Zoe was staring at her nana like she had two heads. Her mouth was open, because she had something to say, she was sure, she just didn’t know what. Finally, her grandmother said:

“You should shower and put on something nice. Do you need help?” Zoe had been home from the hospital for three days. She loved her nana more than anyone else in the world, but the older woman was driving her crazy with her hovering.

“No, Nana, I can do it. But…I just don’t understand how this happened.” Nana had just told her that Levi was coming to dinner…and that her papa was the one that invited him.

Nana shrugged. “You know your grandfather, he’s not much of a talker. He just told me that he saw Levi again a few days ago. He said, and I quote, ‘The boy is not a complete loser, believe it or not.’” Nana laughed and Zoe did too.

“I still can’t get over him inviting Levi to dinner.”

“I’m as shocked as you are,” Nana said. “Thank goodness I always make enough food for half a dozen people extra. I love your grandfather but the man doesn’t know the meaning of ‘advance warning.’”

“Do you need some help?”

“No. Go shower, and wear that pretty yellow sundress…”

“You don’t have to push me off on this guy. I’ll have enough money for my own place soon,” Zoe told her with a wink.

Nana rolled her eyes. “You think I want you to leave? Having you here has been nothing less than a breath of fresh air. I’m so proud of you.”

Zoe smiled. “Only a nana would be proud of someone who was recently shot by her ex-dealer.” Zoe had broken down and told her grandparents the truth, since her grandfather had it pretty much figured it all out on his own anyways. She assured them that the money she owed him was from months before she stopped using. Her nana was supportive, her papa hadn’t said a word, so as usual, she had no idea what he was thinking. Sometimes that was a good thing. Usually when he told her what he was thinking, it was peppered with disapproval about something she’d done. He was an expert at calling people out on their stuff and putting them on the spot. She just hoped that wasn’t why he had invited Levi to dinner.

“Correction,” Nana said. “Make that someone who stopped using drugs, got a job, and starts college in a week…anyone in their right mind would be proud of all you’ve accomplished.”

Zoe kissed her nana on the cheek. “I love you, Nana.”

“I love you too. Now, go shower and wear the yellow dress.”

Zoe laughed and shook her head. While she was in the shower, she kept trying to imagine what it was going to be like to sit at the table with Levi and her grandparents. She thanked God for Nana, not for the first time. If things got awkward, Nana always knew what to say. She was Zoe’s definition of a real lady and she only hoped that she could be half as classy as her someday.

After she showered, she put on the sundress Nana wanted her to wear. It was all ruffled and too short, in her opinion. She felt like she was wearing something out of a Shirley Temple movie from the 1940s. She took it off and put on her jeans and a pink button-down shirt. She frowned at herself in the mirror. She was so pale since getting out of the hospital that the pink made her look washed out. She changed again, this time into a dark tan tank top. It was nice, not too revealing and it didn’t make her look pasty. As she fixed her hair she chuckled at herself. She was acting like this was a date. Levi was just being nice, accepting Papa’s invitation and Papa was…God, who knew what he was up to?

Just to prove to herself that it wasn’t a date, she pulled her hair to the side and put it in a messy braid, and the only make-up she put on was a touch of lip gloss. Nana wasn’t going to be happy about how she looked, but she was okay with it. Besides, after all of that, her side was hurting and she didn’t have the energy to change again. With one last look at herself, she slipped on a pair of sandals and made her way out to the front of the house. She’d just made it to the living room when she heard the sound of Levi’s Harley pulling up out front. Her stomach did a somersault and as she pressed her hands into it, she realized that they were shaking.

“Zoe, that’s not the outfit we decided on.” Zoe was looking out the window when Nana stepped out of the dining room. She didn’t answer her about the outfit. She didn’t want to take her eyes off of Levi. She smiled as he slid off his skullcap and tried to use his fingers to smooth down his hair. He stood up off the bike on his long legs and took off his leather vest. It was the first time she hadn’t seen him in a plain, white t-shirt. He was wearing a long-sleeved denim shirt that buttoned up the front, his jeans, and a pair of black boots. Even from twenty feet away and through the window, he looked good enough to eat. He reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a little bouquet of flowers. She smiled again. “He brought you flowers,” Nana said, startling her.

“Maybe they’re for you,” Zoe told her.

“Doubtful.”

Zoe stepped away from the window as he walked up the front walkway. She didn’t want him to catch her staring at him. “Nana, please remember he just lost his girlfriend. If he did bring me flowers, it’s only because I just got out of the hospital and he’s a nice guy. It’s barely been six or seven weeks since he lost the love of his life. He’s nowhere near ready to move on.”

“Nobody says he has to be ready right this minute. I just like the boy and I think the two of you would be a cute couple…” Zoe opened her mouth and Nana said, “Someday. I won’t push, I promise.”

Zoe wasn’t sure she really meant it, but she said, “Thanks,” anyways. She glanced out the window again and couldn’t see him any longer. “Why hasn’t he knocked yet?”

“Your papa was in the garage. He probably caught him before he got to the door.” Zoe’s stomach flipped again. “Come and help me finish putting the food out,” her nana told her. Zoe followed Nana into the kitchen. The longer it took the men to come inside, the more nervous she got. The two women had all of the food on the table and Zoe was just about to say the hell with it and go see what they were talking about when the door between the garage and the kitchen opened and Levi stepped inside. Papa stepped in behind him, but once again her focus was on Levi. Her whole body heated up at the sight of him and her pulse sped up. She knew that it was ridiculous, but from all the dreams she’d had about him, she already felt like she knew exactly how good his gorgeous body would feel pressed up against hers and she was shamelessly imagining it.

