“Do I get to dress up?”
“So long as it’s appropriate.”
“Then of course.” Anna smiled, relieved. That was the last thing she needed to check off the list. As if he’d been waiting for the conversation to finish, Drew yelled something from the basement and Alice sighed. “Duty calls.” She hurried down the basement stairs, yelling about tools and buckets the entire way.
Anna tried not to worry.
Instead, she flipped open her sketchbook and touched her hand to the drawing she’d been working on.
It was Drew—his smile genuine, the corners of his eyes wrinkled with laughter. She sighed, rolling her eyes at herself as she flipped through the pages. Faces and scenes greeted her with every turn—Alice, Nana, Jeff, kids at the center, Nana’s cottage…
She stopped at this page, filling with a longing for her grandmother’s company. Her phone was sitting on the table just in front of her and, without thinking, she reached out and swiped through her contacts until she found Nana’s name.
Several rings passed before the older woman answered. “Anna Marie, I was just thinking about you.”
“I just wanted to hear your voice.” Anna told her, fidgeting with the binding of the sketchpad. “How are you?”
“Oh, I can’t complain about a thing, dear. How are you?” They hadn’t spoken in a few weeks, Nana having gone on a retreat, as she often did. “You can take the girl out of the 60’s, but you can’t take the 60’s out of the girl.” Anna heard her Nana in her head and smiled.
“I’m doing much better.” Anna told her grandmother as she flipped through the pages until she found the drawing of Drew, trying to ignore the way her heart did a little flip-flop. “I was thinking about maybe coming up there for a visit next weekend, if you weren’t busy.”
She wasn’t sure where it came from, but once she said the words, she realized that it was exactly what she wanted to do. Visiting Nana always seemed to help Anna find her center, and though things were going very well right now—
It didn’t hurt to visit.
“That sounds like a wonderful idea. It’s too bad you kicked Jeff to the curb—I could use some brute force around here. Spring is in full effect, and my yard is a disaster.”
“I could bring a friend.”
“A man friend?”
“He’s just a friend.” Anna told her Nana, hoping she sounded convincing—both to Nana, and herself. Because that’s all Drew was—a friend. She knew whatever she was feeling toward him wasn’t real—it was just a natural chemical response, brought about by the steady flow of endorphins she’d been experiencing lately.
“Well, bring him on up. We can put him to work and you and I can drink wine and watch crime shows all weekend.” Anna smiled, imagining Drew mowing her grandmother’s extensive yard, while she kicked back and enjoyed a 360 marathon. She was sure he would love that.
“I can’t wait.” She told Nana.
“You tell that sister of yours she’d better make some time to visit, too.”
“Oh, I will. You know Alice—if there’s not a club or a bar within five minutes driving time, she has a hard time getting through the day.”
“She’s still on that ‘good time’ kick?” Nana sighed. “She’s young. It’ll come with time. What about you, have you been dating anyone?”
“Not really.” Anna pulled the notebook she’d been writing in this morning closer and plucked at the paper caught in the spirals. “Haven’t really been looking.”
“You’ve got all the time in the world, sweet Anna Marie. No need to rush into something—you’ll know when it’s right.” Anna’s smile was small as she nodded, even though Nana couldn’t see her. “Oh, geez—I left the torch going out there—”
“Go on before you burn the house down.” Anna told her, laughing. Nana was always working on some new piece of art—she did it all: painting, sculpting, photography.
“Love you, baby. See you next weekend.” She sighed as the line went silent and placed the phone back down on the table. The muddled voices of Alice and Drew sounded from beneath her, and a few times, she heard Alice laugh.
Another hour or so later, they came tromping up the stairs, obviously proud of themselves as they boasted. “I’m going to test it out,” Alice announced.
“I told you, it’s going to be a couple of hours before it’s fully ready—”
“Drew, you’ve used our shower. Even if this thing is only functioning at ten percent, that’s probably twice what our old one was.”
“You make a valid point. Go on, my apprentice. Be sure to let us know how incredible it is.”
“You know you’re welcome to try it out yourself, Drew.” Anna tried to ignore the way Alice winked at him, but she was unsuccessful, and her scowl showed it. Alice disappeared upstairs and the shower sounded almost immediately.
“Are you mad that I proved you wrong?” Drew asked.
“Let’s give it twenty-four hours before you go and make that claim.” Anna told him. He playfully glared at her. “Thank you, though. I really appreciate it.”
“Oh, don’t thank me yet. I want to make sure you know what a quality job I’ve done before you start appreciating anything.” She rolled her eyes at him, a smile now forming on her lips. Drew glanced over her shoulder, noticing the sketchpad. “Are you drawing again?”
“I’ve been doodling.” She shrugged her shoulder, already feeling the blush spreading across her chest. She changed the subject, hoping to avoid it covering her cheeks. “Are you busy next weekend?”
“I hadn’t planned anything yet…why?”
“Well—I was just going up to Michigan to visit my Nana. I thought I would invite you along.”
“You want me to meet your Nana?” His eyes widened for a moment, almost as if she had asked him to marry her. Anna rolled her eyes.
“She wanted me to bring along someone she could put to work. I volunteered your services.”
