Had her ex, Phil, thought he was the hot, fun one? Not that she needed to make everything about herself.
Granny turned her attention back to Gabby. “Not to suggest that you neglected Phil, dear. I never liked him.”
“Thanks, Granny.” The loyalty warmed her soul.
“And what is he doing with his hair lately?” Granny grimaced. “Is he dyeing it?”
Granny had a solid point about Phil’s hair. “I’m not sure if he dyed it or if just looks funny against the spray tan.”
Justin’s eyes went wide, and he mouthed something to Gabby.
Gabby ignored him and went on. “You know what I mean. His hair and skin are kind of all the same color now, like a cheapplastic doll.” A thought just struck her. “Do you think he’s getting Botox?” If he was getting Botox and she wasn’t, talk about a cruel world.
Justin started gesturing wildly and choking on his rosé.
“Slow down on the alcohol, young man!” Granny admonished. With a glance at her granddaughter, she said, “Botox won’t solve Phil’s problems. He needs a—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Justin caught his breath and blurted out, “Hi, Phil.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s more to life than being really, really ridiculously good-looking,” Phil said. He made aZoolanderface.
Gabby’s jaw dropped, and she turned to see her ex-husband standing in the entrance to the kitchen, toffee-colored from head to toe and holding a bouquet of flowers and a heart-shaped box of chocolates.
Gabby suppressed a moan. He must have broken up with whoever he’d been dating this week. That was his pattern. Find a woman, break up, run back to Gabby. He was nothing if not predictable.
“Hey, Gabs,” he said with a smile, “I thought I’d surprise you.”
“Did you just walk in?” Granny asked. “I didn’t hear the bell.”
“I bought—” From Phil’s indignant tone, she knew he was going to say something like,I bought this house. Of course I can walk in, but he stopped himself, took a breath, and held out the bouquet. “I bought these flowers for you, Gabby. I know they’re your favorite kind.” It was a bouquet of carnations from the grocery store with a small helium balloon on a stick in the center.
Her favorite kind? It’s like he’d never been married to her. “Thank you, Phil.” Not to mention the man was a high-powered investment banker for a huge firm. Carnations?
“And here are some chocolates.”
They were cheap gas station chocolates in a plastic container. She didn’t want them any more than she wanted Phil. Worse yet, she could see from the tag that they were from a facility that also processed tree nuts, which meant that Lucas would be allergic.
Gabby set them on the counter without a word, winding up to give Phil a piece of her mind. It would be better than stabbing him with the helium balloon’s stick. That would be a murder scene—stabbed through the heart, a tiny “Get well!” balloon protruding from the wound.
Justin stood, undoubtedly feeling the gathering storm in the air. “Well, I better be going. Gabby, we can do the reveal tomorrow.”
“No!” she said forcefully. She would not give up sleeping in her new room because Phil decided to show up uninvited. “Phil’s not staying.”
Phil perked up at the mention of a bedroom reveal. “Don’t mind me. I’d like to see what you did with my old office.”
Gabby cringed. How could Phil make this any more uncomfortable?
Justin shook his headnoa little too emphatically. “Later would be better. A bedroom is supposed to be a private retreat.” The way he said “private” rang alarm bells in Gabby’s mind.
Granny wasn’t having it. “Gabby has been sleeping on a couch for a week.” She started marching toward Gabby’s bedroom. “Why are you acting like it’s a secret? A bedroom has a bed, a dresser, and a laundry basket. That’s it.”
Justin scoffed. “Granny, what do you think I am, a Communist?”
Granny, who had defected from the USSR during the Moscow Olympics, raised an eyebrow.
Kyle appeared again and said, “The toilet is still like not right.”
“Is it an emergency?”
