Justin’s phone rang again.
“You gonna answer that thing?”
Justin shot him a look. “How do you think I’m gonna answer the phone with my arm stuck up this cow?”
“I’ll answer it for you.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” Justin said, itching to pull out his arm. But he was so close to having the calf turned. He couldn’t stop now.
“Hello…. Hello?” He turned to Justin. “No response.”
“I can’t imagine why. Put the phone to my ear.”
“Justin can’t come to the phone right now. He’s, ah, sort of up to his elbows in one of my girls.” He waited a beat, then turned to Justin. “She hung up on me.”
“Damnation, Mark. I can’t imagine why. You just had to do that, didn’t you?”
“Well, it’s true.”
“She’ll never talk to me again.”
“What? She has no sense of humor? I thought you said she was wonderful.”
“She is, but she saw me kissing Brenda.”
“What?? You kissed Brenda? What on earth made you want to do a thing like that?”
“I didn’t. Trust me. Brenda kissed me and Alley saw. She didn’t talk to me for days. I was just getting her to trust me again.”
Mark made a face of remorse. “I’m sorry. I’ll call her back and tell her the truth.”
“Please do.”
Mark dialed Alley’s number. It went straight to voicemail. “Voicemail,” he said.
Justin cursed under his breath. “I’m telling you. She’ll never talk to me again.”
“What do you want a girl like that for anyway? Sounds like high maintenance to me.”
“Shut up, Mark,” Justin said as he delivered the calf.
Alley parked her car and hurried into the terminal. It wouldn’t be right to make her grandmother wait any longer.
The only problem was, she could barely see where she was going, for the tears in her eyes. She knew she looked awful. She knew she was crying in public. Something her mother had taught her never to do.
But she didn’t care. She was devastated. She had allowed herself to trust Justin. And this time around, she had trusted him more than ever. She had believed in him. And here he was, what had the man said? “up to his elbows in one of my girls”? What kind of statement was that? What did that mean?
She knew only one thing for certain. It was no good. Whatever it was he was doing with some other girl, she didn’t need to be any part of it.
It was time for her to cut her losses and move on.
When she saw Granny standing there, smiling at her, she broke into sobs and stopped walking. When Granny came up to her and tried to find out what was wrong, she only cried harder.
After leading her to a bench away from the thoroughfare, Granny held Alley close and soothed her with a gentle touch and soft words.
Thirty minutes later, Granny knew that Justin was the culprit; though she didn’t quite understand how Justin had gone from the stable young man she had watched grow up to the disrespectable cad that Alley described.
“How could he do that, Granny? Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know, Honey.”
“I mean, why would he bother to tell me that he wanted to have something long-lasting, then turn right around and go out to do whatever with other women?”
“Some men are like that, I suppose,” Granny answered, though for the life of her, she never would have thought Justin to be one of “those” men.
“What should I do?”
Granny shook her head. What should she do?
This is where she wished for the infinite wisdom that purportedly comes with age. Instead, she felt inept. Alley was looking to her for guidance and she had nothing to offer.
Thinking back on her own life with her husband of thirty eight years, she asked the only thing that seemed to matter in the end. “Do you love him?”
Alley looked a little stunned for a moment. Sort of like a deer in the headlights. Had she not considered the possibility? Did she think she hadn’t known him long enough?
“Alley, how do you FEEL about Justin?”
She nodded slowly. “I am in love with him. I have been from the first time I saw him.”
“Then it’s really quite simple,” Granny said, matter-of-factly, because indeed, she suddenly believed that it was.
“Simple?” Alley looked at her as though she had lost her mind. And indeed perhaps she had. Nothing was ever simple when it came to affairs of the heart.
“In order for this work,” Granny said, “you have to trust me.”
“I do trust you.”
“I know you do, Honey, but this might be more difficult than you think.”
“What can we do, Granny? Just tell me what to do.”
Granny almost changed her mind - almost backed off. There was no guarantee this would work. In fact, she had to admit to herself that it was probably less likely to work than it was likely to work.
She took a deep steadying breath. Alley really had very little to lose. Granny hated this. She hated interfering in people’s lives. She just couldn’t leave Alley like this without helping her try something.
“Here’s what you have to do,” Granny said.
Chapter 19
Justin found himself waiting once again on the neighbor’s doorstep. Only this time it wasn’t in anticipation of a date. This time it was in response to a summons by a formidable woman. Granny.
He had a good idea what it was about. He knew that she had returned last night and he was fairly certain Alley had picked her up from the airport, though she certainly hadn’t told him so.
Only because he hadn’t answered the phone. She had certainly tried to get in touch with him. Repeatedly. He shifted his weight and knocked again.
Though he had a good excuse, he wasn’t sure he would be believed.
And he wanted to be believed. He still wasn’t sure how he’d managed to get this reputation with Alley. Everyone else knew him as a steady and loyal individual. But the one person that he truly wanted to be steady and loyal with saw him as a cad.
It just wasn’t right.
He simply could not wait until he could see her again to straighten this mess all out. He hadn’t done a very good job of it last time, but this time he would come clean. He would tell her everything. She had to believe him.
