Page 19 of A Lifetime in 30 Days
“Aden took care of it.”
Chapter 7
August 9
The only thought that got Vanna through what felt like the longest Friday of her life was the dinner and company she expected the moment she walked into her house.
And she wasn’t disappointed. After two steps into the foyer, she smelled the delicious scent of pot roast. She slid her purse strap from her arm and set it and her keys on the small round table by the door before stepping out of the taupe wedge sandals she’d worn today. After retrieving her phone from her purse, she bent down and picked up the sandals, then made her way up the steps to the main level of her house. Motown tunes blasted from the cordless speaker on the stand in the living room. Vanna had curated the playlist for Granny and shown her how to cue it up whenever she came over.
“It smells like heaven in here!” Vanna yelled as she dropped her shoes near the stairs leading up to the bedrooms. Then she walked through the open space to get to the kitchen, where Granny was stirring something on the stove.
“Roast, baby gold potatoes, and onions over there in the Crock-Pot,” Granny said without turning to face her. “Greens are almost done. Got the ones from that new market because I couldn’t get to the farmers market last weekend. But these’ll be fine. Macaroni and cheese just came out of the oven.”
Vanna’s stomach growled, and she moaned. “I love you so much, Granny.”
Going to stand beside her grandmother, she leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “So, so much.”
Granny chuckled. “Sure you do. Especially when I cook everything you put on that list. Even though you know I don’t need you to tell me what your favorite foods are.”
Vanna opened a drawer and found a fork. She pulled back the foil on the pan of mac ’n’ cheese and stuck her fork into a crispy brown corner. Granny always cooked it until the thick layer of cheese she piled on top was golden brown, just like Vanna loved. “Mmmmmm,” she said, and chewed the forkful, which almost scorched the roof of her mouth. “I know, Granny. You know all the things.”
“Indeed, I do,” Granny said, and returned the top back to the large stainless steel pot she had almost filled to the top with collard greens. “Just like I know what happened last night has something to do with that raggedy man you married after I told you not to.”
Vanna didn’t even bother rolling her eyes or attempting to find an excuse to leave this conversation. She’d known it was coming. Last night, when she’d told Granny to stay here and there’d been no argument, she’d thought her grandmother might start this talk then. But, blessedly, she hadn’t. They’d both gone straight to bed. Granny was not a morning person, unless there was a man in her bed she wanted to hurry out—as was the case whenever her “little boy toy,” as she referred to Sam from the senior center, paid her a visit after dinner. So when Vanna had gotten up to get ready for work, Granny and Frito were still in the guest room, snoring.
From the day Vanna had settled on this house—yes, it was in her name only because Caleb had been unemployed and she’d been preapproved for a home loan based on her own income—Granny’d had a key. Caleb had been perturbed by that thought, claiming he didn’t want her popping up on them unexpectedly, but Vanna quickly ended that remark by flashing the mortgage-payment book with only her nameprinted on it in front of him. Granny was wearing different clothes from what she’d worn last night, which meant whenever she’d gotten up, she’d gone home, showered, changed, and then went to the market to get all the food she needed for tonight’s meal.
“You might as well go ahead and tell me the details,” Granny prompted when Vanna hadn’t replied.
“I think it involves Caleb,” she said, and tossed the fork she used into the sink. “The detectives didn’t tell me much before I asked for a lawyer.”
“Well, that was smart. But you need to find out what that man has dragged you into, because now that he’s in the grave, you’ve got to answer for it by yourself.” Granny crossed the room to the refrigerator and yanked it open. “And don’t think I can’t see how much of a coincidence this is that he floats up in the water dead as a doornail one day, and not a week later some dusty cops show up and put you in cuffs.”
She pulled out the pitcher of iced tea and set it on the counter. Vanna went to the cabinet to get them both a glass. With glasses in hand, she went to the island and set them down. Granny went back into the refrigerator and pulled out the carton of lemonade.
“I don’t think that’s a coincidence either,” she said quietly. Absently, she ran a finger along one of the gray marble lines in the island top. “They said something about a bank account that had both our names on it. But I know Caleb, and I talked about splitting everything when I put him out. He even brought me some papers to sign and get notarized from the credit union so that we could make it happen.”
Granny picked up the glasses and went back to the refrigerator to use the ice machine. When she returned, Vanna picked up the pitcher of tea and poured some into the glasses first. Granny always poured too much tea in the half-and-half mixture, so Vanna wanted to be in charge of that part. Granny poured the lemonade. Then she stuck a finger into the glass in front of her and stirred.
How many times had Vanna seen her grandmother do that with a mixed alcoholic drink? The thought had a ghost of a smile appearing on her face.
“He was always a sneaky bastard, Vannie. I don’t put anything past him, not even now that he’s gone,” Granny said, and took a sip. “He did something bad, I just know it.”
Vanna could only shake her head before sipping from her own glass. She didn’t disagree with her grandmother. Not about anything she’d just said. It had taken Vanna a long time to come to terms with the truth about the man she’d married, and in the months leading up to this birthday, she’d realized it was time for her to accept that she’d made a mistake and finally, totally, move on from it.
“Well, unfortunately, I’m gonna find out all the details soon enough. But for now,” she said, recalling what her new attorney, Jovani, had instructed, “I’m going to continue with the second FFSF weekend celebration.”
It may have been too late for her to start the belated divorce proceedings, but it wasn’t too late to focus on her new beginning.
Granny smiled when she looked over at her. “That’s my girl,” she said. “Keep your head up.”
“I plan to,” Vanna told her. “I’m going up to shower and change. Jamaica and Ronni will be here in an hour, and we can get our dinner-and-a-Madea-movie night started!”
“Lawd, I don’t know why you like those movies. That man don’t know how to be a woman. Looks a holy mess on that screen.”
“But you laugh right through each movie,” Vanna said before she drank from her glass again, then stepped away from the island.
“Sure do,” Granny said. “Funny is funny.”
