“Do we need to stop and get anything?” I asked, glancing at April, who was chewing her thumb. She’d been gnawing at it most of the drive and even I was starting to feel the pain from it. I brought my hand to her wrist, pulling it away from her mouth. The inside of my thumb rubbed tiny circles around her wrist. She smiled at me. It was a smile that melted me. She looked nervous, and yet, beautiful. Her hair was clipped up and she had on a pretty sundress with a spot you could see the swell of her clevage, which I had to force myself to divert my eyes from multiple times on the drive.
She let out a long breath. “No. I have everything we need.”
The cottage was off a quiet street, with a long private driveway, surrounded by trees. When we came through the clearing, there sat a small bungalow, faded-green paint with a crystal-clear view of the lake as a backdrop. The cottage may not have been much, but the view was incredible. I smiled at April. “This is great.”
She simply shrugged.I chalked it up to nerves andpulled the bags from the trunk before taking a minute to observe the surroundings. April came around. “It might be a little tight once the party starts, but most people will be outside.”
“No worries.”
Just as we headed toward the house, I heard a booming voice call out, “Spud!”
Spud?Her grandpa ambled over from the side of the house with his cane and a wide smile as he embraced her in a very tight hug. He wasn’t particularly tall, but he sported thick grey eyebrows and a matching moustache that would have made Magnum P.I. proud.
“Spud?” I whispered under my breath to her. Her face went a bright crimson.
“Her nickname,” he responded flatly, as if it was common knowledge. Somehow, in all theget-to-know-me-so-when-we’re-questioned-our-story-is-plausiblescenarios, the kid nicknames never came up.
“I think she left that one out,” I chuckled.
He searched me up and down. “No wonder. She doesn’t like it much, but not many kids like their nicknames, especially because when she was born, she looked like a potato. Scrunched face and all. Thought it was gonna stay that way.”
Oh, Jesus.
“Okay, Papi. Thanks for the story.” Her voice was well above her normal range as she wrapped her arms around his skinny frame and gave him a good squeeze.
He let go of her and looked over to me. “This here must be your fella everyone’s going on about?”
Fella?
I watched her swallow a lump in her throat, as if she was nervous to lie to him. I wanted to reach out and grab her hand to tell her it was okay, but watching how he was staring at me, I thought I’d better not. His demeanor suggested he was a formal man of an era lost long ago, and I would almost expect him to ask for a chaperone for me to take her out for a stroll in the garden.
“This here is Josh,” she spoke in a soft tone.
Her Papi swung out his hand for a formal handshake,which I, of course, extended mine. His grip was firm for a man turning ninety.
“Happy birthday, sir.”
“That’s a good handshake, son.” He nodded at me. There was a long-paused silence as I watched April shift on her feet. I also noticed the crowd of eyes on us. “I hear you play ball.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I like baseball.”
“It’s a great sport, sir. I can get you tickets any time you’d like to come.”
“April gets me tickets. I don’t go too often anymore, since my hip and all,” he drifted off.
I don’t know why I didn’t think that April could get her own tickets, but it’s usually an automatic reflex. I was gonna need to sharpen up for this.
“Dad, come sit before you injure that hip again.” A tall woman with perfectly curled, jet-black hair and thick makeup came over and strung her arm through his, leading him back to a wooden rocking chair over by the set up tables. The woman smiled at me with a slight blush on her cheeks and stage whispered, “You’re late.”
April’s shoulders instantly fell. “Hello to you too, Mother.”
That was an icy tone, and shocking, from April. Not off on the right foot already. Time to rescue my girl. I gave an apologetic smile to her mother. “That would be my fault.”
Her mother’s face instantly softened as she gazed over me. “I see. No harm.”
“Are you going to introduce me to this fine-looking young man?”