Finally, someone came to open the door. It was Granny. He always marveled that someone who looked like she did was called Granny.
Despite having just traveled halfway across the world, she looked rested and energetic. She was wearing a little gray suit with a skirt and a jacket. Her short hair was stylishly groomed and her make-up was fresh and flawless. She did not look a day over forty.
He hugged her as he always did and caught a mild scent of her favorite Prada perfume.
“You look beautiful,” he said.
Instead of teasing him back like she usually did, she merely looked sternly at him. “Come have a seat,” she said, turning, obviously expecting him to follow.
Justin followed her through the kitchen and as they headed toward the living room, he stopped and stared. Alley’s office space had been cleared out and the dining room was back to being just that - a dining room. It was as though she had never been there.
“Come on in,” Granny said, beckoning him to follow.
If Justin hadn’t known himself better, he would have begun to wonder if he had imagined his interludes with Alley in this house. The time she had sat perched on his lap as she explained the book she was writing. The time he had made her breakfast after sleeping on her couch in case the kidnapper showed up at her doorstep again. And so many other countless little moments that had made him love her all the more.
“Where is Alley?” he asked as he sat on the edge of the sofa.
“She isn’t here.”
“That, I can see.”
“Good,” Granny said, nodding sharply.
Justin had never seen
her like this. He supposed that he was bumping up against her belief that he had somehow harmed Alley. Which led him to wonder…. “Is she alright?”
Granny seemed to relax a degree and nodded, this time, softly. “Yes, she’s alright.”
“Good,” It was his turn to agree.
“I’d like to know your intentions toward my granddaughter.”
Justin almost laughed, but caught himself in time. Though his intentions were indeed to marry Alley, the question struck him as old-fashioned and unnecessary. “I intend to marry her,” he said, bluntly.
He had to give her credit. Granny showed no reaction whatsoever. “Then perhaps you’d best explain your behavior,” she said.
This, Justin thought, seemed reasonable. He knew he had some explaining to do and he was more than prepared to do so. “You’re referring to the phone calls yesterday?”
Granny nodded.
“Mark found it amusing that I had my arm inside his cow. I was trying to correct a breach birth. And was successful, I might add. I told him not to answer my phone. Of course, I couldn’t answer it, and I wasn’t in much of a position to stop him.”
Granny almost smiled. He could see the twinkle in her eyes, but she held strong. It was her next question that told him he was in trouble.
“Tell me about Brenda,” she said.
Justin didn’t bother to hide his groan. This whole Brenda thing had so gotten out of hand. She was an old friend. A flirt. Not the kind of woman he would get involved with on a personal basis.
Would he ever finish paying for that moment when she had decided to plant a kiss on him? It wasn’t like she hadn’t done it before. And just like then, it had never had an effect on him. Never would. In fact, he found her somewhat repulsive. To him she was a scullery maid to Alley’s princess.
“What do you want to know?” he asked, feeling defeated.
“Just tell me what’s going on. That’s all I ask.”
“Nothing,” he said.
Granny gave him a look. A look that could have brought down a better man than he.
“We’re working on a project together,” he said, though apparently from Granny’s expression, that was not the best thing to say. “We’re on the Animal Search and Rescue team together,” he continued, taking the plunge. It was the only way out of this. He had planned on telling Alley anyway. Telling Granny was about like telling Alley.
Granny was silent. “Go on,” she said, softly.
“You know Brenda, right?”
“I’ve met her.”
“Then you know the kind of person she is. A little coarser than most, but she knows dogs. And for this project, that’s what we need.”
“What project?”
“The girl who was kidnapped.”
“What girl?”
“I forgot you’d been out of the country. We had a local girl kidnapped last week. Actually there’s been another. And the Animal Search and Rescue has been involved in looking for her.”
“And that has what to do with you?”
“I’m a member of the Animal Training Team. We’ve been working with some new dogs and I had to be there to make sure everything went properly.”
Granny sat quietly, studying him. “I don’t suppose you told Alley about this?”
Justin shook his head. “How could I?”
“Yes, how could you?” Granny echoed.
“I’ve been needing to. It’s just that…” he rubbed his eyes in frustration. “It’s just that we were indoctrinated to only tell trusted family members. I can’t even tell my friends.”
“So, you really didn’t feel you could trust Alley.”
“That’s not it at all. I just can’t go around telling people. Just because I want to marry her doesn’t mean she has any interest in me.”
“It makes perfect sense to me,” Granny said, perplexing him even more. “You played it safe.”
“I had to. I can go to jail for telling people that I shouldn’t.”
“Jail. Oh my.”
“It wouldn’t be my first choice.”
“I don’t blame you.”
“You don’t?” Justin looked askance at her. She was acting rather oddly. “I thought you thought I should have told her.”
“I seems to me that you had a perfectly good reason for not telling her. I mean, after all, why would you trust the woman you are planning to marry?”
Alley pulled back onto the interstate from the rest area and navigated the onramp. She’d been driving in heavy traffic for two hours, while every cell in her body screamed that she was going in the wrong direction. She should be driving toward Hanover, not away from it on her way to Dallas.
