Nonna lived in the middle of nowhere in Florida. She’d only been there a year, but I’d never had a chance to visit yet. Funnily enough, it wasn’t too far from Orlando, which made me wonder about going there to see if I could bump into Marcus again. Then again, that’d probably lead nowhere.
I’d seen photos of Nonna’s new place and the land that surrounded it, and it looked idyllic. Green fields, trees, peace, butterflies, and wildflowers everywhere, not people and cars and pollution. She’d bought her house as a retirement place. It’d originally been one house that’d been split into two years ago, but the adjoining house to the one she’d taken had stayed empty because she had no use for it.
Well, now she did. My parents had spent the last week painting and prettying it up, and I couldn’t wait to get there.
Looking back at the GPS screen on my dash, I got caught on the name of my destination. Branford? Why did that sound so familiar?
I wish I could remember where that guy Marcus said he was from because I wasn’t above driving through his area to see if I could bump into him. Then again, Florida was a huge state, so that was just as dumb a thought as going to Orlando to do it.
Seeing the map on the screen in my Jeep show my destination was only two minutes away from where I was, I squinted and focused on not hitting the potholes on the road. I was a good driver, but I didn’t want to rattle my teeth loose, hitting every single one of them. Plus, I was only four months into the payments on my Jeep Rubicon—it still had that new car smell that I didn’t want to taint with the scent of destruction.
In the middle of nothing but fields was a huge ranch house in the distance on my right. It might have been far away, but it still stood out and reminded me of something from a musical or old-fashioned romance movie.
And then I saw it, Nonna’s place. It wasn’t as big as the other one, but I was amazed she’d bought such a big place for just her. Then again, artists had deep souls, so the beauty of the location, the unique build of the property, and whatever was inside it had probably screamed perfection to her. It did to me, but I was also an artist. Nonna might focus more on drawing and painting nowadays, but she’d been the one to teach me how to play instruments and was a fantastic musician. The bond between us was more than just a grandmother and granddaughter—it was deep and based on a love of listening to and creating music.
Pulling into her driveway, I stopped behind my Dad’s F150 and got out, stretching the kinks in my back and trying to get the feeling back in my ass. That’s how long I’d been driving for, long enough to cut the circulation to my butt.
“Sayang!” Mom called, running out the front door and meeting me at the bottom of the steps with a hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
I spoke some Malaysian and Italian, but only really enough to get by. My parents had terms of endearments for me and my brother and sister, except they were in different languages. Sayang, aka honey or love, being Mom’s most used one with the family.
“Hey, Mom. It’s good to see you.”
Clasping my face in her hands, she inspected me closely, turning my head to the side. “Are you okay? You good?”
Snorting, I pulled free and waved at Dad and Nonna as they joined us at a more sedate pace to Mom. Then again, she lived life at two hundred miles per hour, so that was to be expected.
“Glad to finally be here. My ass is numb.”
“Adrienne,” Mom growled, glaring at me. “Must you be so crass?”
“I apologize.” I met Dad’s eyes over her head. “My tushy has no feeling in it. How’s that, Mom?”
Sighing, she shook her head. “I don’t know what to do with you, Addy. We spent good money sending you to the best schools and college, and you come out sounding like a sailor.”
Negative, I didn’t sound like a sailor. My brother was in the Navy, so he sounded like a sailor.
“You’re saying I sound like Dan?”
Mom’s lips twisted slightly. “You’re right, you’re not as bad as he is. I swear he makes those words up.”
Pushing past her, Dad swept me up in a hug. “We managed to get all the stuff the company delivered put away, but we left your instruments in your music room for you to organize.”
Had I mentioned how awesome my folks were? Because they were the best.
“Bella,” Nonna called, nudging Dad out of the way and hugging me tightly. “How are you? You look too skinny, Adrienne. You don’t eat?”