“Please don’t keep things like that to yourself, babe,” he whispered. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”
Dawn wanted to kiss him again just for that, but instead, she reached up to the side of his face and whispered back, “Yeah. So you’ve said. You mean a lot to me too.”
* * *
Dawn stretched and yawned. She glanced at her iPhone and saw it was just past 9:00 a.m. She rarely ever slept in this late, even on weekends, but by the time Luca had dropped her off, it was almost 1:00 a.m. Her phone beeping alerted her to a text message. No doubt that’s what had woken her.
Hey babe, just wanted to check in to see how you’re doing. I’m glad we talked last night.
She sighed at Luca’s endearment. It felt good. Texting back, she said she was just waking up and then paused before she hit send. Should I use the emoji heart? Or XO? Or…love? Or what? Hmm…would that make her seem too pushy or needy? On the other hand, he’d called her babe.
She groaned in frustration. XO meant a hug and a kiss. Yup. They’d already been there. She hit send and waited. Her breath caught when he texted back with a heart and asked her out for brunch. They could also plan what they would do about Mandy. She texted back: Sure, I’ll reach out when I’ve had a shower.
Heading downstairs, the aroma of cinnamon wafted up to her. She breathed in deeply of the sweet and spicy scent. Walking into the kitchen, she spied the muffins cooling on a rack. Annette was dressed and packing a thermos and some sandwiches along with a container of six of the muffins. “Morning, Grandma. Those muffins smell and look delish.” She kissed Annette on the cheek.
“Morning, sweetie.” Annette gave her a sideways hug. “Freshly baked cinnamon-apple coffee cake muffins. Help yourself.”
“Oh, I will.” Dawn picked up one of the warm muffins and laid it on a plate, inhaling the incredible scent. She picked off a chunk from the still steaming top and popped it into her mouth. “Mmm. So good! No one can bake like you do.”
“Thanks, dear. Now grab a glass of milk, sit yourself down, and tell me about last night.”
“Okay, but where are you heading today?”
“I’m heading over to Sheree’s place. She’s been feeling low since her husband died six months ago, so I’m bringing her a little care package. Thought I’d spend the day with her, playing cards.”
“You’re such a good friend.” Dawn took a sip of her milk to wash down another bite of muffin.
“Well, Sheree was there for me when Lissie was sent to prison, and I’ll never forget that.” Annette finished packing the food, then pulled out a chair and joined Dawn at the small kitchen table. “Now, spill it. Tell me everything.”
Dawn told her grandmother about the wedding, leaving out the part about Luca and his family being shape-shifters. She didn’t want to worry Annette, but at some point, if it turned out to be true, she’d have to tell her. She also left out the part about her vision of Mandy and her failed rescue attempt at the convenience store. She hated lying to Annette, even by omission, but she didn’t want to put her in danger. The less she knew, the better.
“Well, it sounds like you had a great time. The Fierros seem like a wonderful family.” Annette patted Dawn’s hand.
“They are,” Dawn agreed.
“I just want you to be careful. The women in this family seem to have bad luck when it comes to men.”
“Hopefully, our luck is about to change.”
“If anyone is going to change it, it’s you, sweetie.”
“Aw, thanks, Gran.” Dawn stood up and wrapped her arms around Annette. “Speaking of luck.” She remembered the scratch tickets she had bought at Keene Street Convenience. Grabbing her purse off the hook by the front door, she went back to the kitchen and pulled out the scratch tickets and handed two to Annette.
Annette shook her head. “Oh, now you’ve gone and done it. You have labelled me a typical old lady who sits in her kitchen and scratches lottery tickets.”
Dawn chuckled. “Well, at least you don’t play bingo on Saturday nights.”
“No indeed. Okay, hand me a quarter and let’s get to work.”
The two women scratched off all four cards. Dawn didn’t expect to win, but then Annette let out a squeal of delight.
“Did you win?”
“Well, wonder of wonders, I actually won.”
“What did you win?”
“Here, look.”
