Page 17 of Steal My Heart

“Maybe she just forgot,” Hilliard said.

Brian nodded as he took the pasta out of the microwave, stirred it, and put the container on a plate. He took it all to the living room and handed it to Beverly, who began eating right away.

“I hope you’re feeling better,” Hilliard told her.

“I am.” She took a bite and sat back while she chewed. “I hate getting old. You know?” She ate some more, and some of her sparkle returned. Her cheeks had more color, and she settled the blanket over her lap. “In my mind, I’m still thirty and can do all the things I did then. But I can’t anymore. I get up and look in the mirror, wondering where the old lady came from. And now that I’m over eighty, I wonder where the time went.” She took Brian’s hand. “You two are young, and you need to make the most of it. Go out and do all those fun things I can’t anymore.”

“Gran, you just need to rest.”

“Yeah, and tomorrow I’ll bring the car over and all three of us can go for a Sunday drive with the top down,” Hilliard offered. “It’s supposed to be nice.”

“You young people don’t need to include an old lady in your fun,” she said.

“You’re only as old as you want to be,” he told her and got a smile in response. “It will be fun.”

She patted Hilliard’s arm and went back to her dinner. Hilliard figured he’d get himself something to eat on the way out and leave them to their dinner. He said good night to Brian, knowing he was going to need to stay with Beverly. “I’ll come by late tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds good,” Brian said, opening the front door. “Hurry before the dogs decide to make a run for it.” He closed the door behind them and stood on the front stoop. “I’m sorry about all this.”

“You need to take care of her. It’s perfectly okay.” Hilliard lightly cupped Brian’s cheeks and kissed him, not holding anything back. “Just a taste for next time.” He smiled and headed down the walk, keenly aware of Brian watching as he made his way home.

“ARE YOUready to go?” Hilliard asked late the following morning. He’d had a largely sleepless night where his mind refused to turn off, alternating between dreams of stripping the handyman naked and how he was going to prove him innocent. It was a weird combination that only added to his restlessness. He’d only managed to get some rest once the sun began making an appearance.

Beverly approached on Brian’s arm, and he opened the door and brought the seatback forward before moving the passenger seat as far forward as it would go. “I’ll sit in back,” Beverly said as Brian began to climb in. “I’ll be perfectly comfortable and can spread out if I need to.”

“No. I’ll get in back and you sit in the front.” Brian got in back, and she slowly got in and settled. Brian handed her a blanket, which she put over her legs, and then Hilliard went around to the driver’s side. “Where are we going?”

“Well, I thought we’d head toward Fort Bragg. We can go out to the lighthouse there. I understand you can drive most of the way out, so we should get a really nice view. Then we can continue north a little and take in the rugged coast. Maybe get a late lunch at Noyo River Grill.”

“Their shrimp is amazing,” Gran said. “Or it used to be. It’s been a while since I’ve been there.”

“They moved to the top of the bluff, but last time I ate there, it was the same,” Brian said as Hilliard pulled out.

“If the wind gets to be too much, we can put the top up,” Hilliard offered as they headed through town and out toward the highway.

“Don’t you dare. It’s a beautiful day, and I haven’t been in one of these since Chester and I had one in the seventies. There is just something very California about a convertible.” They shared a smile as Hilliard made the turn north with the sun just peeking through the clouds.

Hilliard loved riding with the top down, and Brian seemed in better spirits today. Beverly seemed happy too as they crossed the river and rounded the curve that led down to the Pacific. “I love this drive,” Brian said. “I make it more often than I probably need to, but it has a great view.”

“You bet it does,” Beverly said. They continued through the roundabout before crossing the river gorge that signaled the beginning of Fort Bragg. Hilliard continued past the Skunk Train depot and out north, continuing into the coastal redwoods.

“How far do you want to go? This part of the coast is pretty rugged, and there isn’t a lot up here.”

“It’s okay. We have a full tank of gas and nowhere we need to be for a while.” After about forty-five minutes, Hilliard pulled to a stop at an overlook to let everyone take in the view of the ruggedly rocky coast with cliffs that went over a hundred feet down to the sea.

“Now, that’s a view,” Beverly said softly. “I used to like to take a swim every now and then in the Pacific.”

“Isn’t it too cold?” Hilliard asked.

“We didn’t have much choice. It wasn’t like there were other good places. So we’d swim… and yes, I almost froze my butt off.” She led the laughter, with Brian and him joining in. “When I got older, I got a wetsuit and we’d go surfing. Your grandfather was quite a sight on a board.”

“Gramps surfed?” Brian asked. “I didn’t know that.”

“Sure. Why do you think I fell for him? He was so handsome and every bit a surfer when he was young, with long hair and a body that would stop traffic.” She hooted. “He and I used to take our vacation time and follow the waves. Went to Hawaii a few times, riding waves on the North Shore. Big waves sometimes. But as happens with everyone, we got older, developed responsibilities… and we settled in Mendo where he could be close to the ocean.”

“Gramps was always good with his hands. He made a number of the furniture pieces in Gran’s house, and he worked on a number of the places in town to help restore them over the years. It’s possible he worked in your house at some point or other.”

Hilliard liked that his house had a connection to Brian’s family.

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