The Biker Who Pretended To Be Her Grandson

Chapter 1 - Just For One Day

“Would you pretend to be my grandson, just for a day?”

The biker stopped chewing.

Slowly, he lowered the burger to his plate and looked up.

An elderly woman stood beside his table, both hands gripping the handles of her walker. Her eyes were nervous.

“Excuse me, ma’am?” the biker asked.

The woman swallowed. Her fingers tightened around a small brown handbag.

“My landlord wants to kick me out,” she said. “He thinks I have no family.”

The biker’s expression changed.

His name was Ethan Maddox. Twenty-seven years old.

He had seen many things in roadside diners.

But he had never had a stranger ask him to borrow a family.

He pushed his plate aside and stood.

The woman looked even smaller from that angle.

“Okay,” Ethan said. “I’ll help.”

Her eyes widened as if she had expected mockery instead.

“Really?”

“Really.”

She opened her handbag with shaking hands and took out a simple silver pendant necklace.

“I don’t have money,” she said, embarrassed. “Please, take this.”

Ethan immediately lifted his hand and gently pushed it back toward her.

“No. Keep it, ma’am.”

The pendant swung between them.

A small silver oval.

Worn at the edges.

Engraved with a tiny rose on the back.

Ethan’s hand froze.

His mother had one exactly like it.

“My mom wears one like this,” Ethan said quietly.

The old woman looked down at the necklace in her palm.

A bitter smile touched her face.

“My daughter Lucy bought us a pair.”

The name struck Ethan harder than a fist.

Lucy.

He lifted his head.

His mouth opened, but the words took a moment to come.

“Lucy...” His voice cracked. “Lucy is my mother.”

The old woman’s smile vanished.

She stared at him.

Then tears filled her eyes so quickly they spilled before she could stop them.

“What did you say?”

Ethan gently closed her fingers around the pendant.

“My mother’s name is Lucy Maddox.”

The old woman reached for his wrist with her free hand.

Her grip was weak.

But it held him like the past itself.

“My Lucy had a baby boy,” she whispered. “They told me he died.”