“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. Myword, the wind never stops here.”
Joey smiled, feeling like she had been plugged in and turned all the way to high. “The windismurder,” she said.
They reached the door a moment later, and Joey twistedthe 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. Sheflipped 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.”
