As the song came to an end, Madison and Britney hugged the older man and asked him a few questions about his holiday plans with his grandkids before we moved on to the next room.
The process repeated itself for the next twelve rooms as Madison and Britney painstakingly listened to every single person and sang the song they chose. I stood in the back and listened, adding my mediocre voice to their angelic ones during the songs. A few older women begged introductions but for the most part they were pleased to simply say hello and let us do our part.
“Are you enjoying yourself yet?” Madison whispered, hanging back to walk with me down a side hallway to another door at the end. Her glowing smile warmed my chest and my breath caught momentarily by her shining blue eyes.
I’d noticed how attractive she was the moment I found her sprawled on the sidewalk that first day I’d met her, but even now, with the concealer covering her bruises and a nice yellow tint to her skin, she was radiant.
“Yeah,” I said, my voice coming out low. I cleared my throat and she shot me an amused look before following Britney into the next room.
“Nana!” Britney sang, coming around the bed to hug an elderly woman lying on the bed with perfectly coiffed white hair and a pair of sloping, cat-eye glasses. She grinned at us, immediately assessing me as I stepped into her room.
“Nana, allow me to introduce our friend, Jake Tyler.”
A gasp sounded behind us and I turned around to see a woman standing in the door holding a dinner tray. Her pale face went white as a ghost and I reached forward to grab the tray before it could slip from her fingers.
Grandma Hart.
“I wondered,” she said quietly, as though only to herself. “That day in the library.”
I nodded, because I didn’t know what else to do. She had recognized me, then, and the thought squeezed my heart. I was sure if she continued to stare at me with those glassy eyes that I would follow suit and tear up, and I couldn’t let myself cry in front of these women.
I laughed instead, because I didn’t know what else to do. “Hello, Mrs. Hart.”
Her face immediately transformed to a wry smile. “I think you are entitled to call me Grandma, young man. I didn’t raise your mother for nothing. I earned that title.”
So she was a bit of a spitfire, too? I could see the resemblance to my mom at once and something about the similarities between the women gave me a sense of peace and belonging.
I’d made the right choice in coming here. Hopefully my family would agree with me, too.
“May I have my dinner, Mr. Tyler?”
I spun back around. The older woman lying in her bed was grinning. I placed the tray over her knees.
“I do love a good soap opera,” she said, leaning toward Britney.
Britney grinned. “Me, too.”
I caught Madison’s eye and she gave me a supportive smile. She looked pleased, but I didn’t know why.
“It’s a room of grandmas,” I said, trying to fill the silence. I got a handful of blank stares and a very confused looking Madison. “Your Nana,” I explained.
All of the women laughed. Apparently, I’d missed the joke somewhere. “This is Holly Springs’s Nana,” Britney said. “Not my actual grandma. Everyone just calls her that.”
“And I love it,” Nana said, chewing her dinner. “Now what are you planning to sing to me?”
“What would you like?” Madison asked.
“Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.”
A beat of silence passed before the women jumped into the song. I took a moment longer to recover and join in, watching my grandmother from the corner of my eye. I was more nervous than I’d ever been before and it felt odd. She was clearly accepting of me, which didn’t make any sense.
Had I worried for nothing?
* * *
Madison
Of course Nana would choose this song; she did every year. We could have warned Jake, but it was funnier this way. And his face did not disappoint.
I let Britney finish out the last note strong while I dug in the basket for the bag of cookies I’d tucked there. I slipped it to Nana and returned her wink. I’d learned long ago that she wouldn’t abide fruitcake. None of that nasty jelly-filled bread for me, please.
Jake and his grandma looked uncomfortable. It was clear he hadn’t expected to see her, and she obviously hadn’t seen him in years. We needed to give them space, but it was probably helpful for both of them to process the situation for a moment.
I just felt a massive amount of relief that the grandma was real. The chance of Jake being a serial killer had just reduced dramatically.
I sidled up next to him and bumped him with my elbow. “You want to hang back? We can meet you at the car whenever you’re ready.”
He smiled down at me, gratitude in his eyes, and nodded.
After I wrapped Nana up in a warm hug, I squeezed her hands once. “I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.”
Her eyes twinkled. “You know I will.”
Britney and I left, moving down the hall to finish the last of the rooms. It took us another half hour to complete our rounds, then we found Tiffany at the front desk. I handed her the other bag of cookies I’d wrapped up. “Don’t share them with your grandkids,” I said. She simply nodded and tucked them into her purse.
“Mrs. Hart stopped by and asked me to tell you that she’ll be giving your friend a ride home.”
I had wondered if that would happen. It didn’t surprise me in the least.
I felt the warm glow permeate my body from singing to the older men and women in the care home. Their sweet spirits always helped my own to soar and tonight was no exception.
It was the first time this whole holiday season I hadn’t resented Christmas—regardless of the overabundance of cheesy Christmas carols. I glanced to the stars, wondering if Dad was watching me now. He likely walked through the halls behind us, making his jokes to the patrons and singing baritone with Jake. I could picture his presence there, and it buoyed my spirits even more.
