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"Are you sure? You've never even been on a date with a man, let alone gotten busy with one."
"Are you suggesting she should sleep with a man to find out if she likes it?" Bets asks.
"I'm just making an observation, but if she wants to take one for a test drive before committing to a purchase, well, I suppose that's her prerogative, isn't it?"
"Yes, I'm sure!" I cry, hiding my face in my hands. Maybe I should take up drinking. I don't even like the taste of alcohol, but surely, it's no worse than listening to Gran and Bes talk about my lack of a sex life. "I met someone."
Crap. I didn't mean to say that.
"Oh, dear," Gran whispers. "You've gone and fallen in love, haven't you?"
"What?" I pull my hands away from my face. "No."
"Oh, she has!" Bets cackles. "That's why she's been so cranky lately, Lou!"
"Who is he?" Gran asks.
"Does he look like the guy on that book cover?"
"Oh, my God." There's no way I'm telling either of these crazy women about Zayne. Knowing my luck, they'll be on his doorstep within the hour, demanding to know his intentions. Or, worse, demanding to know the condition of his package. Gran wasn't lying when she said they were old enough to do what they wanted. It's her motto in life now. And I'm pretty sure it's always been Bets' motto. "Can wepleasetalk about something else? This doesn't even matter."
"Why not?"
"Because it's never going to happen!"
Gran and Bets share a look before Gran reaches for my hand. "Come sit down with me, dear."
I reluctantly let her lead me to the couch, flopping down gracelessly…only to grimace when a knitting needle jabs me in the butt cheek. I retrieve it, setting it aside.
"Why don't you want to talk about your young man, Emmaline?"
"Because he's not mine, Gran," I sigh. "He's just a guy at work."
"A client?"
"No. He runs a private security company that Camila contracts."
Gran nods knowingly. "And he has a stick up his butt and doesn't know you exist? Your grandpa was the same way when we first met."
I snort, finding that hard to believe. Grandpa worshipped the ground Gran walked on, and everyone knew it. The man didn't have a poetic bone in his body, but he wrote her the sweetest love letters.
"Zayne knows I exist," I mutter. "The man won't leave me alone."
Gran and Bets share another look. I swear, they've honed their twin powers over the last eighty years. They say more to each other with a look than most people say in an hour of conversation. It's terrifying, really.
I'm not sure what they're saying now, but Gran wraps an arm around my shoulders, running her fingers through my hair. "Then maybe you should stop fighting to resist him and find out why he's so keen to chase, dear girl. Before you miss out on something you can't get back."
"She's right." Bets bobs her head in an emphatic nod. "You don't want to end up old and alone like me, do you?"
"You aren't alone, Bets. You have us."
She smiles at me, but it doesn't reach her eyes like usual. "And I wouldn't change a minute of it. But there are some mistakes you can't take back, sweet girl. I know because I made the same one you're making now. I fought it until I chased my man clean out of town. He went off to war, never knowing how I felt about him."
"Bets." My expression falls. I didn't know that. I always thought she never got married because she never wanted to be tied down. She's always been independent, seemingly content on her own. "Did he…did he die overseas?"
"What? Good heavens, girl, no. The man came home and decided to go to work robbing banks."
"Bets, I don't think this story is having the intended impact," I say wryly. It sounds more like she might have dodged a bullet if you ask me.
