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“Nice old lady?” I pulled the skin on my neck taut and shaved a clean line. When I traced the curve of my chin, I nicked it.Shit. Damn cheap hotel razor.I got a piece of toilet paper to stop the bleeding. “That nice old lady also told me I was a gray sprinkle on a rainbow cupcake.”
Jake chuckled. “Man, she has you pegged and she’s never even met you. You need to relax a little. Gram is just trying to have fun. If I were in her place, I’d rather have three months of living than a year of waiting to die.”
I frowned. I wasn’t getting into this debate again. Three weeks ago, our grandmother had been told that her pancreatic cancer was back. It was the third time in ten years, and it now had metastasized to her lungs and esophagus. The doctors said another round of chemo and radiation would likely only extend her life expectancy from three months to nine. Though they’d also said there was a one percent chance that treatment could send the cancer back into remission and she could be around a lot longer. Gram had chosen not to have treatment this time, which we’d all supported, even though I’d selfishly wanted her to take the chance to be around in ten years.
But then she’d decided to take a crazy trip with a woman none of us had even met, and lately it felt like she was on a suicide mission.
“I gotta go. I don’t know what time they’re leaving, and I need to get a cup of coffee before I go argue with Gram.”
“What do you want me to do about the meeting?”
“Handle it.”
“You usually hate the way I handle things.”
“Surprise me. Goodbye.” I swiped my phone off and finished shaving. A little while later, I went down to the hotel lobby in search of caffeine. After pouring a cup of coffee, I turned to look for the cream and sugar, and my eyes meet a gorgeous pair of green ones. They were currently shooting daggers at me.
Shit.
Nora. The beautiful blonde from last night.
She was sitting at a table not more than five feet away.
“I see you found your way to the coffee,” she said. “Yet you somehow got lost last night on your way to the second floor?”
I shoved my hands into my pockets, feeling like an idiot. “About that…”
A familiar woman’s voice from behind me interrupted our conversation. “Good morning, my dear.”
I turned to find my grandmother. I’d assumed she was speaking to me, but her forehead wrinkled when she saw me.
“Beckham? What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk some sense into you.”
“Wait…” Nora’s mouth dropped open. “Beck as in Beckham, Louise’s grumpy grandson?”
I turned to her. “You know my grandmother?”
“Ummm... We’ve been traveling together for the last two weeks.”
“You’re Eleanor Sutton? I thought you said your name was—”Shit. You’ve got to be kidding me.I shook my head. “Nora…short for Eleanor?”
I’d assumed Eleanor was seventy years old, not a blond bombshell in her mid-twenties.
Gram motioned between the two of us. “You know each other?”
I wasn’t about to explain to my grandmother that I’d told her friend I wanted to fuck her like I hated her, then didn’t show up to close the deal. So I wasn’t sure how to respond. Luckily, Nora was better on her feet than I was.
She put on a smile even I knew was forced. “We just met at the coffee bar.”
My grandmother stepped forward and kissed my cheek. “Hello, sweetheart. It’s always lovely to see you. But if you’ve come to give me a lecture, I’m afraid you’ve wasted a trip, and you can turn your cute little derrière around and not let the door hit it on the way out.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “I see your sparkling personality is intact. How are you feeling, Gram?”
“If the dumb doctors hadn’t gone and told me the devil was back, I wouldn’t even know it. Maybe a little more tired than usual, but then again, we’re on the go a lot.”
“That makes me happy to hear. Can I get you some coffee?”
