After an hour of driving, we turned down a long dirt road toward a manufactured home off the beaten path that had junk litter all over the property. What was Tucker's grandma thinking? I glanced over at her and saw the glint in her eye as her excitement picked up. We parked in front of the modest home, and my eyes were drawn to the huge building behind it. Were we going to riffle through that?
The three of us we got out of the truck and walked up to the door. Grandma Betty knocked. We listened for footsteps until the door opened, revealing an older woman. “There you are,” she greeted with a smile on her lips. “I almost thought you got lost. Are you here for the stuff in the back?” she asked.
“Yes, of course,” Grandma Betty answered cheerfully. “We're quite excited to see what you have.”
The two women shook hands, and then Grandma Betty introduced us and proceeded to ask the older woman how she came to have all these antiques. The lady explained how she’d collected all sorts of things, but her more interesting items she’d collected was when she rummaged through an old orphanage that was scheduled to be destroyed.
“What happened to all the kids?” I found myself asking. I couldn't help it. I wanted to know.
“They moved them,” she answered quietly. “To the city. They renamed themselves Sun Shine Kids. Dropped the orphanage part because I guess they thought it was a more appealing name with the adoption agency," she explained.
I grunted, and eyes turned my way.
The old lady frowned, eyebrows shooting upward at my unladylike display. “You have something to say, girl, you need to speak up,” she demanded.
My stare hardened toward the owner of the broken down house. “It doesn't matter what name you stamp on an orphanage or foster care place. If a couple wants to adopt you, they’ll adopt you. But society's views on foster children are pretty harsh. Couples only want babies. Not kids with trouble attached to them. They want someone they can mold, a baby they can start fresh with, not some broken kid,” I ended my speech harshly, glancing up to see three very appalled faces, and I was ashamed.
I really couldn't explain my outburst. Where did it come from? My mouth snapped shut as Grandma Betty glanced at me worriedly. “Seems like you speak from experience, child.”
I shrugged, slipping a glance over toward Talia whose face seemed to whiten.
I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything at all. I just put my lips together and kept quiet. They must have known by the look in my eyes that what I had so boldly blurted was an impulsive reaction and one that I didn’t actually want to talk about. No more words were shared until we arrived at the building doors. The large roll up door gleamed at me as the three of us stood around while the owner opened it.
“There's a lot of nice things in here to sift through. Some of the items have been given to me while other things, like the items from the orphanage, I collected.” The owners eyes slanted to mine briefly then glided back to Grandma Betty’s. “Just look around and set aside what you think you might want for your little shop, and we'll make a deal.”
When the door rolled up, I couldn’t contain my gasp. There was a ton of stuff in the old building.
The old lady chuckled. “I guess it’s safe to say that it might take you a while.”
There were pictures, toys, furniture: everything you could ever think of, both old and fairly new, if you counted things from the 80s new. Just eyeing everything, I found stuff that I thought I wanted but didn't really need. Things I thought looked cool. Talia touched me with her shoulder before leaning in and whispering, “I think we hit the jackpot.”
“Talia,” I leaned in closer, “I think you mean we found the Holy Grail of antiques,” I breathed, not even realizing what I was looking at.
She gave me an excited glance, and I couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped. The tension that once resided between the three of us diminished, and we all quickly started making a pile of things that would once again become someone else's treasure.
After an hour, Grandma Betty stopped and leaned back against a dresser with perspiration gleaming on her forehead and announced with a smile that we were done. For an old woman, she sure could work.
It was interesting to see the old lady and Grandma Betty go back and forth bargaining and haggling. At some point, I actually thought that things could get ugly but it all worked out, and a few more things were added to our ever growing pile. In fact, I had wondered how we were going to get some of the big stuff into the truck when there were only us, but when it came time to load everything up, I didn't have to wonder any longer.
I knew who was coming to help when a familiar racing car pulled up right beside the moving truck. “Talia,” I complained, bumping her harsher than she had done to me before.
“Hey,” she smarted, glancing my way. “Why did you—Oh.”
I twisted my lips as she took notice of my distress. “Uh, yeah. ‘Oh’ is right. Why didn't you tell me Tucker was coming?”
Talia gave me what I was sure was one of her winning smiles and shrugged. “I didn't know.”
Glaring at the sports car, I exhaled harshly when I took notice that it wasn’t only Tucker that stepped out. Van had graced us with his presence as well and... Mall Girl? Now that was a real surprise. How did they know Mall Girl?
“Yeah!” Talia said excitedly as she ran over to mall girl, tackling her into a hug.
Grandma Betty leaned over and whispered, “That’s Marissa White. She and Talia have been friends for years. You'll like her.” She patted my shoulder before she moved forward to greet her grandsons.
When Tucker saw me, a huge grin spread across his face. He held out his arms as if we were long-lost friends and then came rushing toward me. “Rella Bella!” I braced myself for impact as I was caught up and spun around by the dork before he finished off with a big, huge, whopping kiss on my cheek.
