“Oh, I know it is,” she said brightly, patting his hand twice before letting go.“Any man standing behind my granddaughter lookin’ that guilty must be very nice indeed.”
My cheeks immediately caught fire.“Grandma!”
She blinked at me innocently.“What?The walls were never thick in this house, Savannah.You know that.”
Nerissa, who had followed us down, burst out laughing.Mama V leaned back, clearly pleased with herself, and smiled knowingly at Nerissa.
“Back when Penny and I lived here, she used to knock on my door every other weekend tellin’ me to keep it down.I told her if the Lord wanted silence, He wouldn’t have made joy so loud.”
Jaxon laughed—actually threw his head and laughed—while I buried my face into my hands.
“Grandma,” I whined.
“They always say the louder the scream, the better the D,” Nerissa added, and they all fell into a laughing fit again.
“Oh, I like this one,” Mama V said immediately, wagging a finger at Nerissa.“She got spirit.”
Nerissa beamed.“I love you already.”
I groaned.“Can we please focus on why you’re here?Is something wrong?How'd you get here?Where—”
“Easy, child.”Mama V turned back to me, smile softening.“Now, don’t sound like that.I don’t need a reason to see my favorite grandchild.”
She paused, then waved a hand casually.
“Though the nice lady at my building did say I should let you know I’m being evicted.”
My head snapped up.“What?”
Mama V nodded calmly.“Mm-hmm.Said somethin’ about unpaid rent.”
“What?”My voice rose instantly.“That doesn’t make any sense.Everything’s prepaid for the year and Chase, he—”
The words died in my throat.
Chase.
My stomach dropped.
“Oh my God, oh my God,” I muttered, pacing suddenly.“That son of a… ugh, he insisted on paying it after you got sick, and he said it would be easier to just keep doing that.Oh God, it never even crossed my mind to… I should’ve checked—”
Mama V waved a dismissive hand.“I already figured it was that boy.Never liked the way he turned out.”
I exploded.
“How could he do this?”I snapped, hands flying through my hair.“This is vindictive.This is—this is low, even for him.Kicking you out of your own home?Completely barbaric.And he's marrying Lori—that should be reason enough for him to not be a freaking ass.”
Memories closed around me, thinking of years ago when she was sick and how Chase became the knight in shining armor.The apartment was way out of my price range, but he told me he would take care of everything.
How am I even going to afford that place?
“I'll talk to the building owner.Maybe I can work something out.Maybe—”
My voice cracked before I could stop it.
I turned back to my grandma, stepping closer and taking her hands where they rested on the counter.
“I’ll fix this,” I said fiercely.“I promise.I won’t let this happen.”
