Page 27 of Undoing the Grumpy Guy

“Really? How?” I press.

Mimi ignores me and grabs her cane from where it’s leaning against her recliner. “Why don’t we go get some tea and you can tell me about your new man? Have you seen Anthony lately?” she asks, holding open the door for me.

My Dad has gone by Tony his entire life, and as far as I know Mimi is the only one that calls him Anthony. Even my Grandma Katherine, his mom, calls him Tony.

“I just came back from visiting him yesterday,” I say, tucking my arm through hers as we slowly head down to the cafeteria to grab two cups of tea.

Mimi takes a seat at one of the little tables for two while I fetch two mugs of tea, heavy on the lemon and honey for her and with a splash of milk for me.

Bringing the white mug up to her face, Mimi inhales and smiles, just holding it between her hands. “How is your father doing?”

“He’s about the same.”

Her pink lips pinch up. “Still living in that the crowded townhome?”

After Mom died, Mimi offered to help sort through her belongings, but Dad wouldn’t hear of it. When Mimi moved out of her house in the country, she had me come and get anything of hers that I wanted and then she sold or donated the rest.

She’s a firm believer in an uncluttered life and not holding on to things for mere sentimental reasons. She doesn’t think it’s healthy for Dad to hold on to so much and I can’t help agreeing with her. Still, it’s not my place to decide that for him.

At my silence, she nods and takes a long sip of her tea. “Tell me about you and Reed,” she says, obviously done with the topic of her son-in-law’s grief.

Carefully censoring some of the details, I give her a rundown of the dates we’ve had so far. Mimi laughs at the cat café and sighs over the beach walk and flowers.

“I still can’t believe you weren’t going to set us up.” I can’t resist bringing that up again.

“I went back and forth on it.” She sighs. “Elliot warned us that her grandson had a strong personality, and I know you’re one tough cookie, but oh, Winnie.” Stopping, she pats at my hand. “We saw him on the TV and strong was an understatement.” Her brown eyes widened as she gives a little shudder. “I worried he might not be a good man for you.”

“But then you changed your mind,” I say.

Mimi’s frizzy gray curls bob around her face as she nods. “I found out that underneath that tough exterior, he was a good man, and you deserve a good man.”

Cocking my head, I lean closer. “Good? How?”

Setting down her mug, she gives a soft smile. “Honeysuckle Senior Center is wonderful. Clean, comfortable, good food and staff, but it’s not cheap, Winnie.”

That I already knew. Dad hoped that the sale of Mimi Sandra’s house and investments would be enough to cover her expenses until the end of her life. But he put aside a portion of Mom’s life insurance policy money just in case because he knew Mom would have wanted him to care for her mother in her absence. That remains a secret between the two of us and I’ve never breathed a word of it to Mimi.

The rest of the insurance money went toward my college costs. The tiny bit remaining I’ve used to supplement my medical coder income to help cover my bills as I work on becoming a published children’s author.

At my nod, Mimi continues. “Reed pays for his grandmother Elliot to live here. Instead of the money coming out of her account, it comes from his. It’s all done in secret because he doesn’t want her to be upset over her dwindling finances or to find out how badly his father mismanaged her and her late husband’s investments.”

My mouth drops open. “If it’s a secret, how do you know?”

“Because Elliot told me!” Laughing, Mimi grabs her mug and grins down into it. “Nothing is a secret from her.”

Still chortling, Mimi’s wise brown eyes fix on something behind me. “Speaking of, there’s your young man now.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

WINNIE

With a start, I turn to see Reed’s tall figure entering the cafeteria, accompanied by a tiny woman with snow white hair and tons of dazzling jewelry. Despite her size, the woman’s spine is ramrod straight and when she spies us she marches over, leaving Reed to catch up with her.

Hopping up, I scamper over to him, barely stopping myself from throwing my arms around him. “Hi.”

“Hello, Winnie.” The way his voice twists my name into something naughty and sexy turns my insides to pudding.

“I didn’t expect to see you here today,” I say, tucking some curls behind my ear.

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