Where Tomorrow Leads

by Cyndi Raye

  She twisted her hands again then entangled her fingers with Jakes. “My grandmother had a dream years ago and so my Pappy made her wish come true. He gave her a car. She’s bringing it here to the airport so we can drive it back to the Keys. She wants me to have the car since she’s getting too old to take it on road trips.”

  Jake frowned. “How old is this car? Is it able to go such a long distance? I have to get back in a few days, not spend time worrying if a car will break down?”

  Maggie placed a finger over his mouth. “Jake, please. You promised me ten days, not a few. We’ll have fun and you’ll love the car. It’s all restored and looks amazing.”

  Jake sighed. “Tell me about the car.”

  “It’s a 1966 Chevy Impala.”

  “Oh?”

  She nodded. “Yes, three thousand miles with a rebuilt engine and four speed tranny and a twelve bolt rear. Now what do you think?” she asked as he seemed a bit more impressed.

  “I thought we were going to drive in some old rattletrap from the thirties. What a relief.”

  Maggie giggled. He had no idea, but she’d wait to surprise him.

  <><>

  Maggie’s grandparent’s stood at the rail with a big sign that said, Maggie McCoy, we love you, in big, bold pink letters. “Oh cringe, my nanny is still going wild with her crazy, bright outlandish colors and such.”

  Jake laughed out loud. “You can’t slip past them now,” he said, a big smile on his face.

  Maggie ran forward, glad to see them both. Her Nanny wore a bright pink top with matching shorts, blonde hair tied back with a multi-colored ribbon flowing down her back. She liked to be seen and her bold colors matched her personality. Most grannies let their hair go gray but not hers. Nope, she changed her hair color whenever she pleased. She thought she was still young and hip and that was okay with Maggie. She squeezed her Nan harder, she was so happy to see her. “I missed you so!” Maggie cried out.

  “Oh honey, you look wonderful,” Nan told her. “I see you found yourself a hunk,” she whispered for Maggie’s ears.

  Her cheeks turned red. “Nan, please behave. I like him a lot.”

  “Well, he’ll have to pass our inspection. Isn’t that right, Mr. McCoy?”

  Maggie ran in to her Pappy’s open arms. He was not a big man, but had one of the biggest hearts she knew. He doted on her Nan and gave the woman anything she asked for. His bald head, covered up with a baseball, wore his signature button down shirt with the front pocket. When Maggie was a child he would keep surprises for her there. She’d reach in the pocket to find some kind of goodies for her.

  As if she went back in time, her hand went to his pocket. He grinned. “I think you already know what’s in there.”

  Maggie pulled out the keys to her Nan’s car. “I can’t believe you decided to give this up, Nan.”

  Jake stayed out of the picture while she reconciled with her grandparents and for a moment Maggie forgot he was there. When she looked back at him, her heart swelled with love for his patience. He had no clue how important he was to her and how much she loved him. “There’s someone I want you both to meet. Jake, come here and meet my angelic grandparents.”

  Maggie’s Nan stood in front of Jake, all four feet five of her. Her blonde head had to look up at his face. She gazed at him from head to toe. Maggie coughed. “Nan, behave,” she whispered.

  “So you’re Jake Hatfield?” she asked, although she knew who he was. “Nice to meet you.” Jake held out his hand towards her, but she shook her head. “We don’t act civilized here in this family. Give me a big old hug,” Nan ordered and put her arms out to embrace him.

  Maggie looked at her Pap. He stared at Jake too, his head nodding at his wife’s acceptance. If she like him, then he was sure to accept Jake. Pap always agreed with everything she did. He held out his hand. “Welcome to the family,” Pap said, giving him a slap on his shoulder with his free hand. “I guess you heard we are gifting my grand daughter with the SS, but I better show you some things about the old girl before you drive off.”

  The two men began to walk towards the parking lot and Maggie grabbed Nan’s hand. “I want to be there when he sees the color, Nan. Hurry.”

  “You didn’t tell him it’s pink!” Nan cried out and began to giggle. “Oh dear! I need my Iphone for this!” She dug in her purse until she found her bright pink cell phone.

  <><>

  Jake walked beside the older man towards the terminal’s parking lot. He looked back once to see Maggie and her Nan walking fast towards them. He slowed his pace a bit to let them catch up. Her Nan had a bright pink phone in her hand. “I see your wife likes the color pink.”

  Paps laughed out loud. “You haven’t seen anything yet! That woman wanted a pink Cadillac like Elvis had, but I convinced her to go with a Chevy. I found this one for a good price and had it modified for her. We had lots of good times with the old girl. Now I hope the two of you do as well.”

  “I’m sure we will. We’re driving it back to the Keys.”

  “My wife thinks I give her whatever she wants. She wanted a caddy, but I wanted a Chevy. She thinks she won the fight and I always let her think so. Son, if you want to keep peace, let the woman always think she won and then do it your way. Works every time.”

  Jake shook his head. He realized the old man wasn’t a pushover after all. It made him chuckle.

  “Son, there’s one other thing you should know and I’ll bet my boots Maggie didn’t tell you about Pinkie.”

