Chapter Eleven
“Jade?” her grandmother called out.
Jade hustled out of the sitting room and into the living room before GG busted them. “I didn’t expect you back so soon. How was your night?”
“Crappy.” GG plopped on the sofa. “I’m too pooped to even pour myself some bubbly.”
Good thing. All the drink stuff was still out in the kitchen, along with two champagne glasses.
Both she and Tobin had been a little reckless tonight.
“Sometimes it’s better not to listen to your friends,” her grandma announced.
“Is that why you had a crappy night?”
“Yes. Don’t ever go in halvsies with anyone on anything either.”
“Who are we talking about?”
“Pearl. She hogged the AR-15. I didn’t get to shoot it one gol-durn time, which just makes me think I need my own.”
Jade nodded like that made perfect sense.
“I need to apologize to you.”
“Why would you need to apologize to me?”
“I got to thinking . . . I’ve been a terrible hostess. Here you are visiting me and I’ve left you to entertain yourself. We haven’t even gone out for a drink or supper.”
“That’s all right. I know you have a life here, GG. I’m used to entertaining myself.” The times she’d spent with Tobin had been beyond entertaining.
“My life of late . . . ain’t really been all that fun, to be honest. So I’ve decided that you and me are gonna make our own fun by taking a road trip to see the sights!”
“Really? When are we going?”
“First thing tomorrow morning. And we aren’t planning nothin’. We’ll just go where the blacktop takes us.”
“You must have some idea of what sights you want to show me.”
“I’d love to take you to Jackson, where I raised your dad and spent my married years. But shoot, this time of year it’s overrun with tourists, so we’ll save that for another time. Maybe in the fall when the aspen leaves are changing and the wildlife is out, getting wild during mating season.”
“What are the other options?”
“Yellowstone is at least a weeklong trip if you wanna see the good stuff, so that’s out too. I’m thinking we could head over to Devils Tower outside of Sundance. Then head up to Sheridan and take a short tour of the Bighorn Mountains. Beautiful country up there. We’d be gone two days. Of course, you’d have to drive. Them twisty mountain roads ain’t for the faint of heart.”
Jade didn’t have the guts to admit they might be better off with GG behind the wheel.
“What say you, girlie? Wanna have an adventure with your old granny while you still can?”
“You’re not old. And yes, I’d love to have an adventure with you.” Getting out of the house and seeing the wide-open spaces of Wyoming would be good for her. Plus, she and GG always had a great time on vacation. “What should I pack? Evening gowns? High heels?”
“Oh, you.” She flapped her hand. “You’ve never been the designer-label, live-for-shopping kind of girl.”
“Much to my mother’s dismay,” Jade said wryly.
“Gwen does love her clothes, purses and ankle-breaking shoes. I’m grateful she didn’t push that on you, sweetheart. She let you be your own person.”
“Not that I know who that person is,” Jade said softly.
Naturally GG heard it. “That’s what this trip is supposed to be about.” She frowned. “The part that’s not the spying-on-me-and-reporting-to-your-dad part. The time-off-from-your-regularly-scheduled-life part.”
Jade bit her lip.
“I know that anxious look. Spit it out.”
“Will I ever be able to crumple up my to-do lists and my compulsion to accomplish something and just . . . learn to wing it?”
GG patted her leg. “That’s what we’re goin’ to find out. So here’s the deal. I’ll bring my cell phone for an emergency, but besides that? No technology. No GPS. We’ll use a good-old-fashioned map. We won’t even listen to the radio. We’ll leave the windows down and listen to nature. And sweetheart, I won’t even allow you to bring a notebook and a pen along, so you can’t make a single list.”
She laughed.
“Sometimes you gotta force a change. Other times the change happens naturally.”
“The forced change applies to me, doesn’t it?”
“Nope. It’s a mix of both for you.” She stood and stretched. “My arms are sore from the shooting range. I’m gonna soak in the tub before I hit the hay. But first I probably better track Tobin down and tell him we’ll be gone a few days. Do you know where he is?”