“You told her that?”
“I sure did.”
Shanice also rises. “I’m happy for you.” She comes over to me, hugging me, and then kissing Charlotte when she squeals with laughter from the hug. “Grandma’s in love.”
I damn sure am, I think to myself.
CHAPTER 34
Ellyn
“Do you think it’s too much?” I ask Shanice as I watch her hand Meghan another set of Christmas lights to wrap around the banister of the porch.
“There’s never too much,” shouts Meghan over her shoulder. “Right, Randy?”
“Right, Auntie Meghan.”
“See?”
I roll my eyes. “I’ll take the word of a four-year-old,” I say.
It’s getting close to six o’clock, and while it's not dark out, the sun is beginning to set.
A quick glance over at Joel’s home and all of the cars parked in his driveway and the front of this house, reminds me that his entire family is over for the night. It warms my heart to know that he’s not alone.
Yet, I miss him. But a smile pulls at the corners of my mouth once I remember that we have a call scheduled for this evening.
“Okay, this is the last one and then we’ll do the reindeer after dinner,” I tell them.
“Ah, man,” Randy says.
“Excuse me?” Shanice corrects. “Grandma didn’t have to let us come out here at all to help her decorate.”
“Sorry, Grandma,” Randy says.
I bite back a grin because he’s just so darn cute. I won’t tell Shanice that I’m not even a little upset about his display of frustration.
“I still can’t believe you bought all of this behind my back,” I tell Meghan.
“Believe it,” she says, hands on her hips. “After my first day back, I thought there was a chance you would want to do a little more decorating. I saw the way your eyes kept straying to your favorite next-door neighbor’s decorations.”
She comes over and nudges me.
“Stop that.”
“I don’t think she was looking for the decorations,” Shanice adds. “She’s been doing it since we came out here. That or looking at her phone.”
“You two need to find you some business,” I admonish. “Give me my grandbaby.” I take Charlotte from Shanice and march up the stairs to my front door, which is now beautifully outlined by green garland and white lights.
“Neither one of you are too grown for me to wash your mouths out with soap,” I continue to rant as we move into the house.
I choose to ignore their snickers and giggles behind me.
“I didn’t even say a curse word,” Meghan says to Shanice.
“You don’t have to curse for me to wash that mouth out.” I spin on both of them.
Meghan holds up her hands but has a difficult time keeping in her laughter.
