“I sure did, young man,” Gran replied, surprised. Sadie went into the kitchen to turn on the kettle and found herself smiling as she listened to the sound of Gran and Max chattering on about the complexity of hurdle stitches.
Then Max called out, “Now, Sadie, you’re injured! You let me make that tea.”
“This is not the smug, entitled, self-important young man I expected to meet,” Gran whispered when Sadie was back beside her on the couch.
“Shhh!” Sadie glanced through the galley kitchen door to see if Max had overheard.
“Do you have any milk?” he called.
“I do,” Sadie called back.
“Max, I am just such a big old fan of your father,” Gran said as Max served the tea.
“Oh yeah?” Sadie noticed his smile dim a watt or two when his dad came up.
“What was it like, being raised by the great Holden Brody?” Gran’s fandom was making her sound positively girlish.
“It was... well,never boring,” Max said. “We got to travel a lot. I met a ton of musical greats.”
“Gran, you should tell Max aboutyoursinging career,” Sadie suggested, and caught a grateful look from Max at the topic change.
“Oh, please,” Gran said dismissively. “I’d hardly call what I had a career.”
“Not true,” Sadie said. “Gran’s got the most amazing voice.”
“Well, that must mean you come by your incredible voice honestly,” Max said, while Gran beamed at him, clearly charmed. Sadie loved seeing her gran so happy, as Max peppered her with questions about her short singing career. They refilled their tea several times as they chatted—and soon it was getting dark outside. Sadie’s stomach growled and she hoped no one noticed. But no such luck.
“Uh-oh,” Max said with a laugh, glancing over at Sadie. “She’s hungry. You know what that means, right?”
Gran shared his laughter. “I sure do! She’s been like this since birth. You need to keep her blood sugar at a certain level or she melts down.”
“Gran! Max! That isnottrue.”
“It isso true,” they both said in unison—and Sadie found herself laughing along with them.
“I took the bus here,” Max said. “But— well, I have access to a driver.” He looked embarrassed when he said this. Sadie was coming to realize Max didn’t exactly enjoy all the trappings that came along with being a Brody. “Elsie, have you ever been to Nashville before?”
“I can’t say I have.”
“Well, we can’t let the inside of this apartment be the only thing you see. Let me take you two out on the town.”
“I don’t know, you looked pretty tired out from the travel, Gran. We could always just order in.”
“Up to you, of course,” Max said. “But I’ve got a regular table at a gastro-pub called Ernie’s. It’s not fancy, but it’s got the most comfortable booths, and is my favorite spot for down-home cooking. A good meal might be just what Elsie needs to feel restored.”
“Young man, I can’t argue with you there,” Gran said, pushing herself up off the couch. “I have reached the age where I will never say no to a good time, or a good meal, when it’s offered.”
“But, Max...” Sadie began.
Max looked at her—and Sadie saw realization dawn on him. “Right. Elsie, you should know, when Sadie and I are out in public together, things can get a little crazy with the media. Maybe you’re not up for that.”
Sadie hoped Gran would say shewasn’tup for it. Pretending to be in love was going to feel even more disingenuous with her gran there to witness the deception—all the while not having a clue that her granddaughter was lying.
“We’ll be fine,” Gran said decisively. She turned to Sadie. “Come on, dear. Let’s the two of us go freshen ourselves up for a night out. We’ll want to look nice for all those photographers.”
Sadie smiled wanly and followed along. When they were in the bedroom, Gran took Sadie’s hands in hers. “Now,thatis a nice boy,” she said. “Maybe our family’s streak of bad luck in love is over.”
—
