The Space In Between(24)

“What are you thinking?”
As he studied my face, I studied his. His perfectly chiseled jaw line made me melt every time I looked his way. “Maybe we should be friends.” It was as if I could feel his grin as he kissed the top of my head.
“I would love to be your friend, Andrea Evans.” He paused and I watched him travel into the depths of his mind, stroking his fingers up and down my arm. “You know what else my mom said when she first gave me my camera?” He asked. I waited for his reply and listened closely as he continued, “She told me the first picture I should take should be of something beautiful and I should allow it to change me.”
“What did you take a picture of?”
His eyes shifted to the window. He stared out into the clouds and his voice softened, “You.”


Chapter Fourteen

I COULD FEEL my heart pounding as we walked into the nursing home. Andrea had no idea about my mom’s condition. She held on to my arm the whole time. I walked over to the front desk and received a warm smile from the old woman sitting, reading a magazine. The old woman was Ms. Wells. Her warm grin welcomed me and her small arms wrapped me in a hug. I bit the tip of my thumb, looking down the hallway in the direction of my mom’s room. “How is she?”
“We had a rough morning. But after her meds this afternoon, so far so good.” Her hand rested on my arm. “How are you, dear?”
I gave her a halfway smile and she nodded in understanding. At least it was nice to know Mom wasn’t at her worse. “What year?”
Ms. Wells escaped into her mind. Searching for the exact detail I was requesting. She ran her hands through her silver hair and I saw her eyes sparkle as she retrieved the information. “2009. It must have been a happy time for her. She hasn’t stopped grinning.”
Shit. I glanced back to Andrea. She was standing there trying to connect the dots of what was happening. Hell, if I were her I wouldn’t know what to think. Digging into my jeans pocket, I pulled out my wallet, grabbed my wedding band, and slid it onto my finger. The light in Andrea’s eyes slowly faded as she gave me a sad grin.
“You can wait out here if you want,” I told her. I didn’t want to drag her too far into the craziness that was my family. I just wanted her to see me in a different light than the bedroom. It wasn’t until that moment when I started to regret my decision to invite her.
“I would like to come, if that’s all right.”
Dammit. She’s perfect.
We walked over to my mom’s room and I could feel the heaviness of the situation growing on my shoulders. I was praying. Praying she was all right. Praying she would know what was happening. Praying she was my mom today.
As Andrea and I walked into mom’s room, I saw her sitting at a table, working intensely at something. I held up my hand to Andrea as a signal for her to wait by the doorway. I didn’t want Mom to have too much of a commotion with me entering with another person.
She heard my shoes squeak as I walked inside. I sighed out loud when she turned to look at me and didn’t appear frightened—she looked…Excited.
“Cooper!”
There was nothing sweeter than hearing my name from my mom’s lips. She knew me today. She was quick to stand up and rushed over to me, wrapping her arms around me. I held on to her for quite awhile. Maybe Ms. Wells was wrong. Maybe somehow Mom’s mind had traveled back to present day. Maybe she wasn’t trapped in the sick time capsule that kept her wandering down a dark path of memory lane.
But quickly my grin faded.
“I thought you weren’t coming back from the honeymoon until next week, honey.”
Shit. It was 2009. And I’d just married Iris.
Her eyes shifted to the doorway and landed on Andrea. “Well, what are you doing out there, Iris? Come on in! Let me get you two some coffee! I can’t wait to hear all about it!”
“No, Mom, we don’t need coffee. We had some on the way.” I walked over to Andrea and spoke softly. “I’m so sorry…”
She shook her head and smiled. “What’s her name?”
“Grace.”
Andrea approached her and pulled her into a hug. “It’s so great to see you, Grace.”
I laughed. I was amazed by how okay Andrea was with all of this. She was going out of her way to make the situation seem somewhat normal. The weather here was in the 70s. It was pretty damn nice to walk outside without coats. But what was nicer was seeing Andrea in a tank top and tight jeans. No makeup. It wasn’t needed. She seemed so simple. So perfect. She never worked as hard as Iris did with her appearance, which made it so easy to fall for her natural beauty.
“Honey, what did I say about that? Don’t call me Grace! Call me Mom! Come on, now. Sit, sit.” Mom ushered her into the room and sat us down on her bed. She took the chair across from us. It was so strange. We were sitting in a nursing home, yet in my mom’s mind we were sitting in her living room. How could that be? I wished I could take a drive through her brain to see what was happening.
“So how was Thailand?” she questioned.
Andrea looked at me and nudged my arm. “You tell her, babe.”
I went into explaining the beauties of Thailand. The wonderful elephants we rode. The beautiful buildings, the museums, the amazing stone structures. The pandas at the Chiang Mai Zoo were pretty astonishing, but the fact that the word panda was now forever engraved in my heart as a connection to Andrea made it even more remarkable. It was her favorite animal, and there was not a doubt in my mind that the woman I wished I could have taken to Thailand was sitting next to me.