“Is everything to your satisfaction?”
Nana spoke up. “Oh yes. It’s beautiful back here. I feel like a movie star.”
Her eyes twinkled a bit, like the little lights in the ceiling, as she studied her surroundings.
“Wonderful, ma’am. My name is Brent. I’ll be your driver today for your trip to Lake Mead and back. Should you need anything, please press the red button on the edge of the partition.” He pointed to a light in the corner. “Otherwise, please enjoy your ride with Limovegas.”
Several minutes passed and they hadn’t moved. Bill and Nana were scrolling through the lists for the onboard entertainment system and settled on a station that played big band standards from the 1940s.
“Remind you of anything, dear?” Bill looked at Nana with kind eyes.
It would have been so much easier for Lisa if he hadn’t been such a sweet man. It was going to break his heart when she had to step in and call off the wedding. She didn’t want to do that, but she still couldn’t see a way around it. Tonight, after they’d had a memorable day in a beautiful setting, she’d have to sit them down and explain.
Maybe having one last day of memories together would help soften the blow.
She hoped so because it was becoming increasingly clear that the necessary words to come would be some of the hardest she’d ever spoken in her life.
The door to the limousine opened back up and sunshine streamed in.
Ryan climbed in. Lisa couldn’t contain her confusion. “Your break just ended. You should be playing now, right?”
He slid to the edge of the bench seat. “I quit.”
“I know. You announced it last night. This is your last tournament. So why aren’t you in it?”
“No, I quit early. I cashed in my chips. I didn’t want to leave you here with Pops and Gina Mae by yourself.” He looked at his grandfather. “You told me to go out with a bang, Pops.”
Bill pointed a mockingly-stern finger at Ryan. “So I did. But I didn’t tell you to be a quitter, son.”
“I’d already made my decision. It was just time.”
Ryan took the cap off a bottle and poured a little bit of amber liquid over two cubes of ice. “Not as good as last night’s, but it’ll do. Pops, you want one?”
His grandfather smiled with a gleam in his eye and then looked at Nana. “Don’t mind if I do indulge my inner Irishman a bit. Would you like anything, dear?”
As her grandmother nodded politely, Lisa couldn’t help but frown a bit. Nana never drank, but she’d had champagne last night, and now she was studying the sleek bar inside the limo. Lisa smoothed away a non-existent speck of fuzz on the dark blue denim covering her legs as she thought. She was no teetotaler, but it would be harder to evaluate Nana’s true condition if she had a glass of anything right now.
“Lisa?” Ryan tapped her on the shoulder and she felt a small spark, stronger than static electricity, where his finger touched the lightweight, crochet-style sweater. “How about you?”
“No thanks.” Lisa felt totally drained—by the travel, by the situation with Nana, by what she knew was to come, and by her increasing awareness of Ryan’s smooth presence.
This morning, as she got dressed and tried to sort out her thoughts about the evening before—especially how it ended—she knew she’d see Ryan again, but she’d been thankful for the buffer that his tournament and this day trip would provide. The hours at the lake were supposed to give her time to think through what she needed to say to Nana and Bill, build her courage, and let her do what had to be done without thinking about how just for one small moment she’d felt secure in Ryan’s arms, like a promise that everything would be taken care of somehow.
Now that he was here, sitting next to her, Lisa felt completely insecure.
Like she didn’t know where to start.
She knew where she had to go. Back home to Texas with Nana, and only Nana. But she didn’t know how to get there.
“How about this, then?” Ryan handed her a bottle of sparkling water and twisted off the cap.
“That’ll work great, thank you.” Lisa held the bottle out slightly. “Nana? How about one of these?”
“Yes, please, Lisa Marie.”
Ryan reached for another bottle, opened it, and then looked point-blank at Lisa before handing the water to Nana. “Lisa Marie?”
She shrugged. “My mama liked Elvis.”
“You’re in the right town.”
“So it seems. At least she didn’t name me Peanut Butter and Banana, right?”