I slid into the driver’s seat of Dad’s old Ford and turned on the radio to the oldies station that played relentless Christmas music all month long, ignoring Britney’s pointed look as she hopped up next to me.
My stomach growled, vibrating against the seat. The last thing I wanted to do was cook, and I had a sign up at the diner explaining that we were closed for the evening. “Want to grab a burger at The Pub?”
I looked straight out the front windshield but I could perfectly imagine Britney’s sleek blonde eyebrow arching up in surprise.
“Can I invite Todd? I was supposed to meet him after this.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize he was back in town.” Britney’s boyfriend since the third grade, Todd, had come and gone from Holly Springs on an eternal basis with his job as a computer marketing specialist. Apparently, there were a lot of people in America who needed help learning how to market their computers, because Todd was gone more often than he was home.
I wasn’t bitter about the way he left Britney constantly at all. Ugh.
I bared my teeth in a semblance of a smile. “Of course!”
“Try to sound a little more believable when he gets there, please.”
Guilt flowed through me upon hearing her dejected voice. She tried to cover it well, but I knew it hurt her how Todd and I couldn’t quite get along. It never used to be this bad, but lately I was pretty positive he was just stringing Britney along because he could.
I pulled into the spot behind the diner where my truck often sat, and we walked down Main Street toward The Pub. We Wish You a Merry Christmas played over the speakers on the main walk and I would have laughed if it wasn’t so annoying. Did anyone know any other Christmas songs? I was over this one.
The Pub was crawling with people and we chose a table in the back beside a large black and white photo of Main Street from nearly a hundred years prior. Sepia-toned horses and buggies parked beside the first vehicles to grace the town’s dirt
roads; it was a time long before our own.
My phone buzzed in my pocket as if it wanted to remind me of the vast differences between the priorities of those long-ago days and our own screen infested world. Jake’s comments earlier about maximizing the platform I’d grown on FotoFeed hadn’t left my mind all day and the possibilities he implied bounced around my thoughts. In truth, I didn’t quite know what he meant by it. But the potential had planted itself in my brain and refused to leave.
“Hey, babe!” Todd’s overpowering voice reached us from halfway across The Pub. He crossed the rest of the floor in a few strides and Britney leapt from her chair to jump into his arms.
Gross.
After their very public display of I missed you! and a lot of kissing, they seated themselves across from me, Todd’s arm lazily strewn across the back of the bench and Britney nestling herself into the space there.
“Hey, Todd. How was Raleigh?”
He grinned. “Fantastic. But you want to know what’s even better?”
I looked at him expectantly. His blond hair was pushed to the side, his shirtsleeves rolled up in a careless, relaxed business look. His cheesy grin broadened. “I’ve got two weeks off before I’m headed to Fort Worth and I’m spending every second with my girl.”
Spare me.
“That’s wonderful!”
Britney shot me a look and I toned down my enthusiasm. Had I laid it on a little too strong?
We ordered dinner and I listened to Todd talk a hundred words a minute until the food was delivered. I almost wished I’d timed him. Or I could have made a game out of how many times Britney had opened her mouth to speak, only to close it, the opportunity missed.
Todd was a bulldozer. There was no other way to describe him.
My phone buzzed and I fished it out from my pocket, surprised to find a text from Jake marked twenty minutes prior.
The diner is locked. Can you come let me in?
Another text followed, the time stamp indicated one minute ago.
No rush or anything but can you give me a general ETA?
Estimated time of arrival. Shoot. I hadn’t even noticed the first message or I would have run over to let him in while the food was being cooked. My chicken sandwich was hot on my plate in front of me, the steam tickling my nose. Jake had actually just created the best situation possible for me. I smiled to myself as I texted him back.
I just saw this. Sorry! Give me five minutes.
I hesitated, glancing at my dinner before adding,
Actually, make that seven.
His reply was instant.
Deal. But it better not be eight.
I slid my phone back into my pocket and grabbed my sandwich with both hands, taking a monstrous bite.
“whoa, girl, slow down. You’re going to choke.”
“I’m not five years old,” I complained around my bite of chicken. “And I’ve got to run. Jake’s locked out.”
Todd’s eyebrows rose. “Who’s Jake?”
I swallowed. “The guy renting my apartment,” I said quickly before Britney could explain with her own spin on the situation. I knew she would tell him everything eventually—if he let her get a word in—but I needed to get out of there, and I didn’t want to spend my precious six minutes left correcting her.
I ate the thing faster than I should have and hopped up. Two minutes left.
“Good to see you, Todd. Bye, Brit.”
I left without paying for my dinner. I’d settle up with Britney next time. It was what we did.
After speed walking down the sidewalk, I jogged across the street. No one was near the front door of the diner. He must be waiting by the back. I slipped through a narrow alley to the back of the building and around the corner as a sharp pain ripped down my side.
Clutching my side, I paused before the back door. I really hadn’t exercised in quite a while and it was painfully obvious by the massive side ache I was experiencing now.
“You made it with about ten seconds to spare,” Jake said, pushing away from the shadows lining the back of the building.
