Gray came into the house with me.
My parents had no idea he was even in town, so they were stretched out on my couch when we came into the living room. My mom had her head on my dad's lap, but they both bounced up when they saw Gray come in behind me.
"Gray's the guy renting the upstairs apartment," I explained when I saw my dad's curious expression. Mom had already met him, and she began smiling as soon as she noticed who it was.
We crossed the living room, headed toward my parents, and they stood up and came toward us.
"How'd she do?" I asked.
Mom nodded reassuringly. "She was tired. Your dad read her a story, and she was out like a light."
Mom and I watched as Dad and Gray shook hands the way men do when they're sizing one another up.
"Military?" my dad asked.
"Yes sir," Gray said with a smile. He ran a hand over the side of his closely cropped hair, assuming that was how Dad knew. "Mrs. Bishop had me figured out, too."
Dad pointed toward Gray's pocket. "I saw your keychain," he said.
Gray glanced down at his side, smiling when he saw the small, metal keychain that unintentionally hung out of his pocket. All I could tell from where I was standing was that it looked like a scull, so I assumed my dad knew something I didn't.
"And Ivy told me the guy moving in upstairs was ex-military," Dad added, causing me to smile and roll my eyes at him.
Mom gave Gray a curious expression. "I thought you went back to Illinois." She came to stand in front of Dad, and he put his arm around her shoulders, both of them looking at Gray.
He smiled and seemed totally relaxed. "I did go back home, actually. My parents had this welcome home party for me last night with a lot of friends and family and everything. It had been a while since I'd been home, so it was really nice."
"Are you just getting out of the military?" Dad asked.
"Yes sir. Eight years overseas—a little over half of that in Germany and then the rest in the Middle East."
My dad stepped forward again, shaking Gray's hand a second time. "Thank you for your service to this country," he said.
He was so sincere that tears stung my eyes, so I blinked and looked away, trying to think about something else.
"What brings you to Memphis?" Dad asked.
"I, uh, I was just passing through, and uh…" Gray trailed off as if he was reluctant to continue. He looked at my parents and then at me. It was obvious that he wanted to say something and just couldn’t figure out a way to say it. "My family is in Illinois, along with a potential job working with my brother. I'll probably live there full-time, but I like Memphis. I rented the upstairs from your daughter thinking I'd come down and visit some."
"Do you have family here?" Dad asked.
"No sir. I have grandparents in Georgia, but everyone else is up in Illinois." He smiled as if expecting more questions.
"What kind of job do you have waiting for you back in Illinois?" Dad asked.
I knew my dad, and I could tell by the way he looked at Gray that he was wondering if he'd like to work with motorcycles.
Gray breathed a little laugh at Dad's question. "Pretty much the weirdest career option I could think of with my skillset. But hey, gotta live for a challenge, right?"
"Okay, now you've got me curious," Dad said.
"Me too!" Mom agreed.
"It's an acting job," Gray said.
"Acting?" my dad asked.
"Acting?" I asked.
Gray smiled at me with a nod. "I told you my brother was a comedian, right?"
I nodded. "So, you're joking right now?"
He laughed. "No, I'm serious. He's talking to a network about making a TV show, and he was going to base a character off of me, so he made a big speech at the party last night, trying to convince me that I should play myself."
Gray most certainly had a face for television. Women all across the land would swoon over this man's if his face was on TV. I cringed inwardly at the thought.
"That's exciting!" my mom said. "Would you film it in Chicago?"
"Yes ma'am. It's still in the planning stages, and I haven't fully committed to it, but it seems like a pretty decent gig if I can pull off the acting thing. My parents kept reminding me that I was an even bigger ham than my brother when we were kids, but I think they just want me to do it."
"When do you start that?" Mom asked, smiling broadly at him.
"I have a meeting about it Monday. I'll have to head back tomorrow to go to that."
"What's your brother's name?" Dad asked.
"Kevin Kennedy," Gray said. "I think they'll probably call it The Kennedy Show, but they're still talking about all that."
"You'll have to let us know how everything goes," Dad said.
"We brought some twin sheets and blankets," Mom added, pointing toward the dining room. "I put them on the table."
"I really appreciate that," Gray said. "I was just planning on sleeping in my coat."
My parents laughed like he was kidding, but I knew Gray was serious. He was a simple guy, and it didn't take much to please him. I liked that about him.
"We should get going," Mom said. She reached out to embrace Gray, and he grinned as he hugged her back.
"My mom was all excited about me meeting you," Gray said to my mom. "She and my dad are fans of your music. They said you recorded some of it up in Chicago."
"I did," Mom said, nodding. "I played live there quite a bit, too."
Gray nodded. "I think my uncle saw you once." He shifted to stare at me. "It's pretty neat that your daughter takes after you, too," he said, talking to Mom but looking at me.
Mom hugged me and then rubbed my head. "She's so much better than I ever was," she said, since she always said that just to be sweet.
"Her brother is really good, too," Gray said.
"Her brother?" Mom and Dad asked at the same time. Mom gawked at me, and I giggled at her expression.
"The crowd asked for an encore, but the band was already tired, so I told them I'd do one by myself." I smiled at my mom. "I made Jesse come up there with me."
"Are you serious?" she asked.
I nodded. "He played Jared's guitar."
"What'd y'all sing?" she asked.
"We did I Got You, Babe for old times' sake."
Mom dramatically slapped a hand to her forehead. "Oh my gosh, Jane. I really wish I'd seen that! I would've stayed up there if I'd known you were dragging your brother on stage. Shelby could've slept in my lap. How did you ever talk him into doing that?"
"I don't know," I said, shaking my head with a smile. "I think he's excited about the wedding. He didn't even give me a hard time about putting him on the spot; he just got up there and performed like when we were kids."
