Grizz
2002, North Carolina
Grizz sat at the kitchen table and filled Micah in on the events of their last month in Florida.
It hadn’t been an easy one as Ginny had reached into the depths of her soul looking for the forgiveness she knew she needed to give Sarah Jo. She’d convinced herself the only way to find it would be to make an honest effort toward helping her old friend. It hadn’t been easy, but she’d done her best to visit her and convince her Grizz was dead and not haunting her. She wasn’t sure if her visits helped, but when it was time to leave, she did so knowing she had done her best in the little time she’d had.
She also knew she would heal from this, just like she’d healed from everything else that had ever bruised her soul.
“It kind of sucks that my wife, who doesn’t lie, had to lie in the very end,” Grizz told his father as he cradled a mug of coffee. His green eyes stared into Micah’s. “She had to reassure Sarah Jo I was dead. She thought it would be the only thing that might help the woman.”
Micah’s eyes were warm as he reached across the table and patted his son’s hand.
“She didn’t lie, son. That man is dead.”
They didn’t say anything for a few minutes.
“So how long has she had this flu bug?” Micah nodded toward the room in the basement, where Ginny slept. “She hasn’t kept anything down since you got here. A trip to the doctor might be in order.”
Grizz nodded. “Yeah, she started throwing up when we hit Georgia. She hasn’t kept much down since.”
They’d all been invited to go on a picnic in one of the many national forests. Both Mimi and Jason were excited and had gone with the others, but Grizz elected to stay home with Ginny and Micah. She was now lying down in the basement bedroom they shared. Grizz had taken the quiet opportunity to fill Micah in on everything that had transpired since they’d last seen him during the kids’ spring break.
“So, any loose ends in Florida?”
“No loose ends,” Grizz said. “She sold her share of Tommy’s business to his partner. The house sold almost immediately, and the new owners let Ginny rent it back from them until our move. She sold it completely furnished and started packing her and the kids’ personal belongings, shipping their things to a warehouse in Montana.”
“If somebody looked hard enough, they could probably figure out how to trace those shipments. Might even be able to ask the schools where the kids’ records are being transferred to. Guessing she’ll have to have things like her car title transferred. Get a new driver’s license. Lots and lots of paperwork.” Grizz didn’t miss the question in his statement.
“That’s all being handled by a friend.” Grizz didn’t have to go into detail about Bill’s special skills, and Micah wouldn’t ask.
Micah nodded. “I know she drove up in her car, and you drove your car while pulling that ‘death on wheels’ thing you call a motorcycle. If you want to drive with them out to Montana, you know, in one vehicle, I was going to suggest you leave your car and trailer here, and maybe I’ll make a little trip out there for a visit. I can drive there and fly back.”
He looked away after he said it. With all the secrecy about their move, Micah wasn’t certain if he’d be among the people permanently saying goodbye to the son he’d just found. And he’d never mustered the courage to suggest they move here to live near him. He’d never been a father and didn’t know what would be considered pushy. He didn’t want to lose the family that God had recently blessed him with.
Grizz took a sip of his coffee and gave his father a half-smile.
“Sounds like a plan, Preacher. But you have to come soon. I don’t want to miss out on a whole summer of riding with Ginny.”
He saw the relief in his father’s face and stood up from the table. He wanted to check on his wife. If she wasn’t feeling even a little better, he’d take her to the local doctor.
The kids returned later that afternoon and found their mother sitting on the couch gingerly sipping a cup of tea. Both Spooky and Hope were snuggled up to her, Spooky on her lap and Hope burrowed into her side. Ginny smiled when she thought how well the first leg of this journey had gone. That is, until she’d picked up a nasty stomach bug somewhere in Georgia. She had to let Mimi drive most of the remaining miles to North Carolina.
Both cats shared a crate in her car while Rocky rode with Grizz and Jason in Grizz’s Chevelle. Grizz and Micah were now in the kitchen doing some prep work for dinner. She hoped she’d be able to keep down whatever it was they were planning on cooking.
“You know your way around a kitchen,” she heard Micah tell Grizz in a surprised tone.
“So do you, Preacher.”
Jason was excitedly filling them all in on the day he and Mimi had spent with their cousins.
“It’s not just called Sliding Rock, Mom. It is a sliding rock. The water’s been running over it for, like, a gazillion years and made it smooth.”
“Sounds like you had fun, honey,” Ginny said, her voice sounding weak.
Mimi stood to head upstairs to pack an overnight bag. She’d been invited to spend the night with a cousin and wanted to be ready when the girl came to pick her up.
“Before Mimi goes upstairs to pack, can we open Aunt Carter and Uncle Bill’s wedding present for you and James?” Jason asked his mother.
Carter and Bill had delivered it to them in the early morning hours on the day they were leaving for their move. Ginny had already turned the keys to their home over to the new owners and had promised to spend their last night having dinner with the Bears. Instead of hitting the road after dark, they’d rented a hotel room where Grizz waited for them. Anthony, Christy, Ginny, and Grizz had all decided that it was in everyone’s best interest that the Bear kids never meet him, so he’d waited at the hotel while they ate one of Christy’s delicious home-cooked Native American meals.
“I can’t believe I almost let you guys leave without giving you a wedding gift,” Carter had told Ginny as she’d handed her the neatly wrapped present. “Don’t open it, yet. I know you’re anxious to get going.”
Ginny stared at her friend and asked under her breath, “It’s not breathing, is it?”
Carter smiled as she remembered Bill’s role in having the black kitten delivered to Ginny and Tommy in what seemed like a lifetime ago. She shook her head.
“Please?” Jason begged, interrupting Ginny’s memory.
“It’s still in the back of the car, I think,” Mimi said.
“I’ll get it.”
Jason was out the door and back inside carrying the present within thirty seconds. Handing it to his mother, he said, “James should open it with you. It’s his, too, Mom.”
Grizz dried his hands on a dishtowel and joined them in the living room. He sat on Micah’s coffee table, an old sturdy chest.
“Go ahead.” He nodded at her.
By the time it was unwrapped, Micah had made his way to the living room and stood back as Ginny carefully opened the plain brown box. She looked down and smiled, showed Grizz.
“What’s in it? What did they get you?” Jason peered into the open container. He looked mildly disappointed.
Grizz and Ginny exchanged knowing smiles. Without taking her eyes from his, she announced, “I think there’s a little something in here for each of us. This would be for you, Jason.” She handed him a homemade slingshot.
“Cool,” he said as he snapped the rubber band that was attached to it.
Ginny handed Mimi a small stuffed gorilla. “I think this little guy can find a home with you. But I’ll keep this little card that came with it.” She carefully removed it from the gorilla’s wrist.
Ginny handed the shaving bag to Grizz. “I bet you’ll find a use for this, Gri—James.”
He winked at her.
She took the Barry White album out last, cradled it to her chest.
“And I’ll be holding onto this.”