CHAPTER THIRTEEN

After thanking Peter for doing the home visit, Hailey walked back into the house.

“He sure is a nice young man,” Gran said as she started setting the table for dinner.

“Who?” Hailey played dumb. She grabbed some silverware from the drawer.

“You know.” Gran placed some glasses on the table. “And, my lands, he’s handsome to boot.”

Hailey gave her grandmother a look of confusion even though she knew exactly who Gran was talking about.

Gran peered at Hailey. “I think he likes you.”

Hailey held her hand up. “Whoa. Hold on, Gran. Peter—Mr. Stafford—is Gramps’s therapist. He was here to help Gramps. There is nothing going on between us.”

Gran lifted an eyebrow.

“Seriously.”

“Hailey, I—” The phone rang, interrupting their conversation. Gran answered it and said, “Hello? . . . Oh, hi, Lila.” She pulled the phone away from her. “It’s Lila,” she said to Hailey.

Hailey nodded, grateful for the reprieve.

“Oh, I don’t know about bingo tonight.”

Hailey mouthed, “Go and have some fun, Gran.”

Gran shrugged. “Maybe I’ll see.” Gran turned her back to Hailey and took a few steps into the hallway cupping her hand over her mouth and the phone.

Even though it was rude to eavesdrop, Hailey couldn’t help herself. She strained to listen to Gran. “I made a . . . connection . . . yes, David’s grandson . . . we’re thinking Tuesday possibly . . . I can work on that for tonight. Leave it to me.”

Regina came bounding in the front door wearing too-tight jeans and her scraggly hair hanging limp. “Do we have some food to eat? I’m starving.” She kicked off her sandals.

Hailey bit her tongue. Her aunt was so self-absorbed. And rude. Hailey wanted to tell her to leave and never come back, but she couldn’t. As much as she disliked Regina being in the house, Regina was still her aunt and she knew that Gran and Gramps loved her. Somehow, Hailey needed to learn to see the good in her aunt, even if it was hidden underneath twenty-five layers of obnoxiousness.

Gran walked back into the room and said, “I have to get off the phone, Lila. Regina is home and we’re about to eat dinner.” She hung up.

Regina dropped her abundant self onto a chair at the table.

“Glad you made it home in time to eat.” Hailey tried to sound sincere, but it didn’t come out that way.

Regina threw a sharp look at Hailey.

“What were you saying about a connection, Gran?” Hailey asked. “And what about tonight?”

“Oh, that was nothing.” She motioned to Gramps. “Come on in to eat.”

Gran was stonewalling, but Hailey didn’t know why. She also knew it was useless to keep asking, so she joined her grandparents and Regina at the table.

At dinner, Hailey said, “What time do you want to go to bingo, Gran?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I shouldn’t.” Gran used her fork to push the chicken and rice casserole around on her plate.

“I want you to go,” Hailey insisted. “Maybe Regina would like to go with you.”

“Me? Bingo? Uh-uh. Too boring. Besides, I wanna watch me some Wheel of Fortune. Then Daddy and I are gonna watch a movie.”

Gramps blinked a few times, then shrugged as if that was the first time he’d heard about it.

Gran turned to Hailey with a hopeful look in her eyes. “Maybe you’d like to come with me?”

“Sure. Why not? I’ve never played bingo before. I need to check my email before we leave, but I don’t think there will be anything urgent.” Going with Gran would be better than spending the evening working and much better than hanging out with Regina.

After they cleaned up the dishes, Hailey sent off a couple of responses to some clients. She and Gran drove over to the community center, parked the car, and then went inside, where miniature palm trees in red pots adorned the doorway. The temperature dropped more than twenty degrees and windows lined the opposite wall of the large building. Rows of tables ran across the expanse of the room. People, most of them with gray or white hair, congregated around the tables, conversing with one another.

“Oh, look, there’s Lila.” Gran pointed to her friend at a table with several other women.

