The Birthday List(46)

Jimmy got up from his chair and sat next to me on the couch, putting an arm around my shoulders. “They love you, Poppy.”

Did they? If you loved someone, did you let a tragic experience drive you apart? Years ago, I’d believed that love prevailed above all. But now, I was learning that even love wasn’t strong enough to mend some wounds.

I leaned my head on Jimmy’s shoulder as I blinked away a tear. “It’s not fair. I just miss them.”

“I know. But you’ve still got me.”

“Promise?”

He crossed his heart, just like I always did before making a promise. “Promise.”

We sat together for a few moments, leaning on one another, until a grumble came from the hall.

“I see you’re watching without me, asshole.”

Jimmy scoffed. “Don’t call me an asshole, asshole. I’m paying for the goddamn HBO, you leach. If you want to watch on your schedule, then you can shell out the cash.”

I broke away from Jimmy and leaned forward, peering around him at his visitor. I gaped at the man walking into Jimmy’s room. “Randall?”

“Huh,” he muttered, then sat in Jimmy’s recliner. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” My hand waved back and forth between us. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here, stuck next door to this asshole.” He jerked his thumb at Jimmy. “I don’t care how far you watched, we’re starting this episode over.”

“Fine,” Jimmy grumbled. “But you’re not drinking all of my Mountain Dew like last week. You get one can. One.”

I guess I wasn’t the only Maysen limiting Randall’s sugar intake.

Jimmy stood from the couch and glared at Randall. “And get the hell out of my chair, you poker cheat.”

Poker cheat? “Was Randall the neighbor who beat you at poker and made you dye your hair pink?”

Randall snickered and Jimmy shot me his shut up look as they switched seats.

“Sorry to bring it up.” Every ounce of willpower went to holding in my laughter.

“So Poppy is the granddaughter you’re always talking about?” Randall asked as Jimmy fiddled with the remote.

My heart warmed whenever Jimmy told the residents at The Rainbow that I was his granddaughter.

“She is. How do you know each other?”

Randall shrugged. “I go to her restaurant every now and then.”

“Every now and then?” I scoffed. “You come in every day.”

“Interesting.” Jimmy leaned forward and locked eyes with Randall. “I’ll make a deal with you. If you want to keep watching my HBO, you’ll bring me with you to the restaurant next time.”

“Jimmy,” I scolded. “I told you I’d come and get you whenever you wanted to come down.”

He waved me off. “You’re busy. He has nothing else to do, so he can drive me down there when he goes.”

Jimmy didn’t drive much anymore. His older sister had been killed in a car accident when she’d had a stroke behind the wheel and run into a tree. From then on, he’d only driven if there hadn’t been another option. Which was why The Rainbow lifestyle suited him perfectly. They had meals, entertainment and a convenience store a few blocks away.

“I’ll bring him,” Randall told me, “but he’s not taking my stool.”

“I’ll take whatever damn stool I want. She’s my granddaughter.”

I held out my hands, stopping their argument. “How about we decide who gets what stool tomorrow?”

“We’ll be there for breakfast,” Jimmy declared. “I haven’t had breakfast there yet.”

“Okay. I’ll make you both something special.” I stood from the couch and bent down and kissed Jimmy’s cheek. “I’d better go.”

Jimmy patted my arm. “Good luck tonight.”

“Thanks.”

I had a feeling I was going to need it.




“How’s this going to go?” Cole asked as he drove.

My foot bounced on the floor mat of his truck. “I have no idea.”

After I’d left The Rainbow, I’d waited for Cole at the restaurant. He’d arrived with a long flatbed trailer hooked to the back of his truck. The closer we got to the ranch, the faster my foot bounced.

I wasn’t just nervous about seeing Kyle and Debbie and taking Jamie’s truck. I was also nervous about being there with Cole.

In the week since our drive-in movie, we’d resumed our normal dinner routine at the restaurant. I’d done my best to remember that he’d only called me his girlfriend to protect me from a potential creeper, but I still had fears.

Fears about where this thing between us was heading. Fears that we were getting closer and closer to that invisible line in the sand. The line that, when crossed, meant I’d no longer be Jamie Maysen’s wife. I’d be some other man’s girlfriend.

A part of me wanted to run away from that line. Another wanted to take a flying leap to the other side. As it was, I was just standing with my toes on its edge. Frozen.

Because I knew the man who’d pull me across was Cole. I wasn’t waiting for some nameless, faceless man of the future. When I pictured kissing another man, it was Cole. When I imagined sleeping with another man, it was Cole.