CHAPTER SIX

After checking on Gran and Gramps, Hailey spent the following morning inputting numbers in a spreadsheet for Crandall Automotive and running reports for Colorado Subs and Rocky Mountain Outdoors. She made some phone calls and sent several emails. She had lunch in her room so she could work without interruption. Finally, she finished and strode into the stifling living room wearing black shorts and a bright pink tank top. “Hi, Gran. Sorry it took me so long. I didn’t realize how much I needed to do today.”

“I’m glad you got some work done.” Gran peered over her knitting. “Looks like you’re ready to exercise now.”

“I figured it was time for me to get myself back into working out again. Would it be okay if I went running? Well, maybe not so much running.” Hailey fanned herself. “How do you people live here in this heat and humidity?” Hailey had forgotten what it was like to be in Florida during the late spring.

“We can turn up the AC,” Gran offered.

“That’s okay. I’ll be fine.” Unless I keel over from heat exhaustion at this very moment. “Will you be all right with Gramps while I’m gone?”

“Of course.” Gran put down her knitting. “I told you before, I don’t need you twenty-four hours a day.”

Hailey nodded. She loved that Gran still felt so independent and committed to taking care of Gramps, but his stroke had taken a lot out of Gran with the initial scare and subsequent worrying, and Hailey wanted to give Gran as much emotional support as possible. “I’ll be back in a while.”

Hailey left the house and walked briskly down the street to warm up her muscles. It had been too long. Her breakup with Kevin had taken much too much out of her, and it was time to take her life back. Starting a regular running routine would help put her in control.

She plugged her earbuds into her phone and listened to one of her playlists from Spotify. Increasing her stride, she started to jog. It felt great to be outside. It was even better that she was in a place that didn’t have a memory of Kevin tied to it everywhere she turned.

Huffing and puffing, she decided to slow it down. She spotted a park ahead and made her way over to a bench where she watched kids on the swings. Someday, she’d have kids and take them to the park to swing, but for now she’d find strength in her solitude.

The sun hung overhead in the cloudless sky, radiating heat. Hailey started walking again and found herself in a strip mall. Too bad I didn’t bring some money with me so I could buy a water bottle. I need one to take with me on my runs or I’ll shrivel up from dehydration.

Hailey began walking toward a restaurant when she stopped in her tracks. On the patio sat the speech therapist, Peter Stafford. At least she thought it was him. He had the same hair color and the same build. She moved closer, trying to get a better look. He turned his head. It was definitely him, and he was with a young boy. She watched the easy, natural interaction between the two of them. They laughed, then he reached over and tousled the kid’s hair. Must be his son.

A woman with long blonde hair walked up to the table and sat down. And that’s his wife.

Feeling like a stalker, Hailey backed up a few steps, then turned around and began to run. The warm, moist air weighed heavy in her lungs as she increased her stride. A twinge of disappointment ran down her spine. She should be ashamed that she was attracted to a married man. But how would she have known? It wasn’t like she could say, “Hi. You look like Chris Hemsworth and I find you extremely attractive. Are you married?” She laughed at the absurdity. Married men should always wear a wedding ring.

At least she knew now that Mr. Stafford was off limits, even in her thoughts. It was for the best anyway. Her heart was still fragile, and she needed at least five years, maybe ten, to heal it.

***

When Hailey opened the door to the house, Gran was huddled together with three other ladies, looking at something.

“Hi,” Hailey said. “What’s going on?”

Gran’s head popped up. “Oh. Uh, we’re talking about . . . bingo.”

“Uh, huh. Bingo,” said a woman with short black hair and a rather large nose.

Another woman, with long gray hair and a flowing orange dress said, “Nothing to see here.”

Gran elbowed that woman and gathered up something in her hands.

Obviously, the women were trying to hide what they were doing, but why? “Gran?” Hailey said.

“We’re all done now. No more bingo talk, ladies. We can examine strategy another time,” Gran said.

The third woman stood. She was tall with thick glasses and curly gray hair. “Thanks, June. I’ll be in touch.”

She’ll be in touch? Something was definitely going on. Why was Gran covering it up? They were acting like they were part of some covert operation. Were they talking about cheating at bingo? Was it even possible to cheat?

“Thanks for coming, Darla,” Gran said to the tall woman.

The other two women stood.

“I’ll see you later,” Gran said to both of them.

After the women left, Hailey eyed Gran with suspicion. “What’s going on here?”

Gran walked into the kitchen and said over her shoulder, “Nothing. I told you, we were talking about bingo. That’s all.”

When Gran came back into the living room with a glass of water in her hand, Hailey said, “You aren’t trying to cheat at bingo or something are you?” Hailey wanted to get to the bottom of it, because Gran was acting so sneaky.

“My lands, girl. You think I would cheat?” Gran widened her eyes and clutched at her chest.

“Well, no. Of course not,” Hailey said, feeling guilty she’d accused her grandmother. “It’s just that you were acting so weird when I came in.”

