I leaned in to kiss her on her cheek and then took a seat next to her. My entire life she had the exact same smell, a perfume that stuck in my memory. Floral and citrus. Her hair had always been the same, short and slightly curly. She had dark hair when she was younger, but now a gray I thought made her look even more beautiful.
“Look who is smiling today,” she said, smiling as well. My Grammy was always smiling.
“Well, despite a crappy morning at Dad’s going to look for him, and getting served his eviction notice, yes, I am smiling. Plus my appointments canceled and rescheduled.” I paused, listening for a second to the birds that were singing in the tree. “Of course when I am coming over here I always smile.”
“I smile when I see you too, darling. Today Margaret took me to the market with her since she had to pick up a few things, and guess who I saw today at the market?”
“Who?”
“Emma. She is sunshine, I tell you.”
“Yeah…”
“She said y'all went out dancing and had a good time.”
“We did. But a guy came in and she… well…”
“She is just different than you. Can’t get mad at that. She said y'all ran into two gentlemen?”
“One really. The other was the brother, a bystander like me. Or victim.”
“She carried on about one… for the life of me I can’t remember what his name was.”
“Cash, he was full of himself. And I mean, fuuuulllll of himself.” I rolled my eyes as I extended the full. “I can answer your question before you even ask though… yes, I met the other guy. No, I didn't get the butterflies or get goggly eyes. He is extremely attractive. A pretty good dancer. We danced a few dances and then I left. I actually saw him again today in an embarrassing way… He served dad’s eviction notice. Apparently he’s a sheriff’s deputy.”
“A deputy? That’s an honorable job.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Good dancer, you say?”
I shook my head yes.
“That’s a rarity. Your grandfather was always a good dancer. Well, he tried really hard, so to me that was one in the same. Something very attractive about a man who knows his way around a dance floor. Almost as important as his way around the…”
I looked at her in shock, anticipating her next word with my mouth open.
“Kitchen.”
I laughed.
“What is so funny? What did you think I was going to say?”
“Nothing, grammy. Nothing at all.”
“What is his name?”
“Wyatt.”
“I’m proud of you for getting out there. I know it’s hard, but I think you know you needed it, and you did have a good time, so there is that too.”
“Thank you, and yes, I had a great time. Even if Emma was the mastermind behind getting me to dance with him.”
“You’re smiling.” She winked.
“Nah, I’m just glad to be here with you.”
“Sure, dear, you can say that all you want. I’ll let you believe that.”
Grammy could read my thoughts like she put them there herself. Dang woman. Every single thing that had happened in my life she had predicted, or had an inkling for what was happening before I did.
And I’ll be damned if she wasn’t right. Every. Single. Time.
5
WYATT
Half the reason I moved to Hilltop was to be close to my aunt, my mother’s sister. She and I have always been close. Growing up, I spent many of summers and weekends at her farmhouse and just about any holiday I had a school break. When they had an opening at the sheriff’s department here, I jumped on it: a smaller town, a dot on the map really in comparison to Houston.
My aunt, Rhonda, had lived a life of simplicity. She worked most of her time awake and didn’t bother with complications that she would rather just avoid. Her focus had never been on money, rather on hard work. “Make your hobby into your job and you will never work a day in your life,” Rhonda told me when I was graduating high school. And she was right, like she was about most things. I love my career.
Rhonda was a farrier, and spent the majority of her time with horses and my uncle, Kurt, before he died of a heart attack. I had never seen two people love and respect each other as much as they did. He told me one time she was a hard one to love, but that was what made her more special.
She had always been a beacon in my life. Not only someone I looked up to, but someone I strived to be. She was an example of how people should be, in my eyes anyway. Kind, loving, but steadfast. Always honest and never took any flak from anyone. She wouldn't be played a fool but she also always wanted to help someone who helped themselves.
My mom and Rhonda got along when they wanted to, but not when my father was in their presence. My aunt was never short on words and spoke her mind without worrying about the consequence. Especially about someone she felt had ruined the opportunities my mother could and should have had. She loathed my father, and when able used his mistakes as life lessons for me.
While no one else understood my want not to be known as a Galloway, she received the message tenfold. She was a woman of integrity, something no one had ever accused my father of. Or my mother. I loved my mother, but she had never stood for anything. Frankly, something I had always tried to do.
Rhonda lived on the other side of town than I did, but we still saw each other often. Granted, the other side of town in Hilltop was ten minutes. She had retired from her career as a farrier but stayed just as busy now as she did when she worked. She spent a lot of time still helping out her equine friends.
