Lenny shook her head. “Me too, but I swear the only person who loves him more than I do is himself.”
She so had a point. While Mr. Cooper was calm, easygoing, and had every personal trait that was fatherly and comforting, Lenny’s Grandpa Gus was… something else.
“Hey, we’re going to Mickey’s, right?” she asked, referring to where I had told her my coworkers were getting together after hours to celebrate Rogelio abandoning us.
“Yup.”
After my gynecologist appointment ended, I had headed over to her gym. Grandpa Gus had waved us off, telling me to take her away. We had left and gone shopping at the nearest strip mall, and then gone to eat afterward. Now, I was dragging her along with me to Mickey’s. Except we’d ditched my car at my house because she was the worst back seat driver, and I didn’t feel like getting griped at for driving too slow. Should she be driving with one arm in a sling? Probably not, but I wasn’t going to be the one to tell her that.
“Is Rip going to be there?” she asked.
“Doubt it.”
Her muttered “shit” made me laugh. She’d been trying for the last three years to make seeing him in person finally happen. I couldn’t exactly get her to come over while I was working.
“I just want to see him. Just once,” she said.
“I’ve shown you pictures.” Pictures I had maneuvered to get him into the background.
It was her turn to make a noise. “It’s not the same.”
“It’s the same,” I tried to argue.
“Maybe it’ll be my lucky day and he shows up.”
“Don’t hold your breath or you’ll end up passing out.”
We both cracked up just as her phone started ringing from where she had set it in the cupholder between our seats. Connected to her car’s Bluetooth, GRANDPA GUS came up on the screen of her dashboard. She didn’t hesitate to hit answer.
“Grandpa.”
“Can you head back to Maio House?”
Concern flashed across my friend’s face. “What happened?”
There was some rustling, then just barely the sound of Grandpa Gus whispering, something likeI will pop you if you ever use that tone of voice on me againfilled the car, but he wasn’t talking to us.
I had to press my lips together to keep from laughing, and it was obvious that Lenny was too because she shot me a funny face.
“There was an accident,” he came back on the line after a moment, his tone mysterious.
“What kind of an accident?”
There was a sigh and another whisper that sounded likeI don’t want to hear itbefore he came back on the line to respond with, “Someoneneeds a couple stitches and doesn’t want to go to the hospital, and Peter says he’s not doing it.”
That must have been enough of an explanation for Lenny because she groaned, obviously knowing whosomeonewas and why her grandpa’s best friend didn’t want to givesomeonestitches. I’d heard enough from her over the years to know he set noses regularly, glued things back together, and could fix just about every kind of dislocation without a visit to a hospital.
“All right. I’ll be there in twenty,” she agreed with a grimace.
“Okay.” He didn’t even say “bye” before he hung up.
Lenny sighed, but I beat her to it.
“You know I’d go anywhere with you, but you know I’ll faint if I see blood.” That was a true story. I was really squeamish. “Can you drop me off at Mickey’s since we’re closer? If you get a chance to come back, then come. If not, I’ll catch a ride home with someone.” Or take an Uber. I wasn’t planning on drinking.
Her fingers were already up at her nose, pinching the tip of it. For one brief moment, I wondered who thatsomeonewas. “You’re sure?”
“Of course I’m sure, bish. Keep my stuff, and I’ll get it from you this weekend.”
