“Enough of this sad crap. I say we finish off this bottle of wine then open the other one I have in the fridge.”
“Sounds good to me,” I agree as she gets up, going to the kitchen and grabbing another glass. Coming back to the couch a second later, she tops off my glass and fills hers up.
“Now, let’s cheers.” She holds her glass up and I do the same. “Here’s to finding out your grandma is alive, new adventures, and hopefully hot cowboys.”
Clinking my glass against hers, I laugh then take a sip of wine, hoping that when I finally make it to Tennessee, everything will be okay.
~**~
As I pull onto the highway that will lead me to Lookout Mountain and Ruby Falls, I take in my surroundings. It’s beautiful here with its sprawling farms set back off the highway, rolling hills covered in trees, and a beautiful lake I’m sure is full of life during the summer months. It’s the complete opposite of the city I’ve lived in my entire life. Everything is open and clean, and judging by the amount of people who have waved at me in my Jeep, it’s friendly here. As I reach the exit for Ruby Falls, I dial Nina’s number. I talked to her yesterday, and then again this morning after I left Chicago to tell her I was on my way and should be there by the afternoon, since the drive is only about ten hours. I could tell she was relieved I was actually keeping my word and coming. When I asked her about talking to my grandmother directly, she told me that she would try to get her on the phone, but it hasn’t happened, which worried me more than anything. I’m not worried like Natasha that I’m being catfished, but I am concerned about my grandmother’s state of mind. I know if she were thinking clearly that she would want to speak to me, especially after so many years.
“Gia,” Nina greets as soon as she answers.
“I just exited the highway. I shouldn’t be much longer.”
“Ned, she’s almost here,” she shouts, and the sound bounces through my car.
“Well tell her to get off her phone. Don’t she know it’s illegal to drive while on your cell phone?” he gripes, and I smile.
“I’m on my car’s Bluetooth,” I tell Nina, and then listen to her relay that message to her husband, who grumbles something about technology. Laughing, I stop at the red light and turn on my blinker. “My GPS says I’ll be there in less than ten minutes.”
“We’ll see you when you get here, darlin’. Just drive safe.”
“See you soon.” I hang up then turn left and drive through a tiny town with just a few small stores, a bank, and a bar. As soon as I make it to the street my grandmother’s house is on, my heart starts to beat hard. Even though I have never been here before, I’ve seen enough pictures of my mother’s childhood home to know exactly which one it is. Parking in the driveway, I shut down my car. The house is small, smaller than it seemed in pictures I saw when I was a little girl, and time has taken its toll on it. The yellow paint on the siding is peeling away, along with the white borders around each of the windows. The grass isn’t overgrown, but the flowerbeds are in need of weeding, and the trees surrounding the house need to be cut back, since they look like they are about to go through the roof.
Looking in the rearview mirror at my refection, I sigh. I’m a mess, but after driving all day, it’s not surprising. With nothing at hand to do anything about my appearance right now, I open the door and jump down, hearing what sounds like a screen door squeak. Slamming the door to my Jeep closed, my breath catches the second I see the woman standing on the front porch wearing a baggy, colorful knitted sweater and jeans. Her long salt-and-pepper hair is still thick and shiny, hanging down around her shoulders, and I instantly recognize the high cheekbones and beautiful copper-toned skin. She’s beautiful, and I have no doubt that if my mom were still alive, she would look just like her in a few years.
“Gabriella,” she whispers, studying me, and pain slices through me. Gabriella was my mom. I don’t think I look anything like the beauty who was my mother, but my dad used to tell me all the time that I did.
“Genevria, honey, that’s Gia,” an older woman, who I’m guessing is Nina, says, helping my grandmother down the steps with her hand wrapped around her sweater-covered elbow. “You remember her, don’t you?” she asks, and I can see it in my grandmother’s eyes that she is trying to remember but it’s not clicking. “Gia is Gabriella’s daughter—your granddaughter.”