“Oh, right. Okay.” She tried not to be annoyed that at even the slightest hint of commitment, he panicked. That was who he was, and it was exactly the reason she had jumped into this whole friends with benefits deal. “Well then, I can’t say no to a woman in need, can I?”
“You haven’t disappointed yet.” She resisted the urge to place a kiss on his cheek.
“Give it time.” He told her, and she frowned as his expression saddened.
She was starting to think that, maybe, she should be spending a little more time on the friends part of their relationship and a little less time on the benefits.
“I should probably get out of here.” He announced suddenly, slipping his phone into his pocket. She wondered for a moment if he had a date, but then she pushed the thought away. It wasn’t her business. “Maybe I’ll see you later on?
Anna sighed. It was just so hard to resist the opportunity to spend an evening with him.
“Maybe so.” She relented. He grinned at her, taking a second to tuck her hair behind her ear.
“Let me know how that shower works out for you.”
“I’m sure you’ll never stop hearing my praise.” Her tone was sarcastic as they walked toward the door, even though she was grateful. “Bye, Drew.”
“See you later,” he waved as he stepped out onto the porch, and Anna responded in kind before shutting the door and heading back toward the kitchen. Alice came down the stairs just as Anna picked up her sketchpad, intending to go upstairs.
“Drew leave?” Anna nodded. “Well, as far as I can tell, everything is working perfectly. There was even fog on the mirror.”
“I can’t lie—I’m pretty excited to be able to take a bath.”
“I hadn’t even thought of that. I’ve gone so long without one, I just completely forgot they existed.” Anna laughed, knowing exactly how Alice felt. “So—what’s going on between you two?”
“What do you mean?” Anna replied, playing dumb.
“You know what I mean.” Alice pushed her and Anna sighed.
&nb
sp; “We’re just…friends.”
“Oh, geez. Did he talk you into the whole friends with benefits thing? Because that never works.”
“No…I talked him into it.” Alice groaned, dropping her head into her hand. “It’s not what you think—”
“Oh, it isn’t?” She gestured toward the sketchpad in Anna’s hand. “You can’t be friends with someone and have sex with them. You can’t have intimacy on both levels. That’s the definition of a relationship.”
“Not for us.”
“Why?” Alice asked as she reached out and plucked an apple from the dish on the counter.
“Because, neither of us wants that from the other. We like hanging out, and we like having sex with each other. That’s all it is. We’re both allowed to see other people—”
“And are you?” Anna’s cheeks reddened, giving her away. “Then you need to start. Distract yourself from becoming emotionally involved with Drew. And even then…I guarantee one of you is going to get hurt by the time all of this is over.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I said one of you.”
“Drew is the last person I’d worry about. He’s got plenty of options—”
“He’s never had a shot with a girl like you, Annie.” Alice took a bite of the apple she was holding. “I’m just saying—you both need to be careful.”
And as Alice walked away, Anna decided she would spend the night at home.
Just in case her sister was right about this, too.
~*~
They left after Anna got off work Friday afternoon.
Drew had, of course, insisted on driving—preferring not to be stranded in the middle of nowhere in the event that her car decided to give out. He’d been meaning to offer to look at it for her, but…it seemed to him that he was usually quite distracted in her presence these days.
He sighed as she leaned forward, skipping through the playlist she had created specifically for their little road trip.
Now, for example. Even something as simple as pressing a button was enough to send his imagination wild. He watched as her finger pulled away and he couldn’t help but remember what it felt like when she trailed that finger along his stomach, leading lower and lower…
“Did you have to put so much Beatles music on here?” He asked, mostly just to distract himself.
“Hey, I was fair and balanced. There are almost as many Stones songs as there are Beatles.”
“I don’t believe that for a second.” Anna grinned at him before shifting her gaze back to the window.
She was excited to see her grandmother—that much was obvious. But he could tell she was a little nervous, too, and he wasn’t sure why. If anyone, he should be nervous.
He’d never been introduced to a woman’s parents before.
He had to remind himself that it wasn’t a big deal. He had only been invited along because Anna’s grandma had needed some help with the yard.
Still, it felt like more than that.
To distract himself again, Drew reached forward and skipped the song. “Finally,” he told her. “Are you sure you didn’t put three Beatles songs for every one Stones?”
Beside him, Anna let out a low whistle. “Somebody is touchy today.”
“Am not.”
Way to revert to acting like a seven year old.
“Sorry.” He apologized after a moment.
“Anything bugging you?” she asked. Drew shook his head. “Then cheer up, Whitman. You nervous or something?”
“No,” he responded too quickly. Anna rolled her eyes at him.
“Oh, Drew. She’s going to love you, and you’re going to love her. She’ll order you around, put you to work, and at the end of the day, she’ll probably offer you one of her special brownies.”
“Special brownies?” That caught his interest.
“Oh, Nana is a full blown hippie. ‘You can take the girl out of the 60’s, but you can’t take the 60’s out of the girl.’”
“Sounds like my kind of lady.”
“Exactly. You two are going to get along just fine.”
Drew wasn’t so sure. He’d never been much for parental approval—hell, even his own father hadn’t liked him.
