Our grandpa Bruce has been doing these polls every day for as long as I can remember. People vote by putting a dollar into the mason jar that’s labeled with the answer they agree with. Of course, he combines all of the money when he donates it at the end of the month, but it’s a fun way to collect the money.
Usually, it’s things like best sundae topping or worst place to get an itch while giving a public speech. And yes, sometimes the answers are inappropriate.
But today is the first time Alex Olsen’s name has shown up in the polls.
Which reminds me… I want to scold my grandfather. I spin toward the kitchen door. “Bruce!”
Ruth pops out from behind the swinging door, her eyes wide. I hope we’re not going to have to have another talk about child labor laws. “Where is Grandpa?” I ask.
“He’s up to his armpits in barbecue sauce,” she reports.
Whatever. I step forward and push the door open. “Seriously?” I demand of my grandfather.
Harley is my grandfather by blood. He was married to my grandmother, and they had my mom, my aunt Bebe, and my uncles, C.W. and Ben. I never knew my grandma. She died before I was born. And Harley and Bruce, best friends whilemy grandparents were married, realized they were more than friends after Bruce helped my grandpa regroup. Bruce and Harley have been married all my life, so Bruce is my grandpa as much as Harley is. In fact, they’re both more like fathers, having raised me after my mom left.
“I didn’t put all those dollar bills in the Alex jar,” he says.
He’s hardly up to his armpits in barbecue sauce. He’s stirring a big pot, and it smells like barbecue for sure—deliciously so—but still, he can step away.
“You put the jars there. You labeled them,” I say, planting my hands on my hips, and propping the door open with one foot. “You have to stop being mean. You need to be welcoming. Kind. Friendly. Helpful. Weneedhim.”
“I don’t like him,” Bruce says curtly.
“Why not?” I personally thought Alex was very…likeable.
Then again, Bruce hadn’t kissed Alex and realized just how likable the man’s mouth was.
“What do we know about him? He’s a spoiled, rich, professional athlete who has probably always gotten his way and couldn’t even take his time to talk with a guy who has been a fan since his first day in the league, who had a major medical event.”
I blow out a breath. “I know. But the only thing we need to know is the professional athlete thing. We need him for hockey. Period.”
“I know things about him!” Ruth says. “He likes Fruity Pebbles but only eats them in the off-season. He takes his trainingveryseriously. He gives money to the hospital where his sister had surgery and rehab after her accident. He does lots of meet-and-greets! He got hurt the night that Harley and I were there.”
I blink at her. She knows what kind of cereal Alex likes? I knew she was a fan, but…wow. I look at Bruce. “He sounds like a nice guy.”
“He is!” Ruth insists.
“He was a shit to you and to your great-grandpa,” Bruce says.
“Yeah, and he was having a really bad night, and he said sorry to me. He was nice today.”
Ruth is a big-hearted, happy kid who loves hockey, baking cookies, and the sci-fi channel. Not necessarily in that order.
Okay, actually exactly in that order.
Bruce, on the other hand, is big-hearted but doesnotjust automatically like everyone. He’s not Harley. But he knows how to get along. How to schmooze. How to fake it. He’s a politician’s spouse. He’s lived in Rebel all his life, though, so he doesn’t have to do that much here. He can’t erase sixty-four years of not getting along with certain people or the things he said forty years ago. Or twenty. Or two.
Thankfully, those people vote for Harley because they’ve knownhimfor seventy-six years.
People also keep coming to Perks and Rec because Bruce is a hell of a cook, his coffee is the best in town, and the rest of the people in the building are people they like and get along with.
I love Bruce dearly, but how he and my happy, sunshine-y, sweet grandpa Harley fell in love is something I sometimes wonder about.
But then I sigh. Bruce is acting like this toward Alex because he’s protective of Harley. He doesn’t like Alex because Alex snubbed Harley. Bruce has been especially surly ever since Harley’s stroke reminded him that Harley isn’t invincible. And that scared the shit out of Bruce.
So when Harley’s big chance to meet his favorite player came up and was then a huge disappointment, Bruce took that personally.
I get it.
