“I can drive us,” he says, pulling out his keys.
“I said I’d drive.” I unlock my car.
“Well, I’d like to drive. I need to try to figure out where things are, and I haven’t ventured into Lake Starlight yet.” He presses on his key fob and the taillights of the truck he’s renting flash.
I lock my car. “Fine, but I know what you’re doing.”
He opens the passenger door for me. “And that would be?”
“You think you’re the man, so you have to drive. Like if I drive you, that somehow makes you less manly.” I slide into his truck and put on my seat belt. He stands outside and doesn’t close the door.
“You’re right.” He shuts the door and rounds the back of the truck.
My jaw is still hanging open when he slides into his seat. “You actually admit it?”
He turns the key in the ignition while his gaze remains on me. “I know it might be chauvinistic, but it’s just my belief. It doesn’t mean I think I’m the better driver. I just feel like it’s my job as your husband to drive you.”
“You don’t believe women are bad drivers?” That would be a deal breaker.
He laughs and puts the truck in gear. “No. Not at all.”
I blow out a breath and ignore the small part of me that likes him wanting to drive me around. Ever since I can remember, I’ve taken care of myself. My mom is great and did more than what she needed to when I was growing up, but since moving out of her house, I’ve taken things on myself. I’m not like my sisters or stepsisters, who usually call one of our brothers when we need something heavy lifted or need something hung at the house. It’s nice to have someone take care of me for once, even if it is just driving.
“So do you have a game plan?” I ask as we leave Sunrise Bay and head toward Lake Starlight.
He laughs. “I looked up some stuff and Craig gave me some tips. But I’m gonna be honest, I can’t very well flip one of them over my shoulder to demonstrate. I’m not sure I’m equipped to do this class.”
I bite my lip. How the hell does anyone teach a bunch of elderly people self-defense? “Surely you have something like pinch this and that and the person will go down.”
He glances at me. “Ethel and Dori could probably beat the shit out of me in a dark alley.”
“Only because you wouldn’t fight back.”
He shrugs. “True, but the two of them together are scary. They’d scare any criminal.”
I laugh because he’s right. There are times I want to scream at Ethel to stop talking about her late husband and the sex they had. She’s very open, which is great, but I don’t want to picture it.
“Probably. Take a right here, then you’ll see the entrance.” I touch his thigh without thinking. His strong leg muscle flexes and I think better of it and remove my hand. “Thank you for doing this, by the way.”
“It’s not a problem. Ethel and Dori have been nothing but nice to me since I got here.”
A mile down the road, he turns into the long driveway of Northern Lights Retirement Center.
He parks the truck as I glance at the building. “I’ll just apologize now for whatever happens in there.”
He turns off the ignition and slides out of the truck. I open my door and join him where he was coming to let me out. “What can really go wrong?”
I raise my eyebrows at him and shake my head. “Remember that when we’re leaving and you’re so distraught, I’m the one driving home.”
He swings his arm around my shoulders to pull me closer. “Never gonna happen.”
Oh, how innocent he is now.
We walk into the lobby and I can already hear someone bossing someone else around in the main room.
The program director, Leann, approaches us. “When your grandma told me about this, I was skeptical, but…” Her gaze greedily swallows up Logan. “I think it will be good for them and they’ll trust someone like you. They’ve spent the afternoon watching your last fight.”
Could she at least try to hide her attraction to Logan? I remind myself I have nothing to be jealous of—I’m not even invested in this marriage. But Leann doesn’t know that.
“That was amazing when you got him pinned,” she says.
Logan smiles. “Good to know someone thinks I’m talented. This one sat there filing her nails.” Logan points his thumb at me.
“Oh, we saw a glimpse of you and Molly. I have no idea how you just sat there uninterested,” Leann says.
“It’s not really my thing.” I hook my arm through Logan’s because he may not really be my man, but hell if I’m gonna stand here while some woman who thinks he is flirts with him.
He glances at my arm and smirks. “She’s lying. It turns her on. She was all over me that night.”
I stare at him with my most bored expression. Although he has a memory of that portion of the night and I don’t, I’m embarrassed just thinking about how I might’ve been when we had sex.
Leann is quiet for a moment, then she smiles at me. “Anyway, let’s get you in there.”
We follow her to the room for big events. There’s a mat on the ground in front of the residents. Some are in wheelchairs and others are sitting in chairs with canes hanging off the back of them.
“Shh, everyone, my granddaughter is here.” Ethel stands and walks over to us. “And her husband, Logan Stone.”
The room cheers for Logan but not for me. Whatever. Let’s see what they think of him after he breaks someone’s hip.
Logan waves as if he just entered the ring and I say hello.
“I’m so excited. Leann put out the mats. Do you want me to go first?” Ethel asks.
Logan looks at me. “How about I just use Nikki to demonstrate?”
“What?” My mouth drops open. I thought I’d be a spectator.
Ethel looks me up and down. “Isn’t that why you’re dressed like that?”
I shake my head. “Why would I need to dress up to come here?”
Ethel touches my neckline. “A necklace would have at least made you look a little nicer.”
“A necklace with my yoga pants and sweatshirt? I’ll remember that next time.” I look at her. “What about your leisure suit?”
She straightens the elastic waistband of the zip-up pink jacket that matches her pants. “I match. And my hair is done.”
“So is mine.”
She touches my ponytail. “It’s pulled up.”
I glance at Logan. “Let’s get this show on the road.” I strip off my sweatshirt and drop it on a table, then I walk to the mat and take off my shoes. “Flip me around,” I tell Logan.
“That’s what she said,” a man says, and everyone laughs.
Ethel goes back and sits down. I love the woman, but sometimes I understand the phrase “drive you to drink.”
“What does your T-shirt say?” Midge, who Ethel’s brought around a few times, lowers her glasses and leans forward.
I straighten my shirt. “It says, ‘Don’t mind me, I’m here for the tea.’”
“You drink tea?” Midge asks. “Which kind? I only drink herbal. Once my daughter-in-law sent me this tea box with all these flavors, and I had one before bed. I was up all night.”