“Oh no. I couldn’t leave the chickens.”
“Nana,” I sighed. “The chickens will live. Besides, the resort is gonna send a maintenance guy down to help you with all the chores while I’m healing up.”
“You know how I feel about strangers…”
“This is hired help Nana, not a stranger. And you need the help.”
“I don’t know–”
“No arguments,” I said. “I know you have your pride, but I don’t want to see you end up in a home over something as silly as that.”
She let out a long sigh. “No. You’re right.” She paused for a moment. “I don’t know what I did to your mother to make her hate me so much that she wants to stuff me in a home.”
“She doesn’t hate you, Nana,” I replied, trying to sound convincing. “But both her and Dad are so busy with their jobs that they couldn’t take care of you. And since she’s an only child and grandpa is gone, and you wouldn’t be caught dead in the city…”
“Damn right.”
“Well, that doesn’t leave them much choice, does it?”
“I suppose not.”
“But don’t worry about it. That’s why I’m here. As soon as I’m done healing, I’ll be back on the farm helping you out with everything.”
“Flynn, darling. You shouldn’t have to waste your life taking care of me. You gotta get out there and find that man and a successful art career. I know you’ve got it in you. And if you wanted a family someday, that would be wonderful as well.”
“You and Mom both want me to have babies so badly,” I laughed. “You two do understand how that works, right? It’s not like I’m just gonna poop out a litter one day.”
“Flynn Charles Daniels! The things you say!”
“I can hear you laughing.”
“That doesn’t matter,” she grumbled, stifling her laugh as best as she could. “How are you gonna catch a man with a mouth like that?”
“Oh Nana, you and I both know men don’t care what I say. They’re more interested in my lips.”
“I’m going to hang up now Flynn, before you insinuate something terrible to your dear old innocent grandmother.”
“Innocent?! Weren’t you a dancing girl straight out of high school?”
“Times were tough. We had to eat.”
“Uh-huh.” I paused. “Isn’t that where you met grandpa?”
“I’m hanging up, Flynn!”
“Alright, Nana. Alright,” I chuckled. “I’ll let you know when you can come up and spend a couple days at the spa, okay?”
“Okay. Love you. Bye.”
“Love you too, Nana. Bye.”
The other end of the line went dead and I pulled the phone away from my face. That woman was as stubborn as an ox. Not only that, but she claimed to be as innocent as a rose while her young adult years would send most old women into a tizzy. But then again, if she hadn’t been an old timey stripper, she never would have met grandpa, and she loved that man more than anything to this day. Even after twenty years of not seeing his face, she still talked about him like he was her guardian angel in this world. It was adorable and if I was being honest, it made me just the tiniest bit jealous.
I wanted a love like they’d had. The only problem was, men my age were idiots, and everyone wanted to share all the time. Granted, I wasn’t against going to an orgy with a boyfriend on my arm, but I wanted to know for sure that he was going to come home with me at the end and not someone else. I wasn’t a prude, I just wanted to be valued for more than a piece of ass.
In a not so shocking turn of events, college in the city didn’t conjure up the perfect man for me. So now I was taking some time in the sticks to let things rest for a while. And then Thor found me.
I still wasn’t sure what that guy’s deal was. He seemed straight as fuck, and he didn’t strike me as the kind of dude that was prepared to come out to his entire family the moment he got to know me. No, I had a feeling I’d be his dirty little secret if I ever let him fuck me. But then again, there was something sort of fun about that. It just wasn’t the sort of thing I was looking for. I wanted love, not a fling with a mountain man in the hills of Appalachia.