I wrapped my arms around my grandmother and pulled her close. "I love you, and thank you for raising me to be a woman who's not afraid to be whoever I want to be."
"I love you too, dear, and I'm so proud of the woman you've become."
Tears pricked my eyes. I blamed it on the damn hormones because never before did I cry like that.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Maverick
What the ever-loving fuck was Jo thinking?
I tossed the newspaper on the table and stormed out to the reception area.
"You should probably calm down before you go see her?"
I turned on my heel and stared Annalee down. "What are you talking about?"
"You're headed over to Jo's house to confront her about the newspaper article. You should probably calm down before doing so."
"How do you know where I'm going?"
Annalee scoffed, "Oh, please. You expect me to believe you've just randomly taken a liking to the diner's food that you need to have it every day. Sometimes multiple times a day."
I hadn't thought much about it at all except to watch over Jo and make sure she was taking care of herself.
"She could be in danger. That's all. And now that her secret is out in the world, she's even more in danger."
"You keep telling yourself that."
Damn women. Why did that have to know everything?
"And just what exactly do you think is going on?"
"I know you watch her when you think no one else is looking."
Well, son of a bitch. It would appear Annalee saw more than I wanted her to.
"Why is it you haven't said anything up until now?"
"Because it's your business, and I'm not in the habit of butting into it. Plus I like my job here, and that seemed like a surefire way to get booted."
I laughed at her assessment. "I wouldn't have fired you for saying something."
"I'll keep that in mind for the future."
"Do you think I'm calm enough now to go speak with her?"
Annalee looked me up and down. "I would say so but remember to be nice. It's not going to help your cause if you go in there like a caveman beating on your chest."
That was probably the most accurate description of what I planned on doing, so instead I took a few deep breaths and drove over at a reasonable speed. My plan went to hell when Jo opened the door with fire in her eyes.
"If you've come to give me hell, you can turn your ass right back around."
I did the opposite of what she said and marched up the steps and straight past her.
"I didn't say you could come in."
She might not have said it, but she also closed the door behind me, so I took that as permission to be there.
