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He held his hand up. “Donottell me how long it’s been since Becca was killed. I wake up every morning knowingexactlyhow long it’s been.” Thirty-five months and five days since the police came to his office with the news that left a gaping hole in his life—in his heart—that had never fully healed.
“I was trying to say it’s been hard for me to see you withdrawing from the family.” Nana’s eyes softened. “I understand what you’re saying about being a project, but it’s only because—”
He cut her off again. “Because they love me. I know—” Nana sat up abruptly, shaking her finger in his direction. Even with his desk between them, he leaned back.
“Look,” she started, her eyes narrowing. “You wanted me to lay off the guilt trip and tell you why I’m here, so...fine. Let me finish a flippin’ sentence once in a while, and you might learn something.” Her voice sharpened to the tone she used to use when he and Mary were children—usually right before she threatened them with a wooden spoon. “Yes, your sister and cousins love you. How awful for you, you poor thing. Over the past few months, you’ve gotten awfully prickly, you know. I don’t need you to be youroldself, but you being a jerk isn’t going to work for anybody.”
Mike’s mouth fell open. “You think I’ve been a jerk?”
Her expression softened. “Let’s call it borderline jerk for now.” One corner of her mouth quirked up into a slanted, affectionate grin. “This all started after Bridget and Finn got married last fall. I know a wedding may have brought back some tough emotions for you—it’s the first family wedding since Becca passed. But it seems to me that you’re more...restless...than grieving.”
His cousin, Bridget, once told him she was convinced their grandmother had second sight—the ability to read minds or foresee the future. He’d scoffed at her at the time, but right this moment? The hair on the back of his neck was on end. Nana had just nailed it. Hewasrestless.
He didn’t know why, or for what, but he’d been more on edge the past few months. Less willing to sit in an empty house. Less willing to be the subject of people’s pitying eyes. But also less willing to be sent out on dates with women he had no interest in. Ready to move on, but having no idea how to do that, or who he was supposed to do it with.
“Nana, you’re not wrong, but I don’t know how to describe what I’m feeling. I mean... Iamhappy. Or at least...” He acknowledged her skeptical look. “At leastsatisfied.I’m notunhappy, you know? I like my job. I have a nice little house that’s paid for and a fun little hot rod to drive. I have good friends, like Mark Hudson and Finn and Zoey.” He straightened the papers on his desk and dropped his pen in the red Buffalo football mug he used as a penholder. “I’ll never beoverlosing Becca, and I don’t think I should be.” He’d loved his wife, and expected to grow old with sweet, beautiful Becca at his side. “But I don’t want to be alone forever, either. I just... I feel like I’m stuck. Like I’m waiting for something, but I have no idea what.”
His grandmother watched him in silence. Her lips were pinched together, but more in deep thought than anger. “You’re clearly at a crossroads. A threshold of some sort. I wish I had a better answer for you, Michael, but the solution won’t be found in avoiding your family. Or snarling at them. If you don’t like our questions, you can easily tell us to stop asking. No reason to beat around the bush in the McKinnon clan. You know that.”
Oh, yes—he knew. His family didn’t pull any punches.
Mike nodded. “And if I don’t show up, can I expect more family members to be making appointments at my office in the future?”
Nana chuckled as she stood, and Mike scrambled to his feet. She gave him a wink as she turned to go. “This visit was your cousin Kelly’s idea, and was approved by vote at the last pub-business breakfast meeting. So it’s a safe bet there will be more appointments made if needed.” She paused at the door. “Dinner is at three this Sunday.”
“I’ll be there, Nana.”
She hadn’t been gone twenty minutes when his sister, Mary, texted him.
MT: Nana says you folded like a house of cards.
He frowned.
MM: What else did she tell you?
He watched the floating bubbles, sure Nana wouldn’t have shared their personal conversation.
MT: I was kidding! She just said you were coming this Sunday. But now I’m curious about what ELSE you said?
Mike should have known his twin was just poking at him. And he’d fallen for the trap. His phone pinged again.
MT: Mike? Should I be worried?
Uh-oh. He’d fired up Mary’s twin sense.
MM: Everything’s fine. I’m just busy. And tired. C U Sunday.
MT: You work too hard. You need a paralegal or something.
He repeated that he was fine and she replied with a rolled-eyes emoji. She might be right about the paralegal. He’d been thinking of hiring someone. The recent real estate boom had increased his workload substantially. Mary was right about the sleep, too. But that would have to wait. He’d already told Zoey he had a nice bottle of wine from his friend’s winery.
Luke and Whitney Rutledge ran Falls Legend Winery on the hills above Rendezvous Falls. Falls Legend had become one of the premier small wineries in the area in recent years, once Luke and Whitney married and took over operations from her aunt Helen. Luke had stopped by the office that morning to discuss a potential lease contract for an adjoining vineyard and left a bottle of three-year-old pinot noir. There was no one Mike would rather share it with than Zoey.
The year after Becca died, Zoey had kept him going, and he’d tried to do the same for her after Chris left her last year. But now their friendship was...morphing. When they got together at the repair shop, it wasn’t as much for support or relief as it was about just friendship. He didn’t needto lean on Zoey—he simply enjoyed being with her. He looked forward to their time together.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket as he left the office at the end of the day and started typing.
M: What will a grape say if you step on it?
