Page 2 of Rekindled Heart
Quarterback was my dream. My dad’s dream. He was bursting with pride when I got quarterback. He was at every game, cheering and telling everyone that was his boy.
My mom passed away when I only five. Cancer. She’s a wily bitch. Cruel and unyielding, she hunts you down and cuts intoyour time you’re given until you have nothing left and you waste away to nothing.
That’s what happened to my mom. One day she was happy and smiling. Her long blond hair fell down to her slender waist. She sang to me every night and read me the best stories.
The next she barely had the energy to stay up herself let alone tuck me into bed. Her long, golden hair was gone and her body had wasted away to next to nothing. She was so damn tired that it was hard to watch her try to do everything that she loved. That was her greatest joy.
Oh, she tried. It was terrible to watch how hard she fought. Some people say that little kids can’t remember things. I remember how hard she fought. How much she loved me and I loved her. She was an amazing woman.
My dad never remarried after she passed away. He said when you’ve had the perfect woman, your heart will never settle for second-best again. It’s all or nothing.
But he raised me and he was a good man. He threw himself into trying to be a mom and a dad.
And I had Granny Margot and Louise. Those two were pistols when I was growing up. I think my dad was frustrated as hell. He not only had to bail me out of whatever trouble I got into… once he had to literally bail my gran out of jail.
She went streaking across the grounds of the local nursing home. The two of them had a bet and she lost so she did it. I can’t help but snicker. Although if I had seen it I don’t think I’d ever be able to forget it.
But that laugh dies in my throat when I open my eyes and realize that she’s currently on her way over to the gorgeous girl across the way.
I leap to my feet and hurry over to her, desperately trying to cut her off. I open my mouth but the words don’t cross my lips before she’s standing in front of her.
“Hello, darlin’. Here’s the man I wanted to introduce you to.”
She nods her head and eyes Margot like she’s a wild tiger in the midst of this tame gathering. “Ummm. That’s so nice of you. But really not necessary.”
“Oh… it’s not a problem,” she says lightly. “This is my grandson, Ricky. I’ve told him all about you.” My head whips around and I stare at her like she has two heads. She hasn’t told me shit about this girl. “I was wondering if maybe you’d like to dance with him.”
My jaw drops and I swear it almost takes my hand to pick it up off the floor. The nerve of granny sometimes blows my mind.
“I don’t really know any of these dances.” I close my eyes and breathe a sigh of relief. But I should have expected that she wouldn’t give it up that easily.
She grins like a sheep-killing pup and I groan under my breath. “That’s no problem.” She grabs onto my arm. “My grandson here knows a lot of these dances. He’s very good. I bet he could take you outside and teach you one of these songs with no problem.”
I stare up at the ceiling tiles and count them under my breath, praying that this isn’t happening right now. Praying that I’m in the middle of a nightmare, sound asleep, and none of it is real.
But judging by the surprise on the girl’s face, it’s happening. Oh boy, is it happening!
“Granny,” I growl under my breath. “You don’t know this girl and neither do I. What the hell are you doing?”
“I can fix that. What’s your name?”
“It’s Caroline. But everybody calls me Caro.”
She stands up and faces me and my breath stutters in my throat. She’s got curves for days and she’s so tiny she barely comes up to the middle of my chest. Her eyes are a soft gray. Herskin is like cream and her dark hair flashes red fire under the lights that flash off and on by the dance floor.
“I’d love to try. If you wouldn’t mind showing me something.”
She seems so much younger than me. I’m thirty-three and this girl looks about sixteen. There’s no way I should go outside with her. I shouldn’t even be talking to her. Hell, the old biddies in town would have a field day with this.
I want to growl at my granny. Demand to know what the hell she’s playing at here.
I nod my head and hold my hand out for hers. As soon as her palm touches mine it’s like a sizzle bursts into flame under my skin. She jumps and hisses, her eyes widening and darkening to emerald green.
“My name’s Ricky.” I huff and fight smacking myself in the head because she already knows that.
But she doesn’t say a thing and I lead her outside. “This one’s easy.” I show her a few steps and she watches me carefully.
Her eyes narrow on my feet and she nods her head. “Okay. Let me try.”