“Or Hound Dog.”
“That would have been tough in junior high.” Lisa couldn’t help but laugh a little as she answered.
“You might have gotten in a fight over it and had to spend the night doing some jailhouse rock.”
Oh no. He wasn’t going there, was he? “As long as some blue suede shoes came with my prison jumpsuit, I probably wouldn’t have minded. I had a thing for shoes back then. Still do, actually.”
Lisa wiggled her toes, where they stuck out of the little hole at the tip of her favorite casual wedges.
“I see that. You had some nice ones on last night. You picked a great outfit on short notice.”
“Thanks.” Lisa took a long sip from the curvy green bottle. “You paid for a great outfit on short notice.”
Ryan pressed his lips together. It gave his face an almost stern air. “Lisa, you don’t owe me anything. You and I are kind of in this boat together.”
“Kind of?” She shifted in her seat, turning her back slightly on the older couple at the far end of the bench. Bill was pointing out landmarks and scenery to Nana as they drove by with Glenn Miller tunes filling the car with punctuating brass.
Ryan leaned back against the soft, stuffed leather. “I’ve been doing some thinking.”
Me too, Lisa thought.
But...she was pretty sure Ryan wasn’t talking about that. He’d probably kissed a thousand girls in his tenure as a Las Vegas card shark. Last night couldn’t possibly have registered on his radar the way it registered on her slightly-less-experienced one.
So, she settled on a reply that was slightly more casual. “Oh?”
“I know we both think we need to stop tomorrow’s ceremony from happening. But what if we can’t?”
Lisa tucked her water bottle into a nearby cupholder. “Well, that’s not an option. I have to get Nana to the doctor for tests. I’m just not comfortable with her making a life change like marriage until I know one way or another. I don’t think she fully understands what she’s consenting to. Have you heard anything from either one of them on where they’re going to live? How they’ll manage money and retirement funds—not that Nana has many, but they’re still hers. Have you heard any plans for anything other than tomorrow? They sound like a couple of crazy teenagers headed for a drive-through chapel. I can’t have Nana wake up the next day and realize she’s made a terrible mistake. Not on my watch.”
Ryan stole a glance back at his grandfather, then looked back at Lisa. “No, I haven’t. But I also know this is the happiest I’ve seen Pops in I don’t know how long. Something about seeing Gina Mae again has brought back some long-lost meaning to his life.”
“Ryan. You told me we were in this together. You told me you were going to help me end this. Don't get sentimental on me.”
“I am. I’ve just seen a lot of guys make big mistakes that have cost them everything they’ve worked for. I don’t want to see you do the same. What happens when Gina Mae decides to never speak to you again because all she can see is that you’re standing in the way of her happiness? She’s an adult. You don’t even have a diagnosis from a doctor, much less the necessary paperwork to put you in charge of the decisions in her life.”
Lisa lowered her head into her cupped hands. He was right.
She’d always known the conversation would be tough, but she’d assumed if she could just find the right words, she could get Nana to understand. But even though they’d been a team for deca
des and relied on each other’s steady counsel, what if Nana stopped listening now? What then?
Ryan placed a hand on her back. He didn’t pat or rub, just laid it there—a silent acknowledgment of the fact that there were no easy answers. There weren’t easy answers for this situation with Nana, and there weren’t any easy answers for why she’d kissed this man last night and liked it. Or why just the simple touch of his hand over her spine made her feel protected.
“Why don’t you just try and enjoy the day, Lisa? We’ll think of something together.”
Together.
Ryan’s hand remained softly in place. He didn’t let go. And somehow, that made Lisa feel a little less daunted by everything she knew was to come.
“Can I ask you something?” Ryan spoke with a slightly lower volume, but not exactly a whisper.
“Sure. I guess so. What?” She tried to brush off the uneasy quiver in her stomach that twitched as she tried to figure out what Ryan was getting at.
