Josh studied her for a long while. “If you’d taken him with you today, all his misunderstandings would have been cleared up.”
She shouldn’t have to. Adrian should have let her explain herself, and he should have believed in her. “Taken him how? Gagged and bound? He wouldn’t go with me anywhere otherwise. You didn’t hear him that day.” His lack of trust ran deep.
“Probably better I didn’t, I might have beaten the shit out of him,” Josh muttered.
She’d been tempted to as well. Adrian had been so lucky the baseball bat hadn’t been in the break room. Or the shotgun.
Rachel smiled at Josh, who looked totally offended on her behalf. In spite of all his fame, he was an angel. The kind of person one could level with without fear of being harshly censured. Exactly like Adrian. Ha! “He’s not like you. He’s not understanding or open-minded.” No. He was prejudiced and judgmental and an ass of the highest magnitude. And yet she still kept thinking about him. Wishing things had been different. If only she’d managed to explain before, maybe they could have avoided crashing and burning. Maybe they could have salvaged something.
“His loss,” Josh declared and turned the engine on. He kicked the stand up. “See you at XL’s birthday party?”
She nodded and watched him leave. As she walked up the driveway, she heard a sound coming from the bed of her grandma’s pickup. She peeked over the side and saw the three OGs lying there on top of a thin air mattress, their fingers interlaced over their stomachs.
“What are you doing, ladies?”
“Looking at the night sky,” Wilma said matter-of-factly. “We wanted to try it after we saw you the other night. You want to join us?”
Rachel didn’t even have to think twice. “Scoot over.” She climbed into the bed of the truck and squeezed between Wilma and Rebecca. “Wow, the air mattress is a great addition.”
“Too great an addition,” Rebecca muttered. “I’m not sure I can get up.”
“Don’t worry,” Rachel reassured them. “After we finish stargazing, I’ll drive you home. Delivery, mattress to mattress.”
Wilma patted her granddaughter’s hand. “Great idea, honey. How was your day? Successful?”
“Successful,” Rachel admitted.
“We knew. So, did you officially graduate?”
“Not officially, but I completed the internship. All that’s left is getting the diploma.”
“We’re very proud of you,” Wilma said while the other two assented. “You worked very hard. You deserve this.”
“Thank you, ladies.”
They were quiet for a while until Greta spoke. “Do you think this is the feeling you get when you’re lying in the coffin?”
“The views are going to be significantly worse,” Rebecca replied.
“True.”
“Open or closed casket?” Wilma asked suddenly. “At the wake, I mean. Open or closed?”
Her friends seemed to ponder. “Open,” Rebecca decided.
“I think I prefer closed,” Greta said. “I don’t want anyone to see me the worse for wear.”
Wilma tsked. “Don’t worry. Nowadays they Photoshop you and you look fantastic.”
“Ah, okay then. Open casket,” Greta concluded.
Rachel was trying to contain her giggles, but she didn’t succeed. “What?” Wilma asked, misunderstanding. “These things are important at our age. And you should take notes. You’ll be the one in charge of making sure our last wishes are respected.”
“Okay, ladies. Open caskets and Photoshop for everyone. I’ll keep it in mind.” One could always count on the OGs to make one laugh, even in the face of utter misery.
“Flying was so fun,” Greta said on a sigh. “So exciting. A pity the windows of the plane were closed and we couldn’t feel the wind in our faces.”
“Your faces would have frozen on the spot,” Rachel explained.
They ignored her. “There have to be ways to be up in the sky but without being so confined,” Rebecca said.
Oh no, no, no. Rachel knew where this was going. Straight into the LOLO list. “No parachuting. No paragliding. No bungee jumping. No base diving. No skydiving,” she stated, checking off everything air-related she could think of. “Not even flying kites or drones.”
“What’s a drone?” she heard Greta ask Rebecca, who shrugged.
“When Connor comes back, you can ask him if he’d be interested in carrying each of you in a tandem parachute drop with him. If he agrees, I’m up for it. Deal?”
“Deal,” they answered grudgingly.
Good. She was going to speak with Josh, ask him if he’d mind taking them for a ride on his bike. They would love feeling the wind on their faces. And they used to love bikes. Rachel had seen a picture of the OGs riding a motorcycle with a sidecar when they were young and Audrey was alive.
“By the way, how are the preparations going for XL’s birthday party?” Rachel asked, hoping it would divert the grannies’ attention from the subject of flying. It did, thankfully.
The OGs were quite excited about the party, and they did have everything ready. No wonder they’d been keeping out of trouble lately. Too much to prepare.
“Is the sheriff… aware of the time and place of the party?” Rebecca asked, her tone careful. “I mean, is he taking part in it?”
Rachel shrugged. “I don’t know.” Pretty much everyone knew, so Adrian ought to know too.
Silence.
Wilma broke it. “We think you’re the best, you know, don’t you?” Wilma and Greta, at either side of Rachel, held her arms tight. Rebecca was farther away, but she patted Rachel’s head. “No one is better than you. No one. This last year, you juggled online courses with seminars, meetings, the internship, and your day job at the garage. You even had time for us, the kids, and that ingrate sheriff. You’re the best.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“We aren’t,” Greta insisted, “and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You’re far from the Rachel who came to us ten years ago. You overcame terrible odds, and you’re still standing. Well, now lying, but proudly.”
“Thank you,” Rachel barely got out. Thank God it was dark and they couldn’t see her tears falling.
“The stick up the sheriff’s ass is apparently more deeply inserted than we’d imagined,” Rebecca mused.
“Someone should set it on fire,” Wilma suggested.
Rachel smiled. She’d probably done that without realizing. The news of her being something he hadn’t imagined had been too much for such a stickler. Being with him had been fun while it’d lasted, though.
Maybe Josh was right. Maybe she should give Adrian the benefit of the doubt and explain everything. All her comings and goings. If after that he still didn’t believe her or couldn’t accept her, then that was it. They’d be done.
He would have to grovel and apologize to her, though. For his assumptions and his insults.
She wiped her eyes and sat up. Enough sulking. That never helped anyone. “What do you think about starting Operation Delivery, mattress to mattress, with a quick stop for ice cream?”