“What? I’m old, so I can appreciate a fine man when I see one. I’m qualified to decide if they’re fine due to my years of experience.”
She went even redder.
“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am.” The new man, Caleb, smiled at Grandma and then at her. “Nice to meet you as well.”
“You too,” Grace managed.
“Caleb is staying at Daniel’s old place that Macy was renting while he’s in town. He just got out of the Army.”
“Well, the town will always be glad to have another handsome man around to look at.” Grandma did her best to flirt. “Are you single?”
If she hadn’t still been looking at the handsome face and sharp jaw, she wouldn’t have noticed the little tick in the muscle before he answered. “I am.”
“Well, that’s interesting indeed. Mike, you keep him around and we’ll make sure he finds a reason to stay.” Grandma winked at them.
The entire table laughed, all four men grinning. Grace tried to melt into the floor.
“Well, we need to get to our own dinner. You tell the ladies to come by soon.” She waved as she pulled Grace away from the table.
They made it only to the next table when they stopped again. Grace looked at the man sitting there and waited to see what Grandma was up to.
“Grace, this is Ben. Ben, this is my granddaughter Grace I was telling you about.”
Shoot, shoot, shoot. This was a setup. Every alarm bell in her head went off.
“Grandma—”
“Have a seat, dear. I just wanted to do the introductions. I’ll be at my usual table.” She practically shoved Grace into the booth, her back now to the men she was just chatting with and facing the new guy.
“Uh, hi.” She gave a half smile and hoped this was as awkward for him as it was for her. She was wrong.
“Your grandmother said you were looking for someone to settle down with?” Ben immediately said.
There was a snort from behind her.
“I, umm…” she didn’t know what to say.
“Speak up. It’s loud in this place. Definitely not my first choice of places to meet people.” His tone was as snobby as his words.
“The food here is great,” Grace told him. “Actually, maybe we should go ahead and order; sometimes the food can take a while when it’s busy.”
“They should be better prepared then. But I already ordered for both of us, no problem.” He ran a hand over his slick hair and smiled like he’d done her a favor.
“Oh, umm--”
“I know what women like to eat,” he explained.
Then why did he need her Grandma to set him up on a date? She decided to just grin and bear it and hope that he ordered a burger and fries. The only way out of this date was going to be through it. Then she’d fuss at her grandma.
Their server arrived with their plates and set a salad down in front of Macy. She mouthed “sorry” as she did. Then, set a steak down in front of Ben.
“Actually.” Grace stopped their server from walking off. “Can I get a side of fries and some ketchup, please?”
“Sure thing.” She smiled and walked away.
“Carbs aren’t usually a good idea.” Ben proceeded to cut into his steak.
“I’m not on a diet or worried about my carb intake.” She jabbed the salad with her fork.
