And why is that?
So I can date her for real?
I shake my head to rid myself of that nonsense. Having her here this weekend has completely hijacked my life. She waltzed in and shook up all my plans, inserting herself right in the middle.
What plans?
You’ve been moping around for a week straight.
When I exit my bedroom, I hear her talking in the kitchen. Slowly, I follow the sound of her voice. She’s at the bar, dishing up food from a takeout box onto two plates.
“You can’t have this, Clo,” she chides. “You promised you’d behave while I get dinner ready.”
“You BirdBrought dinner?”
She whirls around and beams at me. “Such a clever local food delivery company. If we had one of these in New York, Uber Eats, Grub Hub, and DoorDash would all be out of business.” She snatches up a bird-shaped business card and thrusts it atme. “’Tell your peeps and enjoy twenty-five percent off your next meal.’ How cute is that? I’m such a sucker for good marketing.”
I’ve never once thought BirdBrought was cute. Especially since some kid I went to high school with runs it. Cody had a laugh that resembled a donkey braying, and it used to get under my skin. Good on him and his success, but it doesn’t mean I think his company is cute. I hardly think about it to be honest.
“I wasn’t sure what you wanted from Maple Millet Table, but since you’re a meat guy, I figured we couldn’t go wrong with steak.” She pushes a plate with a juicy steak, a loaded baked potato, and grilled asparagus at me. “We’re going to eat in the living room. Dinner and a show.” Her blue eyes twinkle with amusement.
“Can’t wait,” I say truthfully.
I’m beyond curious as to what could be behind all this silly mystery. It’s a side of her I haven’t seen before, and I don’t hate it. Not a single bit.
“Come on, Clo. We’re about to have our minds blown.”
Nora laughs and follows me to the living room with her plate. She’s already set the coffee table with silverware, napkins, and a couple of glasses of tea.
“The Goldie Special?” I ask as I sit down and then let Clo investigate the items on the table.
“For me,” she sasses. “You got the Elias Un-Special.”
I chuckle as I take a sip of my delightfully unsweetened tea. She busies herself with the VHS player and shoves the video into it. I hadn’t seen a VHS player in the flesh since my childhood until Goldie showed up with it and forced me to watch her favorites.
“Is thisSteel Magnolias?”
She shakes her head. “Nope. That was Grandma’s favorite. Not mine.”
“Hope Floats?Now and Then?Fried Green Tomatoes?”
“Did she make you watch those?”
“Every single one. Multiple times.”
Her smile over her shoulder is soft and makes my heart stutter. “She liked her movies. I was forced to watch all of those too whenever I’d visit.” Nora turns her attention back to the VHS player and then after some fiddling, she gets it to start. “Okay, prepare for the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen.”
I move Clo to my shoulder since he’s a little too interested in my steak and side-eye Nora as she sits beside me on the sofa.
“The most amazing?”
“Trust me,” she says with a grin.
“All this hype. What if it doesn’t live up to its expectations?”
“It’s going to exceed them, Elias Cove. That’s a promise.”
Five minutes later and I nearly choke on my steak. It’s a home video. The blonde little girl prancing around the living room in a feathered costume is about eight or nine. When the song playing on the radio in the background changes, she freezes, blue eyes wider than her toothless grin, and she bellows, “Grandma, it’s my song!”
