Page 38 of Truck

“Rory is a financial manager, and I wonder if she can check the businesses for any way we can save money, change things up, or whatever. Your thoughts on that, Pres?” Coin asks. I knew he was bringing it to the table, and I’m interested in what Pres will say.

“See what she thinks of the gas station if she’s willing. Then we’ll discuss it further. Nothing else? Good. Meeting over, fuck off.”

We all jump to our feet, and many of us are chuckling at the way Pres closed the meeting. I’m not sure what he has planned, but something seems to make him get out of here quickly.

Chapter 20

RORY

Monday morning and I’ve had my run around the park. I have organized the laundry, which is never that much since it is only me these days. I checked the fridge for anything I might need while I’m taking Martin and Cora to the grocery store. Then I quickly lock up and head outside.

I give a wave and a “Good morning” to Martin and Cora who are locking up their house and heading toward me.

“It’s a pleasant morning, Rory. I saw you coming back from your run. You don’t look as frazzled as you did when you first started running,” Cora says with a huge grin on her face.

“You are right, Cora. I was not as fit as I could have been, and you know I’m not a great runner. I have improved, but I don’t particularly enjoy running but I hate going to a gym more, so it’s the better of the choices.”

Martin chuckles. “I can agree, Rory. I was never a great runner, but I didn’t mind going to the gym. Not of late, because my old bones wouldn’t cope with all that is needed in a gym these days.”

It’s not long before we are strolling around the grocery store and I’m not seeing anything that particularly takes my fancy. I think part of my problem is the way my mind keeps wandering back to Truck and his kisses. Terrence was a nice kisser, but Truck takes it to another level. His kisses are consuming, and…nope, don’t compare them, it’s not fair on Terrence or myself.

Arriving back home, I help Martin take in the bags of groceries, kiss Cora on the cheek, and head to my house. I grab the bag of groceries from the trunk and lock up the car before heading indoors.

After putting everything away, I freshen up and sit at the kitchen table and create problems that Grady can solve. I think these are in line with his learning so far. He just has to concentrate and think on the things I’ve taught him so far. Grady is becoming good with numbers, and I think he’d make any kind of financial career if that is what he wanted. He’d be an excellent accountant if that was the way he wanted his career to head.

Checking the time, I see it’s nearly time to fetch Grady, so quickly freshen up, grab my purse and keys, and head out again. I think today we’ll stop at the drive-thru and eat in the car parking area. We have not done that before, and I like to change things up for him and for myself. I am new to the area and I’m enjoying going to different places with Grady. Ice skating, I think it will be fun because I’ve never done that.

I wait in line to get Grady, and I see him searching for me. I can’t stop my smile from appearing. I am starting to love this kid and I don’t care who knows it. I have heard his mother isn’t doing well and they expect her to pass soon. With that in mind, I’m doing my best to divert his attention from it, and Jill told me she is grateful for all I am doing. But I’m not doing it for thanks. I’m doing it because I can.

Jumping into the passenger seat, Grady gives me a huge smile. “Rory, you’ll never guess.”

“What won’t I guess?”

“Miss O'Grady asked me who was helping me with my math, and I told her someone better than her,” Grady giggles while telling me. “She wasn’t happy, but I looked her right in the eye, just like Jill told me to when I know I’m being truthful. She huffed and walked away.” More giggles burst from him.

“Well, she wasn’t teaching you correctly, but you be the bigger person, Grady. Don’t make her look small by being a smartass, you can make her look small by getting the best results you can. That is enough to show her she isn’t performing well.”

“She caught me before I left school and asked me again who was teaching me, and I told her my adopted sister. Then I walked away, and I did smile to myself Rory, but she was behind me so wouldn’t have seen it.”

“I wonder why she asked you? Because she didn’t seem interested in your math being the best it could be,” I didn’t mean to say that out loud, but I looked at Grady when he laughed.

“She saw me working out a sum. I didn’t do it the way she showed the class. I did it the way you showed me, and I got the right answer. A lot in the class got it wrong by doing it her way, too.”

“Oh, dear, that’s not good for the others. You know I’m really proud of you, Grady. You are working hard and your math is very good now. You are at the head of the class, I would imagine, and if you don’t get an A on your next test, I’m going to want to know why,” I look at Grady and give him a wink. “Okay, here we are. Now, what do you fancy? We are eating here instead of the diner because I’ve never been to this drive-thru so let’s get our food ordered.”

I order a daily double, fries, and a mango pineapple refresher. Grady orders a deluxe McCrispy, fries, and a Sprite. It isn’t long before we are munching happily on our meal, and I’ve not had anything like this in a long time, and I mean over two years.

“Have you seen your mother lately, Grady?” I ask as we clean up after our meal.

Grady looks at me with a sad expression. “No. Jill goes to see Momma, but you know she was never around that much. I don’t feel as though she is my mother in many ways because Jill always was the one who did things for me. Jill did everything, like cooking, cleaning the house, and everything else.”

“Jill said your mother isn’t doing well and they don’t think she’ll survive much longer. How does that make you feel?” I ask, and I did that because Jill asked me to make sure Grady was okay with what was happening.

“Sad. I know she’s not going to ever come home. But she never came home much, anyway. I’ll miss the fact that I had a mother, but not the actual person. She worked a lot. She had a lot of boyfriends. This one was always said to be the one that would get us a proper home. But I had a proper home, with Jill.”

I squeezed Grady’s hand. “I understand. When your mother passes, we’ll go to the funeral together. I’ll come and stand with you and Jill. We will do it with kindness in our hearts.”

Nodding, Grady squeezes my hand in return. “Okay.”