafford turned to Gramps. “First, I’ll need to evaluate your skills. We can do that with some basic exercises and simple words for recognition. How does that sound?”

  Gramps nodded.

  “You might also have apraxia, Mr. Baker.”

  A sullen expression crossed Gramps’s face.

  The therapist reached over and patted Gramps on the arm. “No need to worry. If you have apraxia, we will address it and get you all fixed up.”

  “What is apraxia?” Hailey asked, noting how kind and attentive Mr. Stafford was to Gramps.

  “That’s when the muscles in the mouth don’t quite work in the proper order,” he said to Hailey, then looked directly at Gramps. “We’ll need to rewire the connection between your brain and your mouth so that the sounds you make are in the right order to form words. I’ll also evaluate your ability to swallow.” He smiled, and Hailey’s heart reacted without permission.

  “Sounds attractive.”