Sharon hadn't answered Andy when he'd given her the option of the patio or the living room to talk. He could see she was almost in shock; coming here had really rattled her. So, he walked to her, put his hand on her elbow, and he escorted her inside to his living room, where he had her sit.
"I'll be right back. I'm going to talk to Melody and reschedule with the boys. Give me a minute," he nodded, and she gave a blank nod, as she took in his new home. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but soon, she heard the trampling of feet running toward her. That snapped her out of her state.
"Grandma Sharon!" both boys exclaimed, throwing their arms around her. "We missed you. Grandpa says that he has to talk to you, so we're coming back later," she heard, still not registering which one was talking to her.
"You boys are getting so big," she managed to smile at them, as she looked to them. "I have missed you both very much. I promise I will talk to your mom about seeing you soon," she offered a weak smile. Andy walked back into the room, then.
"Boys, Melody is already at the car. She called your mom, and we'll get your room all decorated soon, ok?" he offered. The boys hugged him, and he walked them to the car, before coming back in the house.
Sharon's head snapped up when she heard Andy walk in and shut the door, "Where did you get all this stuff?" she asked, dumbfounded.
He shrugged as he gave a vague answer, "The furniture store."
She rolled her eyes, as she still had tears in them, "I mean, we looked at all this stuff before. When we were looking at houses, we looked at furniture a little too. This, Andy, this is everything we had picked out."
"Yeah," he said taking a deep breath, "It is. I said, as you know, I have terrible decorating taste, so when it came time to decorate, I needed furniture. If you recall, I did get rid of most everything I owned. So, I went back to the furniture store and bought all this. I knew it was in good taste. That's why I hired Melody to help too; she's helped me locate some things."
"The artwork? Did she help you locate that? Much of this is the same artist I have in the condo," she sighed, looking around.
He shrugged, "I like the pieces, and it felt like home. Melody asked me upfront what I wanted in my house, as far as the decorating and all. I told her I wanted it to feel like home. That's vague and very personal to everyone, and this is what I wanted. It feels like home," he sighed, as he sat in the armchair, angled toward her on the couch. She had her elbows on her knees, resting her head in her hand, running her hands over her eyes.
"It's overwhelming, looking around, seeing all this," she shook her head.
"How about you tell me why you are here, Sharon," Andy offered, sitting forward in the chair, arms resting on his knees, looking at Sharon.
"Right," she nodded and opened her purse, "I found your spare pair of reading glasses on the floor by the coffee table. I guess they must have fallen," she said as she pulled them out of her bag and handed them to him. He eyed her.
"You know you could have given these to Rusty or Provenza," he offered. "I'm sure you didn't need to tail your son and stalk the house."
She nodded and she sighed as she looked up to the ceiling, "I guess I needed to see that you were alright. You've moved, retired, and we've-" she shook her head. "I needed to know you were alright."
He huffed, "Well, here I am," he offered. "Everything you imagined, Sharon?"
She sighed and stood, "I have to go," she nodded and walked quickly to the door.
"Sharon-," he started to say, but she shook her head.
"I have to go," she nodded again, and quickly opened the door and scurried to her car. Andy sat in his chair, head in his hands, and sighed. Soon, the house was eerily quiet.