“We were simply talking about our plans. That’s all. Nothing for you to be concerned about.” Gran handed the glass of water to Hailey. “Did you have a nice time doing your exercising?”

“Yeah. It felt good to move those muscles again.” Obviously, Gran was finished talking about her meeting with the ladies. Maybe Hailey was being suspicious for nothing and reading something that didn’t exist into a get together between Gran and her friends. Older women did talk about bingo, didn’t they?

Gran sat on the couch. Hailey plopped down next to her. Gran pulled her knitting from her black-and-red-checkered bag and started clicking away.

Hailey examined the blue and white creation. “What are you making?”

“A baby blanket for my great-grandson.”

“Brit will love it.” Hailey touched the soft yarn. “It’s beautiful.”

“Thank you. I hope to get it finished before he’s born.” She laughed. “Guess I better hurry.”

Gramps emerged from the hallway and glanced around the room furtively. Hailey guessed he was checking to see if those women had left. He stepped over to his recliner and sat.

“Hey, how are you doing today?” Hailey asked him.

Gramps peered at her as if trying to communicate with his eyes.

“You interested in a game of cards?” Memories of numerous card games over the years flooded her mind. What she wouldn’t give to have Gramps like that again. “We can play Crazy Eights.”

He nodded with a crooked smile.

“I’ve been practicing, so you can’t beat me.” Hailey grabbed the deck lying on the shelf by the recliner. “I know you used to let me win all the time, but I’m going to win legitimately.”

Hailey dealt Gramps his seven cards, noticing that it seemed to take him more effort to hold the cards as well as more time to process the cards he held.

She set the rest of the deck face down on the small end table between the couch and the recliner. “All right, are you ready?” she asked after giving him some extra time.

He looked at her and she placed the first card face up to start the discard pile.

Slowly, he set down a card. She followed with a three of hearts. He studied his cards, then set down a three of diamonds. Although the game took longer than it used to, Gramps beat her.

“You were just lucky. That’s all,” Hailey said. “I’m going to really shuffle the cards this time.”

Again, she began the game. Gramps dropped his selected card a few times, but Hailey averted her eyes because she didn’t want to make Gramps feel bad. By the end of the second game, she was no longer feeling bad for Gramps because he’d beat her again.

“Are you cheating?” she said with mock anger.

Gramps blinked his eyes, then displayed a wounded expression.

“Okay, fine. No more taking it easy on you,” Hailey said. “Get ready to lose.”

He reached over and patted her on the hand.

After fifteen minutes or so, Gramps won the game. Again. Hailey sat back against the sofa and threw her cards in the air. “I’m never going to beat you.”

Gramps wore a satisfied grin.

Gran asked, “Are you two ready for dinner?”

“It’s still early, isn’t it?” Hailey checked her Fitbit for the time. It wasn’t even four o’clock.

“We eat early here.”

Hailey picked up the cards and shuffled them into a deck. “I need to play another game with Gramps. This time, it’s gin, and I’m definitely going to win.”

“Harry is an expert player, you know.” Gran smoothed her purple-striped blouse.

Hailey eyed him. “He’s gonna lose.”

Hailey dealt each of them ten cards, then placed the next card face up. They continued to discard and then choose cards until Hailey looked at her hand with confidence. All her cards fit into melds. She called out, “Gin.”

Gramps laid down his cards, and sure enough, she’d won.

Hailey jumped up to do a victory dance. “I won, I won, I won. Oh, yeah. I won.” She wiggled her hips, then spun around.

Gran clapped her hands and started laughing. “Good for you. No one ever beats Harry.”

Hailey looked over at Gramps, who gave her a nod.

“Maybe you’d like to take a shower before dinner?” Gran said, adjusting one of her large beaded earrings.

“Okay.” After being outside in the sticky sauna air, then playing cards, she definitely needed one, but it seemed odd that Gran was suggesting it. Hailey wasn’t a child who needed personal hygiene direction.

“I’ll set the table,” Gran said. “Don’t be too long.”

Hailey finished her shower, combed through her wet hair, and threw on a pair of jean shorts and a blue T-shirt. She wasn’t used to the warm, almost suffocating, temperatures in her grandparents’ house.

When she walked out into the living room, she stopped suddenly, surprised at the unfamiliar woman staring at her.

“Oh, Hailey. I’m glad you’re out of the shower. I invited Dee over for dinner tonight,” Gran said sweetly.

Hailey gave a slight nod at the lady with red hair and penciled-on eyebrows that weren’t at all balanced—one eyebrow was much higher than the other.

“And this is her grandson, Roger.”

Roger stood there in khaki shorts that weren’t quite long enough for his gangly legs.

A setup. No wonder she wanted me to take a shower. Hailey shot Gran a stern look. You are in so much trouble she communicated with her narrowed eyes. Hadn’t she been clear about this very thing earlier? She was not interested in dating. Period.

Hailey glanced over at Gramps, who wore a big grin. She glared at him and his grin widened.

