What am I in for?
“Brady! So nice to see you again. I’ve got some muffins cooling—apple cinnamon today—and some nice hibiscus tea. Come on in.”
“If you’re offering to feed me that good, it’s a deal, Gran.”
“Boy, I think that smile could get you a hot meal anywhere in this city.” She winks and leads the way into the kitchen.
Unlike Lena’s apartment, this place is decked out with photos and kitschy decorations on every wall. Living proof of the long life Gran built here.
Still, with potted plants on every surface and the homey kitchen so well organized, it doesn’t feel too cramped. I’d call it lively.
“Sit.” She waves at the sofa. One half is covered in ample folded blankets, so I take the only free cushion. “Coffee or hibiscus?”
“I’ll take the tea, if it’s going.”
“Of course it’s going. You’ll drink up, and you’ll tell me why you’re here with that long lantern look on your face.”
“What look?” I call after her, but she just cackles as she heads into the kitchen. When Gran returns, she’s got a tray piled with muffins and two steaming cups of tea in blue-and-white china.
“Don’t flatter me, Brady,” she says before I can compliment her. “I’m too old and too curious why you’re here.”
I bite into the best damn muffin I’ve ever tasted and swallow before I say, “I’m looking for a missing person.”
“I didn’t know you were a cop, Mr. Pruitt.” Her eyes sparkle.
“Not technically, but this person means a lot to me.”
“Mm, yes. Only the world, I imagine. She would.”
“I didn’t sayshe, did I?”
Her grin feels endless.
“No, but I see that look in your eyes. You’ve come down with a raging case of heartsickness.”
“Like hell,” I mutter.
“Incurable, I’d say. It tends to make a person awfully irritable too.”
“And I’m guessing you have a cure?” I tilt my head. “How much do you know, Gran?”
“About what?”
“Lena and me.” Those three words feel like chewing broken glass.
“Well, I knew you two tried to wear out the bed.” She pauses, and I try like mad to delete that phrase from my brain. “I also know you made her blush and giggle like a prom girl. I’veneverseen my Lena smile so much since she was a kid. But she wouldn’t tell me much else, the poor dear. The girl will sit and chug my tea by the liter when it’s someone else’s drama, but she clams up the second it’s hers.”
The old woman sips her strong hibiscus brew.
“Somehow, I think you know more than you let on.”
“Young man, I told you, flattery won’t help you here.” The smile slips from her face, and she looks at me shrewdly. “She likes you. But I didn’t need to bring you that news.”
“I’d like to think so, but I can’t find out if I don’t know where she is, can I? I’m wondering if you do.”
For a moment, she’s silent, then she slowly nods.
“You men are all the same when you’re desperate.” She adds another spoonful of honey to her tea and stirs it, watching the swirl. “Did I ever mention my granddaughter, Elle? Myactualgranddaughter, that is.”