“Gia,” Grandma says getting closer, and then a smile lights up her face. “Gia, you grew up.” She holds out her open arms toward me, and my heart clenches in my chest. Closing the distance between us, I wrap my arms around her frail body and bury my face in the crook of her neck.
“I missed you, Grandma,” I choke out as she rubs my back. Leaning back to look at her, I smile, tucking a piece of her long hair behind her ear. “You’re still beautiful,” I whisper, and her eyes fill with warmth.
“So are you. You look just like your mom,” she says thoughtfully before letting me go.
Turning to face the couple standing next to us, I stick out my hand. “Nina?” I prompt, and she laughs, pulling me in for a warm, welcoming hug.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she says before releasing me and jerking her thumb over her shoulder. “This is Ned.”
“Hi, Ned.” I smile, and he smiles back.
“Can you stay for lunch, or will your dad be expecting you home soon?” Grandma asks, and I frown then look at Nina, but she speaks before I can.
“Gia is going to be staying with you for a while, Genevria. Isn’t that nice?”
“Really?” Grandma asks, looking at me.
“Really.” I take her hand in mine. “I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course it is.” She grins. “Come on inside.” She takes my hand and turns me back toward the house.
With her hand in mine, I help her up two steps then walk into the house behind her. The inside is in need of just as much repair as it is out. Even though it’s clean the walls need to be painted and the floors need to be replaced, and when we walk into the kitchen, my gut twists. There is food, pots, pans, and bowls all over the place. It looks like a child was left alone in the kitchen and they tried to cook.
“Genevria was making dinner when we came to tell her you were almost here,” Nina informs me, taking a bowl of something that looks like pancake batter to the sink. “Normally she eats with us, but today she decided she was going to make herself dinner.”
“Well, I have plenty I can cook for all of us now,” Grandma says, and I look around.
“How about we go out to eat instead?” I suggest, hoping she will say yes. The place is a mess, and no one will be cooking anything until it’s cleaned up.
“That’s a wonderful idea, isn’t it?” Nina asks Grandma, who looks like she’s about to protest.
“Well, I suppose so, but don’t throw any of this food out. We can have it tomorrow,” she tells us, moving around the kitchen, picking up the things she left out, and taking them to the fridge. She places everything inside, including the pans and things that were made in them.
“She’s gotten worse,” Ned voices softly from beside me, and I tip my head back to look up at him. “At first, it was her just forgetting small things here and there, but she’s steadily gotten worse over the last couple of years. Her doctor diagnosed her with dementia, but she didn’t want to believe it.”
“She knows?”
“She does. I don’t think she understands what it means, but she knows. We had been coping with it, but a week ago, she wandered off when Nina took her to the grocery store. We couldn’t find her anywhere. The whole town had to be called in to help with the search. An officer finally found her down by the lake. When they asked her where she was, she couldn’t remember. She couldn’t even give him her address.”
“Oh, God.” I cover my mouth with my hand, watching my grandma looking a little lost as she follows Nina around the kitchen. “I’m so sorry. I wish I had known earlier. ”
“It’s okay. I’m just glad I was able to track you down
. Your grandma told Nina years ago about your dad dying and her losing touch with you, but I hoped if I could find you that you’d want some kind of say in what happens next.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He pats my shoulder. “Your grandmother is like family to us, to most of the folks in the town. They have all been worried about her and her future, so knowing you were coming has filled a lot of them with relief.”
“Gia, darlin’, have you ever had ribs?” Nina asks, and I pull my eyes off my grandma, who is now sitting at the kitchen table, writing on a piece of paper, to look at her.
“Yeah, a few times.”
“Real southern ribs?” she asks, and I shake my head. This is the first time I have ever been to Tennessee. When I was younger, Grandma would always come to Chicago to visit us. “Well you are in for a treat, because the Purple Daisy Picnic Café has the best ribs in Tennessee, and that’s where we’re going for dinner.” She smiles at me. “I just need to run over to my house and freshen up. While I’m doing that, Ned and you can go on and empty your car. I saw you brought quite a bit of stuff.”
