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“Do you need a ride home?” I asked.
“Nope. I’m heading to the bar to close. I just left so I could grab dinner.” She held up her hand and waved before walking away.
“I like her, Uncle River.”
You and me both, little dude.
The office had been a shitshow today, and I’d made it over to Magnolia Haven just before the sun went down.
“Oh, my boy, those are beautiful. You always were the best at picking out which blooms I’d plant next,” Grammie said.
Pearl Arabella Pierce was the epitome of everything good. The woman who’d never given up on me. My North Star. My home.
She’d put up with a lot of shit from me, but she’d never turned her back on me.
“I just know what you like,” I said, brushing my hands together to get rid of the dirt that settled there. “These will be easy to see from your window now. And I’ll come back and fill the flowerbed beneath that tree next week.”
“Let me feel the dirt, please,” she whispered, as she smiled up at me from her wheelchair, which I’d parked outside in the garden while I got these flowers planted. I reached into the bag of soil that I’d brought with me, and I grabbed a little in my palm before kneeling in front of her and placing the soil in her dainty hand. She closed her eyes and rubbed her thumb along the dirt. “I always loved getting my hands dirty in the summer and spring.”
My grandmother was an avid gardener. It had always been her happy place. So, when she could no longer live on her own, Kingston and I found her the best place we could. A room of her own with a west-facing view of the mountains and a little garden area that I could fill for her.
“You sure did. But you didn’t like when I made you those mud pies very much.” I chuckled.
She sifted the dirt through her fingers and decorated the grass beside her before brushing off her hands. “You loved to turn on the hose and make a mess, didn’t you? And King just liked to roll in it and laugh. Gramps always got a kick out of what little rascals you two were.”
My grandfather had passed away two years ago, and Grammie’s health had declined after that. She and I had spent hours in the hospital at his bedside as the cancer ate away at him day after day. Kingston found reasons to stay away. He’d never been good at dealing with the heavy stuff. Maybe he was the smart one because I thought it had taken a toll on me and Grammie, watching him disappear before our eyes each day. Grammie had never been the same.
“We did put you two through it, didn’t we?” I asked as I wheeled her back inside. She waved and greeted everyone we passed in the hallway.
“You two gave us the greatest joy in our lives,” she said, as we stopped at the sink to wash our hands before I parked her chair beside the window. She smiled when she took in the pink and white blooms I’d just planted.
She was being kind. I was a hellion, but they’d embraced me all the same. Kingston was a whole lot easier than me, and I was grateful they’d had him to balance things out with my moody ass.
“So, tell me what’s going on with you? Any new lady friends in your life you want to tell me about?”
She wasn’t a fan of my dating life, nor my brother’s. If Grammie had her choice, we’d both settle down and have a couple of kids—but she knew that wasn’t happening.
“I haven’t been out much this last week. Nothing new to report.” I’d been tired of my routine, and as much as I enjoyed having a beautiful woman in my bed as much as the next guy—lately, I’d just been keeping to myself.
I was a moody bastard. I wouldn’t deny it.
“When are you going to bring little Cutler by to see me?” she asked. “I can’t believe he’s moving on to first grade after the summer. I feel like Nash just brought him home from the hospital not that long ago.”
I chuckled. “Yeah. He’s growing up fast. I told you he goes by Beefcake now. The kid is hilarious. I’ll bring him by next week.”
“Thank you. King brought him by not that long ago, and he asked me to call him Beefcake, so it sounds like the new name is sticking, huh?” She chuckled.
“Yep. At least for now. Have you had any other visitors this week?”
“Romeo and Demi came by to see me yesterday, and she brought me the most delicious sun tea from her coffee shop. I’m so glad Romeo found himself such a special girl and finally gave his heart away.”
Here we go.
“Yep. She’s great for him.” I raised a brow. “He has a rough exterior, but you know he’s a big softy beneath it.”
“I know someone else who is just like that.” She winked.
God, I loved this woman.