Hailey and Gran made their way over. Lila wore a stylish green-and-navy outfit. Hailey imagined she was breathtaking in her younger years. Lila acknowledged them with a genuine smile when they approached.

“Hi,” Lila said.

“This is Hailey’s first time. She’s never played bingo before.”

“Never?” The shock in Lila’s voice was evident, as if everyone had played bingo and Hailey was some anomaly.

“Never,” Hailey said. “I guess you’ll have to explain it to me.”

Hailey glanced around the room. When she looked back, Gran and Lila had their heads together and they were whispering. As soon as they noticed Hailey watching them, they stopped.

“What’s going on?” Hailey asked. If she didn’t know better, she’d think her grandmother was some kind of secret agent with her clandestine calls and covert meetings.

“Nothing.” Gran exchanged looks with Lila. “We’re not doing anything. Or talking about anything.”

“I think you’re up to something. You’ve been acting strange, Gran.” Hailey was certain Gran and her friend were knee deep in some scheme together.

Gran blinked. “Me? I’ve been acting as normal as ever. Don’t you agree, Lila?”

Lila nodded. “Normal as ever.” She gave a cheesy smile that only made Hailey more suspicious. “June and I like to visit, that’s all. We’re BFFs. Isn’t that what you call good friends these days?”

“Yes, but—” Hailey started.

“I must say, I don’t know what you mean.” Gran acted as if she’d been accused of a crime.

“Oh, here comes my grandson, Darren,” Lila said with excitement.

Suddenly, it was quite clear. Gran and Lila were up to something, all right—matchmaking. Irritation settled on Hailey’s shoulders. She could only imagine what Lila’s grandson looked like. Probably like Roger. On steroids. Gran needed to stop with the setups.

As Hailey prepared herself for Mr. Homely, she turned and watched a man with wavy dark hair and a day’s worth of stubble sit down. When his gaze settled on Hailey her breath hitched.

This can’t be Darren. Can it? He wasn’t at all what Hailey expected. For some reason, every Darren she’d ever known wasn’t the least bit attractive. But that wasn’t the case with this one. His brown eyes were the color of Dove dark chocolate, and from the size of his biceps, he obviously worked out regularly.

“Hi. Nice to meet you,” he said in a husky voice.

“Yeah,” was all Hailey could say. Are you sure your name isn’t Adonis?

“Will you be playing bingo tonight, Darren?” Gran asked, obviously pleased with herself.

He nodded and slipped another glance at Hailey.

“Maybe you can teach my granddaughter. She’s never played before.” Gran was as transparent as a window, but Hailey had a hard time being angry about it.

“Is that so?” Darren said.

Maybe bingo would be a lot more fun than Hailey had anticipated, even if Gran had completely ignored her request for no setups. “She’s right. Never played.” She shrugged.

“Darren loves bingo,” Lila said with a smile that engulfed her face.

“It’s simple,” he began. “The caller will say a letter and a number. If you have it, you cover it up with one of these.” He handed her a small disk, his fingers leaving a hot spot where they brushed her hand. “Once you get five in a row—down, across, or diagonally—you win.”

“And you yell out bingo so we all know you’ve won,” Lila added enthusiastically.

“What do I win?” Hailey asked.

“Depends. Sometimes it’s money and sometimes it’s prizes,” Gran said.

“Sounds easy enough.” Hailey unconsciously began twirling her hair. She never expected to meet a gorgeous man at a senior citizens’ bingo game, and she had to remind herself she wasn’t interested in dating anyone, but Darren made that difficult, especially with a face like his. Maybe I could make an exception. After all, a few fun, no-strings-attached dates never hurt anyone.

Gran paid for Hailey’s bingo cards and the caller began the game.

“I-nineteen,” the man in the emerald-green polo shirt with a large belly said into the microphone. “I-nineteen.”

Hailey searched her card, and sure enough, she had the number nineteen listed under the I. “I have it,” she squealed.

Gran laughed. “Now get four more in a row and you win.”

The caller yelled out another letter and number, but Hailey didn’t have that one. The game continued for a few more minutes.

