Page 56 of Unexpected Ever After

“Thelma Thompson is your grandmother?”

“How’d you know?” she asked.

“She always talked about a granddaughter named Alora. I put two and two together when I thought hard enough about it.”

“She talked about me?” she croaked as more tears flowed down her cheeks.

“All the time. I saw her often before she was placed in the nursing home three years ago. She boasted on and on about how her granddaughter opened up her very own dance studio.”

Shock crossed her features as she let out a gasp.

Why did that shock her? Surely, she had to know her grandmother would talk about her successes.

Before I could ask her, a nurse entered the room to do her blood draw.

Please let that pregnancy test come back negative.

“Don’t tell me when you’re going to stick me. I don’t handle needles well. Almost always I jerk, and it ends with a blown vein,” she told the nurse as she placed the tourniquet around her arm.

I smiled at the thought of this tough girl in front of me being afraid of needles. She didn’t look like she feared anything.

As soon as the nurse was done, another nurse came in to take her for the cat scan. They must not have been busy tonight to get this fast of service.

“You don’t have to stay,” she said as he unlocked the wheels of her bed.

I held up my hand to tell the nurse to stop.

I leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead.

“I’m not going anywhere, dream girl,” I whispered against her ear before pulling back.

She shivered at my spoken vow. I nodded at the nurse, and he pushed her out of the room.

When she returned, I wanted to ask her a thousand questions, but it wasn’t the right time. Once she was cleared by the doctor and I took her home, then I’d ask her.

Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I checked emails and my texts, noticing that I had several unread messages from the group chat with my brothers.

Thorson: Did y’all hear about the lady who fell out by Toasted Bean? Rhett, did you get the call?

Knox: Yeah, I did. I heard she was hot.

Forrest: You two are a bunch of gossipers. Y’all are worse than the old ladies at bingo night.

I shook my head and laughed. Forrest was right. Knox and Thorson were worse than the old ladies at bingo night. Thorson was the oldest at thirty-three. He was also Sunset River’s sheriff. Knox was a year and a half younger than him and about to turn thirty-one. Forrest came next and had just turned twenty-nine. I was the baby, and they never let me forget it. Forrest and I were Irish twins at only eleven months apart. I quickly typed out my response. I needed their advice.

Me: Yeah, I got the call. It happened right in front of me. Knox, don’t disrespect her like that. You know Mom would have your hide if she knew. Want to know something crazy?

My phone chimed instantly with their responses. Were they stalking their phones, waiting for me to reply?

Knox: Alright, Dad. Don’t leave us hanging, baby bro.

Thorson: Out with it, Rhett.

Forrest: Secrets don’t make friends, bro.

See… Worse than the ladies at bingo night. They didn’t care what I had to say. They wanted the gossip.

Me: Remember the woman I met while we were in Miami a few months ago?

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