His eyes widen further, and he looks in danger of fainting. On the plus side, he must be generating enough adrenaline to burn through the alcohol daze.
“Are those people you’vemurdered?” he asks Nana, pushing up to a sitting position.
“Depends on whether you think marriage is a death sentence,” I quip. I’m not in a joking mood anymore, but I want to help ease his mind. Harry’s expression suggests he isn’t taking it as a joke, though, so I amend, “She’s not a killer, I don’t think. Those are couples she’s set up.”
“So that part is true,” he mutters under his breath. Turning to my grandmother, he says, “What did youdoto me?”
“You needed to loosen up,” she says without remorse. She taps one of her knees. “I had no idea a man could be such a lightweight.”
“I’ve been on a cleansing fast for the past several weeks,” he says defensively. “I wanted to be in good shape for my interview.” He pauses, thinking, then adds, “And I’m pretty sure I haven’t eaten since last night.”
“How much did you put in his drink?” Cole asks Nana in a hard tone. There’s no softness in him now. He gets up from beside the couch, crossing his arms in a way that shows off his muscles.
“Barely a drop,” she says with a dismissive wave of her hand.
Harry’s gaze shoots to Cole, and he does a double take. “Who areyou? I’d remember you.”
Story of my life, Harry. Story of my life.
Cole Garrison is not the kind of man you can forget, and looking at him now, taking in his righteous rage on behalf of Harry, feeling sore in the best ways possible from having himinsideme, I feel a surge of warmth.
“Someone who’s seriously considering calling the police,” Cole says, shooting a glare at my grandmother. “It’s not legal to mess with people’s drinks, Maeve.”
She keeps rocking in her chair, as if nothing and no one phases her. Maybe she hopes I’ll step forward to talk him out of it, but I’m not about to take her side. Cole’s right. She’s lucky she didn’t do serious harm to Harry.
“Do that, and I’m not the only one out of a job,” she finally says, lifting her eyebrows. “Sweet Teaover here wants to do the show. He told me it was his dream to work on it. Tina said the same.”
Harry scrubs a hand over his short hair. “You’renothinglike Willow,” he says. “Are you sure she’s not adopted?”
“She’s not,” I say, reaching over and clapping him on the back. He jolts a little. Oops. “I know this because I’m Willow’s sister, Holly. Good to finally meet you in person. Fair warning: my brother Rowan fully intends to strong arm you into moving in with us if you still want the job. We’re messy, but we have plenty of room in our house. It’s a mixed bag really.”
If his eyes get any wider, they’re going to pop out of his head. “Strong arm me…”
“Oh,” I say, flippantly. “I don’t mean that literally. Nana’s the only person who’s likely to make an attempt on your life or sanity in this family. The rest of us are way less dangerous.”
He doesn’t seem appeased.
“Let’s go, Holly,” Cole says, his tone firm.
“You’re not leaving me here, are you?” Harry asks in horror.
“Of course not,” I say. “We came here to rescue you. We’re your knights in…sweatpants.”
Nana gives a long-suffering sigh. “You’ve always been prone to melodrama, Holly.”
Cole bristles. He opens his mouth to say something, but Nana gets there first. Looking at Harry, she says, “You won’t be telling anyone about this, will you?”
His back straightens. “I want to be the one who initiates the Rolex ceremony.”
Finally, she stops rocking her chair. There’s an analytical look on her face as she meets his gaze. Her mouth twists to the side.
Harry’s eyeing her like she’s a feral dog, and he wouldn’t be wrong for thinking so, but I recognize this for what it is. She respects him twice as much as she did before he asked. Admittedly, she probably respected him only a fraction of a fraction of a percentage point beforehand, but still. He’s gained some ground with her, which is good if he truly plans on going through with this madness.
“Deal,” she says, then starts rocking again. “But your nickname on air is Sweet Tea.”
He considers this for a second, his gaze shrewd, then says, “Okay.”
From the exhilaration on his face, he considers this a pretty good deal. After all, only our grandmother will know the reason for the nickname. She’ll get to secretly mock him for months, but apparently that’s nothing to him when compared with leading this ceremony, whatever it is.
