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NINE
“I don’t know about this…”
“What is there to know? You’re having company. There’s practically been a revolving door here for the last two weeks. I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“It’s Grace. I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to her.”
“Oh, please,” she said, trying to keep the mood light. “You were married to her and had three sons with her. I’m sure over the last thirty-plus years that you’ve managed to string a couple of sentences together where you weren’t a complete doofus.”
“Ha, ha,” Cash deadpanned. “You know what I’m saying. This is…” Pausing, he let out a long breath and looked up at her helplessly. “It’s Grace.”
She stopped fluffing the pillows on the sofa and sat down on the floor in front of him. “Cash, you knew this was going to happen. You knew that eventually she was going to come here to see you. And if you ask me, the two of you need to talk.”
“But…Garrett and Emma are coming over and…”
“And they’ll come over after I text them and tell them it’s okay to.”
“What? Why would you do that?”
“Because this is going to be hard for the two of you and you shouldn’t be interrupted. As it is, I feel like a third wheel, but you both insisted that I be here so…”
“You know I’m just going to mess this up,” he said gruffly. “Maybe with you here, I won’t put my foot in my mouth or do something stupid.”
“Well…in all the years I’ve known you, that hasn’t happened, but sure. Maybe tonight will be the night,” she said with a sassy wink before she let herself get serious. “It’s going to be okay. If you want, I can call Jackson and…”
He shook his head. “No. The boys are very protective of their mother and they should be. It would be awkward.”
“If you’re sure…”
He studied her for a moment. “How are things going between the two of you?”
It wasn’t something she wanted to talk about with him, so she said, “It’s good. Everything’s great.”
“Uh-huh.”
“What? It’s true. He’s a great guy and everything is… I mean, we’re having fun and he makes me laugh. We have a lot in common too.”
He nodded.
“Stop doing that!”
“Doing what?”
“You know exactly what you’re doing! You’re just being blasé about the whole thing in order to make me spill my guts to you or something.”
“All I did was nod, Savi.”
“Yeah, well…we both know what that nod means.”
When he just continued to look at her—as he often did—she started blurting everything out.
“It’s temporary,” she said. “It’s always temporary. So for now, while I’m here, we’re having fun. He’s a pleasant distraction.” Pausing, she gave him a defiant look. “I know he’s your son and maybe you don’t want to hear him talked about like that, but there it is. Jackson’s dealing with his own stuff and I think he’s reading more into our relationship than there is because of it.”
Another nod.
“Because when all of this is said and done and you’re…you know…gone, I’ll be on my way,” she said defiantly.
“Any plans?”
