Endless Love (Santa’s Secret Helpers #5) - Leeanna Morgan Page 0,58

that could change what was going to happen.

After a frantic call from her mom, Penny had caught a late flight into Kalispell, then driven to Polson. Flying into Montana was a bittersweet moment. She loved coming home, but seeing her grandma so sick left her heart raw.

Gripping her jacket tighter, she looked around the foyer of the hospital. Allan, her dad, rose from a black plastic chair. His smile of welcome was burdened with grief.

Everyone in their family was close to her grandma. With her endless smiles, crazy sense of humor, and never-ending enthusiasm for life, she lit their darkest days with happiness and joy.

Rushing across the room, Penny threw herself into her dad’s open arms.

“It’s good to see you,” her dad said. “How was your flight?”

“It was okay. How’s Grandma?”

Tears filled her dad’s eyes. “She isn’t good, but she’s looking forward to seeing you.”

Taking a deep breath, she blinked back her own tears. “Can I visit her now?”

“Of course, you can. The palliative care unit doesn’t have any set visiting hours.” With their arms linked, they walked toward the elevators. “Betty’s more frail than the last time you saw her.”

Before Penny had left Seattle, her mom, Mabel, had tried to prepare her for the changes that had happened over the last week. Her grandma couldn’t get out of bed anymore. She’d lost weight and the large doses of pain medication had caused other issues.

But she was still alive. She was still the same woman who had sung to Penny and her sisters as they’d danced around the kitchen. The same woman who told them stories of princesses and dragons as they’d sat around the fire. The same woman who had looked after the roses in her garden as if they were her children.

The elevator doors opened and she stepped into the palliative care unit with her dad.

“Your grandma’s down here.” Allan pointed to a different corridor than the one they’d walked down a fortnight ago. “People who don’t have long to live are in this area,” he added softly.

Penny swallowed the lump in her throat. She’d always known her grandma would die someday. Now that the time was close, she couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing her again.

As if sensing her mounting distress, her dad wrapped his arm around her waist. “Betty has had a wonderful life. Hold that thought close to your heart when you see her.”

All she could do was nod.

As they walked down the corridor, she saw how much the hospital had tried to soften the clinical function of the ward. Carpet tiles replaced the usual vinyl flooring. They walked past small seating areas and colorful meeting rooms. There was also a small kitchen where people could make a cup of coffee and reheat food in a microwave. But nothing could disguise the antiseptic smell of the hospital, the reason everyone was here.

She glanced at two people walking toward them. The look they shared bonded them in grief. They understood. They were going through the same thing themselves.

“Here’s Grandma’s room.”

Penny’s heart pounded. The plain, gray door seemed so normal compared to what was going on behind it. “Were Diana, Katie, and Barbara able to catch earlier flights?” Her sisters were scattered like fall leaves across the country, each pursuing careers that were as different as their personalities. They’d all booked flights for this weekend but, with Grandma’s health deteriorating, their parents had asked them to come home earlier.

Her dad looked at his watch. “I can’t believe it’s already twelve-thirty in the morning. Diana’s flight arrives in seven hours, and Katie and Barbara will be here in the afternoon. Are you ready to see your grandma?”

Penny nodded and, with a trembling hand, she opened the door.

Sitting upright in bed, her grandma’s frail, sunken body almost disappeared against the pale linen. But when she turned her head toward Penny, the light of her personality still shone from her eyes.

Penny had promised herself she wouldn’t cry in front of her grandma. So, instead of showing her how upset she was, she smiled, and stepped toward the woman who made her life complete. “Hi, Grandma.”

“It’s so good to see you, Penny. I’m sorry about all this fuss.”

A genuine smile pulled at the corner of Penny’s mouth. It was so like her grandma to put everyone else’s needs above her own. “I’m glad I’m here. How are you feeling?”

“A little tired.”

She gently hugged her grandma. Even though Penny knew her grandma had lost weight, she was still shocked by how