AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 19
Liam
I was drivingto Williston soon.My last long stretch there.It was the end of the twenty days that I was really looking forward to.After the epic sex in the shop, Kenny and I had made our way to my bed and we’d talked.And I’d invited her out for my last few days.
I reviewed the non-Kenny parts of my plan with Grandma Gin as I put chicken strips in the oven for supper and steamed a bag of vegetables.Minimal prep, minimal cleanup for her.I’d even talked to Eli and Owen about wiping their plates off and putting dishes in the dishwasher.
“So, I was supposed to work until the thirtieth, but uh…”
Grandma Gin paused in her prep of the tomatoes and cucumbers she’d bought at the farmers market.She didn’t go to the one I was banned from, but drove to Hazen and visited theirs, and she’d do that until I was issued a formal apology.So, forever, but Grandma Gin had my back.“Yes?”
“I have some days of leave, and I’d like to spend them…” Fucking Kenny’s brains out while we spent some kid-free days together.We wouldn’t be asking Grandma Gin for more than she’d planned already.
All Kenny had asked was that I be discreet.I hadn’t talked to Grandma Gin yet about Kenny, and I hadn’t asked Kenny if she minded.I kept meaning to, but then I wasn’t sure how I’d take it if Kenny said she didn’t want Grandma Gin to know.
“Anyone special you’re going to spend those days with?”She sliced neatly through a tomato, cutting even slices, waiting for me to answer.
“Yeah.”Please don’t ask for more details.I didn’t want to lie to Grandma Gin.She’d done so much for me.
“Owen said you’d had an overnight guest.”Slice.Slice.
“Kenny stayed to tuck them in and then helped out in the shop.”We hadn’t gotten a damn thing done other than epic sex.
It didn’t feel right to play it off, not to Grandma Gin.Kenny had told Laney about us.I needed someone on my side, and Grandma Gin had been there from the beginning.She might have reservations based on my history and Kenny’s, but she’d be happy for me.
“We’re seeing each other, but we’re keeping it quiet.”
“Mm.”That wasn’t exactly the reaction I expected.I couldn’t tell whether she approved or she was disappointed in me.She switched to a cucumber.“I also heard Cameron was here.”
The boys were shit at keeping secrets.And I was shit for expecting them to.“When I went to Hattie’s to discuss how I’d work with her, Kenny came along.Bruce and Cameron saw us.He had to warn me off.You know how he is.”
Grandma Gin snorted at the last statement.“Sounds like him.”She dumped the cucumbers into the bowl.“The thing with Kenny… I don’t know, Liam.”
Grandma Gin’s tone wasn’t resigned.It wasn’t full of warning.She said she didn’t know, and she meant it.She’d had my back since before I was born.If she wasn’t ecstatic, then I couldn’t ignore it.
“She’s really important to me.”
Her tone was gentle.“Are you important to her?Or is this a hurdle she has to get over?Part of moving on?”
I wasn’t a hurdle.I had to be more than that with Kenny.Why couldn’t I be the stopping point?My boys were thriving.I had my own place.I’d find a good job.
I had a lot to offer.For once in my life, I realized that.“She’s moving on, but I don’t think she plans to leapfrog over me.Why would she?”
Less drama.A chance to find someone who didn’t put her at odds with Bruce and Willow or make her defensive with her mom.Someone she could proudly be with around town.
Thoughts I hadn’t allowed to exist crowded into my brain.She wanted time.She wanted privacy.But what if, in the end, she didn’t want me?
Grandma Gin diligently worked on the salad, her lack of an answer increasing my anxiety.
No.I knew Kenny.She wasn’t a user.I was having a moment of panic that told me that maybe I should tell her how I felt.Tell her that I was in love with her.Then what?What if she didn’t love me?I’d just wait like I had been doing?
Grandma Gin started making homemade ranch dressing to add to the salad.Homemade so she could add buttermilk and sour cream—better than store bought.Only, her forehead wasn’t normally creased when she stirred her ranch.
“Then how long are you two keeping things quiet?”she finally asked.“If she’s already doing overnights, how long?Are the boys going to say something in town and be the ones to face the backlash?”
I scowled.“No.”I hadn’t wanted the kids to be confused, but I didn’t think about what they’d say in school, the teachers who would overhear.
“Then when, Liam?”She held up a callused, wrinkled hand.“It’s not my business; I get that.But when you’re using more energy to hide what you’re doing instead of talking about how to deal with people and their many opinions, that energy’s going to be wasted.You understand?”
