“Warm, honey,” she lets out a whisper that makes me smile. “You know it’s summer when you stand up and the chair comes with you. Stuck to my ass like glue, I tell you.” I giggle and cover my mouth. “Like my sweat is the paste.” She rolls her eyes and I see it right then. The similarities all the girls say I have with my Lulu.
She is so much fun. The kind of gran that is like an older best friend with years and years of life experience under her belt. She has a story for everything and no matter what you can always tell her straight. No need to filter or sugarcoat anything.
The three of us sit down, Mom making all of us a cool glass of lemonade and getting lost in Mom’s travel updates and Gran’s funny additions to the story.
Before leaving, my mother gets a phone call and excuses herself as I continue my goodbyes with Lulu. Just as I am pulling back from a hug she surprises me.
“You don’t think fake dating a handsome fella like Finn Armstrong is only setting yourself up for punishment?”
I say nothing, only stare at her with my lips slightly parted.
“Oh honey, Lulu knows everything,” she reminds me and instantly I think of all the times I thought I was being so sneaky and there she was, waiting, knowing all the details before I even walked back in the door.
“I uh,” I stumble and she laughs.
“You uh.” She nudges my side with her finger. “Didn’t think things through before you committed to this crazy plan,” she adds. “Finn is a different kind of man than the ones you’ve wasted your time on in the past.”
“Don’t I know it!” I confess, knowing there is truly no way for me to attempt to deny it.
“He’s not a boy, sweetheart. He’s the kind of man a smart girl knows to keep around,” she adds with a tap to the tip of my nose before turning around and walking away. Leaving me staring after her with a knot in the pit of my stomach.
Like I said from the start this isn’t a good idea. It’s going to blow up in my face, I just know it is.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Finn
Brushingthe dust off my hands I exit the garage and step inside my parents’ place. It’s quiet as I walk through and find Dad laying in bed.
“Hey, Pop,” I say not too loud in case he is sleeping.
He rolls toward me. “Hey, son.” Stretching out his arms he yawns.
“I replaced the handle on the walkout door in the garage for you.”
“I thought I heard someone moving around. Figure your ma was back too soon.”
“Back? Where’d she go?” I ask and rush forward to help him up as he starts to climb out of bed.
“She’s at lunch with Sophie,” he says in a rush as I pull him up and he stumbles a little. “Thanks.” He releases my hold and starts to make his way to the door. That’s when his reply hits me.
“Wait, what?” I say, shaking my head. He had to have said Marnie or someone else.
I follow him into the kitchen and he makes his way to the refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of water before sitting down in one of the chairs. It’s then I decide to ask again, knowing he was probably too focused on his movements to hear my question earlier.
“Who’d you say Ma went to lunch with?”
“Sophie,” he says after taking a drink of his water. “A young lady that’s been stopping by to do her nails and crafts a couple times a week. I think she met her when she had that ladies’ day with Anita and Marnie.”
“Sophie?” I repeat, my heart racing in my chest. “Sophie Powell?”
“Yeah.” He nods as he mulls over the name. “I’m pretty sure that’s it. Your mother lights up whenever she’s here. Haven’t seen her smile like that in months.”
I sit there feeling my chest grow tight and my thoughts run around in my mind. “Mom’s with her now?” I say more to myself than him, but he answers me anyway.
“Yes, they went to the cafe in town. She left about an hour ago.”
All I can do is nod, because I’m not quite sure how to respond.
