“For sure.” Mayor Danvers looked to Major and nodded in agreement.
“Come on guys, he isn’t that bad.” Steve let out a sigh and shook his head.
AFTER LEAVING THE REPAIR shop, I headed to my grandmother’s house. It was a little off the beaten path, but it seemed like everything in Granite Falls was like that. I pulled into the driveway and saw cats scurrying in all directions. I hoped they were just outside cats because I definitely couldn’t spend a night in a house that was infested with them. I pushed the key my father had given me into the front door and the smell of cat piss hit my nostrils like a torrent of fire. There were cats everywhere. I put my shirt over my nose and took a quick look around, but there was no way I could stay there long. My eyes were already burning when I got back outside and locked the door. None of the cats looked like they were starving and the door in the garage had a cat door, so I walked back towards my car. As I got closer, I saw the door to the house next door open and an elderly woman walked out.
“If you’re looking for Mrs. Grant, I’m afraid she passed away recently.” The older woman pulled a coat close to her shoulders and started walking down the steps.
“Yes ma’am.” I nodded and stepped out into the grass, putting a hand over my eyes to block out the sun. “I’m her granddaughter. I just came by to tend to a few things. My father will come by when he’s feeling better.”
“Randy? You’re Randy’s daughter? Mrs. Annie talked about you all the time. She was so proud of you!” The older woman’s face lit up when she realized who I was.
“She was?” I felt my face twist a bit in surprise. “I didn’t see her much.”
“That’s okay, darling. Family is family. When you live around here, you’re used to people leaving and never coming back—like your father.” She nodded. “I’ve been feeding the cats, but we’re going to have to find a new home for them soon. How many do you want?”
“I...” I shook my head back and forth quickly. “I’m allergic.”
“That’s a shame. She loved those things. I can’t say I’m partial to them myself, but I’ve tried to keep them from starving.” She let out a sigh. “Do you think your father will take any of them?”
“He’s not in any condition to take care of them either...” I looked around and saw that some of the cats had started to move back the garage.
“Well don’t you worry about it, darling. I’ll get it taken care of.” She smiled again. “Are you staying long, would you like to come inside for a cup of tea?”
Since she is offering to take care of all these cats, I guess it would be rude to say no.
“Sure...” I nodded and started walking across the lawn towards her house.
“I’m Fannie Smith.” She waved me towards her house as she started walking back up the steps.
“Samantha Grant.” I got to the edge of her steps.
“You’re not married?” She looked back over her shoulder and held the door.
“No ma’am.” I shook my head back and forth.
“I should introduce you to my youngest son. You’re very pretty and he’s not married either.” She grinned as I walked through the door.
“Thank you...” My face flushed a bit in embarrassment from the comp
liment.
Mrs. Smith’s house was fairly quaint. The most important detail was the lack of cats. I drew a breath of clean air and let out a sigh of relief that her house was nothing like my grandmother’s infested den. She pointed to the living room and hobbled towards the kitchen. I walked into the rather small room and looked at the photographs on the wall. There were pictures of her in her youth with a rather nice looking man wearing a military uniform. There were several pictures of them with children of various ages. A few pictures later, she was holding a baby wrapped in a blue blanket surrounded by the other children who were much older. I assumed that was the son she offered to set me up with since there were no baby pictures after that. His life unfolded in front of me in a series of pictures, and he appeared to be quite attractive. The most recent one was of him with his arm around her. He was well built with an athletic body covered in tattoos. He didn’t appear to have as many as Axe, but he was definitely decorated.
“That’s Blue.” She chuckled as she walked into the room. “He’s a looker, huh?”
“Yeah, he’s a handsome young man.” I walked to a chair and took a seat as she poured the tea. “His name is Blue?”
“His name is John, but he didn’t like being called John Smith, so Blue ended up being his nickname.” She shrugged. “We just went with it.”
“Interesting...” I raised an eyebrow.
“He’s a bartender at The Water Barn. If you decide you need something stronger than tea, you should pay him a visit.” She took her tea and sipped it.
“I’m going there later, actually.” I nodded but I kept the fact I was going there for a date to myself.
“Good. Tell him he needs to come see me and if he isn’t in church on Sunday, I’m going to skin him alive!” She took on a serious tone and then laughed.
“I’ll pass on the message.” My smile was hidden behind the cup of tea as I took my first sip. “Wow, this is really good!”