“They’re not listening—they’re back in the 1940s with their Glenn Miller.” Ryan nodded toward Bill and Nana. “So I need you to be totally honest with me, Lisa. If your Nana marries my Pops tomorrow, what’s the worst that could happen? What couldn’t be fixed? Do you see the looks on their faces? Don’t you think they deserve the happiness being back together brings each other?”
Lisa opened her mouth to reply. Then shut it firmly closed, trying to shove back the tears that just popped up without warning. She couldn’t look at Ryan.
She certainly couldn’t look at Nana and Pops.
What couldn’t be fixed? Her heart, for starters. She’d be alone. Nana needed her, but if Lisa was truly honest, she needed Nana just as much. Maybe more. Nana was the living scrapbook to her childhood. If she wanted to know anything about her life as a child, she’d ask Nana. Even if she ever saw her mother again, Lisa doubted that the woman would remember anything. Her mother’s unconditional love ended the minute she filled a glass or sat down to get a hit.
Pamela Fleming was a directionless mess.
Just like Lisa would be without Nana.
But even though Ryan had asked for Lisa’s honesty, she couldn’t tell him these deep fears. It just sounded so selfish.
“She has to get evaluated by a doctor. I need to know if her behavior lately is part of normal aging—or if it’s something more.”
“Lisa, there are doctors in Las Vegas. Beyond the Strip, this is a very normal town. Good people who work hard to provide for their families live here. There are suburbs. Shopping centers. There are Walmarts, for Heaven’s sake. It doesn’t look much different than Texas, I’d wager. Couldn’t she see a doctor here?”
“I’m sure there are doctors here, Ryan, but how can I manage that from Port Provident? I have one week off for Spring Break, but then I’m due back in a classroom until the end of May. I have a contract. I don’t get the luxury of just walking off from a table when I’ve had enough.”
She knew that blow was a little low, but she shrugged it off. Sometimes the truth hurt.
Just like Ryan’s probing question a few seconds ago.
“I walked off because it didn’t matter anymore. My family did. My Pops did. The woman he wants to marry did. I didn’t need to bring home another pot. I already knew it, but you helped me see it. I’m just trying to help you see it from their perspective, too.”
“But Ryan, you and I talked about this. Where would they live?”
“At Pops’ assisted living facility,” Ryan said it with total clarity, like it was the obvious solution.
“You said last night that your big jackpots brought you the ability to pay for a place that’s the best in this part of the country. Need I remind you that there’s no teaching jackpot? I can’t afford to pay Nana’s bill there, and neither can Nana. And the district is talking about budget cuts next year. That always makes me nervous.”
He picked his drink up from the cupholder and took a quick swallow. “So what if I just kept paying for it?”
Lisa cocked her head. “Listen to yourself. Yesterday, you were convinced I was a gold digger using my great-grandmother to come after your money. Today, you’re offering to pay her housing bills for the rest of her life? You don’t make any sense, Ryan McBride.”
“I’m not trying to make sense. I’m trying to make my Pops happy. I’ve just realized I am willing to take a loss if that means he wins. What about you, Lisa?”
“I’m not much of a gambler, Ryan.”
“Don’t you love the theatre?”
She didn’t see how the two had any connection. “Yes, obviously. But what does that have to do with anything?”
“Happily Ever After. Don’t you believe in that?”
“Of course I do, Ryan.”
Well, except when it came to her real life.
A real, mother-daughter relationship? Happily Never After.
The Broadway role she’d earned but couldn’t have because she’d refused to put her morals to the side of the casting couch, as one director insisted? Happily Never After.
The fiancé who had dumped her two years ago because he “wanted more”—which was shorthand for the realization that his champagne tastes and social mobility needs were never going to get met by being paired with a drama teacher? Happily Never After.
“But those are all stories. Notice that they don’t keep going after everyone gets their feel-good ending. The curtain goes down. But once Nana says ‘I do,’ her story keeps going. And I’m responsible for it.”