“That works for me,” I agree, and she smiles.
“Genevria, I’m going to go home for a few minutes, okay?” she says to Grandma, who looks up at her and nods. “I’ll be back.” She glances at me and Ned then leaves out the sliding door in the kitchen that leads to what looks like a screened in sun porch.
“She’s bossy, but you’ll get used to it,” Ned promises, and I look at him and smile then go about helping him empty my car, which doesn’t take us long. By the time we are done getting my stuff into the house and stacked up against the wall in the living room, Nina is back and changed into a simple pair of jeans and a sweater.
“I had a few of the ladies from my book club help me clean out Genevria’s storage room yesterday and pack it all up in the garage,” Nina says, pulling one of my bags with her down a short hallway, and I follow along behind her, trying to take everything in. “There’s only a bed in there now, but I have a dresser Ned will bring over later on, and Monty a friend of mine said she has some curtains she’d bring over and hang for you today.”
“Thank you,” I say to her back as she pushes open the door to the room at the end of the hall.
Stepping into the room with her, I look around. The room is tiny, with one double window over the full-sized bed pushed up against the wall with a familiar looking quilt on it. There isn’t really room for a dresser, but there also isn’t a closet, so I’m going to need somewhere to store my clothes since my suitcases will just take up more room.
“Your grandma’s room is right next to this one, and there is only one bathroom in the house, which is across the hall.”
“That’s okay. Back home in Chicago, I have a roommate, so I’m used to sharing,” I tell her, and her eyes soften.
“I’m glad you’re here, and I want you to know Ned and I aren’t going to be jumping ship just because Genevria has you now. We will help out however we can.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate that,” I say softly, and she looks like she is going to say something else, but instead she looks away, clearing her throat.
“Are you two ready to go?” Ned asks, and I give him a nod then follow him back down the hallway and into the living room, where Grandma is sitting on the couch, putting on a pair of beige shoes with Velcro instead of laces. “I’ll drive. I’m sure the last thing you want to do after driving all day is to get behind the wheel.”
“That works for me,” I agree, helping Grandma stand before I grab my purse from the coffee table. Leading her outside and across the grass following behind Ned, I help her into the back seat of his truck then go around and get in on the other side behind Nina, who on the way tells me all about the town and some of the people who live here. Thankfully the drive isn’t a long one, but when we get to the restaurant, it’s packed, and I mean packed. The parking lot is full of cars, trucks, and motorcycles. It looks like everyone in town came here to have dinner tonight.
“What on earth is going on?” Nina asks as Ned pulls into the lot and parks on the grass next to a large tree.
“It looks like someone is having a party,” he says as I look out the window at the stone-colored building with a purple sign on the roof, and daisies painted on it.
Hearing someone shout, my attention is drawn to a group of men standing in front of a row of motorcycles—or actually to one guy standing in profile amongst that group. Taller than all of them by at least a few inches, his dark hair is a mess of waves on top and cut low on the side. A plaid shirt is firmly fitted over his broad shoulders that taper down to a slim waist, worn blue jeans, and boots. Even in profile, he’s handsome.
“I’m hungry,” Grandma says, and I reluctantly pull my attention away from the guy to look at her. “I think the wait will be too long here,” she continues, and I reach over and take her hand in mine when I see it start to shake.
“Is there a second best place to get ribs in town?” I ask toward the front of the cab, and Nina turns in her seat to look at the two of us.
“Sure there is. We’ll come back here another time. Is that okay with you, Genevria?” she asks grandma, who nods. “Good.” Nina smiles as Ned puts the truck in reverse to back out of the spot he parked in. Turning back toward the window as we drive out of the lot, disappointment fills me when I see the guy who caught my attention earlier has vanished.