“Hi, Levi.”

He smiled and her insides melted. “Hey, Zoe. How are you doing?”

“Much better, thanks.”

“Hi, Mrs. Bennett. Thanks for having me,” he said to her nana. “Oh, these are for you.” He handed her the bunch of wildflowers in his hand and Zoe met her grandmother’s eyes around his shoulder and smiled. Nana ignored Zoe’s smug look and said:

“They’re lovely, Levi. Thank you, and thank you for joining us. We should go get started before everything gets cold.”

They all went into the dining room and Levi waited until Zoe and her grandmother sat down to take his seat. Zoe had to give him credit, he didn’t look nervous at all. If it were her, she’d be a wreck. Zoe’s grandfather cut the meat, took his piece, and passed the plate around. As Levi was putting a piece on his plate Papa said:

“Did Levi tell you that the red-headed demon is in jail?” Levi looked up, and he looked surprised.

“Patrick?” Zoe said.

“Yeah,” Levi cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, I thought your grandpa told you.”

“No,” she said, drawing her brows together. “When did this happen?”

“A few days ago,” Levi said, “they found him hiding out in a house in the Garden District with his old lady.”

“Levi found him,” Papa said.

Zoe looked at Levi. “How did you find him?” Levi did look nervous then. He looked at her grandfather and then said:

“He had some business dealings with my club.”

Zoe was confused. For one thing, instead of looking upset about Levi being affiliated with a “club,” her papa was smiling. The other part that confused her was Levi’s calling the police. She didn’t know him that well, but from what she did know about MC members, that was unusual. She looked at her papa and asked, “So how did you get involved?”

“Levi called me. Pass those potatoes, will you?”

Zoe picked up the potatoes and passed them, and then she turned to Levi and said, “It’s not that I don’t appreciate you finding him and calling the cops…I really do. But would one of you mind telling me the story…from the beginning? I’m confused.”

Levi put a forkful of roast beef in his mouth and looked at Zoe’s papa. “Levi tracked him down, hoping to kick his ass,” her grandfather said, with an amused expression on his face. “But he was waylaid by a five-year-old girl.”

Levi swallowed his meat and said, “Mrs. Bennett, this is really good.”

“Thank you, Levi.” Nana looked at her husband and said, “Maybe this isn’t appropriate dinner conversation.”

“Sorry,” Papa said. “I just thought Zoe would like to know.”

“And I would like to know…if someone would please tell me the rest of the story!”

Her grandfather smiled again. That was twice in five minutes. She wondered if Levi had drugged him or something. “Levi called me because that POS and his junkie girlfriend…” He stopped talking and looked at his granddaughter as if he just realized suddenly who he was talking to. “I’m sorry, Zoe. I didn’t mean anything by that.” Zoe was more stunned by his apology than she was anything else.

“It’s okay.”

“Anyways,” he went on, “they were both wasted, on heroin. Their five-year-old daughter was alone in the house and the house was disgusting, and unsafe. Levi called me and stayed with the girl until social services got there. Patrick and his…girlfriend were both charged with child endangerment and possession. He had a few baggies of crystal in his back pack and about three thousand dollars in cash. He also had a firearm in the room. It was the same caliber that shot you. With your and Levi’s eyewitness testimony, he’ll be charged with attempted murder for shooting you. Ballistics on the gun will give us a slam dunk if he goes to trial. I expect the DA will offer him a deal, but either way he’ll be off the streets for a long time.”

Zoe’s head was spinning. Patrick was her main source of anxiety, and Levi and her papa had removed him from the equation. She was ecstatic, but in a state of shock as well. She certainly hadn’t expected to find out that Levi and her papa were working together, on anything. She suddenly thought of the little girl. Zoe had been in that same position herself. “Patrick had a child? What’s going to happen to her?”

“Maria, the social worker, is trying to get her grandparents involved. Hopefully that will work out because I listened in on the interview with the mother and she asked about two things, and neither of them were her baby. It made me sick.” Zoe could imagine what she asked about. First, she’d be asking about Patrick, since he was obviously her supplier and second, she’d be worried about them letting her go through withdrawal in jail. Zoe knew that, because those would have been her first two questions too, sadly.

“So Levi, what kind of bike is that?” Just like that, Zoe’s papa changed the subject. She knew that he had to be thinking of his own daughter and what she’d put them through. Nana was quiet. She was probably thinking of Zoe’s mom too. Zoe’s biggest hope was that she could stay clean and never put them through that again…but she also knew that as an addict, she was always just one bad day away from a relapse.

Levi started talking about his Harley, and he and her grandfather talked like they were old friends. It was nice, and weird at the same time. She’d never seen her papa so welcoming to someone like Levi. When she brought boyfriends home in high school, he interrogated them and used whatever he found out against them. His controlling, overprotective nature was what had driven her mother away, or so that was what her mother liked to tell her. Zoe was only seven when she died, but the sound of her mother’s voice, blaming her papa for everything wrong in her life, never went away. Zoe picked up the mantra herself when she was in her teens and carried it through into adulthood. She knew she still had a truckload of issues to work through, but she was beginning to realize that nobody was to blame for them but her. Even her mother was faultless. Zoe was taught to make the right choices by her grandparents and she could only blame herself for making the wrong ones.