“Lisa, your Nana is in her eighties?” He looked at her, head slightly askance.
“In her nineties.”
He nodded. “Exactly. And she’s probably made a mistake or two, right?”
“Well, sure.” Where was he going with this?
“But more often than not, hasn’t she gotten it right?” Ryan smiled casually. “She raised you. Pops raised me. I’d guess neither of them guessed they’d be raising their kids’ kids. They probably wondered where they’d gone wrong with their own kids and were afraid of how everything was going to work out. But I think I turned out okay. And from what I see of you, I’m pretty sure you did too.”
Ryan reached out and took Lisa’s hand and squeezed lightly.
She couldn’t help but nod. His words made a lot of sense.
“So, if I go along with this, and something goes wrong, what do I do?” She started to move her hand from under the protective cover of Ryan’s, then hesitated.
“Break out into a song and start some coordinated dancing in the middle of the street. Isn’t that what all of you theatre people do?” His smile inched out just a little further, showing straight white teeth that caught her gaze and held tight.
“Sometimes.” She wiggled her fingers a bit, threading them through Ryan’s. Somehow, even though she hadn’t known him long, she already felt like she knew him well. And she knew he meant it. He wouldn’t leave her to face this alone. “So you’ll be in my flash mob?”
“Always, babe. Let’s just have a fun day with the people we love and let the cards fall where they may.”
After a sightseeing trip at the Hoover Dam, Pops and Gina Mae scooted out as soon as the limo stopped in front of the landing which led to Lake Mead Dinner Cruise.
“Dinner on the water? Oh, how lovely.” Gina Mae couldn’t contain her excitement. “Bill, did you plan this?”
“No, I told Ryan I wanted to do something special for you today, but he put everything together.”
Ryan closed the door to the limo after everyone had exited. “Well, I had some ideas. Winter at the concierge desk did all the scheduling this morning after I headed to the tournament.”
“Still. You’re a very thoughtful young man, Ryan. Thank you for taking the time to make today special. And thank you for coming with us. I thought you were going to be working,” Gina Mae said.
“Well, I did too, Gina Mae. But you know, things change.”
She patted her silver curls as a small gust of dry win
d picked up around them. “I certainly do. Who would have ever guessed I’d find Bill again. And on a computer web site place. Things have certainly changed from our day. But I’m glad they have.”
Pops and Nana held hands, walking at a pace dictated by their age, but with footsteps in sync. Pops held the door at the dock for Gina Mae, and she thanked him with a smile. The years fell away as her eyes caught his and Ryan couldn’t help but see the girl she must have been before World War II arrived and tore her away from his grandfather.
Ryan stopped near the sidewalk and turned slightly, waiting for Lisa. He held the door open for her, wondering if he’d get a smile like Pops had received.
Had he really just called her “babe” in the limo? He certainly hadn’t planned it. And the more he thought about it, the more he felt like he’d just spiraled into some alternate world of Vegas cheesiness. Except that wasn’t how he wanted Lisa to think of him at all. They were in this situation together, and if he was honest with himself, her opinion now mattered to him.
Lisa looked up, a honey-gold sparkle in her eyes. The fears and worries that had been so evident earlier had been washed away. She looked beautiful, in a simple way that he hadn’t often seen in his years of living under the bright lights on the Strip.
Last night, he’d definitely taken notice of her—even though he’d initially tried not to. He’d wanted to treat her like an opponent, come up with a strategy to clean out her chips and send her packing.
But then he had a chance to talk to her, to get to know the real Lisa. And somehow, in that one evening, she’d been able to solidify his resolve to leave gaming and to find a way to start fresh and pursue his restless desire to do something with meaning.
She couldn’t possibly know what those few hours and her listening ear had done for him.
Once they were inside and their tickets had been checked, Lisa walked over to some of the photos on the wall and studied the visual history of the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. Ryan stopped beside her.
“It’s all going to work out, you know that, right?”
Lucky in Love Page 10