Page 110 of Crashing into Love

“Uh… Yeah?”

“Can you show me?”

“I don’t think I need to show you anything. You know how this stuff works better than I do.” She let go of Selma, though, and walked over to kneel down on the other side of the table. “Walk us through it. What does it do and how?”

Gia excitedly walked everyone through how all the levers and pulleys or whatever else was on the cake worked and showed how the cage dropped down, trapping a little mouse character beneath it. Then, she showed them how it could work differently by moving some of the pieces Drew had, probably painstakingly, put in position around, and did it again.

“She’s good for you and Gia, I think,” her grandma said as they both watched.

“Maybe too good.”

“What?”

“Gia loves her, Grandma.”

“So do you.”

“It’s too soon for Gia to get attached like this. She didn’t even care about a cake she’s been begging to eat since before I made the thing because she saw Drew standing there.”

“Oh, honey… She’s ten. Drew is cool and talks to her like she’s a grown-up. She also spends time with her, likes to let Gia talk about whatever she’s interested in, and that’s why Gia likes her. Don’t do whatever it is you’re thinking about doing right now.”

“I’m not thinking about doing anything,” she argued.

“Yes, you are. I know you,” her grandma replied.

Drew looked up at Selma then and gave her a wide smile.

“She’s perfect,” Selma said softly.

“No, she’s not. She might be perfect for you, though, and that’s what matters. You and Gia are a family, don’t get me wrong there, but you have this woman who cares about you and your daughter. You could all be a family one day, too, Selma. Don’t push her away because you’re scared.”

Her grandmother then walked over to the table and watched Gia put the pieces back together. Selma stood off to the side of the action and looked from her daughter to her girlfriend. Drew laughed at something Gia said. Then, she pointed at something. Gia moved it, and they laughed together. Selma let them play for a few minutes, but when her kid had more icing on her hands and arms than the cake itself did, she finally called it off and took the cake into the kitchen to try to cut it into pieces that people would actually eat. Drew carried in the pieces from the game and set them on the counter to clean later.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m okay. Why?” Selma replied as she cut the cake.

“You aren’t saying much, and you kind of looked like you were in a deep conversation with your grandma there for a minute.”

“Can we talk about it later?”

“So, there is something to talk about, then?” Drew asked and picked up two plates to carry into the living room.

“I’ve got it, Drew,” Selma stated.

“Got what?”

“The cake.”

“I can see that. I was just going to carry these out.” Drew set the plates back down on the counter then. “But I will leave them here instead and just… go back out there.” She took a step back. “Or do you want me to go, period?”

“What? No, I don’t want you to go. Why would you ask that?”

“Drew!”

They both turned to see Gia running back out of the bathroom where Selma had sent her to wash up.

“Can we play the game now?”

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