An image of an older man with a striking resemblance to Drew conjured in his mind. They were sitting at a ritzy restaurant, and his father was silent, as usual—the tension in the air almost tangible.
He pushed the memory away and turned up the radio.
His father was the very last person he wanted to think about.
~*~
It was late by the time they arrived, but as Drew navigated the SUV down the bumpy, unpaved driveway, Anna knew what to expect the moment the cottage came into view—lights would be on in every room, music would likely be pouring through an open window somewhere, and Nana would probably be out in the backyard with a welding mask on, lost in her latest piece of art.
“You can just pull over there,” she directed him. There was a beat up old truck near the house, and Anna remembered that truck fondly.
“Here?” he asked. She could hear the uncertainty in his voice, and she longed to comfort him somehow.
“Just relax, Drew.” Before she could stop herself, she had reached out and taken his hand, touching her lips to his knuckles and giving it a quick squeeze with her own before bounding from the SUV. “Nana?” she called into the darkness.
“Out back, Anna Marie!” Anna felt the smile on her face broaden and she looked back to make sure Drew was following her as she hurried around the house, the dew in the grass dampening her shoes.
As soon as she saw the older woman, she rushed forward into Nana’s waiting open arms. Nana placed a kiss on the top of Anna’s head, holding her tightly for a long moment before pulling her away so that she could get a good look at her.
“You responsible for adding a little meat to this girl’s bones?” Nana asked Drew, who was hanging back just a ways.
“Nana!”
“I’m just saying, I’m not hugging a bag of bones, and that’s the kind of thing I can appreciate.” Nana waved Drew forward. “Come on, let me get a good look at you.”
“It’s nice to meet you—” Drew started toward Nana with his hand outstretched, but Nana bypassed it and pulled him into a hug almost equally as welcoming as the one she’d given Anna.
“Hand shaking is for politicians and businessmen. I’m neither of those.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And that’s what my mother went by. Anything but that, young man.” Anna watched as Nana placed her hand on Drew’s cheek, looking into his eyes. After only a moment, she broke into another smile. “Oh, he’s got a wicked side, doesn’t he?”
“You have no idea.” Anna told her grandmother, linking an arm through hers. “Nana, this is Drew Whitman. Drew, this is Nana.”
“I bet you two are starved, aren’t you? Come on inside, I’m making enchiladas.”
Though Nana was approaching sixty-five, you wouldn’t guess it by looking at her. Her auburn colored hair was loose and flowing, with hardly any grays; her fair complexion was smooth—and what few wrinkles she did have, she claimed as her own. She was tall and thin, in excellent health.
Anna only hoped she could age as gracefully as her grandmother.
“I made up the spare bedroom—I assume you two will be fine sharing?”
“Of course.” Anna told her as they entered the kitchen, the smell of Mexican spices hitting her. Nana grabbed a box of random items from one of the chairs and tossed it on the floor, gesturing for Drew to take a seat. “Anything to drink? I’ve got…beer.” She asked as she peered into the refrigerator. “Beer, wine, and water.”
“Um—I’ll have a beer, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course I don’t mind.” Nana handed him a bottle first before setting one down on the table in front of Anna. Out of habit, Drew reached across the table and removed the cap for her. Nana said nothing as she turned to the oven.
“That smells ama
zing,” Drew said.
“Just wait til you taste it.” The plates Nana dished out were mismatched, just as everything in the house seemed to be—but somehow, Nana made it all fit together, so that there was a perfect harmony there.
Anna almost laughed when Drew took his first bite—she could have sworn she’d heard him make a very similar sound during one of their now many interludes together.
“This is…beyond incredible.” He took a long drink from his beer before dishing out seconds for himself.
“I’ll send the recipe home with Anna Marie. She can make it for you.”
“Oh, don’t volunteer me for that. I’m nowhere near as talented in the kitchen as you, Nana.”
“That’s because you haven’t had to cook for someone you love, yet. Just wait.” Nana raised her eyebrows at her granddaughter before taking a drink of her own beer. “Now, tell me everything.”
“There isn’t much to tell.” Anna said with a shrug.
“Oh, I don’t believe that.”
“It’s true.”
“Fine. Drew, tell me everything.” Drew looked like a deer in headlights. He swallowed what he was chewing and wiped at his mouth with a napkin.
“Um…Anna’s building a studio?”
“See, that’s something.” Nana smiled at him and turned back to Anna. “Tell me about that.”
“I’m trying to build a studio. You know, for the center. They’ve already taken these programs out of the schools—I just want to make sure they have the opportunity to express themselves somewhere.” Anna shrugged again.
“That’s my Anna Marie, through and through.” Nana leaned over and kissed Anna on the cheek, grinning broadly. “Now, what’s this trying business?”
“Funding.” At this, Nana rolled her eyes, taking another drink of her beer as she rose to her feet and took her plate to the sink.
“Typical bureaucratic BS, I’m sure.”
“We’ve got a couple fundraisers going, though. Selling some candy bars, and Drew came up with hosting a prom at the center. Charging for the tickets, asking for donations…”
“That doesn’t sound like it’ll bring in enough, though.”
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