Page 118 of Running
Then an idea strikes. A little wild but…this whole situation is?—
“Would you want to come with me?”
She looks surprised, a reaction I totally understand. “Really? I mean, you’d really want me to come?”
“Yeah, I do. You don’t need to do anything to help, but just…I’d like you there so we won’t miss out on our last couple of days before I get back into the football grind.”
She takes an understandable pause to think about it. And then I get the answer I was hoping for.
“I definitely can come, as long as we’re back by Sunday. Are we going to stay a secret with your sister though?”
Oh yeah. What to do about Lainie?
The answer is obvious as I think about it. “My sister would see through any pretense in a heartbeat. Let’s just be real with her. We won’t be the focus anyway, and it’s not like my family is going to tell Landon or anyone else.”
“Okay.” She cocks her head, like she’s calculating whetherthere are any other obstacles. “Good thing I packed a bag with a bunch of my stuff.”
Just then, a text from Lily comes through, saying a plane will be ready in two hours. I message her back confirming there will be an extra passenger, without naming Grace, so she can update the charter company.
That planning resolved, I kiss the top of Grace’s head. “Come with me to my room, so I can get packed.”
“Can we also leave twenty minutes early so I can walk through Landon’s house one more time?”
We add that to the itinerary, and forty-five minutes later, we’re in my car driving to meet the charter plane after leaving Landon’s house.
And Grace is about to meet my family.
CHAPTER 37
Grace
When we land in Alabama, Johnson gets quieter. It’s eight-thirty here, since it’s an hour behind. He takes my hand as soon as we’re out of the plane and walks us towards a waiting car.
“Lily and I are a well-oiled machine when it comes to these trips,” he explains.
The town he grew up in is about two hours from my hometown, so I don’t know the area well. After about fifteen minutes on a highway, the driver turns off and soon we’re in a residential area. The houses are well maintained but not large, as far as I can tell from the beams of the streetlights.
“Up here,” Johnson says to the driver, pointing to a cream two-story house.
After we get out of the car, we walk to the front door, and Johnson knocks.
“They know I’m coming, right?” I realize I never asked him.
“Yes, Goldie.” He grinned. “Don’t be nervous, they’ll love you.”
The door swings open. It’s Johnson’s mom, recognizable from the pictures at his house.
“Hey, Mom.” He walks inside the house a step, throwing his arms around her in a hug.
“Unca Jaw-ney, Unca Jaw-ney,” says a little girl that can only be his niece Emma. Johnson breaks his hold with his mom and picks her up instead.
His mom waves at me. “Hi, Grace. I’m Pam. Come on inside, sweetie.”
I step into a now cramped entryway hallway.
“Who is she?” Emma asks.
“She’s your Uncle’s friend,” Pam answers. “It’s getting late for you, Ems. Why don’t we show Grace where she and Uncle Johnny will be staying and then I’ll get you to bed.”
