AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her grandmother fluttered a hand to her chest.
“You might spend the night with Galen? That’s different, then. You’d better bring your fancy underwear.”
“Good lord, lady. Must you?”
“Someone must. I’m only saying what Maura would have. You need more girlfriends. If you did, you might have a boyfriend by now.”
Brenda shook her head at her unruly grandmother. No one else could mention Maura like that and get away with it. Besides, in a weird way, Granny might be right. She thought about a recent encounter with Kendra Carter. They’d joked about sex with exes and nosy grandmothers, and it had been light and fun.
There was nothing like a good female friend. She and Maura had fought sometimes, but they’d always had each other’s backs and kept each other’s secrets. All the way until the end.
She wished she could get to know Kendra better, but between teaching and getting used to a new town, she hadn’t established much of a social life. Maybe she should work on that.
If she survived LadyBird Rock.
Galen had given her a map to pore over so she’d know what she was in for. She’d never used a topographical map before—he called it a topo map—and it took a while to get used to the plethora of squiggly lines representing steep slopes and switchbacks. Suffice it to say, it would be a challenge.
“Got ‘em.” She found her old Merrell boots and thrust them triumphantly into the air. They still had traces of red canyon dust from Arizona.
Granny eyed them with disgust. “How about you turn them into ashes too? Make it a two-fer.”
Brenda laughed so hard that she knocked the tote onto its side. “Don’t hold back, Granny.”
“You know I never do.”
Wiping away the tears streaming down her face, Brenda sat back on her heels. “Are you going to be okay for a couple of days while I’m gone?”
“Of course I am. You won’t mind if I have a friend over, will you?”
She sobered even further. “Are you talking about Bryce coming here?”
“I am. And I’m not asking for permission. Poor Bryce has been staying at the Blue Drake cabins, and he’s going stir-crazy. They say we have another week before we can all move back in.”
That news really wiped the smile off her face. She was going to miss having her grandmother around. And this thing with Bryce…it unnerved her to think her grandmother might be forming a new relationship at this stage of her life.
Granny had never married. She’d raised Laney by herself and to this day refused to say much about Brenda’s grandfather, just that he was long dead and good riddance. Brenda often thought that her mother had sought out wealth and stability because she’d had such an unpredictable childhood.
It was a good thing if Granny found someone to love. She deserved to be happy. But how was it going to affect Brenda?
Not the point, she lectured herself. It’s Granny’s life.
“Have all the fun you want with Bryce. Just no wild parties while I’m gone.”
“How did I raise such a party-pooper girl?” She snapped her fingers. “That’s right, my uptight daughter’s the one responsible for that.”
Brenda got to her feet, boots in hand. “Don’t forget to use a condom.”
“It’s the lube I need to remember, not the condom.”
Brenda gave a mock-shriek and covered her ears. “Granny! I don’t need to know that! Too much information!”
“You’ll want to know it when you’re my age. Why don’t people talk about these things? It’s quite ageist, I’ll have you know.”
* * *
Brenda was still recovering from that conversation when Galen swung by just after sunrise on Friday to pick her up. When she’d quizzed him, he told her that door-to-trail service wasn’t normally part of the drill. But he wanted to pick her up so she didn’t have to carry the urn to the office.
Not that it was an urn, as it turned out. Rosalind hadn’t wanted one. It was just a cardboard box containing a plastic bag that held the ashes.