CHAPTER 2
All Tied Up
Gia
LOOKING AT MY REFLECTION in my visor, I press my lips together making sure my pink gloss is spread evenly over my lips. I let out a breath and say a silent prayer that I will be offered a job after this interview. I didn’t expect to have to start working so soon, but the last two weeks here have taken a toll on my finances and me.
I ended up spending most of my savings my first week to have the trees trimmed back away from Grandma’s house since Ned told me there were more than a few limbs that he was worried would fall if we had a bad storm. I knew it was either spend the money now to try and prevent that from happening, or spend more money when a tree came through the roof. I also spent a little money having a gardening service come out and weed out all the flowerbeds and trim back the bushes in front of the house. I probably could have done the work myself, but seeing how it was only a hundred and fifty dollars to have it done and I have never gardened in my life, I saved myself the trouble.
The reality of the situation with Grandma has also been sinking in. I thought I understood what would happen when I got here, but in actuality, I had no idea. The day I got here was apparently a good day for her. She remembered who I was throughout dinner and when we got home, but when she woke up the next morning, finding me in the kitchen making us breakfast, she freaked out. It took me at least forty-five minutes to get her to calm down, and even then she was still on edge and leery of me. Nina and Ned have been amazing though, and I really don’t know what I would do without them.
Yawning, I come out of my thoughts and pick up my coffee to take a sip, needing the caffeine to kick in already. I’ve been up since seven and have already applied at two different locations. The daycare center I went to this morning would have been my ideal job, since that’s what I was doing in Chicago, but the woman who interviewed me didn’t seem to like me very much. The second interview I went to at a grocery store in town would be okay, but the hours would be at night doing stock, and since I can’t work nights, I knew that wouldn’t work. But the man who interviewed me did promise to call if something opened up on days.
Which brings me to now, at the Rusty Rose—a biker bar at the base of Ruby Falls. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be considering working at a biker bar, but I needed a job, and since Nina called to tell me she got me an interview, I couldn’t pass it up. Taking one more long pull from my coffee, I drop it back down in the cup holder then open the door and jump out, grabbing my bag as I go. Slamming the door shut, I curse when it swings right back open
. I don’t know what the hell is going on with my Jeep, but I need to get it looked at, and it probably should be a priority even though it isn’t.
After I know the door is firmly shut, I head toward the front door of the bar, wiping my suddenly sweaty palms down the front of my pants. Putting my hand to the door handle and pulling it open, it takes a second for my eyes to adjust to the dark interior, and when they do I scan the bar, noticing it’s completely empty, which fits the whole biker lifestyle I’ve built up in my head. It consists of scary giant men with too much facial hair rolling out of bed sometime around noon, having a beer for breakfast, and then hitting the bar sometime after it’s dark. Definitely not before.
Scanning the bar again, I look for any sign of life then check my phone to see what time it is. Nina told me I needed to be here by ten to meet with a friend of hers named Rose. I’m a few minutes early, but not much. Walking a little deeper into the room, I take in the huge space. It’s bigger than it looks like it would be from the outside. In the back, a long bar takes up one entire section of the room. In the middle are high, round tables scattering the floor, then to the left are pool tables. Four of them are all lined up with more than enough room for people to move around if they’re playing a game.
“Hello?” I call out when I reach the bar, putting my hands to the top and leaning over slightly to look toward a room at the end, where a door is open an inch with bright light shining through.
“Just a sec,” is rumbled back to me, and that deep timbre causes my stomach to dip uncomfortably.
“Okay!” I yell back, spinning one of the barstools around to climb up onto it. Once I’m settled, I smooth out my top while crossing one leg over the other, looking around and wondering if I’m way too overdressed for this place and if I shouldn’t have gone home to change. My black slacks, silk cami, and sweater, both lavender that match the floral design sewn into the leather of my booties, don’t really say “biker bar,” they scream “teacher.”