Of course, it’s not him—I don’t even think he has my number,andI’m clearly losing my marbles to even thinkhe’dbe callingme—but my grandmother instead.
“Hey, Gammy.”
“Pot roast is in the slow cooker. Should be done in about an hour.”
There’s no preamble on her end, and because I’m a walking zombie, my mistake doesn’t click without the full reminder.
“I also made a batch of my biscuits you love so much. What time do you think you’ll be here?”
Shit.I completely forgot about the serious-talk pot roast and the refusal to take no for an answer. I meant to call her during my lunch break today, but I never got a lunch break. Maybe I’d have remembered this morning if Rook hadn’t thrown off my whole morning routine too, but between him and taxes, I barely have two brain cells to rub together.
Thethoughtof driving the forty-five minutes to her house, having dinner, and back again is nearly enough to break me. I can’t imagine how it’d feel in practice.
“Gammy, I’m so, so sorry I didn’t get in touch earlier, but I can’t tonight.” I cringe. “I’m still at work, and there are no signs of leaving thus far.”
Silence consumes the line and bleeds out onto my shoulders, doing one hell of an impression of a twenty-pound set of dumbbells. I feel awful, but feeling awful is better than feeling dead. At least, I think.
“You’ve been working late a lot,” Gammy eventually says. “Maybe a little too much, sweetheart.”
“Yeah, well, it’s tax season.”
“I know when tax season is,” she replies with the well-earned authority of a woman who’s lived through eighty tax seasons. “I also know when my granddaughter sounds worn so thin her priorities have started to jumble.”
I rub my temple, searching for an olive branch I can handle. “I promise I’ll come out this weekend for dinner. How about Saturday night? I’ll make sure my whole schedule is clear just for you. Maybe I’ll even sleep there.”
She pauses for a long moment. “All right, dear. I wish it were sooner, but Saturday will have to do, I guess. Everything else okay?”
“Yes,” I say automatically.
“And the people around you?” she asks. “How are they?”
My fingers still on the keyboard as my brow furrows in confusion.What is she talking about? Why the hell does she care how anyone else is feeling?
I’m too tired to question it aloud. Instead, I do my best to answer. “They’re fine, I guess. Alyssa is busy with school, and she’s the only one I really—”
“No, no, dear. I meant how are they…with you?”
“Gammy, not going to lie, you’ve been a little heavy on weird questions lately and very cryptic on the need to speak in person. I don’t get it. Did you get intel from the CIA about a sleeper cell in Concordia or something? AreyouCIA? Make it make sense, please, and do it slowly, like you’re talking to a child.”
“I just like to know that my girl is safe,” she says with a sigh. “That’s all.”
“Well, you don’t need to be worried,” I reassure. “I’m fine. I promise. My life consists of work, skate, and sleep. And every once in a while, I reward myself with a cube of cheese.” I offer a small laugh. One I hope puts her at ease sinceThe Devil Wears Pradais one of her favorite movies.
It doesn’t work, though, her gloomy mood persisting through a soft hum of disapproval. “And what about men? Any gentlemen suitors trying to grab your attention?”
“Gentlemen suitors?Come on, Gammy.” I snort. “Your age is showing.”
“I just want to know if there’s a new man in your life, sweetheart. Someone trying to be helpful, perhaps?”
Helpful.The word lands strangely.
I think of the flat tire last night and the way Rook Slater came to my rescue and changed it with such ease and speed,it felt superhuman. Along with the trash can this morning, his attention to rescuing me is compounding at an exponential rate.
Putting it to Gammy like that seems like an exercise in my own torture, though, and with Martin now standing in the door of his office, waving at me like he’s floating in the ocean waiting for a life preserver, I don’t think complicating this conversation is in my best interest.
Keep it simple.
“I did have a flat last night at the rink,” I answer. “One of the guys who plays hockey there helped me. But that was it, and I’ve known him for quite a while.”
