Page 6 of Catching My Dreams

“That’s not neces—”

“I had a Tinder date last Friday, and I’m happy to tell you that Todd knows his way around a woman’s body. He was an animal. A very competent, very skilled animal.”

“Oh my god,” Ella muttered while her gran asked how many orgasms Todd had given the woman putting the top coat on her nails.

This was why she couldn’t take her gran anywhere. She was a public menace.

“Why don’t you get on this Tinder thing and find yourself a Todd?” her gran asked once Sophia had given them far too much information about Todd and his magical appendage.

“Because I don’t need a Todd.”

Her gran grinned. “Don’t be silly. Every woman needs a Todd.”

“Not me,” Penny chirped. “I’m perfectly happy with Bob.”

“Who’s Bob?” Ella’s gran asked before Ella could intervene.

And that is how Ella’s nail appointment ended with her gran learning about the wonders of battery-operated boyfriends before telling her granddaughter to invest in one. There was a chance Ella vomited just a little in her mouth. There was also a chance she would never recover from the experience.

“You know you can always call me,” her gran said after they’d returned to the assisted living facility she called home in Old Town. “I know it’s been a difficult time, and I need you to know that I’m here for you.”

Ella placed her grandmother’s walker beside the couch that she’d helped the woman lower herself onto, using the moment to gather her thoughts. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she crouched in front of the only family member who’d ever been there for her. Ella took her freshly manicured and stiff fingers in her own.

“I know,” she said. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

It was the truth. Her parents, who’d just recently chosen once again to travel overseas instead of come home to their daughter during their time off, were away more than they were ever home, and when they were home, Ella barely saw them anyway. Her gran was her family. Plain and simple.

The woman reached forward and ran a hand over Ella’s brunette hair. “I’m worried about you.”

“I’m fine, gran.”

She sighed. “You’re lying.”

The words startled a chuckle from Ella. She smiled sadly. “I suppose I am, aren’t I?”

“You are, but I’ll forgive you if you promise to call me first thing tomorrow morning to let me know you’re okay.”

Ella’s lips curled up. “I promise, but I have a class at eight-thirty, so it will be a short call.”

“That’s alright.”

Ella looked at her gran and her pale blue pantsuit, silver bob, and leopard print glasses. “Sex talks aside, you’re the coolest gran in the world.”

Her gran lifted her brows. “And here I thought the sex talks are what make me the coolest gran in the world.”

“Nope. They’re what bring you down to being just above Mary-Louise.”

The woman gasped and clutched her real-life pearls. “I am far better than that potato-stealing woman.”

Ella grinned. Her grandmother had never forgiven the other resident of the senior facility for taking the last baked potato during that Sunday lunch that had become legendary.

“I bet Mary-Louise doesn’t talk about sex with her grandchildren,” she said with a pointed look.

“And that’s what makes her as boring as that husband of hers.”

Ella admitted defeat with a shake of her head. “I’ll call you in the morning. And thanks for picking a color that wasn’t mustard yellow.” She wiggled her emerald-tipped fingers and appreciated the dark polish for longer than she usually would have. It was definitely one of her favorites.

“The yellow wasn’t that bad.”

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