He turned onto my street, slowing down as we came to my house. I wondered how he'd known where I lived.
"My band members thought I'd gone insane," he said. “First because I kept telling them I was dating Kari Kingsley—and she was this smart, wonderful girl, only she didn’t want to let anybody know we were a couple, so they couldn’t meet her—and then that looked like a huge lie, so I had to tell them that, no, actually I'd been dating Kari Kingsley’s nearly identical half sister from West Virginia that nobody knew about."
“It was nice of them to come all this way to do a concert for my school.”
"Nice had nothing to do with it. They were taking bets on my sanity.” He nodded with satisfaction. “They each owe me a hundred bucks.”
"Is that why you came? To win a bet?"
Grant pulled into my driveway and turned off the car. He made no move to get out, though.
He had only glanced at my house; still, I couldn't help but see it through his eyes. A small, rundown gray home with worn paneling and a roof that needed repair. I looked at the dashboard so I wouldn’t have to see it anymore.
He said, “I came because I wanted to hear about this from you, not secondhand from your father. You owe me that much at least.”
“You're right," I said. "I owe you an apology. I’m sorry for every time I lied to you. I hated doing it, but you never would have looked at me, let alone dated me, if you hadn't thought I was a celebrity. You said as much yourself the last time we were together. You said you were glad Kari outclassed you. You said Kari was better than the nameless masses. Well, I’m a certified member of the nameless masses. That’s who I am.”
He lifted one hand in protest. "I thought you were worried about the backlash from Lorna’s book, and I was trying to comfort you. I didn’t mean that I wouldn’t like you unless you were famous.”
My gaze flicked to our house, then back to him. "Celebrities date celebrities. That's just the way it is."
Grant's gaze moved to my house and stayed there. "You mean celebrities use the people who have crushes on them and then never call?"
Which meant he knew the story of my mother and father. "Yes,” I said. "Something like that." I reached for the door handle, but he took hold of my arm and pulled me back toward him.
"I know your name, I already have your home number programmed into my cell phone. And I’m calling you right now.” Then he leaned over and kissed me.
For days I had been pushing thoughts of him away, willing myself not to feel these emotions. My efforts fell apart right there in the car. I wound my arms around him and kissed him back until I couldn’t breathe anymore. I think the only reason I stopped was the sudden fear that my grandmother might be looking out the window. I didn't want her coming outside to smack Grant’s car with a Bible.
Grant let go of me and opened his door. "Come on, there’s something you need to see.”
I got out of the car and followed him across my yard, even though I had no idea what he was talking about.
He stopped on my front porch and waited for me to open the door. As soon as I did, I heard laughter from inside. My mother’s laughter. I walked in, and Grant followed. My mother and father were sitting close together on the living room couch, a photo album spread out on their laps.
Abuela was nowhere around, although I could see down the hallway that her bedroom door was shut. Music drifted out of her room. I wondered how my mother had convinced her that she needed privacy.
Mom looked up at me with a lingering smile on her lips. "Oh, good, Lexi is home. I'm showing Alex some of your pictures."
"I love this one of you with the boots." He pointed to a photo where I was about two years old and wore nothing but cowboy boots and a diaper. "Get the fashion basics down, and you can’t go wrong.”
Mom said, "She wouldn't wear any other shoes until she went to kindergarten.”
He let out a deep chuckle. “That's my girl."
I finally got over the shock of seeing him in my living room and stated the obvious. "You’re here.”
He stood up then and gave me a brief hug. "Your mother and I had a lot to discuss, and I figured it was better to do it in person." His gaze traveled to Grant. "Alexia’s been a straight-A student since sixth grade. I just saw her report cards.”
Grant nudged my arm. "I’m impressed.”
"And Lexi went to regionals for her science fair project last year,” Mom added. "I have pictures of that too.”
I sent her a forced smile. "You don’t have to show him that."
“I want to see it,” my father said, and sat down on the couch again. Mom went to the bookshelf and pulled a different photo album out. She flipped through it, then put it on his lap. "There she is with her ribbon.”
Grant nodded. "I definitely want your help when I take over the world.”
My father looked up at me and patted his shirt pocket. "I have something for you. It's sort of my way of telling you I want to make amends.”
It was silly, but at that moment I fully expected him to produce a horse. Instead he handed me a thin rectangular box and a piece of paper. I opened the box and found a ruby pendant shaped into a heart and surrounded with little diamonds. I turned it to catch the light, and sparkles danced across its surface. It made my breath catch.
"I thought you should have a necklace I picked out just for you,” he said. "Do you like it?”
I glanced at my mom to make sure she approved, which is when I noticed she was wearing a new necklace too. Hers had a row of rubies that got progressively bigger until the center stone.
And she had been worried about him spoiling me.
"It's beautiful.” I took the necklace out of the box, and Grant helped me put it on. Then I looked at the piece of paper.
"It’s tickets for you and your family to come out and visit California," my father said.
Mom said, "He has a ranch there. You’d like that.” Her voice was so eager, I knew she wanted to go. "He has horses," she emphasized.
"Horses, nothing," my father said. "It’s close to Grant." He winked at me, then turned to my mother. "Horses can only sway girls until they’re about fifteen. After that, you need guys. That’s why I brought him along."
Grant put his hand on my back and smiled. "Say you'll come.”
"We'll come,” I said.
My father turned to my mother. "See?" And then they both laughed.
I turned to Grant to ask how long he was staying in Morgantown, and that’s when I saw Kari and Abuela coming out of her room.
"Kari!" I sputtered.
She walked down the hallway, as casually elegant in my house as she had been in hers. "Your grandma was playing some old Mexican songs for me. They’re totally . . .” She looked to my grandmother to supply the word.
“Que padre," Abuela said, enunciating slowly.
“Que padre," Kari repeated. “That means awesome.” She plopped down on one of the kitchen chairs and tapped her fingers against the table. "I think I want to do a few songs on my next album with that beat.”
“I thought you were in Utah,” I said.
She picked up a piece of Abuela’s homemade fry bread from the table. "When Dad told me he was coming to see you, I checked myself out. Don't worry," she said. "I’m going to finish the program. I just thought it was important to come.” She spread some honey butter onto her bread and sent me a severe look. "You really should have told me who you were, Alexia. I can’t believe we were together all that time and you never said anything."