I wanted to hit him. The sneaky arrogance... Ooo! And I couldn’t properly hit him because his grandmother was right there! I frowned, glaring at Tucker, because the situation was quite brilliant. I had to admit it. Van just gave me a small wave as Tucker set me down.
Talia came over with Marissa, smiling and waving off Tucker’s friendly advances. “Daniels, this is Marissa.”
“Hello again,” she smiled, holding out her hand being friendly, but I could tell she was hesitant as her gaze wavered between Tucker and me, most likely wondering if we were dating. I smiled, refusing to acknowledge anything different and promptly shook her hand. “Hi.”
“Come on, boys,” Grandma Betty called out. “We don’t have all day!”
After we had finished loading everything into the truck, I was ready for a drink, despite the cool weather. I had worked up a thirst.
Heading over to get into the truck, I hadn’t expected Marissa to be in my spot and Talia in her spot leaving no room for me. My brows furrowed, wondering if somehow this was a planned event.
“I'm sorry,” Talia said, leaning down with a twinkle in her eye. “I guess we're all full in here. You don't mind riding with Van and Tucker, do you?”
I wanted to shout yes, that I did mind, but pressed my lips together, glaring at her instead as Grandma Betty announced that a sweet girl like me wouldn't mind driving with her handsome grandsons. I gritted my teeth, reminding myself that I had to be respectful. I gave a tight smile before angrily stomping over to their vehicle.
I opened the back door and slid inside, slamming it shut. Two black heads of hair, that I definitely didn't want to be around, turn toward me with a confused look.
Then Tucker had to go and bristle my already agitated nerves. “So we got you, huh?”
I ignored him as I buckled up and folded my arms, looking out the window.
“Unfortunately,” I stated.
I never thought that I would be in a position where I was in the same car as Tucker or Van. In fact, I never thought I'd be in the position where I was in the same car with Tucker AND Van. But I was.
I muttered in my
head as we drove out of that dusty dirt lot and back toward town, grumbling about how I was never going to go anywhere with again.
As they drove, I started realizing we weren’t going straight back to the shop like I thought. No, instead they went a different way than we had traveled in the truck.
I decided it was time to text Tyler about where I was just as we pulled into a diner I wasn't familiar with. My phone rang and I briefly saw Tyler's name before I answered. While I was trying to explain the situation to Tyler, I opened the door as Van walked up to the curb of the sidewalk, and Tucker came around the other side, almost as if he was afraid I was going to bolt.
“What in the hell are you doing in a car with Tucker?!” Tyler burst out. “I should have known this was coming.”
“What? You should have known? It’s not like I wanted to be in a car with him!”
“Hand the phone to Tucker, now,” Tyler growled, and I did it willingly, and Tucker smirked, taking it.
“Call your guard dog, did you?”
I glared at him, brushing past Van before heading inside with Grandma Betty, , and Marissa.
My life was not fair, and I was not happy. Whatever happened with Tucker and Tyler on the phone, they must have settled their differences because Tucker came back inside not as happy or amused as he was before. He handed my phone back to me and folded his arms as he sat. “You ride back in the U-Haul,” he muttered, obviously agitated.
A small smile played on my lips as I wondered what Tyler had said or threatened for that to happen. I shared a glance with Talia and Marissa. Talia seemed disappointed while Marissa looked content. It was enough for me to know at least someone was on my side.
Van ordered us drinks and offered food, but I declined. From there we sat down and waited for their orders to arrive. We all listened as Grandma Betty talked about all the antiques we had found and where she was going to put them.
I shared several glances with Tucker, and he shared a couple of glances with Marissa. That made me wonder if there was something there, but I dismissed it. He probably thought of her as a kid sister because she was Talia's friend, but then again maybe not?
I peered over at Van, who was staring at his drink the whole time, not speaking. A moment later I saw it. His eyes ignored me and his Grandmother, who was still talking, to take a quick glance at Marissa, but then after, his gaze landed on me, and I smirked as he threw daggers my way. Van had the hots for Talia’s best friend. That in itself was blackmail worthy.
They finished up their drinks and food, and I made my way toward my original seat in the moving truck. I waved to Marissa as Talia and Grandma Betty got in. Marissa would get Tucker off my ass. That alone was reason to like her.
The car ride back wasn’t as pleasant as it should have been. Things actually became a little more unpleasant.
“Daniels, I know you haven't been with us long,” Grandma Betty started out, “but what you said back there about being a foster child and being adopted”—I gave her a look—“Don't give me that look, child,” she chided me. “I just want to let you know that it’s not fair for someone as good as you to be in that situation, wherever or however you were put in it. I know how hard it is having your family taken from you.”
“Grandma,” Talia interrupted.
“No,” she said to her granddaughter, pointing a finger at her, “You and your brothers know about loss and how it is to be alone. You had me, but Daniels had no one.” Grandma Betty turned her attention briefly toward me as she drove. “I just wanna let you know that you are a part of our family no matter what, Daniels. You have worked your way into our hearts, whether you become a couple with Tucker or not. In the short amount of time you've been here, you’ve shown me that you’re a hard worker and a great friend to my Talia, and if you're ever in need of something, I’m here. Even just to talk. Now with that said, I have a confession.”
