One Lavender Ribbon Read Online Free PDF Page A

do things I’m not in the mood to do? This happens every Saturday.”
    Pops stopped clearing the dishes and faced him. “Will, you’re thirty. And you spend your weekends with an old man.”
    “I happen to like that old man.”
    “You’re a good young man.” Pops wagged a finger and pinned him with a sharp glare. “But you are a young man. Since I moved here, you’ve stopped doing so many things you love.”
    Will shook his head, but Pops continued. “I know you used to go hiking and kayaking, scuba diving.”
    Will grinned, lifting an index finger. “I went scuba diving last month.”
    “Yes, and I practically had to force you. You used to go every month.” His face clouded. “I’ve turned you into a geezer.”
    Will leaned back and laughed. “That’s absurd.”
    “You don’t even go to the gym anymore.” Pops motioned up the stairs. “You put that metal beast thing in your room, and you work out there.”
    On the opposite wall, the clock ticked, blinking away moment after moment of time. Precious time. Pops was eighty-one. The death of Will’s grandmother, when she was seventy-five, had been sudden. No warning of the illness that took her in a few short weeks. It had rocked Will’s world. He wouldn’t waste the time he could spend with Pops. He also couldn’t tell his grandfather that.
    Pops was philosophical and poetic and would somehow twist it into Will just hiding behind the fear of loss. Pops wasn’t scared to die.
    But Will was terrified of losing him.
    Will pressed his palms over his eyes and exhaled. “Look, how can I explain this?” Yes, life had changed five years ago, but Will wasn’t a kid anymore. The things that had seemed important to a twenty-five-year-old weren’t important to a thirty-year-old. Now, life had meaning. It had purpose. Still, no real way to explain that without it all coming back to Pops and the time they had together. “Five years ago I was working to get the promotion to executive loan manager.” Within the same week, he’d received the promotion and welcomed Pops as a roommate. “When I got the job, I knew I had to clean out some clutter in my life.”
    “The hobbies you had were clutter?” Pops’s voice filled with sadness.
    “They’re a distraction,” Will said, hoping Pops believed it. “The job is extremely demanding. Mentally, it’s exhausting. Before I got the promotion, I had a lot of pent-up energy to burn. I don’t have that now. My life had to become more organized, streamlined, to be successful in my new position.”
    “You make a convincing argument.” Pops straightened. “But it’s an awfully technical and practical way to look at life. And it doesn’t sound very lively or exciting.”
    “Well, everyone can’t lead an exciting life. Some of us just have to work hard, be honest and persistent.” Will did love his work. And some childish things had to be set aside to do his job to the best of his ability.
    It was all good. Orderly. No surprises, no shocks. Everyone wanted that kind of stability, that security, right? And Will wanted time. More time to spend with Pops. But the more of a routine Will and Pops developed, the more troubled his grandfather became. Though Pops didn’t say much, Will could sense it. And he wasn’t interested in Pops ruining their unspoken yet carved-in-stone Saturday morning plans.
    “Sounds like a rut,” Pops admitted.
    “Maybe I like my rut.”
    “You know what they say. A rut is just a grave with both ends kicked out.”
    “Then it’s not a rut.” Will frowned and tugged at his shirt collar. Honestly, what thirty-year-old man lived like this? None he could think of, but it didn’t matter.He enjoyed his life. There were worse things than losing a few hobbies. Like regret. Yeah, that was a big one. He’d never have to look back and regret how he’d spent his time. “Look, Pops, things are just the way I want them. If they weren’t, I’d make changes.”
    The older man watched him through