"You better make him do it again," Mom said with one last hug as they headed for the door.
"I will," I promised. "Everybody cheered like crazy for him. It looked like he had fun. I can talk him into doing it again, for sure."
"I really wish y'all would have got that on video," Mom said, shaking her head.
Dad patted mom on the back as if reminding her it was time to go. "You sounded really great tonight, Jane-y Cakes."
I scrunched my nose at him playfully. "Thanks Dad. And thank y'all for watching Shelby."
"Our pleasure," Mom said.
"It was nice meeting you Mr. Bishop," Gray said. "And nice seeing you again, Mrs. Bishop."
"Michael and Ivy will do just fine," Mom said. She reached out to pat Gray's arm. "If you're headed upstairs, I can help you make that bed," she said, pointing at the linens she brought over.
"I am headed upstairs, but I can make it, no problem," he said. "Thanks for offering, but after my stint in the Army, I can make a single bed with my eyes closed."
He started walking toward the table where the sheets and blankets were stashed, and I followed him. Mom and Dad headed toward the door, and I glanced at them to make sure they couldn’t hear me as we walked in opposite directions. The general feel of the moment was that my mom and dad would wait for Gray so they could all walk out together. The problem was, I dreaded that happening. I was still amped from being onstage, and I wanted him to stay and hang out with me. I hated to see him go.
"What time do you have to leave tomorrow? "I whispered.
"I need to be on the road by eleven. Maybe noon at the latest."
I glanced over his shoulder toward my parents who were indeed stopped by the door like they anticipated walking Gray out.
I felt desperate to have him stay. I shifted so that his head was blocking my parents' view of me.
"Are you coming back down here?" I whispered.
Gray smiled at me. "Tonight?"
I nodded. I was a big bundle of nerves. I didn't want him to misinterpret what was going on, but really, I wasn't worried about it. I knew he was a gentleman.
"I don't want to impose," he said like a gentleman would.
"You're not," I whispered.
"Then sure. I'll come back down. Let me tell your parents goodbye and take the blankets upstairs."
"Give me like fifteen minutes to change and check on Shelby."
Gray smiled and gave me a curt nod, which I knew meant he understood and would be back in fifteen minutes.
I had to work hard to contain the huge grin that threatened to spread across my face as Gray turned to walk away. I was so excited I felt like I could burst.
"Bye, love you, thank you!" I yelled in a quiet tone to my parents who were standing near the door.
They waved at me, and I watched as Gray met them and they walked out together, smiling and talking all the way out.
I shared my king size bed with Shelby. She had her own room, but neither of us saw a point in sleeping alone when we had each other to snuggle. I ran directly to my bedroom, checking on Shelby and kissing her precious sleeping forehead before jumping in the shower. I smelled like sweat and smoke, and I quickly washed my hair and body.
I wanted to make sure I got in and out before Gray came back, so I rushed through my shower and then had to laugh at myself when I got out and found that I had only been in there for four minutes.
I used the remaining time to get dressed and (at least partially) dry my hair. I had a pair of flannel pajamas that were navy with little white stars, and I put them on, feeling comfy and cozy knowing my baby was sound asleep and Gray was coming back downstairs.
It had been such a perfect night. The gig had gone well, and Gray's presence there was unexpected and amazing. I couldn't believe he had driven so far to see me play. It made me feel truly happy right down to my bones. I couldn't fathom that this perfect man just showed up on my doorstep.
I put my hair in a bun right on top of my head, but I didn't feel like I could get it to look right, so I took it down again, settling for loosely braiding the front and leaving the rest of it down. Had no makeup on, but at least I wasn't sweaty. I stared at myself in the mirror, smiling as I pinched my own cheeks.
I was in the kitchen by the time I heard Gray tap lightly on the door. I jogged over there, already feeling breathless as I opened it.
He scanned me from head to toe. "I didn't know it was a pajama party."
"Do you have any pajamas to wear if you did know?" I asked.
"No," he said seriously.
I smiled and stood back, inviting him to come inside.
"You smell like fruit," he said.
I grabbed a lock of hair from my own shoulder and held it to my nose, taking a whiff. "Raspberry," I said, offering him the piece of hair to test for himself. "It's probably my shampoo."
Gray leaned forward to smell it. He took a little tiny smell just to be courteous and stepped back as if expecting me to close the door.
"You didn't even smell it," I said in a casual teasing tone.
"I know," he said. "I'm afraid you're on the verge of being too much of a temptation for me, Jane Bishop, even without the raspberry shampoo." As if knowing his statement was different than our previous conversations, Gray broke eye contact with me when he said it. He played it off by kicking off his shoes.
"You're…" I hesitated. I was about to say that he was tempting too, but I had second thoughts after I got the first word out of my mouth. "I'm hungry," I said, changing my mind with only a little hesitation. "I'm thinking about frying an egg. Would you like one?"
"I could really go for a fried egg right now," he said. "Can I do anything to help you?" he asked, as I began taking things out of the cabinets and fridge.
"Nope," I said. "Unless you want to cook your eggs a certain way or something."
Gray shook his head like he didn't care how his eggs were cooked, and then he found an out-of-the-way spot on the other side of the kitchen. I put bread in the toaster and cracked three eggs into a pan before staring at Gray again.
"I'm really glad you came back to Memphis," I said. "I was actually thinking you would change your mind and say you didn't need the apartment once you got back home. In the back of my mind, I kinda thought I would never see you again."
"In the back of my mind, I thought I would never see you again either," he said.
"Really?" I asked. "I knew it. I could tell you were reluctant about something."
"Yeah, I guess that's something we need to talk about."
I smiled but felt worried at the same time. "What?"
Gray took a deep breath, sighing like he wasn't sure how to continue.