Everyone loved Grams. She was the town grandmother. "How's it going there? Have you found someone to work in my absence?"
"Of course I did. Teenagers love having their own money. I had to hire three since they are new, but at least I don't have to worry about them getting knocked up and then causing trouble around town."
I choked on my spit. "Grams!"
"What, dear? It's the truth."
Okay, it certainly was, but she didn't have to put it like that. "It wasn't like I purposely got pregnant."
"No, but you purposely posted an article that put your life in danger."
I groaned. Now she sounded like Maverick, and damn if that wasn't annoying. "It needed to come out sooner or later. Speaking of. How mad is everyone?"
I could only imagine the gossip that was running rampant through the town now that people knew it was me who was writing all those articles. I never really planned for what would happen when they found out. I guess I had always just hoped they wouldn't.
"You're certainly the talk of the town, but I wouldn't say people are mad. Just surprised is all."
Well, that was a plus.
"And people want to know how you managed to keep it a secret for so long. A few people suspected you, but for the most part, it was a well-kept secret."
I sure as hell hoped it was because I went well out of my way to keep people from finding out. It would've been a tad embarrassing if everyone had known from the beginning and just wasn’t saying anything.
"It wasn't easy. That's for sure."
"Are you going to tell me how you managed to get all those secrets from people?" Grams attempted to whisper, but it certainly came out louder than she probably wanted.
"Working at the diner certainly helped. You'd be surprised what people say around a server because they don't think we're paying attention."
"Don't I know it."
"It also helped that I had an anonymous drop box on the newspaper website that people could send in topics they wanted discussed. I got plenty of material from there."
I usually had to wade through the bullshit to find the hidden gems, but it was well worth it when I did.
"How did I not know that was a thing?"
I chuckled at my grams. "Because you hate technology. You curse every time you have to use it."
Grams clucked at me. "It's taking over the damn world. People hide behind their devices and no one actually talks to each other anymore. It's a sad world we're living in."
I had to agree with her. People relied too heavily on technology. If it were to crash tomorrow, most people wouldn't know how to survive.
"Oh, shoot. Someone else is trying to call in. I got to go, dear, but call me again later so I know you're okay."
"Okay, Grams. Love you."
"Love you too, dear."
I hung up the phone, and sadness consumed me once again. For a short time, I felt like I wasn't trapped in these four walls.
"How's Bee?"
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard Maverick's voice behind me. Spinning on my heels, I glared at him. "It's not nice to scare a pregnant woman to death like that."
"Sorry. I thought you heard me come in."
I most certainly hadn't. The man moved too quietly for someone so large.