  “Pinkie?”

  Pap stopped and pointed. Jake followed in the direction of his finger. In one corner of the parking lot, sat a bright pink 1966 Impala SS convertible. A rush of pink color zoomed by the two men standing there. Jake blinked at the bright flash. He realized too late Nan snapped a photo of his reaction to the bright pink car. Several more went of in his face.

  He heard Maggie reprimand her Nan. “That’s enough photos. No downloading them on Instagram or facebook Nan, promise me!”

  “Oh honey, I can’t promise what this old heart does. Some days my hands have a mind of their own.”

  Jake ran a hand through his hair. He was in an airport garage staring at a bright, loud pink Chevy Impala named Pinkie. An old woman dressed in all pink is shooting photo’s of his reaction and he will have to drive this car to the Florida Keys, over fourteen hundred miles of bright pink in his face.

  Paps chuckled. “She wanted a caddy. I gave her pink. At least it’s a Chevy.”

  Jake shook his head.

  “What do you think?” Nan asked, a secretive smile on her face.

  Jake sighed. His hands dug deeper in his pockets and he rocked back on his heels. He grinned at Nan. “Mrs. McCoy, it will be an honor to drive your car on our road trip. It’s good I’m a man who couldn’t care less what type of reaction I get.”

  “That’s my boy! I knew the moment I saw you we could leave our Maggie in your hands.”

  “Nan, I can take care of myself, remember what we discussed?” Maggie piped up. She began to tap her toe on the cement ground of the parking garage. Jake reached over and took her hand.

  His touch must have reassured her because Maggie didn’t argue any more with her Nan. The four of them decided to go back to the hotel and have a nice dinner together before heading out.

  “I believe I’ll drive the car back to the hotel if it’s all right with you dear?” Nan asked Maggie. “I want one last ride.” The hotel was right across from the airport, a short walk from where they stood.

  “I’ll ride along,” Maggie squealed and jumped in the front seat. The two men watched the ladies drive off in the pink Chevy.

  “You’ll get used to the pink color after a while, Jake.”

  “I doubt it. Think I can talk her in to changing the color to factory blue?”

  “I doubt that. Maggie will want to keep it pink as a reminder of her Nan. Trust me, I tried too. You see the color.” Pap patted him on the shoulder as if he were passing a torch on to Jake.


  “Come on son, let’s start to walk. We should get there before they do anyway. I know my wife, she’ll get lost driving two blocks down the road. We need to stand outside the hotel and wave her down.”

  Jake felt as if a whole new world was about to begin. It turned out Maggie’s Pap was right about his wife. They did get to the hotel before the pink car. After about twenty minutes of waiting, Jake reached in his pocket and text Maggie to make sure they were okay.

  “Maggie said they see the airport now. They got sidetracked.”

  The old man whistled and nodded. “As I thought! I told you son that woman can get lost in her own house. I swear she’s getting that dementia in her old age.”

  Jake didn’t know what to say. Anxious to call his company, he wanted to see how everything was holding up without him there in direct command. He made a promise to Maggie he would try to relax and have a good time. He wanted to keep the promise. The phone buzzed.

  When he looked down, a text from Maggie made him smile. “You promised!” he read before he stuffed the phone deep in the pocket. He swore she could read his mind.

  The pink colored car came around the corner the moment Jake looked up. Nanny turned to pull into the hotel parking lot but didn’t use her turn signal and the car behind honked its horn at her, a loud cuss word flying from the window. Nanny’s hand slipped out the window and she held up her wrinkled middle finger. “I salute you!” she hollered.

  Pap began to laugh. “That’s my woman. She doesn’t take crap off anyone,” he boasted. Jake joined in. He wondered if Maggie would turn out like her Nan, eccentric and crazy wild.

  The two ladies got out of the car and found the men waiting. Jake picked Maggie up and swung her around. He placed a quick kiss on her lips. Maggie’s arms tightened around his neck. “Did you miss me that much?” she teased.

  “Sure did baby, I’m having a fun time, I’m glad I came along.” He kissed her again before they followed the older couple in to the hotel restaurant. After being seated, Nan began to bombard him with questions about his family, including his Mother.

  “I didn’t know my Mom well,” Jake told her. “She died when I was eleven. What I do remember is how beautiful she was, and how much she loved my brother and I. She had these distinct eyes that showed kindness and I will always remember how they filled up with so much love for me.”

  “Oh, that’s beautiful.” Nan picked up a napkin and dabbed at her eyes. “I am sure she is always looking out for you.” After Nan sniffed a few more times, she changed the subject. “Young man, what intentions do you have for my grand daughter?”

  Jake set his fork down. “I love Maggie,” he said, point blank.

  “Yes, it’s obvious you do young man. My baby here is a romance writer who loves to be romanced, wined and dined and have a happily ever after.”

  “I understand,” Jake said.

  “Well then why don’t I hear wedding bells yet?”

  “Nan, this is not proper!” Maggie reprimanded her, although to Jake’s ears, her voice sounded a bit weak as if she wanted an answer to the question too.

