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She chuckles again and starts pulling down plates. When I go to put food on them, however, she stops me with a gentle hand on the wrist. “Let’s talk a moment.”
The nervousness returns tenfold.
You got this. Eye of the tiger. If all else fails, you can outrun her.
Probably.
I lean against the counter. It’s giving relaxed, it’s giving unbothered, it’s giving “girl time is fun for all of us!” But by the way her eyes roam my face, I can bet every penny I’ve ever made that I’m not fooling her one bit.
She did raise Reese almost all on her own, after all. I’m not the first person to try pulling a fast one on her.
“Relax, dear. I’m not going to interrogate you like you’ve gone and killed someone.” She smiles serenely. “You really love them, don’t you? My boy and Violet.”
It’s an easy question to answer. “Of course. More than anything, anyone, ever. They… they’ve changed my whole life. I never—I thought I wouldn’t get this ever again.”
“Bad end to a past relationship?” she questions, her hand settling on my shoulder.
“Not the way you’re probably thinking.” I bite the corner of my mouth. I wish there was a manual on things like this that could answer my questions. Hey, Siri: is it smart to trauma dump on your boyfriend’s grandmother?
“You don’t have to tell me if it’s too much. Lord knows I’ve got stuff aplenty I don’t like dredging up. Some things ought to stay buried, far as I’m concerned.”
“It’s not that. I, uh… Let me see. The short version is that I had a high school sweetheart. We were loopy, stupid in love. Had a whole life planned out for after high school and college. Then… I got pregnant. It moved the timeline up, like, a lot.” I chuckle bitterly. “It’s almost funny looking back at it now. Being seventeen and so sure that I’d have my life together enough to be a mother and a wife and also finish high school and then go to college…”
She nods in sympathy. “And then?”
“Well, then I had a miscarriage. And it turns out that he wasn’t actually all that on board with a lot of the things we’d been planning. He broke up with me and I never heard from him again after graduation. He pretended like nothing had happened between us.”
Grams caresses my cheek. She looks me dead in the eyes and says, “Fuck that weak-willed little bastard.” My jaw drops—there’s just something about old ladies in pearls cursing that’ll never not be shocking—but she’s not finished. “I’m not gonna say things happen for a reason—never over something like losing a child. But I’m glad you weren’t stuck with a man who’d tuck tail as soon as the coast was clear on him.”
I’m far past the point of needing validation. But I can’t deny that it feels good to get it from Grams. Mom, Quinn—they’ve always been there to support me and say stuff like that.
It feels different when it comes from someone who has nothing to do with you.
I smile with teary eyes before pulling her into an impulsive tight hug. “I’m really happy I met Reese,” I whisper against her shoulder. “I wasn’t gunning for a second stab at romance or anything when I met him. The opposite, actually. But… he’s given that to me and so much more.”
Grams chuckles and pulls away, though she keeps her wrinkled hands on my shoulders. She gives me another searching look before she slides one of those hands down to rest on my stomach. “So much more, you say?”
My heart jumps in my throat. I’ve got an easy lie at the ready, but something tells me she wouldn’t buy that, either. “You—you can tell?”
“A seasoned woman knows,” she says with a wink. “And my boy has been keeping his eyes on you this whole time. It’s that subtle protectiveness that tells me there’s a little more going on than just him wanting to keep a regular ol’ run-of-the-mill eye on you, eh?”
I flush. The heat blooms up my neck, lighting my skin on fire. “I—uhm—well?—”
“Honey, there’s nothing you need to say other than to tell me what you need from me. Reese is my only grandchild. I’m always willing to spread the love to my great-grandbabies.” Grams grins and pats my cheek once more. “Your mama happy?”
“She’s overwhelmed, I think. It’s been… a busy year.”
“Well, I’m sure she’ll come around. Make sure you pass my number off to her, if you so please. Us old hens gotta stick together, you understand?”
She gives me a little hip bump and the conversation ends there. We plate up food and shuttle it all into the dining room.
“Alright, time to eat up!” Grams announces as we pass by the den.
Reese rises with Vi tucked in his arm. “I was starting to think you’d finished all the good stuff without me.”
His grandmother whacks him on the butt with a dish towel. “It’s all good stuff, Reese Joseph Dalton, and I don’t ever wanna hear you say otherwise. Save the constructive criticism for when I’m dead and gone, mmkay?”
He grins and kisses her on the cheek. “You’re gonna outlast us all, Grams.” Then he loops an arm around my waist and whispers in my ear, “Good conversation?” There’s a curiosity in his voice, floating above a little bit of anxiety.
