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Shane laughed, apparently hearing every word. “That’s the understatement of the year.”
“How so?”
Rayleen snorted. “Don’t bother flirting with that one, you hussy.”
“Why not?” Grace snapped. “I am a hussy, after all.”
“No use. He’s gay as the day is long.”
“Who?” Grace asked in surprise. “Shane?”
“Nope. That one’s straight as an arrow. Ain’t ya, Shane?”
“So they tell me,” he said with a drawl.
“I’m talking about Lewis. Bet he could suck the chrome off a trailer hitch. A goddamn disappointment.”
“Not such a disappointment for his partners, I’d guess,” Shane said in a low voice, lifting his glass toward Lewis.
Grace inhaled half a mouthful of beer and spent a full thirty seconds coughing. Maybe she could like Shane after all, if only for the sour expression on Rayleen’s face.
Lewis was grinning, but his cheeks had gone fantastically red.
Shane winked. “His ex-boyfriend used to hang around here and lament all the things he missed about Lewis. I can tell you for a fact that his cooking skills were not number one on that list. Not after a few drinks, anyway.”
“Jesus, Shane,” Lewis said on a laugh. “Shut the hell up.”
“Yeah,” Rayleen grouched.
“It’s enough to make a woman weep.”
Grace shot her a glare. “Aunt Rayleen, stop being mean.”
“It’s all right,” Lewis said. “She’s mean to everyone. If she were nice to me, I’d know she really had a problem with it.”
“Oh, I’ve got a problem with it!” she barked, but Lewis just rolled his eyes.
“I love you, too, Rayleen. I know you’re secretly going to miss me.”
Her mouth screwed up into a bitter pout. “If I do, it’s only because you’re as gorgeous as you are useless.”
Lewis’s laughter boomed through the bar. “Don’t pout. You’ll be fine. You’ve still got Shane and Cole.”
“Shane, maybe. I don’t take sloppy seconds.” She scowled at Grace, who tried not to shudder.
“Oh, good Lord,” she prayed, trying to purge that image from her mind.
“How do you think I feel?” Shane said, offering her a refill of beer. She took it gladly.
“She hasn’t actually slept with any of her renters, has she?”
He lowered his voice. “I can’t speak for anyone in this millennium, but as far as I know, she keeps her hands to herself. Actually, she’s never even disrespectful unless she’s showing off around here. But she always makes a big Thanksgiving dinner and drops off a plate for any of the guys who happen to be alone. Christmas, too.”
Grace fell silent at that. Maybe the old woman really was just lonely. She’d been married once, a long time ago. A really long time ago. Her husband had died in a car accident. She hadn’t always been this person.
Grace tentatively approached Rayleen’s table and took a seat as the old woman eyed her.
“What did you do before this, Aunt Rayleen? You haven’t always owned this place, have you?”
