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"Tonight, for dinner," Grams announces.
"Ah, well, I’m at work and—"
"My time is short, Giorgina. Every minute wasted is one I won’t get back. I’m going to see the two of you this evening at dinner. You tell that grandson of mine to bring you home by six p.m."
"But Grams—" the phone goes dead.
I lower it, and he takes it from me, sliding it into his pocket.
"I assume you heard that?"
"Loud and clear." He rubs the back of his neck. "You don’t have to come. My grandmother can be a handful, but if you’re uncomfortable with it—"
"I’ll come." I reach for my skirt and slip into it, then pull on my blouse before shrugging into my jacket. "I mean, that’s one of the reasons for this entire charade, isn’t it?"
He nods slowly. "I don’t want you to feel compelled to do something you’re not comfortable with."
"The only thing I’m not comfortable about is that your Grams sounds genuinely excited about our engagement, and it doesn’t feel right that we’re acting out a farce in front of her, you know?"
"But the end result is that she’ll agree to the treatment that'll give her a chance to live."
I nod slowly. "Couldn’t you have done this for real?"
"Done what for real?"
"Found a woman and gotten engaged to her?"
"What’s this then?" He points at the space between us.
"You and I both know our engagement is as fake as the snow in that indoor ski-resort in Dubai."
"Dubai has an indoor ski-resort?" He frowns.
"That’s not the point."
"Then what is?"
I throw up my hands. "You know what I’m trying to say here. Your grandmother seems to think we’re engaged."
"That was the idea. And our little interview earlier with the journalist clearly did the trick."
"But she sounded so thrilled and so looking forward to seeing us…" I lock my fingers together in front of me. "It doesn’t feel right."
He scans my features. "It’s bothering you, huh?"
I nod.
"If it’s making you uncomfortable and you don’t want to go through with this, then—"
"That’s not what I’m saying, either."
He rubs at his temple. "I’m not sure what you’re trying to tell me here, Goldie. Do you want to meet my grandmother or not?"
I draw in a breath. "Yes, yes I do. She’s looking forward to seeing us. I don’t want to let her down."
"Okay, good." He seems relieved. "Let’s take it one step at a time. Let’s get through dinner today and we’ll take it from there?"
* * *