  Pap stuffed more food in his mouth.

  Jake cleared his throat. “I, we, uh. Look, we’ve been so busy with all these new projects and such it hasn’t come up yet.” There, he said it, who would argue with busy.

  Nan would. “Mr. Hatfield! Did I hear you say your work is more important than my grand daughter?”

  “Nan, enough.” Maggie argued. “Stop trying to strong arm Jake into popping the question.” She turned to Jake, a red blush across her face. “I’m sorry. Nan can get out of hand.”

  “I don’t get out of hand,” Nan said, taking a swig of her iced tea.

  “Yes, you do.” Pap spoke up.

  The older woman pointed a finger at her husband. “You hush, Mr. McCoy. This is too important stuff to let go.” Nan seemed to be on a mission to bet him to propose. He wanted to, but not like this. Plus there was always something going on at his business.

  “Is that you Pinkie McCoy?” a voice came out of the blue, saving Jake. Nan jumped up and hugged the other lady and they began to talk like old friends. Jake took in a deep breath, relieved the conversation went in another direction. He had plans to ask Maggie to be his wife someday. He even asked Maggie’s mom her ring size but didn’t buy the ring yet.

  Why was it so hard to propose? Why was he so afraid if he asked her to marry him then things would go awry and he would lose her? Some things were so hard to forget and his mother’s fate haunted him. He watched his Dad raise them alone because he grieved for their mom over the years. He didn’t want to wind up like his own Father. Even though there was a slim chance of something like that ever happening, his heart couldn’t bear the thought.

  He knew he had to work this out. Maggie wouldn’t wait for him forever.

  “Jake, everything all right? I’m sorry about Nan, she can be a busybody at times.”

  “She sure can,” Pap agreed. “Looks like our old friends are here, so we’ll say good night. You have a two hour drive and it looks like we’ll be up partying all night.” Pap smiled and shook Jake’s hand. “Good getting to know you son. Take care of our baby.”

  Jake stood. “Thank you, sir. I plan to take care of Maggie.” He stood at a distance as Maggie hugged her grandparents. Nan blew him a kiss and gave him a giant smile, then turned and went off with her old friends. Maggie slid beside him and wrapped her arm around his waist.

  “I hope my Nan didn’t shock you too much. She’s a darling, but she does get quite erratic at times.”

  “She’s looking out for you baby. I would do the same.”

  Maggie ran her hand over his cheek. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the pink car. I didn’t want to refuse the gift. This car means so much to her. I am honored she gave it to me.”

  Jake grinned. “Maggie, by now you should know I don’t care what others think. If we have to drive the whole way to the Keys in a pink Impala, it’s what we do. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”

  Maggie wrapped her arms around him. “Jake, you are the man of my dreams. I love you.”

  Jake grinned. “Is there any chance we can change the color to maybe a cool blue?”

  Maggie stepped back. Her eyes widened as she shook her head. “I hope you are kidding because I would never, ever do that to my Nan.”

  Jake laughed out loud and placed a kiss on her mouth. “That’s what your Pap said you would say.”

  Chapter 3

  “It’s gonna be about a two hour drive to Wilkes-Barre,” Maggie said. Well, they weren’t going to Wilkes-Barre, yet. Since her Mom was in the Keys with Jake’s Dad, no one would be expecting them, so in the meantime, Maggie had other plans.

  There was a place along the way where she wanted to spend a few days alone with Jake. Perhaps with the ambience of love and romance all around, he would do the deed and propose to her. It was a long shot but worth the side trip. Besides, she knew he had a hard time with forever. He already told her he loved her, he could give her his heart. But something was holding him back from making a commitment. She wanted it all, she wanted the wedding and happy ever after and knew he did too. She would have to help him along, that’s all.

  Does she warn him ahead of time or surprise him? She gazed over to him as a single hand steered the pink car. He looked pretty hot in the classic car. White leather seats and interior showed no signs of the pink color of the outside paint. The top was down and his dark hair blew in the mountain breeze.

  Yeah, he was her bad boy. Bad to the bone driving a hot pink car and he couldn’t care less. She smiled.

  He happened to turn towards her as she grinned. “What?” He reached over the console and brushed the flyaway hair out of her face, then entwined his fingers with hers. “You happy?” he asked.

  “More than happy, love. I do have another surprise.”

  His one hand gripped the steering wheel as a tiny bit of pressure could be felt on her fingers. “Another one?”<
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  She nodded and smiled. “I won’t tell you until we’re closer. Let’s put it this way, I’ve made reservations for us at this wonderful place you will be sure to love.”

  “I’m sure I’ll love the next one,” Jake said, his voice doubtful. “If it’s anything like the pink car surprise, I can’t wait.”

  Maggie laughed but her next words came out in a nervous banter. “Oh Jake, have some fun. Imagine this, a retreat set far back in a cove on a beautiful lake with a champagne shaped tub filled with bubbles and an in-suite private pool designed to make us feel as if we are the only couple in the world.” Her nerves began to shatter. Would he refuse to go?