“Yes,” she says. “I just wan?—”
“Hi, Virginia!” Beau calls out.
I whirl around, my eyes wide. Of course he’s grinning.
“Who’s that?” Grams asks suspiciously.
“What?” I slide the deck door open and try to squeeze through. “No one.”
“It’s Officer Palmer!” Beau yells as I slide the door shut so hard it bounces back and I have to shut it again.
He’s dead. So. Dead.
“What?” Grams barks. “Where are you?”
I wince. I could lie, but Beau’s right. I’m not a good liar. “At home.”
“Inmyhome? With a Palmer?”
“Grams,” I say. “Listen to me for a second. You remember how you pulled the fire alarm?”
“Yes.” The calm of her voice is audibly fragile.
“And how you told me to do whatever it took to ensure you didn’t get kicked out of Seaside Oasis?”
There’s a pause. “Did that Palmer boy blackmail you into going out with him?”
“What? No! Of course not. He’s helping me move some furniture for the listing pictures tomorrow.”
“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?” she prods, entirely unamused. “Moving some furniture?”
“Grams!” I instinctively glance at Beau through the glass pane to see if he heard. He’s holding Xena in his arms like she’s a chihuahua instead of a Chow Chow. He picks up her paw and makes her wave at me. It’s obvious he didn’t hear, though. “I’m hurt.”
“And how do you thinkIfeel? You’ve sullied my house. You’re canoodling with a Palmer!”
“You think I’m enjoying this? I’m sacrificing foryoursake.”
Shehmphs. “You watch yourself, Gigi. Those Palmers are expert deceivers. They make you feel you can trust them and thenWHAP”—she smacks something—“the rug’s pulled out from under you.”
“Simmer down. I’m not in any danger here. I’m just doing what I can to make sure you can stay there. That’s what you wanted, right?”
“Not like this.”
“Grams,” I say firmly. “Is it what you want?”
There’s a long pause. “Yes,” she mutters. “But no funny business!”
“I promise this is just regular old business—with a side of animosity and loathing. I’ll come see you tomorrow, okay?”
“You’d better.”
“Oh, and Grams? Please, for the love of all that’s good and beautiful, behave yourself until then.”
She cackles and hangs up.
That woman. I love her so much, but she is a piece of work. I can’t imagine what she must have been like as a toddler and a teenager. I also genuinely don’t understand how Dad turned out so…normal.
I head back inside, march straight up to Beau, and sock him in the chest. He doesn’t even flinch, but Xena does a little yip.
