One Lavender Ribbon Read Online Free PDF

narrowed eyes. “So, if I wasn’t here, you’d still be doing the same things you are now?”
    “No, I’d have to fix my own breakfast.”
    Pops threw a soft punch into Will’s shoulder. “Funny.” He grew serious again. “It’s not because you’re taking care of me?”
    Will laughed. “I think you have that backward. You’re the one who’s taking care of me.”
    Pops’s face lit up. “I guess that’s what families do.”
    Will stiffened and hoped Pops wouldn’t notice. He tried to swallow the rock lodged in his throat but couldn’t get it down. He rose from the table. That’s what families do. That’s what he did. Certainly what Pops did. Now, Will’s mom and dad? Not so. “I’ll clean up. Why don’t you pack us a couple of sandwiches for the day?”
    Pops nodded and pulled the cooler from the pantry. “I heard from your folks. They have to cancel their trip home.”
    Will nearly dropped the plate he was carrying to the sink. He spun to face Pops. “Are you kidding?”
    Pops looked down. Will could tell his grandfather didn’t want him to see the disappointment.
    “Did they give a reason?” Will asked through gritted teeth and dropped a glass in the sink with a loudclink.
    “No.” Pops tried to sound cheery, but his voice cracked, betraying him. He forced a smile. “They didn’t.”
    A familiar burn settled in Will’s gut.
    Pops brushed a hand through the air. “Their work is very important. I don’t have to tell you that. It’s okay that they can’t come. We’ll still have us a humdinger of a time.”
    Will filled the sink with warm bubbly water, keeping his back to Pops because, where his mom and dad were concerned, he had a lousy poker face. They’d let Pops down. Again. How could they do that? How could anyone be so heartless?
    In the stark silence that followed, Pops worked to fill the cooler. Will glanced over his shoulder. The slight tremor in Pops’s fingers only allowed for slow meticulous movements while working with small things like sandwich bags and Snack Packs.
    “It’s your birthday, Pops.” Will forced out a breath when his anger got the better of him. Peace Corps workers or not, his parents were wrong to devalue Pops’s birthday like this. Two years between visits. Two years . With each passing day, the gravity of Pops’s age weighed. Eighty-one. How many more birthday celebrations did they think he’d be having?
    Their trip home from Africa was all Pops had talked about for weeks—making plans, arranging the spare room to their liking. And now, with no explanation, they simply weren’t coming. Will’s fury burned. But letting Pops know how mad he was would only make matters worse. He forced a smile and glanced over his shoulder. “Humdinger, huh?”
    “We’ll go to a nice dinner, then maybe hit one of those discothèques,” Pops teased.
    “A discothèque?” Will laughed, releasing the anger for Pops’s sake. He crossed the kitchen and hugged his grandfather’s shoulders. “I don’t think so. I’m not even sure they have discothèques anymore. But we’ll come up with something.”
    Sun streamed in through the window, bathing them in its light. Pops turned to it, letting it warm him in the cool kitchen. “It’s a beautiful morning. I hope the fish are biting.”
    “They’ve never let us down.”
    Pops pivoted enough to look Will in the eye. “You’ve never let me down.”
    “I hope I never do.”
    “Couldn’t happen.” Pops grinned. “You come from good stock.”
    The lump, again. The muscles in his jaw tightened. Even if it did skip a generation .
    “I’ve got to water the garden before we go. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
    “After all the rain last night, you need to water?” Will held the cooler lid open and looked inside.
    “Can’t be too careful,” Pops said. “I planted some new seeds. Thought it’d stay cloudy today, but the sun broke through.”
    “And when you noticed it, you thought it would be a good idea to