18. You’re Driving Me to Grandma’s
You’re Driving Me to Grandma’s
Arlo
W ell, shit. I fucked that up. Why the fuck did I call her princess? I’ve never called her that before, not once. I’ve never called anybody that. All I can put it down to is too many hours looking at the screenshots Mrs. C sent to me of his messages, it must have got into my subconscious and spewed out of me at the worst possible fucking moment.
Inside my place, I lock the door and draw the curtains while she stands, tense and watchful.
Opening a dresser drawer, I pull out a gun and hold it out to her, making her flinch.
‘I know you know how to use that.’ She stares down at the weapon. ‘Take it. It’s loaded. You think I’m a threat, use it.’
I watch her swallow as she reaches out a shaky hand to take it from me, then, as if on instinct, checks that it is, in fact, loaded as I turn away.
‘You called me princess.’
‘I know.’ I pet Beans’ head as he passes me and sits at Bree’s feet, smiling up at her in that way he does, oblivious to the fact that the pretty woman who pets him wants to kill the man with all the food right now.
‘You have never called me that.’
‘I know, and I don’t know why I did it tonight,’ I admit as I drop to sit in the armchair while she remains standing. ‘It’s not me, Bree.’
‘Then how do you know what I’m afraid of.’
Her voice trembles as she asks, and I look up at her to see the tension coming off her in waves. She’s like a coiled spring or a snake ready to lunge. Taking a deep breath, I blow it out and start talking.
‘Because Mrs. C came to me and asked me to help you out of this situation.’ Bree’s lips part as she sucks in a breath of surprise, but she schools her features for the most part, remaining stoic, waiting for more. ‘She was worried about you, and she asked me to help.’
Bree’s attention falls to the weapon in her hands, and for a split second, I think she might actually use it. I brace, my eyes falling to Beans, and I wonder if Bree will take him in when I’m dead.
‘Get your keys.’ Her voice is firm but quiet, and I look up at her once more.
‘What?’
‘You’re driving me to Grandma’s house.’ She starts for the door, and I stand to protest.
‘Bree, it’s almost midnight. By the time we get there, it’ll be the early hours of the morning.’
‘Then we’ll sit in your truck outside her house until she wakes up. It’ll be like the good old days. Get your damn keys, Arlo.’
T he drive up to Mrs. C’s house is excruciating. I want to talk to Bree, but she’s silent, practically vibrating with anger and confusion and focusing all her attention on Beans, who curled up between us on the bench seat and laid his head on her lap like he’s choosing sides. I’d be pissed at him, except he’s been throwing me those judgy looks ever since I agreed to this fuckin’ plan, so it’s not a surprise.
‘Bree, look…’
‘No. Don’t say anything. I don’t want to hear anything right now.’
Okay then. I guess I’ll just keep driving.
When we enter the neighborhood where Mrs. C’s bungalow is located, I feel the tension pull across my shoulders. Slowing to a stop at the bottom of the street, I feel Bree’s gaze on me.
‘What are you doing?’ she snaps.
‘Waiting.’
‘So, wait in her driveway.’
‘Bree, we pull into her driveway at three am, and we alert whoever is in that van and have to convince them we aren’t a threat and risk waking her.’
She processes my words, and I know she wants to argue, but instead, she presses her lips together and slumps back into her seat and into her silence.
I turn on some music quietly, and she doesn’t protest, but after a few minutes, I turn it back off. I hate the awkwardness. In my youth, in prison, even in the years since, I’ve loved my own company. I like putting on music and not having to talk to anybody, but this, inside this pressure cooker, is making my skin itch.
‘We lied to you to make it easier for you,’ I say quietly, and she snaps her attention to me, so I turn to meet her eye.
‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ She’s furious and embarrassed. I can see it in her eyes, even in the dim light.
‘You’re not sleeping. You’re tired and off your game. Are you telling me you’d have gone along with this?’
‘Hell no, I wouldn’t, Arlo. This is insane.’
She’s right, this is fucking insane, so why wait any longer? Why play it safe when we’re already in this shit show? Without another thought, I start the engine and pull up to Mrs. C’s house, swinging the truck into the driveway and waiting for the shit to hit the fan.
That’s not what happens, though. To my surprise, as I park, Bree and I look up to see Mrs. C sitting on her front porch playing cards with a young guy wearing a cut like the one I used to wear.
‘What the…’ Bree climbs out of the truck, and I follow as the older lady stands and holds out her hand to stop the kid standing to confront us.
‘What are you doing here?’ Mrs. C asks, looking from Bree to me and back.
‘We need to talk, now ,’ Bree says before stomping inside the house.
The kid stands, looking me up and down as he passes as though sizing me up, and I know he has no idea who I am.
‘Go back to the van, kid,’ I instruct and glare at him in a way that lets him know I’m not in the mood to be pushed. Then, walking behind Beans, I follow the two Campbell women inside the house.
‘So, I’m guessing the jig is up, given the look on your face,’ Mrs. C says, watching Bree stand in her kitchen, arms folded.
‘Sit down, Bree,’ I say, and she snaps her gaze to me.
‘You don’t tell me to sit down.’
‘I will then,’ Mrs. C says calmly as she puts on a pot of coffee. ‘Both of you, sit.’
Neither of us is willing to risk arguing with the woman who could kick both of our asses into next week, so we sit, but Bree looks ready to explode. I take her in, still dressed from our date and still frustratingly beautiful, but I can’t ignore the tiredness I see around her eyes. She looks exhausted and broken.
'Grandma, why are you awake?'
'You're asking that now, after driving out here?' my friend shakes her head as Bree hangs hers. 'I'm too damn hot and can't sleep so I got up. No point fightin' it when I have nowhere to be tomorrow, I'll sleep then.' Mrs. C says as she pours the hot, fresh coffee into three mugs before joining us at the dining table. ‘So, come on then, ask what you want to ask.’
