“They're lethal,” she muttered pointedly.
“I bet she told you she has just one, right?” he grinned. “She’s addicted to them and eats a jar a day. I don’t know how her stomach has held up, and they’ll be doing scientific studies on that woman when she’s gone… but she shared her precious stock, because there was somethingin youthat she wanted to be friends with.”
Heidi swallowed nervously, listening to his words. She didn’t have many friends back home; in fact, those supposed friends had covered for her lying ex who had cheated on her. No, there was really no one she could truly call a friend or rely on – not even her mom, but maybe if she took a few moments for herself, she could apologize and bridge that gap again.
“Maybe fate delivered you here because someone here needed to meet you, to say hello, to make your acquaintance, because as sure as I’m sitting here – you brightened Dottie’s day and made her smile. Would that be so bad to reach another person here? To unwind for a few days, exchange a few smiles, and explore what a slower life would be like?” his gentle voice was so compelling, so full of hope, earnestness, and compassion for the people in town that she was almost bought into… almost.
“Are you trying to sell me a timeshare?” she asked, andhe burst out laughing, turning to start the car. As he looked up, their eyes met in the rearview mirror, and her breath caught in her lungs at his next words.
“My grandma has a spare room you’re welcome to – and while it would be helping you, it would help me too,” he offered quietly. “I can’t be there all the time, and she could use a little feminine company, someone who isn’t as ornery as me.”
“Your… grandmother?”
“Yep. She’s ninety, about ninety pounds dripping wet, and a gentle soul,” he offered, pulling the car away from the curb and making a U-turn so they could head back the same direction they’d come from. “She’d love the company, makes a wicked meatloaf, and hides cherry sours all over the house because she knows she’s not supposed to have that much sugar…”
His grandmother sounded precious,Heidi thought for a moment, thinking fondly of her own grandmother who’d passed away when she was fifteen. This was really a kind offer, a generous one, because she was a stranger… and he could have just driven her to a boarding house, a hotel, or let her sleep on a bunk at the station – but he was right.
She’d been looking for a fresh start, trying to get away from the hurt, to find her place… and while this wasn’t it, would it be so bad to slow down for a second and breathe? At least out here with no signal, there would be no phone calls, no text messages, no telemarketers harassing her at all hours for her extended warranty.
“It would be much appreciated – especially since it’s just for a few days,” she agreed, watching his profile as he drove away from town on the empty roads that were surrounded by farmland, bushes, brush, and rolling hills as far as the eye could see – before she looked back at him and did a double-take.
Heidi could have sworn Jack cracked a smile.
Four
JACK
Walkingup to the front porch, Jack held his breath and knocked. He heard the familiar creak of wood that sounded so loud in the faint pitter-patter of raindrops on the tin roof. He’d put the blue tin roof on it last year when the shingles had leaked inside the tiny two-bedroom cottage. He hoped his grandmother didn’t ask a bunch of questions he wasn’t ready to answer. It was getting late, and he knew she would be getting ready for bed soon. As he eased the door open slowly, he called out a greeting.
“Hey Mimi, it’s me…”
“I’ve told you to knock, young man,” his grandmother replied kindly, coming around the kitchen corner slowly. He could smell the coffee that had sat on the burner a little too long, the faint scent of a vanilla candle she loved so much, and some fabric softener that smelled like flowers. He knew the minute she saw Heidi – because his grandmother started smiling. “You should have told me you brought company, so I could have worn my pink zip-up bathrobe to match my sexy curlers pinned to my head…” And Heidi let out a little laugh behind him that caused his chest to do this weird flip-flopping sensation.
“You look beautiful and always do,” Jack offered politely, sending her a wink. “I think it’s the green plastic pins that hold those curlers that are my favorite. I brought you some of your favorite buttermilk from Dottie’s – and company. This is my friend, Heidi Thompson.”
“Afriend-friend?” she whispered loudly behind her hand as she adjusted her horn-rimmed glasses, looking at Heidi critically. His grandmother’s gaze traveled slowly up and down Heidi as she graciously smiled under the inspection, giving a little curtsy that made Jack huff out a laugh.These two,he thought, smiling.It was like being presented at court – and they were both in on the act.
“No, Mimi – she’s just a friend I met that needs a place to stay that’s safe, so I volunteered you because we both know you’d beat off a chupacabra for touching your precious cherry sours in the cupboard…” Jack shot Heidi a look as she smiled wider in understanding, as his grandmother slapped him playfully on the arm before hugging him with her gnarled hands.
“Don’t you tattle on me,” Mimi said primly. “I don’t tell your secrets – you don’t blab mine.”
“I have no secrets,” Jack teased, knowing it would tickle his grandmother and ease the tension from having a stranger in the house. “I’m innocent as the driven snow.”
“Don’t gimme that sass, young man. We both know it doesn’t snow here, so you have no idea what color that snow would be – and who stole my curler clips and hair pins to make armor for your toys in the backyard when you were a boy…”
“That’s oddly specific, Mimi,” he protested, schooling his expression into a straight face that made everyone smile again. “I’m innocent, I swear.”
“Don’t lie.”
“Mimi!” he gasped, laying a hand on his chest before rolling his eyes. “Fine. It was once…”
“Jack Levi Chance…”
“Three names – now I’m in trouble,” he offered glibly, chuckling as his tiny little grandmother patted him on the cheek.
“You give me a kiss, scamp – and get back to work. I know you’re on the clock,” his grandmother offered sweetly as he dutifully pursed his lips, kissing her proffered soft cheek that smelled like flowers, baby powder, and memories.
“Love you, Mimi – and Heidi, you be sweet to my grandmother. If you sass her, she’s liable to put you in the hospital.”
