A grudging grimace tightened her mouth before she said, “I bet it came with a fancy price.”
He couldn’t argue with that. “I’m surprised to see you here. I expected you to stay at a Motel 6.” Garrett’s mother had told him the wedding guests were staying at this hotel, which was why he was here, but he’d never expected his nana to stay somewhere so upscale.
“Neil insisted I stay here, and the fool paid for it,” she grumbled. “He’s trying to show me how much money he has now. I suppose you’re trying to flaunt it too.”
He laughed. “You think anything that costs more than fifty dollars a night is too much.”
“I don’t need my bathroom covered in marble. It’s a damn hotel room, not a church.”
He chuckled and lifted his bottle in a salute. “How about I get you a fancy beer to drink? I’ll waste my money.”
She pondered it for a moment and moved to the stool next to him. “Why the hell not? I’m going to a damn wedding shower for Neil’s bride-to-be. I’ve never met her, but if she’s anything like my pompous grandson, she’s bound to be a doozy. I’ll need all the help I can get.”
Garrett’s eyes widened, and several questions ran through his head at once. He latched onto the one that seemed the most important. “Wait? You’re going to a wedding shower? Tonight?”
“Ain’t that what I just said?” She climbed up on the stool and looked around. “Where’s my beer?”
Garrett flagged down the bartender and ordered her beverage.
“You and I need to have a chat.” Her tone was hard, which prepared him for what she had to say next. He was lucky she hadn’t led with it. “What the Sam Hill you been doin’, boy?”
He steeled his shoulders. “Exactly what you asked me to do, Nana.” He held out his hands. “I went to the dinner last night. I’m here like a dutiful grandson.”
“Bullshit,” she barked. “I gave you one assignment, and you blew it to kingdom come.”
“Nana, I can explain.”
“Save it.” She gave him a stern look. “Why do you want the ring?”
What should he tell her? He suspected she’d understand if he told her the truth, but then she’d try and take matters into her own hands. Nana Ruby wasn’t known for her subtlety. “I guess Mom’s rubbed off on me.”
“So how do you plan to get it?”
“I told Aunt Debra and Neil that we’d let you decide.”
She stared at him like he’d lost his mind, then started to chuckle. “I want you to take me to the shower tonight.”
“A wedding shower?” Part of him was horrified, but he also knew Blair would be there, of course. “Okay.”
Her eyebrows lifted in suspicion. “No argument?”
Garrett gave her a lazy smile. “I’ve learned it’s pointless to argue with you, Nana Ruby. Besides, I’m already in enough hot water.”
“Your mother’s gonna be there.”
His smile fell. “She said she was coming tomorrow.”
Nana shrugged. “She changed her mind.”
Well, that changed things. World War III was liable to break out at the party. He really didn’t want to be part of it, but he could only imagine how Blair would handle it. It could quickly degenerate into Armageddon, with all three Lowry women pitted against one another. “Are they serving dinner at this thing?”
She pulled an envelope out of her brown purse. “Here. This will tell you everything you need to know.”
He pulled the cream invitation out of the envelope and a rose scent hit his nose. The heavy paper was embossed with gold script and covered with flowers.
Nicole Vandemeer cordially invites you to attend a garden party wedding shower for Blair Myers Hansen on August 21 at 7:00 p.m. Light sandwiches and tea provided. Wear pastel colored clothing to fit in with the theme.
The bartender brought Nana her beer, and she took a sip. “You think it would taste better at this fancy price.”
He grinned. “It doesn’t cost that much more, Nana.” He waved the invitation. “A garden party? Light sandwiches and tea? That doesn’t seem like your kind of party.”
“I tried to get out of it, but your aunt had a conniption.”
“Why am I going?”
“Because I said so.”
Maybe this was his punishment for claiming the ring, but if so, he would take it—any excuse to spend more time around Blair. Then another thought hit him. “Wait. Are other men going to be there?”
It would be incredibly awkward if he was the only man around, but he’d live with it if he could somehow get Blair alone.
She shrugged. “Hell if I know. Your aunt and your mother are meeting us there.”
“So why didn’t you go with them?”
“You back-talkin’ me, boy?”
He shook his head. “No, ma’am. How did you know where to find me, anyway?”
“Your momma told me you were staying at this hotel along with the rest of the people from out of town, and where the hell else would I find you except at the bar?”
She was covering something up. Part of his job was to discern when someone was lying, and he’d studied his family to the nth degree. His nana rarely lied or dissembled, but whenever she did, her left hand clenched slightly. And right now she was making a loose fist. “I’m not one to typically hang out in bars, Nana, so that seems unlikely. Try again.”
Her eyes narrowed to slits. “Don’t you worry about the whys of it. Just do what I tell you.”
He grinned. “Yes, ma’am. Do you want to get something to eat before we go? Light sandwiches don’t sound too filling.”
“Hell, no. Why would you want to throw your money away when we’re about to get free food?”
He laughed. Nana Ruby was notorious for her penny-pinching. She was a practical woman who lived on several thousand acres of rolling hills and farmland in the Ozarks. She’d been widowed young and raised two girls on her own at a time when farming hadn’t been profitable. The land had been in her family for over a hundred fifty years, and as she always said, there it would stay. The only way she’d made ends meet was to become a spendthrift. And although she had more money now, and the land itself was worth a bundle, she still held her coin purse with a tight grasp.
“Do you mind if I change clothes before I go?” He was still wearing his suit and tie, although he’d lost the coat, and his loosened tie still hung around his neck. “I’m sure you don’t want to be seen with a fancy lawyer, and my suit doesn’t exactly fit with the theme.” He released a chuckle. That didn’t sound like Blair at all. He bet she was bristling at the very idea of it.
Nana Ruby frowned, but he could see the hint of a smile on her lips. “Make it quick. I want to get this thing over with.”
He hurried up to his room and changed into a pair of jeans and a light blue short-sleeved button-down shirt. Nana Ruby was bound to make some comment about how much time he’d taken with his appearance, but he was in for the fight of his life, and he needed to be prepared.
It was time to pour on the charm.