However, Granny insisted that this was the only way.
Justin’s intentions needed to be clarified. She took a deep breath.
There didn’t seem to be a right answer as to what to do about him. On the one hand, she felt he really cared about her. Especially in the way he kissed her, so soft and firm all at once. For hours.
But on the other hand, there was Brenda and who knows what other women he was “up to his elbows” in.
Granny had promised to call after he had left her. She trusted her grandmother to handle things in her best interest. But would Justin see it that way? Could she convince him to follow her to Dallas without telling him what he would have to do to “win her back?”
That was Granny’s plan after all. Granny believed that if Alley disappeared, Justin would have to prove his love for her and track her down. She thought maybe he wouldn’t be sure how much he cared about her until she was gone. It sounded a little like pop psychology to Alley, but Granny insisted it was the way she had caught Grandpa.
Alley wasn’t sure how her parents ended up together. Funny, but she couldn’t remember them ever having said.
Inspired to discover their story, she opened her cell phone and dialed her parents’ number.
“Honey, shouldn’t you be working?” her mother immediately asked after they said hello.
“Yes, but actually, I’m on my way to Dallas,” she said as she maneuvered around a blue sedan that had been blocking the left lane.
“Whatever for? Did you run out of clothes again?”
Alley laughed for the first time that day. “No, Mom. I’m not out of clothes.”
“Then what? Tell me what’s wrong. It’s that Justin, isn’t it?”
“Well…”
“I had a feeling about him,” her mom insisted.
“Mom,” Alley groaned. “I just need to come home for awhile ok?”
“Did you bring Charlie?”
“No. Granny’s home.”
Silence.
“I picked her up at the airport last night.”
“I see. It was nice of her to tell us.”
“It was late when she got in and her cell phone needed charging.”
“Ok, then, it was nice of you to tell us.”
“Things have been a little crazy.”
“I suppose you can tell us all about it when you get here.”
Alley said goodbye and got off the phone. She was perplexed by her mother’s negativity. Typically, she was much more understanding.
As she got into Dallas, on impulse, she took the exit to Zena’s apartment instead of her parents’ exit. Pulling into guest parking, she was thrilled to see that Steven’s camero was there. She would get to see both her friends at the same time.
She sprinted up the stairs and rang the doorbell. And waited. And waited. Rang the doorbell a second time. A third. Zena’s car was there, too, so either they had gone off with someone else, or…. they weren’t answering the phone.
That was odd. She took out her cell phone and dialed Zena’s number.
No answer, but Zena appeared at the door.
In her bathrobe.
“Zena,” Alley said, “you’re sick. What’s wrong?”
Zena looked at her oddly. Then Alley saw Steven on the sofa. Also in his bathrobe. “Steven’s sick, too?”
she asked hesitantly, her brain unable to grasp the situation.
Zena and Steven exchanged a look. “We’re not sick, Alley,” Zena said.
“But I don’t understand.”
“Come in,” Zena said, stepped back for Alley to enter.
If Zena and Steven were not sick, then was there was only one explanation for their both being in bath robes. But… Steven was gay. There had to be something else.
She smiled.
“What’s going on?” Alley asked.
Zena held up her hand to display a shiny diamond on her ring finger of her left hand.
“You’re engaged?”
“Yes,” Zena smiled for the first time since opening the door.
“Who to?”
Zena’s smile disappeared. “Alley,” she said, shaking her hand. “Steven and I are engaged.”
“But – Steven….” What was she supposed to say? She had never discussed Steven’s homosexuality with him. She had just always assumed that she was right about it. Apparently she had been wrong – ever so wrong. “I don’t know what to say. I thought we were all just… best friends.”
“You know what they say,” Zena said, a big grin spreading across her face. “The best of friends make the best of lovers.”
“I hadn’t heard that,” Alley said, staring at Steven, trying to keep her face blank. Well, if he wanted to be straight, he should be straight. “Congratulations,” she said, deciding that she had to wrap her mind around this thing and be happy for her friends.
Then Zena was hugging her. “You’ll be my maid of honor, right?”
“I better be,” Alley said.
Zena sat down next to Steven and kissed him on the mouth. Alley looked away. She had a ways to go before she could adapt to that image.
Grabbing Alley’s hand, Zena pulled her onto the couch next to her. “So, tell us.”
“Tell you what? You two are the ones with all the good news.”
“What about that guy - Justin?”
“I don’t know,” Alley said, feeling the lump in her throat that didn’t seem to go away. “He seemed to be a little distracted.”
“That girl,” Zena remembered. “Well, you don’t need that in your life. You’re in Dallas now. There are lots of guys to choose from.”
“Yeah,” Alley said, heartlessly. She had grown up in Dallas. She knew what was out there. And sure, there might be a good guy, but there was one thing she knew for certain - Justin was not out there in Dallas. She had left him behind in Hanover. Even now, every muscle in her body was screaming to get back to him. She repeated her mantra once more. Trust Granny.
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