Chapter 7
CHAPTER
SEVEN
Joey’s ribs tap danced against her heart as she led Adam down the sidewalk to her grandparents’ condo. She’d been living there for a while now, but she still couldn’t call it her house. Adam hadn’t asked her why she lived there, but something compelled her to tell him.
“When I dropped out of culinary school,” she said. “I felt like a real loser. I couldn’t do anything for more than a year at a time, and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life.”
He looked over to her, that serious expression on his face. “I know that feeling,” he said.
“Did you ever go to college?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No, and I literally just spent the last couple of years of my life getting paid to go to Walmart for your cousin.” He cracked a rare smile, but he didn’t let it get to megawatt status.
“When I moved home,” Joey said, feeling safer and more comfortable with him now. “I didn’t want to move back into my mom and dad’s place. My biological mother lives up in Dog Valley with my grandmother, and she’s been sick for a long time. I didn’t want to move there either.”
“I didn’t know your mother lived up there,” he said.
“Yeah, Dog Valley is nice.”
“I need to buy my own place,” he said. “And I’m gonna look everywhere. Dog Valley, Rusk, Coral Canyon.”
Joey made a face and shook her head.
“What?” he asked with a slight laugh.
“Rusk?” She shook her head again. “Do you know how far away Rusk is?”
“It came up within the radius I put on the real estate website,” he said. “Within an hour, I think.” He glanced over to her, and she liked the way he seemed to ask her without words.
“Yeah, it’s a good, solid hour,” Joey said. “I don’t think my uncles are going to be driving up to your place for meetings an hour away.”
“You’re probably right.” He turned thoughtful and faced forward again.
“You’re just renting right now?” Joey asked.
“Sure am,” he said.
“I’m not even doing that.” She sighed and looked up into the autumn evening sky. The sun had already started to set, and since the Tetons stood to the west, shadows fell over Coral Canyon early in the evening.
“My grandpa had just had surgery, and he needed help. Gramps loves having me here, because I cook for them, so I’m helping her—and him. And they decorated my room and welcomed me into their condo.”
“That’s great,” Adam said. “It’s nice to have family.”
“Do you have family?” she asked.
“In Tennessee,” he said. “I’ve got a sister and a brother—twins—a couple years younger than me. They’re both married, and they both have a daughter. Ellie’s is three, and Ian’s is two.”
“Your nieces,” Joey supplied, because he’d mentioned buying a book for them.
“Yes.” Adam smiled over to her. “My mom still lives there too, but when my parents got divorced, my dad moved to Minnesota.”
Joey wrinkled her nose. “Ew. Why would someone move north if they don’t have to?”
Adam chuckled again, the sound deep and rich to match his voice.
“I don’t know,” he said. “But that’s where he is.
Saint Paul.” He nudged her, and since he stood several inches taller than her and had to outweigh her two to one, she stumbled slightly.
He looped his arm around her and hauled her back into his side.
“Sorry, baby doll, but I just wanted to point out that we live somewhere really cold.” He reached up and pressed his palm to his cowboy hat.
“For me, the biggest shock is the wind. My word, the wind never stops here.”
Joey smiled, feeling like she had been plugged in and turned all the way to high. “The wind is murder,” she said.
They reached the door a moment later, and Joey twisted the knob, not expecting to find it locked. It wasn’t, and in she went, relieved at the warmth that fought against the deepening chill outside—and yes, the wind. Adam tumbled into the condo after her and then pressed the door closed.
Both Grams and Gramps sat in the living room, each in their own recliner.
The TV played with an old western, though neither of them watched it.
Grams had her embroidery in front of her, and Gramps had curled back the front cover of his puzzle book.
He looked up at her over the tops of his glasses and said, “Hey, you’re back,” in a voice rough as gravel.
That was his happy voice, and Joey smiled at both of them as she unlooped her scarf from around her neck.
“Adam got something new,” she said, and she smiled at him quickly before she turned her back on her grandparents and went into the kitchen.
Her hands shook slightly as Adam told them about his new hat.
“It’s a Country Gentleman. I figured, since I’m going to be living here for a while, I should look the part. ”
“Hoo-whee,” Gramps said, whistling. “That is a nice cowboy hat.”
