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“Don’t you sass me, Jet Valentine,” she retorted, but there was a fond smile on her face. He loved to tease her. He was the only one of his siblings that dared, at least to the extent he did, and he felt like she respected him for it.
Hell, I’m probably cut out of her will, he mused, but at least I made her smile. That’s better than money.
“Sorry, ma’am,” he replied, his own version of a fond smile reflected back to her.
“All right, just don’t plan on making a habit of it. Now about this Saturday. Arlene Trelawney is throwing her annual Christmas do. The same pretentious wine and cheese affair she puts on every year. She told me she invited you.”
“She did.”
“Are you planning on attending?”
“God, no. Why would I?”
“Well, she’s dead set on having you there.”
“Again. Why would I?”
“Arlene is a frightful bore, but she does hold some sway on the city council. I like to keep her on my side.”
“I don’t know, Grandmother. Why would she even care about me being there? I’m not exactly in her target demographic.”
“And what target demographic is that?”
“I don’t know. The kind that uses the phrase ‘wine and cheese’ to describe their party.”
“Fair enough. It’s just too bad is all.”
Jet knew he was being set up. Her entire final sentence, as well as the overly cavalier tone she’d delivered it in, were clearly manufactured just to get him to ask the obvious follow-up question– why?
He wasn’t going to do it. He was above being manipulated, especially so openly.
Right?
After the statement had hung in the air for less than a minute, though, he found out that he actually wasn’t above being manipulated like that, apparently. He couldn’t stand it anymore and reluctantly gave in.
“All right, fine. I’ll bite. Why is it too bad?”
She waved her hand. “Oh, no reason in particular. Just that young Abagail is going to be there, serving as the resident wine expert. I thought it might be nice for her to have another young person there. For company, you know.”
He threw back his head and laughed. “All right, Gram. So, clearly you know that Abby and I have been seeing each other since I’ve been back in town.”
She gave him a small, sly grin. “I do.”
“And I guess you’re in favor of it, since you’re trying to get us to spend more time together.”
“She’s a fine, sensible girl. She has a good head on her shoulders. And, when she’s with you, she does the one thing that shows me she’s perfect for you.”
“And what’s that?”
Grandmother Valentine stopped again, and turned to face him. She looked him full in the face and patted his arm, then said, “Oh, Jet. You were always my sweet but mixed-up one. Don’t you see it yourself?”
Now Jet was thoroughly confused. “See what? What does she do?”
“She makes you the best version of yourself. She drives you to be better. When you’re around her, you’re never satisfied with ‘good enough.’ She spurs you on to greatness. When you have that, kid, you don’t let it go.”
