Just Maybe

One

April, 2006
Coyote's Rest, Texas
"Poppa, will you ever get old?" The ten-year-old little girl asked the older man, her hands full of dandelions as the man fixed the fence around the cow ranch.

"Everyone gets old, Kota." The man told his granddaughter, looking back at her.

"Even you will get old one day." He said and she lifted her head, hazel eyes shining beneath her grandfather's borrowed baseball cap.

"Does that mean you'll go away like Grammy did?" The girl asked a question the man had difficulty answering.

"Everyone does, Kota."

December, 2013
Coyote's Rest, Texas
"Poppa!" The seventeen-year-old teenager cheered, running into the ranch house, then the old man stood to hug his favorite granddaughter.

"There's my Kota!" He greeted her, holding her tightly despite the looks they garnered from the rest of the family.

"How have you been? Grades good in school?" The man tried to catch up with his granddaughter but found himself pulled aside by his daughter and son-in-law. Poor Dakota was used to it though. She barely had any time with her favorite grandfather anymore. And at dinner, the two sat together and whispered their shared jokes and secrets, laughing together just like they did when she was but a child, forming a memory that would forever be more precious than anything else for the soon woman.

March, 2023
New York, New York
"Miss Karrington, you've got a call on line one." Margerie said and I sighed, picking up the phone.

"Dakota."

"Kota." I heard and smiled, relaxing back into my chair.

"Poppa! It's been so long! What's going on?" I asked and he sighed.

"I need help, sweetheart. You know I hate-"

"Stop it. You always helped me no matter what, so ask. How much?" I asked and grabbed my phone, going to my bank app so I could send him whatever he needed.

"Kota, you do too much for me." He said and I smiled. When he told me the amount, only two grand, I sent him three just to be sure. He always asked for less than he needed.

"Kota-"

"Poppa, you're my grandpa! If you need help, I help! If you need me there, I'm there! Just like you were for me! There's nothing I wouldn't do for you!" I said and he chuckled. We spent another hour on the phone, catching up and talking about anything and nothing, sharing jokes and secrets, until I had to go because my meeting was coming.

"I love you, Poppa! I'll be down there in a couple of months, okay?" I told him and he hummed.

"Okay, Kota. I love you too." He said and I smiled, hanging up then gathering my things, going to the conference room to have a meeting with the board.

☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

"I said no, Christie!" I huffed, gathering my bags, but my sister scoffed.

"You have the money! I'm not asking for much! Just three hundred-"

"No!" I snapped and grabbed my phone off the desk, ending the call and pocketing my phone.

"Can I ask you something?" Margerie asked and I glanced at my assistant as we walked towards the elevator.

"What?" 

"You always send your grandfather whatever he asks for and then some, but not the rest of your family. Why is that? I've been curious for a while." She said and I sighed.

"Because my poppa is the one that paid for my school. Every good memory I have as a child involves him, not my parents or siblings or cousins. I'm happy to pay him back for all he's done for me. The rest of them? They're gold diggers." I said and she nodded.

"He sounds like a good man." She said and I smiled as I thought of my poppa.

"He is. He's a wonderful man." I admitted then we got to the garage and went to the car waiting for me.

"You're going to see him in a month, aren't you?" Margerie asked as we rode through the city towards my building and I nodded.

"I always go down for summer. I spend three months with him to help him out. He's getting too old to be alone anymore. I think I might try and move him up here when I go there. That, or I'll hire someone to be there and take care of him while I'm here. Just until I can get down there permanently." I told her and she smiled.

"You really love him." She said and I nodded.

"I do! I love him so much!" I breathed and laid my head back, thinking back on all the summers I spent in Coyote's Rest. It was the definition of a small town. Barely five hundred people, everyone knew each other, most of them were farmers, and the town was so beautiful when you got to main street. If I didn't have this job here in New York, I'd probably live there full time. But I couldn't go because I had this job. It was everything I'd worked my ass off for, everything my poppa had put his money towards, and I couldn't squander his gift to me.

"Goodnight, Dakota." I waved to Margerie as I got out of the car and sighed, going into my brownstone and throwing my bag down. I sighed as I flopped onto my couch then I laid my arms over my eyes. I love being the CFO of the company, but fuck did it made my brain hurt! I groaned as my phone rang then I sat up, reaching into my pocket to grab it. When I pulled it out, I frowned as I saw some Texas number calling me.

"Who the hell is this?" I whispered, swiping my thumb on the decline. I went to set my phone down when it rang again and I saw it was the same number. Obviously, this was important.

"Hello?" I huffed as I answered, ready to tell off the scam caller.

"Dakota Karrington?"

"Yes." I told the woman, hearing chatter behind her, but she seemed... somber.

"Miss Karrington, my name is Lynn Davis. I'm a nurse at Austin Memorial Hospital in Texas. I'm so sorry to tell you this, but your grandfather Jack Karrington was admitted to the hospital earlier today. I'm afraid he didn't make it through the evening." She carefully told me, my jaw dropping at her words as a hole ripped open in my chest. I heard her speaking, but it was like I couldn't process the words. All I heard was her words from before, about Poppa, about him passing. I felt my phone slip from my hand as tears fell then I let out a wail, gripping my chest as the grief slammed into me like a freight train. For the first time in my entire life, I was breathing while my poppa wasn't.