Darren had several of his spaces covered. Hailey looked at her card. She needed only one more to make five across.

“G-fifty-one.”

“I got it,” Hailey yelled out. “I have a bingo. At least I think I do.” She started waving her hands. “Bingo, bingo, bingo.”

Gran clapped. “Good job.”

Darren flashed her an encouraging smile and she almost forgot what she was doing.

The caller said, “Please read off your card so we can verify.”

Hailey looked at Gran, unsure of what the man meant. “Read off the ones you have in a row so he can be sure you won the game,” Gran said.

Hailey proceeded to read the numbers.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner,” the man said into the microphone.

“I won?” Hailey said with excitement and her fair share of disbelief. “I won. I really won.”

A woman with poofy gray hair and a large, purple-beaded necklace handed her a ten-dollar bill. “Here is your prize.”

“Thank you.” Hailey held the money in her hand and stared at it. She’d never won anything before. Ten dollars wasn’t much, but maybe it signified that her luck was about to improve.

“Congratulations,” Darren said. “I think you’re a ringer.”

“A ringer?” What did he mean by that?

“A bingo professional.”

Hailey laughed. “Is that even a thing?”

He shrugged and they both laughed.

A short woman with curly blonde hair approached the table and handed Gran a photo. “This is my Deirdre,” she said in southern accent. “I already gave her bio to Lila.”

Gran slipped a look at Hailey. “Uh, thank you, Shirley.” She shoved the photo into her purse. “I’ll get back to you.”

“We already have someone in mind,” Lila whispered, but Hailey overheard her.

“Oh, good. She’ll be here in three days,” Shirley said.

Gran cleared her throat. “It’s time for another game, Shirley. It was nice to see you.”

The woman walked away, leaving Hailey dumbfounded. What in the world is going on? Before she could say anything, another game started, but she vowed that she’d find out what all this intrigue was.

They continued to play for thirty more minutes, but Hailey didn’t win any games. She was too preoccupied trying to figure out what Gran seemed to be involved in.

“This is the last game of the evening, folks, and we’re playing for the grand prize. A gift card to Smitty’s Barbecue,” the caller said.

As the game went on, Hailey had a smattering of numbers. She glanced over at Gran’s card, but she didn’t have any in a row, either. When she looked at Darren’s card, he had two possibilities of winning.

“O-seventy-five.”

“Bingo,” Darren said. He read off his numbers to verify that he’d won and the same lady came over and handed him the gift card.

“You and your girlfriend can go out to dinner,” she said with a smirk.

Hailey didn’t know what to say. Of course, she wouldn’t say no to a dinner invitation from the handsome man who sat across from her, but she didn’t want him to feel obligated.

After the woman walked away, Darren looked at Hailey. “That was awkward.” He leaned in toward her. “But, not a bad idea.”

Hailey gave him a half smile. She’d insisted that she wasn’t interested in dating Lila’s grandson because she figured he was another Roger. Fortunately, he wasn’t at all like Dee’s goofy grandson.

“Are you free tomorrow night?” he asked.

“Yes, she is. And she’d love to go out with you,” Gran inserted.

Hailey made wide eyes at her grandmother, whom she still planned to interrogate later.

“He’s a good-looking young man with a nice physique. You should go out and paint the town red. Have some fun,” Gran said as she patted Hailey’s shoulder.

Hailey’s cheeks raged with heat. She wiggled her fingers, anxious to place them around Gran’s neck. With a slight nod, she said, “I’d enjoy going to dinner with you.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said with expressive eyes.

Lila put her arm around Darren’s waist. “See, I told you my Darren would be a good date.”

“Thanks, Nana.” He glanced at Hailey and an unspoken understanding passed between them.

“Lila, I’ll take you home and we can let the kids ride together,” Gran offered.

Kids? Did Gran just call me a kid? Hailey drew in a deep breath. Her grandmother was seriously asking for it tonight.

“I’d love to give you a ride home,” Darren said. “Maybe we could go out for dessert on the way.”