“Hailey, your grandma is sure proud of you. She talks about you all the time.” Dee reached out for Hailey’s hand. Hailey reciprocated and Dee clapped her other wrinkly hand on top of Hailey’s. “We thought you’d like to meet Roger. He graduated from college at the top of his class.”

Roger might have been attractive—if he didn’t have those big front teeth and a serious unibrow.

“Hailey, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Roger said. He drummed his fingers on the side of his thigh and smiled weakly.

“Hi,” Hailey said, hoping to be polite but not give Roger any idea she’d be interested in seeing him after this ambush dinner.

“You sit here, next to Roger.” Gran pointed at Hailey, who pasted on a smile as she entertained ways she could strangle her grandmother.

At least the meal smelled heavenly. Hailey piled some pot roast and potatoes on her plate, then grabbed one of her grandma’s famous wheat rolls. The bread melted in her mouth.

Gran cleared her throat loudly, so Hailey glanced at her. Gran squeezed her eyes shut and jerked her head. “We need to say grace.”

Hailey quickly swallowed the bread in her mouth and closed her eyes.

After the prayer, Roger looked at Hailey, his gaze making her skin feel prickly. “I am glad to be here for dinner, Hailey.”

Trying to have some polite conversation Hailey asked, “Where are you working?”

“I have applied at several companies in the area.”

“Doing what?” She shoveled another bite of pot roast into her mouth, trying to lose herself in its deliciousness and pretend she wasn’t in the middle of awkward central.

“I’m a computer engineer.”

“Oh, yes. He’s a whiz at computers. Always has been.” Dee beamed.

After a long, hard swallow, Hailey replied, “That’s awesome.” What could she do? What if she feigned a heart attack? Would that get her out of this mess? She glanced over at Gramps, who was laughing to himself, which made her want to bop him.

“June and I thought you and Roger might like to go to a movie tonight,” Dee said brightly.

“Oh, you know, I’d love to,” Hailey started.

“Great. I already bought the tickets,” Roger said, his toothy smile splashed across his face.

“Roger, I’m so sorry, but I can’t. I have some work I need to finish tonight.” It wasn’t a complete lie. She probably needed to send another email or two to Mrs. Saunders at Rocky Mountain Outdoors.

“That can wait, can’t it?” Gran asked.

“It’s a client who is particularly hard to please. I’ve been her accountant for years and I promised my boss that I’d keep up with certain clients while I was here.” She turned to Roger. “I’m sure you understand, right?”

Roger wore a crestfallen expression. “Yeah, sure.”

Hailey might have felt guilty for stretching the truth a bit, but she was still mad that she’d been trapped in this uncomfortable setup tonight.

Roger’s face lit up. “How about we go bowling tomorrow night?”

“Bowling?” She searched her mind for an excuse. “I, uh—”

Gramps made a sudden noise and all eyes turned toward him. He held up a deck of cards, then said some garbled words.

Hailey pounced. “Ah, yes. Gramps and I have a standing date with a card game.”

Gramps nodded and Hailey wanted to rush over and kiss him.

“Maybe—” Gran started to say.

“I think we should finish dinner and not worry about any other dates right now,” Hailey said. She didn’t want to be rude, but the last thing she needed was a date with someone with whom she had nothing in common. Absolutely nothing.

They finished the rest of the dinner. Hailey said as little as possible while Roger talked about SQL, Linux, HTML, firewalls, and other computer lingo that held no interest for her. It all went over her head and she silently pleaded for them to leave before she passed out from boredom.

“I’ll call you, Dee. Thanks for coming over,” Gran said.

“Thank you for a lovely dinner. We’ll have to do it again soon. Roger will be here indefinitely.”

“Bye, Hailey. I’ll give you a call.” He raised his unibrow and smiled.

Hailey nodded. As soon as they were out of earshot, Hailey said, “How could you do that?”

“I was trying to help,” Gran said, wiping at her white pants.

“I told you I don’t want to date anyone right now.”

“But I thought if you met Roger—”

“Really?” She gave Gran an are-you-kidding-me look. “You thought I’d like to date Roger? Seriously?”

“I guess he is a little . . .”

“No, he’s a lot.” She said to Gramps over her shoulder. “And you only saved yourself because you came up with the card game idea. I saw you laughing it up over there.”

“F-f-f-f-fu-nn-nny,” Gramps said.

Hailey and Gran both whipped their heads in Gramps’s direction and stared at him. “You said a word.” Hailey pointed at him, tears welling in her eyes.

Gramps said it again. “F-f-f-f-fu-nn-nny.”

“We’ll have to tell the therapist tomorrow. This is big,” Hailey said, feeling more optimistic than she had since she arrived. Maybe his speech would return and he’d once again entertain her with his tall tales. She yearned to hear Gramps share one of his big whoppers.

After Hailey replied to a few emails and reworked a spreadsheet for one of her clients, she joined her grandparents and watched an episode of Lawrence Welk, followed by an old black-and-white movie. Hailey wanted to soak in all the time she could with her grandparents.