‘Ask what I want to ask?’ Bree lets out an incredulous laugh before lowering her attention to her hands on the table. ‘Ask why you felt the need to ask someone I was involved with two decades ago to move in next door to me and pretend to be interested in me?’
‘I wanted you protected, Bree, and I wanted him out of the picture.’
‘But, Arlo, really? What the fuck, Grandma?’
Oh, she did not just…
‘I’ll pretend you didn’t just curse at me in my own home, Breanne, because I know you’re stressed out, but you only get one pass. He’s the only one I trust with this.’
‘Him? He’s the only one you trust?’
‘You know I’m still sitting here, right, short stuff?’ I push calmly, and she glares at me, furious. ‘Bree, quit it with the attitude. Your grandma wanted to protect you.’
She sighs and seems to lose any strength and fieriness right in front of my eyes, and I see now just how drained she really is and how much she’s been hiding it. ‘So, you know, everything that’s been happening to me?’
‘I do.’
She hangs her head.
‘Whose idea was all this, to date me?’
‘ Pretend to date you,’ I correct. I see the hurt in her watery eyes as she meets mine for just a moment, and I feel like a piece of shit. I have to switch it off. Now, more than before, I need to make the boundaries clear. ‘It was Mrs. C’s, but it was mine to not tell you.’
‘And the house?’
‘I put in a call to Berta Lawton. Her lazy ass husband had been talking about selling the house next door to you for years but couldn’t bother his ass to get it done, so I made an offer out of the blue and saved him a job. I bought the house.’
‘I don’t know how to process any of this. I just want to go home. Sell the house, Grandma. Your little plan is off. I’ll fix this myself, and he can go back to his nice little city life without the hassle of babysitting a grown woman.’
‘You know my name, Bree, so you can use it,’ I say, and she turns to glare at me, but there’s no heat to it. She just looks… sad. ‘This guy wants you—the tone of the messages, the gifts, he thinks you’re his. We’re going to show him that you’re not,’ I explain.
‘You think dating you is the answer.’
‘Yes. We’ll pretend we are together, put on a show, and draw him out. If he’s obsessed enough with you to do this.’ I point to her phone on the table. ‘Seeing you with me will drive him crazy.’
‘He’s already crazy.’
‘Then it’ll drive him to be sloppy, one mistake from him, and we can pounce.’
She absorbs my words as Mrs. C reaches across the table for her granddaughter’s hands.
‘This is insane,’ Bree sighs. ‘How did you know where he even was?’ She realizes she hasn’t asked this yet and moves her attention between us.
‘We stayed in contact.’ Mrs. C releases Bree’s hands to pick up her cup. ‘Not a big deal and none of your business who I associate with, so close your mouth and soften your eyes.’
I smirk over the top of my cup as I raise it up and take a sip. I love Mrs. C.
‘How would this even work? My family knows I’m single. I can’t tell them about any of this and put them at risk, but I also can’t just say surprise, I have a boyfriend all of a sudden.’ She’s coming around.
‘The seeds are already planted, Bree. I made a point of showing an interest in you in front of them. Merv saw us on our date tonight, and I know you told your friends we were going out. It won’t be hard for them to believe the lie.’
She swallows at that, and I watch the bob of her throat with rapt attention.
‘I don’t feel comfortable lying to them.’
‘Think of it as you going undercover if it helps. We’re doing what we need to do to stop this guy.’
‘We need ground rules.’ She straightens her shoulders, and I smile… there she is.
Bree
‘S o, we’re clear on the plan?’ His ice-blue eyes lift to meet mine, and I nod, yes.
Earlier tonight, I thought we were reconnecting for real, and now I’m about to start fake dating this beautiful man—this ex-biker, ex-con, my ex, with all his tattoos and rough edges—in order to draw out my stalker. Great . I love my life right now.
I’m embarrassed. He was so charming to me when I didn’t know this was fake, and now, he corrects me that none of it is real every chance he gets. I let myself hope, and now, I feel like an idiot.
‘This will work, Bree,’ Grandma says, her hand reaching out to cover mine on the table as Arlo pushes back his chair and stands.
‘We should get going. I’m going to take Beans outside.’
Arlo and Beans say goodnight to Grandma and head out the front door, and I turn to her.
‘Bree, before you get mad…’
‘I’m not mad, Grandma.’ I lean in to hug her, suddenly exhausted. ‘It’s just a lot.’ I know she was trying to protect me. ‘It’s just going to take me some time.’
‘What happened between you two?’ I turn to look her in the eyes, and she smiles so sweetly. ‘Y’all were thick as thieves, and I’ll be honest, I thought there was something pretty special happening, then the next thing I knew, you wouldn’t even say his name, and he didn’t want even hear yours.’
That hurts. It hits me right in the center of my chest, and I fight to hide a reaction.
‘He got locked up. Kind of hard to run off into the sunset with somebody when they’re behind bars.’ I lean in again and kiss her cheek. ‘Goodnight, Grandma.’
Climbing into the truck, I sit, and Beans immediately snuggles up to me, dropping his huge head back into my lap like he did the whole way here.
‘Why did you agree to this?’
‘She asked me to.’
‘But you clearly have issues with me.’
He smirks now, one side of his mouth pulling up as he nods. ‘Got nothing to do with anything. He didn’t deny it. ‘I love Mrs. C, and I owe her a lot, so when she needs me, I say yes.’
I nod, and he starts the engine.
‘I need this to work.’ Oh god, I hear the emotion and desperation in my voice and from the look in his eyes as he turns toward me to respond, he heard it too.
‘It’ll work, pix. We’ll get the son of a bitch.’