Joey knew her grandparents didn’t have much money. She kept her head ducked and her hands busy as she lifted the lid on the crockpot to find the chicken finished and ready to shred. She collected a couple of forks and got that done while Grams entered the kitchen.
“I’ll get the cream cheese out,” she said.
“And that bottle of Italian dressing,” Joey reminded her.
She mixed up the chicken and added blocks of cream cheese before resetting the lid and turning the heat to low.
She flipped on the sink and let it start running, as it took several seconds for her grandparents’ water to turn hot.
When it finally did, she filled a pot and set it on the stove.
Adam had taken a seat in the living room, and he seemed to be able to converse with Gramps just fine, though Joey had seen her own father come over and sit there in silence with his daddy. Adam may like to be out of the spotlight, but he was definitely a people person—just like her.
Twelve minutes later, she and Grams had the table set, a salad made, and the noodles perfectly al dente. “It’s time to eat,” she called into the living room, and she set a potholder on the table so Grams could bring the crock over.
She continued into the living room to help her grandfather out of his chair. He’d had some trouble with his kidneys in the last couple of years, and he’d slowed way down physically. She balanced him while he stood, and he grinned at her with all the love a grandfather could.
“How was your coffee date?” he asked.
“Gramps, Adam is sitting right there.”
“So you can’t say how it was?” Gramps raised his eyebrows and shuffled past Joey. “That might be a red flag, Roo.”
Joey sighed, wiped her hands down the front of her apron, and turned to face Adam.
“Roo?” he asked, something playful dancing in his expression.
“It was really great, Gramps,” she said, half-turning her back on Adam. “If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have brought Adam back for dinner.”
Gramps huffed, as if Joey’s answer had come too late and wasn’t good enough. She was used to him, so she turned her attention back to Adam.
“Yeah, Roo is my nickname,” she said. “You know, like a joey is a baby kangaroo.”
“Is Joey your full name?” Adam stood from the couch, and in any other circumstance, Joey felt certain that he would have drawn her into his arms in that moment. As it was, his normally graceful, elegant movement stuttered, and he sidestepped her instead of touching her.
“My name is Joelle,” she said.
“So you have two nicknames,” he said, as he went past her to help Gramps sit. While Joey marveled at the attention to detail Adam had, he brought over salt and pepper shakers, and then asked Grams if she needed anything else.
“Just the crock, dear,” she said, practically beaming light out of every pore. “It’s too heavy for me.” She looked to the living room, where Joey still stood as if watching a movie of her life play out in front of her.
That crock was not too heavy for Grams. She’d gotten it out of the lower cupboard that morning, so that Joey could even make tonight’s dinner. Grams smiled and gestured quietly for Joey to come join them.
She did, pausing at Gramps’ side and asking, “You got everything, Gramps?”
“Yes,” he whispered, and Joey sat down.
Adam put the crock on the table, surveyed everyone, and frowned. “What else?”
“Nothing,” Joey said, giving him a quick smile. “Sit down.”
He did, flashing her a quick look before he smiled at her grandparents. “Thank you so much for having me,” he said. “I can’t remember the last time I ate something homemade.” He laughed and added, “Probably when I was out at Rising Sun, and Codi fed me.”
Joey smiled too, because Adam sure seemed to know how to break the ice and make things less tense. He could play the part of relaxed, easygoing dinner attendee, but Joey thought he just absorbed all the tension and held it in his own body to be released later—or not at all.
“Was that recently?” Grams asked, and she picked up the tongs and started putting salad on her plate.
“Oh no,” Adam said. “This was a few months ago. Bryce said she doesn’t get around nearly as easily these days as she used to.”
Gramps looked over to Grams. “We need to get out there, Jerry.”
“And do what?” he asked. “We can’t move around and do farm work either.”
“I most certainly can do something,” Cecily said. “And you can keep Bryce company in the stables while he feeds the horses.” She nodded like that was set. “We’ll go tomorrow.”
Joey watched Gramps, who certainly didn’t want to go up to Dog Valley and Bryce’s ranch tomorrow, but he’d do whatever Grandma told him to do, Joey knew that.
Grams put down the salad bowl and looked at Joey. “Let’s say grace.”
Joey had not made a move toward any food, and neither had anyone besides Grams, so she simply smiled and reached for her grandfather’s hand on her left, and then Adam’s on her right.
He looked like he didn’t quite know what to do, but he managed.
