“You think you’ll be okay?”

“I’m fine. Kind of embarrassed. That was impulsive. I’m not usually that impetuous, calling a man I hardly know in the middle of the night.”

“Hardly know? I can’t think of a woman I know better,” he said. “We know each other very well. If we sign off will you promise if you need to talk, you’ll just call back? No matter what time it is?”

“Sure,” she said. “But I’ll try not to.”

“Sometimes talking helps,” he said. “God, never tell anyone in my family I said that, okay?”

“Okay,” she said with a laugh.

* * *

Matt held the phone against his chest. Look out, he told himself. Danger, danger. He wanted to be there with her. If he was there, she could roll over, and he’d comfort her. He wanted to get his arms around her, hold her, whisper to her that what she was feeling seemed reasonable. And that she was no longer alone. He’d take that job in a heartbeat.

Nine

The fatigue of ALS might’ve slowed Winnie down but it didn’t keep her from staging her own wedding festivities. She rested in the morning after breakfast and a bath, generously tended to by her new full-time nurse, Lin Su. Then she was good for a little company and lunch and with an afternoon rest, she had at least a few hours of socializing and dinner. Winnie’s schedule of meals and rests had to be carefully monitored and protected to ensure she wasn’t weak or fatigued because she had planned activities!

“As if I’m surprised,” Grace said.

Grace had every reason to expect the Headly family to be wonderful. After all, Troy was. What she wasn’t prepared for was to find them more wonderful than she could have imagined. Troy’s mother, Donna, was thoughtful, funny and clearly a strong head of the family. Burt Headly was a big, good-natured cuddle-bear, always smiling, always hugging, perpetually laughing, grandchildren climbing on him all the time. When Troy and twenty-one-year-old Sam stood beside their father, the resemblance in looks and temperament was so obvious people would put them in the same family without knowing them. Troy’s sister, Jess, was very like her mother in both looks and that quiet authority. Her husband, Rick, the firefighter from Morro Bay, fit into the family perfectly—strong, good-natured, patient. And the three children, ages two, four and six, had piles of energy but Troy, Rick and Burt ran them up and down the beach until they were sandy, gamey and worn-out. When they came to what was Winnie’s house, the Headly adults kept a hand on each child, careful that they wouldn’t mess up the place or tire Winnie.

Donna and Jess were the most interested in Grace’s skating career. “I would give anything to see you skate,” Jess said.

“And I’d be happy to do that for you, but Troy might have a fit,” she said, smoothing a hand over her tummy. “It’s not as though I’d take a hard fall and hurt the baby, but he’s gotten very protective.”

“I have the matter taken care of,” Winnie said. “I had my assistant from San Francisco send us the DVDs.”

“Mother, you didn’t,” Grace said. “We can’t ask the whole family to watch home movies!”

“But we’d love to,” Donna said. “And after the baby comes, once you’re on your feet and have had a chance to practice a little, we want the real thing.”

“The girls are going to be so excited!” Jess said.

After a family dinner that Donna and Grace joined forces to cook, the women and kids sat around the great room with the DVDs playing on the big flat-screen, exclaiming over each jump, spiral, arabesque, axel and double axel. After just a few minutes, the men were on the deck with drinks, except for Mikhail, who was giving commentary on the skating. Pretty soon the little girls and Jess’s four-year-old son were twirling around the living room, making them all laugh.

Troy, Donna and Burt hustled everyone out of Winnie’s house before it was very late and Grace was able to help her mother get ready for bed.

“When we’re not in wedding mode, Lin Su will be able to settle me for the night,” Winnie said apologetically.

“I’m happy to do it, Mama.”

“I’ve had many reasons to resent this blasted condition, but I think tonight brought home to me the best reason to resent it.” She sighed. “I think you and Troy will have lots of children. I think you’ll be wonderful with them, even if you don’t have the stamina to turn them into great athletes.” She sniffed. “I hope heaven has a good window, Grace. I really want to watch them grow.”

“Oh, Mama...”

“We’re not going to snivel and drown in self-pity,” Winnie said. “Instead we’re going to get you married. You picked a good one. How you did that without my advice, I’ll never know.”

Grace laughed through sentimental tears. “It’s a wonder, isn’t it?”

“His family,” Winnie said. “Nice people. I think they like you.”

“I hope so.”

“They’re going to tell all their friends that you’re a champion,” Winnie said. “You’ll be a better mother than I was.”

“I’m not so sure about that...”

“Work on it, then. I was better than my mother, you’ll be better than I was, your daughters will be better than you. But Grace...Izzy,” she said, adding the name Grace had gone by as a girl. “Tell me one thing. I was a hard mother, I know, but did you ever doubt I loved you?”

Grace shook her head. “No. Your love was fierce.”

“Ah,” Winnie said, satisfied, settling back and letting her eyes close softly.

“A little controlling,” Grace added.

“A little?” came a voice from the bedroom doorway. Mikhail stood there watching them. He held up a DVD in a plastic sleeve. “If the Empress is ready for bed, we will watch another show together. Now the house is quiet and the little dancers have gone home to bed. I can tuck her in for you.”

“Do you feel up to it, Mama?” Grace asked.

“I’m fine, Grace. But you must be tired. I remember—that was the first thing about being a little pregnant—so tired. Go and rest. Leave any more cleanup to the baby’s father.”

Grace kissed her mother’s forehead while Mikhail settled into the comfy chair beside the bed.