Yeah, Grandma Freddy had been full of advice, but at least she’d been honest, someone Erin could talk to. Erin had tried to show Cody she cared. They’d dated for well over a year and exchanged the L-word before ever becoming intimate. She’d done her best to be a woman with a sterling reputation who respected him enough to take his lead in bedroom matters.
Who knew Cody had been getting his freak on with the blond lady in the SUV? Just thinking about how smug the other woman had been, how disgusted Cody had seemed that Erin might want to live with him, made her want to hit something. Then cry all over again.
“You stop that right now.” Tilly smacked Erin’s foot with her cane.
“Ow.” Erin glared and rubbed her foot.
“Good. You be mad, not sad. That fool doesn’t deserve one more tear.” Tilly shoved a forkful of pot pie in her mouth and with her mouth full said, “Did you ever cook for him?”
“All the time when he came to visit. I told you we met when I was taking care of my sister in Pennsylvania.” Back when Joy had been recovering from breast cancer, Erin had stayed with her, Tim, and their two children for six months. She’d cooked, cleaned, and carted her niece and nephew around while Joy went to chemo and Tim did his best to provide for his family.
Erin had loved being needed, included in their tight-knit clan. She adored her niece and nephew and still missed them.
“Technically, you can blame your sister for meeting Cody. She owes you.”
“No, Tilly. She doesn’t.” Erin let out an exasperated sigh. “As I told you before, Cody is no one’s fault but mine.”
“Good, you remember that.” Tilly pointed her cane at Erin, then put it against the wall to dig into her food once more. “Girl, you’re a wizard in the kitchen. You’ll have no problem finding a man worth keeping if you take it nice and slow. Don’t feed him any cookies until the third date at least, and don’t give him a piece of yourhoney pie, if you know what I mean, until you know him well enough not to blush when he takes off your bra. That always worked for me.”
“Honey pie? What… Oh!” It was like Grandma Freddy lived and breathed in Tilly. “Geez.” The woman had no filter. No one but Erin’s grandmother had ever been so frank with her. Heck, Erin’s mom couldn’t even say S-E-X without either spelling it or blushing fire-engine red. Not that they discussed more than recipes or family when Erin called home. Erin had learned about the birds and the bees from her grandmother and books. Period.
“Your problem is you’ve been sheltered,” Tilly said, as if reading her mind. “You need to live a little. Have some fun with a real man, but don’t feel the need to jump into bed or anything. I mean, you should if you want to. I’m all for sexual freedom. But that just doesn’t seem like your style.”
“Uh, no. It’s not.” God. Erin could feel her cheeks overheating. “More water?”
“Water? Oh, sure.”
Erin escaped from the table and took a moment to gather her composure. When she felt reasonably settled, she returned to find Tilly’s empty plate. She handed Tilly the water then sat to share the rest of the meal.
“What about Smith?”
Erin blinked. “What?”
“Smith Ramsey. My handyman. What do you think of him?”
Erin did her best not to blush. “He’s nice. He helped me move and didn’t make fun of me when I looked stupid with Cody.”
Tilly nodded. “That’s my boy. Smith is a good man. He’s a bit crass and obnoxious on occasion, but he’s kind at heart. And he can fix about anything.” Tilly gave her a knowing onceover Erin wanted to ignore but couldn’t.
“What?”
“He could help you get over Cody.”
“Really? Because I can’t even get a hello out of him,” she said, annoyed now that she thought about it. Then realizing Tilly might take that comment out of context, she explained, “I’ve tried to say hello when we pass each other in the hall, but he runs away or ignores me. I think he grunted at me once. And when I tried to bake him cookies as a thank you—not flirting,justas a thank you—I couldn’t find him to give them to him. Either he was out for two days or he ignored me knocking at the door.”
Tilly cackled. “That boy. You know, I don’t think he’s ever brought a woman home in the whole time he’s lived here. And my single lady tenants haven’t gotten anywhere with him, though I’ve seen him wave and be polite when occasion demands it.”
“Maybe he’s gay.” And wouldn’t that be a crime for single women everywhere.
“Could be. Though he sure seemed to like the look of Jill and Mallory Keen in their bikinis a few months ago at our summer picnic.”
Erin frowned.
“You know, that married lesbian couple in 5A? The real pretty ladies who strut around in shorts and yoga pants all the time?”
Ah, the personal trainer couple down the hall. If so, she couldn’t fault Smith his taste. They were beautiful and fit and made Erin feel like an out of shape frump.
Tilly continued, “Funny thing about Smith. He can be a right asshole to the men around here, but he’s always polite to the ladies. Well, to everyone but you, apparently. Interesting.” The calculating expression that crossed her face gave Erin the shivers.