“Is dessert on our way home?”

“Oh, go on and have dessert with him,” Gran prodded. “We won’t wait up.” And with that, Gran and Lila were off, arm in arm.

Hailey clenched her jaw. “I’m sorry. My grandma is relentless.”

“No worries. Mine is the same. Always asking me when I’m getting married and telling me how I need to find a good wife and settle down and have a few kids.”

“No wonder they’re such good friends.” Hailey laughed.

“I think they mean well.”

“But Gran has no filter. None whatsoever. Anything that pops into her head has to come out of her mouth.”

Darren grinned and a dimple appeared. “I guess that’s one of the perks of getting older—you can say whatever you want.”

Hailey laughed. “But please don’t feel obligated.”

“I don’t. I never do anything out of obligation, believe me.”

They walked outside into the dusky warmth. Even though the sun had almost set, the air wasn’t any cooler. “The car is over here,” Darren said.

As they drove over to a nearby restaurant the conversation was easy. Inside, they sat at a booth toward the back and ordered a Brownie Explosion to share.

“How long are you visiting?” Hailey asked.

“I’ll be here another week or so. I transferred jobs and decided to take a few weeks off to visit Nana. How about you?”

“Gramps had a stroke so I came here from Colorado to help until he recovers.” Hailey took a bite of the gooey goodness.

“How long do you think you’ll be here?”

Hailey shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

Darren seemed surprised at her answer. “What about your life back in Colorado?”

“It consisted of working, working, and more working.” Sounded kind of pathetic, in a non-loser way, of course. Maybe it made her sound ambitious, which was a desirable trait, she reasoned.

“What do you do?” Darren spooned some ice cream into his mouth.

“I’m an accountant.”

“You like it?”

“Numbers are easy for me.” Hailey sipped some of her water. “What do you do?”

“I’m an engineer. I’ve been working in Dallas.” He had a spot of chocolate right below his bottom lip.

“But you didn’t like it there?” she said, wanting to hand him a napkin.

Darren sat back and licked his lips, finding the wayward chocolate. “A better job offer came up in Arizona. It starts the first of June.”

“I’m sure Lila will enjoy having you here to visit.” I wouldn’t mind spending more time with you too.

As if reading her mind, Darren said, “Maybe we can see some sights together while I’m here.”

“Sure.” What did she have to lose? He wasn’t going to be here long, so she didn’t have to worry about getting attached and risking another broken heart. She could have some safe, carefree fun with an attractive man. Win-win.

His eyes perked up. “Starting with dinner tomorrow night?”

Hailey smiled. “I’m looking forward to it.”

They continued to chat until Hailey said, “I need to get back and check on Gramps.”

Darren nodded. “Nana is probably wondering what happened to me. Despite what she says, she likes to wait up for me.”

When they got back to the house, Hailey said, “Thanks for the dessert.”

He grinned. “I’ll come by tomorrow night about six o’clock.”

“I’ll be ready.”

Hailey stood on the porch for a few minutes after he drove away. Who knew she’d meet a handsome, interesting man at bingo? Of course, she wasn’t interested in anything long-term, but it’d be fun to spend some time with Darren. Maybe.

Hailey went inside the darkened house. Gran and Gramps were already in bed. She stopped next to their door and listened. She could hear two distinct sets of snoring sounds. Both of them were sound asleep. She walked past Regina’s room. The door was slightly ajar, and Hailey couldn’t resist, so she pushed it open a bit. Regina was all splayed out on the bed with one of her legs hanging over the edge. For a moment, Regina looked almost peaceful, until she started babbling something in her sleep and kicked her leg out. Hailey backed away from the doorway and went to her room.

In her bed, Hailey stared at the ceiling. A fan gently whirred, moving the warm air around her room. She was grateful she could be here with her grandparents and help them, even if she did have to endure her aunt’s presence. And, Hailey noticed, she’d gone all day without even thinking about Kevin. Maybe her heart was finally healing.