“Yeah…just…give me…a second.” I gasped for breath in between my words, careful not to blow sandwich breath toward Jake. I leaned forward, resting my hands on my knees. I wasn’t like the super fit jogger beside me. I never ran.
He chuckled. “You know I was kidding, right?”
I looked up under my lashes at his handsome face grinning down at me and an overwhelming desire to jump up and kiss him took over me.
What?! Where had that come from?
I nearly fell over from the shock of my ridiculous thoughts and I squeezed my eyes closed, disloyalty spreading through me.
But, wait a second. I was single now. Patrick had broken up with me more than twenty-four hours before. If I found the visitor attractive and daydreamed about kissing him, I was breaking zero rules, ethical or otherwise.
I rose slowly, my breathing beginning to regain a normal speed. What would he say if I jumped him right this second? In the dark shadows of the back side of Main Street there were zero spectators and very little light. The whole thing could be quite romantic…if Jake didn’t panic first.
I sounded crazy. And besides, I had chicken sandwich breath. Kissing was not ideal when one’s mouth tasted like garlic and sourdough.
10
Jake
I knew it was going to make me sound crazy, but I was about eighty percent positive Madison was thinking about kissing me right now.
Not that I would complain, of course. It was a perfectly acceptable scenario to me.
Her gaze found mine and locked in, her eyes flickering down to my mouth a few times. She straightened her posture but said nothing, her mind clearly working through whatever was going on in that brain of hers.
I was fine to sit and wait until she made up her mind. I would have done something to help her along the path to my lips if I didn’t think pushing her at all would completely frighten her away. Instead I stood still, watching the indecision flicker across her face until she took an infinitesimal step back and my shoulders sank accordingly.
Darn. I was really looking forward to that.
“Did you eat dinner?” she asked, pulling keys from her pocket and unlocking the diner’s door. “I can whip you up something really quick.”
“I actually had a tray of my own. Compliments of the Hidden Acres Home.”
She paused halfway through the door and looked back over her shoulder. Her face was screwed up in a mixture of surprise and disgust.
“Yeah, the meatloaf tasted exactly how it looked on those trays. But I was raised to have good manners and I couldn’t turn down the offer.”
“You could have lied,” she said, moving into the kitchen and flipping on lights.
I shrugged. “Yeah, I probably will next time.”
She rummaged around in the refrigerator and brought out a small clear carton with a light green slice of pie inside. “Here,” she said, offering it to me with a fork. “I’d plate it, but you may as well just eat it from the carton.”
“Thanks.” I sat at the bar and opened the plastic container. “Key lime pie?”
She nodded, picking up a gray bin and moving to the back table to clear the dishes.
The first bite of pie hit my tongue with an explosion of tart lime and a subtle, creamy sweetness. “This is amazing,” I said while she walked back and dumped the dishes into the sink. Turning the water on, she wet a rag and went back to clean the table.
“Thanks.”
“Do you sell this in the diner?”
“Sometimes,” she answered, preparing the table for the next guests in the morning. “There’s a few regulars on the menu, but dessert is usually whatever I’ve got whipped up and in the fridge.”
I shoveled the last bite into my mouth and shut my eyes. It did the trick and completely erased the meatloaf aftertaste from earlier. I tossed my fork into the sudsy sink and shut the water off, since it had neared the brimming point, and threw m
y container in the trash.
I moved into the diner and started stacking chairs onto tables.
“So, how’d it go?” she asked. I knew she meant my grandma, but I still couldn’t believe what had happened tonight. Let alone what was said.
“It was informative, actually.” I paused in the center of the diner floor, holding an upturned chair in my hands. “I don’t really know what to think.”
She nodded as if she understood. I had a feeling she had an empathetic soul.
“I mean, I’ve never met this woman in my life, and she hugged me like I was her long-lost grandson who she actually wanted to see.”
Her eyes grew wide. “First time ever?”
I nodded.
“Well, of course she wanted to see you. She’s your grandmother.”
I shook my head, disbelieving. “That’s not the story I’ve been fed my entire life.” I paused, setting the chair upside down on a nearby table. “And now I don’t know what to believe.”
“Well,” she said decidedly, crossing the diner and pulling herself onto the table beside me. She rested her feet on a chair I’d yet to pick up and looked me in the eye. “I’ve known Mrs. Hart my entire life and I would bet my entire diner that she was telling you the truth.”
Given that she was about to be evicted from the worthless diner, that wasn’t saying much. But I understood her sentiment.
Pulling a chair from a different table I spun it around and straddled it. I would have sat on the table opposite Madison, but I was fairly positive it would break under my weight.
“And I would have put money on my dad,” I argued. “What reason would he have for lying to us? But then again, her story makes so much more sense.”
Silence sat between us, heavy with the things that weren’t being said. She sighed, delivering a small smile. “I won’t lie and pretend I don’t want to know, because I am dying to hear both sides of the story here. But on a more mature note, it might also be helpful for you to get it all out.” She lifted both arms. “And to a stranger, no less. Who am I going to tell?”
Snowflake Wishes (Holly Springs Romance Book 1) Page 8