I tensed up, wondering what else she could possibly say that she hadn't already.
“I looked you up,” she stated bluntly. “I looked you up, and I found what you're all about. What you went through, child, that was not fair. It wasn't fair for them to falsely accused you...”
My body tensed as she kept talking and then I’d had enough. “You don’t know what it’s like!” I shouted, wanting her to stop talking and trying to claim she understood. “You have no idea what it's like. To wake up from a beating that you never once thought your father was capable of.”
“She’s just trying to help,” Talia murmured as she tried to wrap an arm around me, but I shoved her off. “Just because you have experienced loss doesn't mean you understand my loss. I thought I killed my father. Did the papers tell you that? That I held the guilt inside me before evidence showed otherwise? So no, you don't get to say you know how I felt or feel. You have no clue. If you walked a mile in my shoes, you'd realize that there were no shoes left to walk in; only bare feet remained. Today's the anniversary of my brother's death. Not only that, a few days ago it was the anniversary of the day that I lost my parents. So don't go telling me that you know, cuz you don't.”
After my big speech, I kept my mouth closed, looking out the window and feeling anger. The quiet stretched between the three of us. And after a while, I felt bad for yelling.
We got to the antique shop and went inside. I went straight to my locker, which had my check in it, and picked up my purse. When I turned around, Grandma Betty was closing the door that led back out to the store. She took a deep breath and held my stare. “I love how strong you are. You would have been perfect for either of my grandsons, but”—she gave a small smile—“I can settle having you as another granddaughter. As a sister to them instead, because Faith, believe it or not, you are now part of my family.”
“Family?” I scoffed leaning back against the lockers. “Family is earned not given, and right now, I don't know you.”
She looked sad and upset, and I wasn't one to make people upset, but anger and humiliation swirled inside me. Two emotions that fed off of each other. I started to feel bad for my outbursts and for the way I treated her. I sighed, my shoulder slumping. “I am sorry...” I started off, but Grandma Betty just shook her head.
“No, Faith, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed that our situations were the same, because you're right, they aren't. I may not know what it's like to kill my father, but”—she leaned in and whispered her eyes flashing—“I know what it's like to kill a man. Emotional pain, no matter where it stems from, it's still pain. I have it. My grandkids have it too. The weight of loss is not easy, but we grow stronger and move on. We never forget. It's not easy losing a loved one, no matter how you lost them.” She put her hand on my shoulder and when I didn't shrug her off, she drew me into her arms like a grandmother would. She was the grandmother of my enemy, and she was hugging me. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but I knew it felt good. It felt right. She smelled of cookies and baking, and I desperately wanted to stay there in those wise and comforting arms. I wrapped my arms around her and sunk into her soft grand-motherly body and almost resisted when she pulled back. I was so messed up.
“Family is earned,” she recited, her eyes glistening with tears, “but know this, you’ve earned a spot in my heart already. Love is infinite, and you have mine, no matter if you can stand my grandsons or not.”
I chuckled, pulling away. “How long have you known?”
She grinned, her eyes wrinkling at the corners. “I saw you. Watched you, and I knew you were not for my grandson, but it wasn't from his lack of trying. So,” she said as she stood up straight, releasing me all the way, holding my arms and giving me a stern look, “are you going to quit?” I gave her my best smile and told her honestly that I wasn't sure.
She nodded. “Well, here’s some advice. Quit.”
I looked at her utterly confused, and she gave a laugh. “Honey, I know what you do. I know you work at SSK, and I know that you are needed there.”
I was shocked. “How?”
Her eyes twinkled
with a secret. “Don’t you know? I have eyes in the back of my head. I have eyes everywhere.”
“Even on Roxie?” I challenged her.
She pursed her lips, her eyes glowing. “Now that’s something my grandson needs to solve on his own.” She patted my cheek. “You're good, you’re family, and you need to visit often. Don’t let those McGuire boys walk all over you, and don't take this the wrong way, but you're fired.”
I laughed and nodded, heading out into the shop, wondering how she knew it was not just Tyler. “Sorry, but I think I already quit.” Laughter rang out as I headed out the front door. Who knew that I would have gained a grandmother of one my enemies. Bet Tucker didn’t.
I headed out to the car where Tyler was waiting and felt a weight lift off my shoulders. She knew that I wasn't interested in Tucker, and she knew I was with Tyler. Even after all of that, she accepted me. It was all so confusing as to why she accepted me as one of her own. Then I got to thinking, turning back to look at the antique store door, who were her eyes and how long had they been watching me?
I turned back to Tyler’s truck and hopped in. He gave me an exasperated sigh. “Faith, what am I going to do with you?”
Warmth filled my soul as I chuckled and announced I had quit.
Tyler dropped me off at home and promptly left, saying he had something to do. I walked back into my house, glad to be home. I was greeted by my old friend, HotShot. He too was once my enemy, but now I relied on him. I smiled. I knew Brady was home as well as Sarah, but neither one came to greet me. I could hear their voices once again, but this time they seem to be laughing instead of arguing, and it made me smile.
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