The last thing Joey saw before she bowed her head was him dropping his.
“Dear Lord,” Grams said in her sweet, elderly voice.
“We’re so grateful for another good harvest season.
We’re grateful for mountains and the wide open sky and a good crisp air to breathe.
We’re grateful for our family and that we have enough to eat and that we have a warm place to sleep as this upcoming winter approaches.
Bless those who stand in need that they will receive Thy bounty. Amen.”
“Amen,” Joey whispered, and she quickly pulled her hands back to herself. Then, she half-stood and picked up Gramps’ plate to get him some noodles. She dished them up for everyone, even Adam, while he took charge of dishing out the Italian chicken Alfredo, which went over the top of the noodles.
Joey had made this multiple times in her life, and it was nothing special. It was easy and fast, and everyone loved it because it was creamy and salty and came with pasta.
“I’ve never had anything like this before,” Adam said as he lifted his first forkful to his mouth. He took the bite, and his eyes widened and then rolled back in his head. He moaned in the most unprofessional way Joey had ever heard, which caused her to laugh.
“Holy cow,” he said around his mouthful of creamy and salty chicken and noodles. “This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten.” He scooped up another bite, a big one, and put the whole thing in his mouth.
Joey couldn’t help feeling like a million bucks because of his praise, and her face heated as she watched him enjoy her food. Then she looked over to her grandmother.
Oh, no. Grams had seen something there, for she now wore a smile that looked like the cat had eaten the canary.
“So,” she said, her voice higher-pitched than usual. “What’s going on with you two?”
Adam choked on his enormous bite of chicken and pasta while Joey’s face doubled in temperature. “Grams,” she muttered. She shook her head. “What is with you and Gramps asking embarrassing questions right in front of Adam?”
Gramps continued to eat as if he’d done nothing wrong and had no interest in the conversation, but Joey knew he heard every word. He hung on them, actually, and he would definitely have an opinion.
She looked over to Adam, who now had a napkin covering his mouth as he continued to cough.
When he finally quieted, Joey said, “We’re nothing right now, Grams. Adam asked me to get coffee with him, so that he could explain something to me, which—come to think of it, he never did—” She shot him a look, then swung her attention right back to her grandmother.
“And then we went and bought him his first cowboy hat.”
He ducked his head then, effectively using said hat to conceal his expression.
“So you’re friends,” Grams said, looking between Joey and Adam and back.
“Sure,” Joey said. “We’re friends.”
“So it wasn’t a coffee date,” Gramps grumped.
“Gramps, did I tell you it was a coffee date?” Joey asked. “No, I did not. Maybe you two should just mind your own business. Have you ever thought of that, you Nosy Nellies?” She looked between Grams and Gramps, and neither of them seemed to care about her ire.
Grams squinted at her and then started to laugh. “All right, Joey, we won’t ask any more embarrassing questions.”
“Good,” she said. “And you don’t need to be saying anything to my daddy either. Remember how I’m an adult and can make my own decisions?”
“If we can’t tell your dad, then there must be something going on,” Gramps said.
“No, that’s not what that means,” Joey said. “And don’t you think that I would like to be the one to tell everyone if Adam and I do date? I certainly don’t need one of you to do it for me.”
“She’s right, dear,” Grams said, as if Gramps had been the one who had brought this up in the first place. She reached across the table and patted Joey’s hand. “Don’t worry, dear, your secret is safe with us.”
She looked over to Adam and nodded, and when Joey looked at him, her face once again flaming like hot lava bursting out of a volcano, she found the most adorable look of confusion on his face. If she didn’t feel like dying of embarrassment, she may have started laughing.
Thankfully, Gramps said, “Oh, your grandmother called. She wanted to know if you were going to be up there on Halloween to hand out candy.”
Joey had forgotten that her mother had asked her to come do that. “I’ll call them,” she said.
“That’s what I told her,” Gramps said.
Joey finally forked up a bite of her own dinner and put it in her mouth. She may make this faux chicken Alfredo and pasta a lot, but it was actually extremely delicious, and she found herself moaning the same way Adam had.
“See?” he said. “It’s that good.”
She grinned at him, hoping that she would have the opportunity to cook for him in the future. He didn’t like it, and she did, and everyone deserved a home-cooked meal.
Didn’t they?
Now she just had to figure out how to get him to ask her out again.