Buddy Adventure

 The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley 

This was so cute. Tanner and Louise were so good for each other. Tanner, 21, had to drop out of college because of a devastating injury that caused her to lose her soccer scholarship and her parents can't afford the rest of her tuition. Louise, 84, is recovering from hip surgery and needs help getting to places and other such things. Louise's children hire Tanner to move in and take care of Louise. Then, there is a news story about Patricia who is wanted in connection with a jewelry heist 40+ years ago and the age progression looks just like Louise. But Tanner is the only one who sees this. Meanwhile, Louise gets a call from George saying Salvatore is getting out of prison and will be coming for them. So Louise convinces Tanner to drive from Atlanta all the way to California and shenanigans ensue. Tanner thinks they are running from the cops. Louise doesn't know this until halfway through the trip and sets her straight and tells her they are going to visit her dying friend George. Then, when they are stopped for a meal they both see the news report and Louise realizes that oh, she actually is being chased by the cops and they are looking for her very identifiable car, so they leave it with a waiter as a tip. Then Louise calls August, the neighborhood handyman, who is also smoking hot (and how happened to stand Tanner up earlier in the week, before she and Louise left) and he flies out, rents a car, and drives them the rest of the way. They get to the nursing home, but visiting hours are over so they go to a hotel for the night. The next day we find out that George is really a woman and they bust her out on a day pass. When they get back to the hotel Salvatore is there. Tanner tries to shoot him, but has terrible aim. Then the FBI shows up. Turns out, he wasn't looking for stolen jewelry he was looking for his daughter. That's right: Louise aka Patty and George used to run an underground bettered women's network and their last case was Betsy, Salvatore's wife. Only, she told him she was leaving the night it was supposed to go down and he beat her so bad she when to the hospital and died two days later, after she gave birth to a daughter; Jules. So Louise pretended to be a nanny and then stole the baby. They move George out of the nursing home and in with Louse, but that doesn't last long as both women need more care than they can get at home so they move into a home together and Tanner gets a job at the care facility. Tanner gets pulled aside at work and told Louise is dying and go see her, and she's putting lipstick on her because that's what she would have wanted when she wakes up and gives her a present. Turns out, the jewelry heist she was accused of? She actually did do it and she just gave Tanner the 37 caret diamond. And that's basically where the book ends. This was great. I loved the growth of the two characters and their relationship. I will definitely read more from this author!