I watched as Lena slowly sipped her tea. I almost felt sorry for her. Sure, she had millions of fans, was a successful and talented artist, but in that hotel suite, she looked like a little girl lost.
It wasn’t my place to tell her what to do, though. She’d have to figure it out on her own. Despite his rudeness in delivery, Nate was correct. I wasn’t a damn therapist, nor did I wish to be. Watching Lena, I thought about that. While I enjoyed my job, lately, I’d been annoyed with having to deal with celebrity shenanigans.
That annoyance continued to stay with me, an hour later, as I walked into my Brooklyn apartment, tossed my handbag onto the couch, and lazily stripped out of my clothing, climbing into bed. Sleep came within seconds.
The next morning as I made my way home from my class, I looked down into my phone, frowning when I didn’t see any missed calls. I’d called my grandfather over the past two days and hadn’t heard back from him. We rarely went a week without speaking to one another. He never missed calling me back if I called while he was busy.
Entering my apartment, I tore off the sweaty top I wore and headed into the shower, ready to scrub off the morning and then fix my breakfast. Even though it was a Saturday, it was still a workday for me. Two of my firm’s clients had events in the city that I needed to attend. One of which was Lena’s. I thought about Lena and Nate’s relationship.
“Couldn’t be me,” I said in my empty bedroom.
I had to force myself to finish drying off, moisturize, and get dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and one of my T-shirts that read ‘The Future Is Female’. All I wanted to do was hang out on my couch and speak with my grandfather. It looked like both of those would have to wait for later. Much later, since I likely wouldn’t be back until after midnight.
Right when I was about to step out the door, my phone rang. Thinking it might be my grandfather finally calling back, I dug through my purse, searching for my phone. I frowned once I saw who the caller was.
“Hey, Mama, I’m on my way out the door. Can I call you back?”
“Jodi.”
My entire body stilled at the tremble I heard in her voice. My heart sank because only one other time had I listened to my mother’s voice so full of heartbreak. It was about ten years ago. She called me as I entered my apartment after a late night out, partying with my friends to inform me that my grandmother had died of a stroke.
“Mama, what’s wrong?” I had to ask the question because my brain wouldn’t allow me to ponder what she was about to say.
“He’s gone.”
Those were the final two words I heard clearly. The rest of my mother’s statement got lost in an emotional tailspin. My knees weakened, and I stumbled to my couch, collapsing on it, replaying her statement over and over.
“Mama, what are you saying?” I probably asked for the third time.
“He’s gone, Jodi. Your granddaddy died. They found him in the woods.”
“They?”
“The deputies. He’d been out there for at least a day or two, they said.”
My mouth opened to ask more questions, but I didn’t know where to begin. My mother kept stringing together words that I’m sure made sense to her but might as well have been gibberish to me. All I could concentrate on was the fact that my relatively healthy, lively, and take no shit grandfather was gone. In an instant. No warning or anything.
Though my mother and father had been married for over thirty years, it was my grandfather who I looked up to the most. As a kid, I spent the school years biding my time until summer when I could spend the summers at my grandparents' house in Texas. My grandaddy was the one who taught me to be bold and fearless. As an adult, he, not my social group in New York, was my best friend.
“H-How did he die?”
My mother sighed heavily.
Another wash of fear and dread overcame my body.
“He killed himself.”
Chapter Two
“Is this your first time in Texas?”
I cut my gaze away from the sprawling pastures that we drove past, turning ahead toward the rearview mirror. The Uber driver, Daniel, who picked me up from the airport, was glancing between the mirror and the road with a smile on his face.
I swallowed down the biting retort I’d been ready to dish out and settled for a curt, “No,” instead. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. Particularly after a nearly ten hour travel day, since my connecting flight had been delayed, leaving me in the Chicago airport for an extra three hours.
“What brings you back into town?”
Daniel wasn’t getting the hint.
