"Ivy's not here," Daniel said once he parked the motorcycle and killed the engine.
We had driven around to the back of the house so Daniel could park by the garage. The garage doors were open, and he gestured inside, indicating that the empty spot was how he knew Ivy wasn't home. I glanced at the vehicles that were parked inside—a truck and a SUV along with at least four motorcycles. Owen's truck was also there, but it was parked outside.
I was so nervous about meeting his parents that I could hardly breathe. I smiled, trying to pretend I was calm. I handed Daniel my helmet, and he hung it from the handlebar along with his before getting off of the motorcycle.
"Who all's here?" I asked, unable to hide my anticipation.
"It looks like it's just Owen and my parents." He took me by the hand and began pulling me inside through the garage.
"We're going in this way?" I asked.
I was somewhat surprised that he wanted to hold my hand, but I was thankful for it, and I held onto him tightly.
"We go in through the garage most of the time," he said as we walked. He pointed at the door leading to the house. "This leads to a mudroom and then into the kitchen," he said, glancing at me.
I gave him a thankful smile for the explanation. Daniel could see that I was nervous, and he stopped in front of the door and used his finger to tilt my chin so that I would look at him.
"They're going to love you," he said. "And you're gonna love them."
"I'm pretty picky," I said, joking.
Daniel grinned as he opened the door, heading inside. His description was accurate. We passed through a hallway that had a mudroom feel to it and was attached to a laundry room. We kept going until we reached the kitchen. It was bigger than I expected, opening up into a grand living room. I could see Owen standing in the living room with another man, but both of them were facing the television, which was switched to a baseball game.
"Oh my goodness, I didn't even hear y'all pull up!" a woman's voice called.
I glanced toward the right side of the living room to see a beautiful woman heading in our direction wearing a huge smile. There were two huge rooms separating us and she already had her arms outstretched like she was coming in for a hug.
"I saw them pull up, but I didn't hear them come in," said the man who I assumed was Daniel's dad as he turned to smile at us. "I thought they were still outside."
All three of them came our way, wearing welcoming smiles as we met in the kitchen.
"Mr. and Mrs. Bishop, I assume." I said the words as she reached out to hug me tightly.
"Rose, baby, please," she said.
"And Jesse," his dad said, hugging me once his mom let me go.
"Owen said you met at the airport," Rose said, motioning to her son.
I nodded, and gave Owen a slight bow, but he reached out to hug me as well, so I returned it gratefully. "Good to see you again," I said.
He smiled. "I brought your bags to Daniel's."
"Thank you," I said. "I really enjoyed taking a ride. I've never done that before."
"Pretty fun, huh?" Rose said with a big smile as she cozied up next to her husband.
"I can't believe you guys built that thing. It's so neat seeing your last name written on it."
"You'll have to come by the shop," Owen said.
"I've actually been to a Bishop dealership in L.A. I've just never ridden one."
"When'd you go to a Bishop dealership?" Daniel asked, glancing at me curiously.
"I made Trevor take me a couple weeks ago," I said. "I was curious and wanted to see what it was all about. We didn't ride one or anything; I just looked around."
"The L.A. store's nice, but we have the original factory and dealership in Memphis," Owen said. "It's our biggest location and we have the original garage… the only one with Elvis."
I gave him a perplexed look, and he smiled.
"A parrot," Rose explained. "He's like 50 years old, and he's been hanging out at the garage, squawking at people since it first opened."
"Yeah, the dealership in L.A. definitely didn't have an Elvis," I said.
"It had a portrait of him," Jesse said. "They all do. It's part of the décor that goes into all the branches—a big ole' painting of Elvis, standing on his perch."
I laughed. "That's hilarious," I said. "I really wish I would have noticed that."
"You can come meet the real Elvis," Owen said. "And then, when you go back to Los Angeles, you'll be able to tell them you saw him in person."
Owen didn't mean anything by mentioning that I would go back to Los Angeles, but the statement still made my heart sink. I smiled and nodded, pretending to be unfazed.
"I'll definitely have to look for that," I said.
"Where's Ivy?" Daniel asked.
Jesse shook his head. "Your mother told her to be home for dinner, but you never know with that girl. She'll probably show up at 8:30 and say she was just getting hungry."
"She would've been here by now if you would've let me tell her you were bringing Courtney," Rose said. "And speaking of dinner, it's ready if you guys are hungry." Rose broke away from her husband and headed toward the kitchen.
"I am," Daniel said.
"Me too," Owen added as he started to walk over there.
"It smells really good," I said.
Rose had made a gorgeous meal, which included lasagna, salad, and bread sticks, and we sat around the table laughing and talking and getting to know each other as we ate. They asked questions about my job, and I asked questions about theirs. We talked about the other members of the family, including Wes who was in London and Jesse's sister, Jane, who lived close by and had two children that were roughly Daniel's age. I told them that I had met Shelby years before, and they all got a kick out of that.
