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Chapter 22 –Empty Chairs
Ruby
Once home, Jace and I released his new fish into the tank. I adored that tiny, perfectly balanced world. I was almost envious. We added plants and took plants away, got a bigger tank when warranted, balanced the chemicals, periodically changed up their environment, and provided everything they needed. I spent hours in front of that tank, watching them swim back and forth, and soaked up the peace.
I tore myself away from the tank and directed Jace to finish his homework. Amber and Alex would be there soon, and once Alex arrived, all homework bets were off.
I contemplated confronting Yiayia about talking to Jace, but she hadn’t said anything wrong. Her talking to Jace mostly irritated me because it was necessary. Somebody had to say something, it should have been me, but I resented the pressure to conform to someone else’s timeframe. Vander was pushing me faster than I wanted to go.
I snorted out a laugh. Twenty years in the making could not under any circumstances be considered fast, but a lot of rubble lay on the road between then and now, with precious little high or even solid ground to balance it out.
Had we been together all these years, there would certainly have been rough patches, but I had to believe there would have been long stretches of good times, too. Our history, laid out the way it was right now, resembled a broken road, and I wasn’t eager to travel it again.
Yiayia came in from the backyard, our large colander tucked under her arm. She walked slowly, almost shuffling, her back stooped. Her appetite decreased a little more every year, and she had become quite thin. My irritation with her melted away.
“What have you got, Yiayia?” I asked.
Her head snapped up. “Koritzaki mou! I didn’t know you was back!” She picked up her pace. “I got eggplants, lots of beans, and the last of the beets.”
I took the colander from her and peeked inside. “You got a good haul, today.” I carried it into the kitchen, her shuffling steps sounding behind me. I set it down on the counter and turned to see her bright eyes fixed on my face. Hopeful.
“How was last night, koritzaki?” She asked brightly.
I fought to hide my smile. “Interesting, Yiayia. But I don’t think he’s the man for me.”
Her face fell, and I could hear the disappointment in her voice. “Why not, koukla?”
I shrugged. “He just isn’t able to give me what I need right now.”
She grunted. “What you need?”
“Well,” I went on, carefully choosing my words. “I really wanted to get things moving right away, but he says it’ll be three to six months before he can start and that even then it might be slow-moving.”
Yiayia stood straighter. “Is that right?” She asked indignantly.
“Yup! It’s not unexpected, Yiayia. He’s a busy man.”
“Huh! Too busy, maybe!” She threw the beans into the sink, slid her ruby ring off her finger and placed it carefully into the little dish beside the sink, then began scrubbing the life out of the beans.
I needed to let her off the hook before she destroyed our dinner. She would be less than pleased with me if my little joke ruined her beans. I leaned my hip against the counter beside her.
“Why are you so upset, Yiayia?”
She threw the beans down and turned to look at me. “A man shows up after twenty years for his girl he better be ready!”
“What are you talking about, Yiayia? I just met the man.”
Yiayia side-eyed me for a moment, then caught on. “Ela, koritzi mou, I spank you for that!”
She held up her hand and waved her palm at me. A palm that had never once touched me with anything less than love. I’d been on the receiving end of a thrown slipper a time or two, but never her hand.
I laughed and hugged her. “That’s what you get for being nosy.”
“Ach,” she shrugged me off and went back to her beans. “I’ll chop you like the onions.”
I laughed and hugged her from behind until she patted my arms crossed over her chest. This woman.
“Okay, Yiayia. I liked him and I think I could work with him. He thinks we have a viable business model, but he doesn’t have a consultant free for three to six months.”
