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“Oh, Leonard, don’t give away my secrets!” my grandmother cooed.
Yes, she cooed.
Agatha blushed.
What was happening here?
“This must be your granddaughter,” the man—Leonard—said, releasing the two elderly women. He held his hand out to men. “Leonard Fisher. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Saylor Green,” I replied, shaking his head. “And yes, that’s my grandmother you’re fondling.”
“Saylor!” Grandma gasped.
Leonard’s lips curved into a small smile. “I am rather taken with your grandmother.”
That made one of us.
“Are you sick, sir?” I asked politely.
“Saylor!” That was a snap.
For his part, he laughed, then leaned in and whispered. “Maybe a little lovesick.”
Ew.
“I have a recommendation for that.” I tucked some loose hair behind my ear. “Spend two hours with her alone and you’ll be cured.”
Agatha cackled. “True. Then you’ll realize you’re in love with me.”
Ah. Now it made sense why they didn’t like Stacy. They had a crush on the handsome new resident.
Plot twist.
“All right, come along.” Stacy, the nurse that Dylan had been talking to approached our jolly little group. “Agatha, Mable, you ladies need to go and get yourselves changed ready for lunch. Leonard, I just spoke to your granddaughter on the phone. She won’t be able to make it this afternoon as the baby is sick, but she’s going to rearrange for the weekend when Tom isn’t at work.”
He saluted her. “Thank you for that, Stacy. I’ll text her this afternoon and check in on Lola.”
Stacy turned to me and smiled. “Hi. We haven’t met.”
“No, no… We haven’t.” I returned her smile but it felt somewhat tight.
“Stacy. I’m the new nurse.” She held up a hand in greeting.
“This is my granddaughter, Saylor,” Grandma said, nudging me. “She’s the hot instructor’s girlfriend.”
I sighed and looked at her. “I am not his girlfriend. Cut it out.”
Stacy looked between us, confusing clouding her features. “Are you seeing each other? He seems very nice.”
“He’s my roommate,” I replied. “That’s all. We’re just great friends.”
Was it me or did her expression brighten at that?
Pah.
I was still not jealous, okay?
“Oh, right.” Yep, her smile got bigger. “Agatha, Mabel, we should get going.” She steered the two older women away, but not without plenty of protests.
Leonard smiled at me. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“It’s all a lie,” I said breezily. “She’s insane.”
He laughed. “You’re a lot like her. She says what she thinks, too.”
“It is the one redeeming quality she has. Drives my best friends nuts. Drives most people nuts, actually.”
“I find it refreshing. My late wife never said what was on her mind, and it made communication very difficult at times. I’d rather be offended by someone who was honest.”
“Have you met the women here? They live to offend people.” I glanced at him. “Mostly each other.”
“I have noticed Rosie and Agatha tend to get into some disagreements.”
“They’ve hated each other for their entire lives. Tori—that’s Agatha’s granddaughter—is one of my best friends, and it drives them both insane that their granddaughters speak every day. Tori takes great pleasure in reminding them of that.”
He chuckled. “Sounds fun. Am I right that you own a bookstore?”
“Yes, sir. Bookworm’s Books in town. With my best friends, Kinsley and Holley. Holley is Rosie’s grandma and Randy is Kinsley’s grandfather.”
“Right. I think I have that. I do enjoy a good book. Do you have thrillers and mysteries?”
“A lot. We get them regularly. We often bring books here either specifically to order or sometimes we just need to offload some older stock. I’d be happy to add you to the list.”
He reached out and touched my arm. “That’s very sweet of you. I’d like that.”
I smiled. “It’s no problem at all. Any favorite authors?”
He proceeded to reel off a long list of authors he loved, and I found myself grinning and nodding along with many of them. Sometimes you needed a palate cleanser after reading a ton of the same genre, and I’d always found thrillers and mysteries to be just the one to do that.
“Hey.” Dylan joined us and ran his fingers through his hair. “I just wanted to see when you’d be done at the store tonight.”
I offered Leonard a smile. “About six. Why?”
“Kinsley just mentioned something about her and Josh going to Bronco’s and asked if we wanted to join them.”
“Oh. Um, I guess. Sure.”
“You don’t sound sure.”
“Well, I wanted to read my book.”
Leonard chuckled. “Always a good excuse.”
Dylan’s eyes darted to him. “I like you. You have good form.”
Leonard gave a small bow. “Thanks, son. You have a good teaching style. When are you back here?”
“Same time next week.”
I was going to remember that.
“I’ll see you then.”
Dylan returned his attention to me. “Dinner? Yes? No?”
“Uh, no.” I shook my head. “I just want to chill out tonight, but you can go.”
“And be the third wheel? No thanks. I’ll eat at home.” He paused. “Hey, you cooked last night. I’ll cook tonight. Pasta sound good?”