Daniel had already given me lots of details about his extended family, but it was fun to hear everyone else talk about them, and I felt happy that they wanted to share that sort of stuff with me. I gave them a brief history of my life, saying that I was an only child and telling them how I got started in show business. We talked about Jesse's mom being a singer, and Jesse told a couple of stories from when he was a kid and she used to take him and his sister on tour with her.
We sat at the dinner table for a long time before the guys excused themselves to go into the living room so that they could catch up on the baseball game. Rose said she had been meaning to water the ferns on the front porch, and she invited me to join her. Daniel told her I might be more comfortable staying inside with him, but I opted to go outside with his mother just because I liked her and wanted to.
She crossed to the far side of the porch and sat down on the swing, patting the seat next to her and inviting me to sit down.
"I don't really need to water the ferns," she said. "I just did that yesterday. I brought you out here to talk to you for a minute."
"Sure," I said. I smiled at her, but I was suddenly anxious and wondered what she had to say.
I sat beside her, and she put her hand on my leg before turning to stare at me earnestly. She took a slow, deep breath and her eyes filled with tears, instantly causing tears to rise to my own eyes. She regarded me sincerely and cleared her throat, trying her best to get herself together so she could say what she wanted to say.
"A couple of months ago, Daniel went to Florida with Ivy and me for a gymnastics tournament," she said.
She spoke slowly and deliberately and had to clear her throat every time she paused. I could see by the slight quiver of her chin that she was trying not to break down and cry, and I felt moved to reach out and hold her hand. She received my touch gratefully and offered me a sweet smile. She was beautiful, and I could see elements of Daniel in her. She took another deep breath before continuing.
"As you know, while we were down in Florida, Daniel got a call to fill-in on a job."
I nodded.
"Well, he traveled with you to New Orleans after that. He was only gone for a few days, but when he came home, I could tell something had shifted in him. Something was a little bit different. He was acting upset, but I could tell it was because he was happy, if that makes any sense."
I nodded.
She let out another long sigh, looking at me like she regretted something.
"I should probably back up a little bit and tell you that I haven't seen my son happy in quite some time."
Her face crumpled and tears fell onto her cheeks when she made that statement. She covered her face with her hands. I had no other choice but to reach out and hug her. We sat on the swing, holding each other close for a few seconds before she wiped her face and continued.
"So, then a few days after he got back from doing that job, he surprised us all by hopping on a plane to go to Dallas," she said. "And when he got home from that that trip, he came over to the house and he asked…"
She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence. I pulled back to look at her and saw that her face was contorted with tears.
"I'm so sorry," she said, shaking her head and covering her face.
"Don't be," I whispered.
Tears were gathering in my own eyes as well, so I blinked as I stared at her, waiting for her to continue.
"He came over the night he came back from Dallas, and he told his dad he wanted to learn how to ride a… to ride a motorcycle."
She paused and shook her head, gasping for air between sobs.
"I'm sorry," she repeated. "It's just been such a long road for Daniel. As a mom… (sniff) it's so hard to see your baby suffer. I really apologize. I told myself I was going to do this without crying. I just meant to bring you out here and thank you."
She wiped at her tears, smiling at herself for being unable to stop them.
"He's been at it for weeks," she said. "He started by himself, going out with his dad, and then, (sniff) one day he came over and asked if I'd get on the back and… (sniff) go for a ride with him…"
She put her face in her hands, letting out a long, wheezing sob, and I rubbed her back as tears flowed from my own eyes.
"I didn't mean to cry. I just wanted to thank you. I know it might not seem like a big deal that he wanted to get on a bike again, but to us it is. To us, it's a very big deal. It's not that motorcycles mean that much to us, or anything… it's not about that. It's something deeper than that. It was like his heart was healing."
We hugged each other for what must have been a full minute as we both wiped our eyes and got ourselves together. About halfway through the silence, she nudged the ground with her foot, causing us to start swinging.
"Daniel has changed things for me, too," I said, finally. "Not in the same way, but he brought healing into my life, too. Not just physically, either, although that's part of it. He honestly helped me see a side of God that I didn't know existed—he helped me know that there's a God out there who loves me—a God I wanted to get to know."
"Oh my goodness," Rose said with a thoughtful sigh. She rubbed my leg. "That's so special, baby. Thank you for sharing that with me."
After a moment, a car pulled into the driveway.
"That's Ivy," Rose explained when she glanced that way.
I started to ask if we should go inside, but I was still teary-eyed and really comfortable sitting on the swing with Daniel's mom, so I just stayed there. Neither of us moved. We sat, comfortably leaning against each other and swinging gently.
About three minutes had passed when the front door flew open, and a stunned Ivy Bishop stepped onto the porch, staring at us.
I giggled at the intensity of her facial expression.
"I can't believe you came to my house for dinner and nobody told me!" she said, staring straight at me.
She grinned and shook her head and she started to walk toward us, and her face shifted to a look of confusion when she was about halfway across the porch. "Are y'all bawling?"