“Yes, about Gramps,” she answers. “But also about all of us.”

“What happened to his head?” Noah asks.

“Well,” Mama begins, looking back and forth between the two of us. “Grandpa had a little fall in the middle of the night, and he bumped his head.”

“Is he . . .” I stop, because I don’t know what to say. “Okay?” I finish.

“Yes, he’s okay, but he needs a little bit more help with things,” she explains.

I feel tiny stings in the corners of my eyes when she says that, but I don’t want to cry. Especially not in front of Noah because then that will just prove to him that I really am a baby.

“My love, it’s okay,” Mama says to me, rubbing my back in a soft circle. “The older people get, the easier it is to get hurt. Sometimes they don’t see as well or move around as well anymore. It’s just a part of people growing older.”

I nod, and blink back the tears in my eyes.

“Mama, is Gramps . . .” I switch to a whisper before finishing. “Losing his mind?”

She starts, but then pauses, squinting like she’s deciding how much she should tell me. “Sadie, I don’t want us to think of it in that way. Gramps has just been getting a little bit confused every once in a while. And it’s our job to help him to feel at home here with us. Like all those times he used to watch you two and take care of you when you were younger. Now it’s our turn to help take care of him.”

“For how long?” Noah asks. “It’s not like he’s going to get better, right?”

Mama and Noah share a look, as if there’s more to this than they’re telling me. Then Mama finally answers, “It’s hard to say right now. Why don’t we all look at this as a sort of trial period; we’ll just see how things go with Gramps being here.”

I have so many questions, like what exactly does he need to get better from, and what happens after this trial period, and what if things don’t go well, then what? But thinking about the possible answers sends my stomach into knots. So instead, I ask, “Can we still do fun things together, though?”

“Of course. He is still your Grandpa, and he still loves you just the same as he always has—both of you.”

I look in the direction of Gramps’s room down the hall, and I really hope that is true.

Chapter 4

ANIMAL CRACKER TRAIL