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Nora looked between me and Gram. She was definitely not gung-ho, yet she smiled. “Sure.”
***
“This is absolutely incredible.” Nora walked out onto the terrace and looked around. “Is it even legal to barbecue out here in New York City?”
I smiled. “Not in most places. You have to be ten feet away from the building and any overhang. It was my only requirement when I was looking for a place to buy.”
“Big barbecuer?”
“I like to grill. When I was a kid, my parents took me out to Montauk every summer. The place we stayed at had charcoal grills, and my dad would sit outside for hours looking at the ocean and cooking ribs. I don’t know if it was the salt air or the smoke, but those things were the best meal I ate all year. After my parents were gone, I mentioned to Gram how much I loved barbecuing. For Christmas one year, I think I was about thirteen, she got me a smokeless electric grill. It wasn’t the same, but it got me into grilling. I would plug it in by the kitchen window so the breeze would come in—even in the winter—and grill all different dinners for us.” I shrugged. “I find it really peaceful, and food is so good cooked on a charcoal grill.”
“That’s a really nice memory.”
Today I had sausage, ribs, and chicken on the grill. I pointed to the biggest sausage. “I earmarked this one for you. I know how much you enjoy a big, hot sausage.”
Nora rolled her eyes with a chuckle. “You know, I’m on to you. You show a glimpse of a sweet guy and quickly cover it up with something dirty, so I won’t think you’re a big softie.”
I raised a brow. “I thought I’d already shown you there was nothing soft on me.”
“See? There you go again.” She wagged her finger at me. “But I see you, Beck Cross. You’re not the guy you want everyone to think you are.”
“Oh yeah? Then who am I?”
“Someone who goes to the Harry Styles concert and livestreams it for his grandmother because she’s too sick to go. I can’t believe you did that after our limousine ride home.”
My shoulders slumped. “She told you about that?”
“Why didn’tyoutell me you were doing that? I would have gone with you.”
“I only had one ticket. I really did sell them to someone, a woman at my office. They were for her seventeen-year-old daughter and a friend, but the friend got sick, so her daughter went alone to meet up with her other friends and sneak over to sit in their section. Plus, I wasn’t sure I’d make it more than five minutes at that concert, or that Gram would be awake when I called. She’s a night owl, but her sleeping schedule has been off at the hospital. So I called a nurse to see if she was still up. When they said she was, I figured I’d stop in at the concert and livestream the end for her.”
“You went to Harry Styles all by yourself…”
I nodded. “And I think that’ll be my last Harry concert. I was sandwiched between a gazillion screaming teenage girls wearing boas and too much perfume.”
Nora smiled. “That must’ve been some sight. I can picture it now. You, with your arms folded across your chest like you’re security, standing in a sea of teenyboppers. You must’ve looked as out of place as a fly on a wedding cake.”
I squinted. “A fly on a wedding cake?”
“Yeah. Who wouldn’t stare at a big fat fly sitting on a pristine white cake?”
I chuckled and flipped over the rack of ribs. “If you say so.”
“Anyway…Louise couldn’t stop talking about her private livestream the next day when I went to see her. Apparently a few of the nurses watched it with her. They were young and pretty, too. If your not-so-sly grandmother weren’t so busy trying to push us together, she might’ve fixed you up with one of them. They were swooning over the sweet grandson who would do something so thoughtful.”
My eyes met Nora’s. “I didn’t have anything to do with it, but I’m glad Gram got you here.”
Nora’s face went soft, but she quickly caught herself and scowled. “Stop saying nice things. It’ll give me a rash.”
Maddie came skipping out of the house. “Nora, do you want to see the badge I’m working on? It’s called digital leadership. I’m making a website to earn it!”
“You are? I actually have a website, too. It’s more of a vlog.”
“What’s a vlog?”
“It’s a video blog. And you know who the star is?”
“Who?”
