Page 38 of Crashing into Love

“All good for the night,” Grandma shared. “I’m about to go home. Olivia and Kelly are both on tonight, so you’re off as well. Understood?”

“Yes. I’m just going to play Monopoly with Gia and Drew.”

“Drew is great.”

“Yeah. How come you never told me you knew her?”

“Honestly, it didn’t cross my mind. She hadn’t been here in a while. Then, you had the crash at the Games, and it didn’t seem important to bring up that she used to come here. Has it been a problem that she’s back?”

“At first, it was awkward, but it’s okay now. And Gia really likes her.”

“Gia’s not the only one, I remember.” Grandma winked at her.

“It was a crush, and it’s over,” Selma told her.

“Sure, it is. Well, I’m done, so I’m going to go home and get some sleep. I’ve already had dinner, so don’t worry about that. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Do you want me to walk you home?”

“No. They shoveled the walk, and Howie is out there, so I’ll have him take me to be safe.”

“Okay. I need to go up and change. Say goodnight to Gia out there; if she looks up from her coloring, that is.”

“I will.”

Selma headed back out and watched Gia with Drew from the elevator, where neither of them could see her. Gia was teaching Drew some kind of hand-clapping game that she hadn’t taught Selma. She wondered if Gia had learned it at school. As she watched Drew or Gia laugh when the other messed up, Selma realized that she hadn’t yet pressed the call button for the elevator and turned to do so.

She didn’t have time to shower, so she ran a brush through her thick hair and pulled it back after she changed into jeans and a sweater. Then, she headed back downstairs as quickly as she could to relieve Drew of the free babysitting she’d been providing.

“Okay. What do you want to drink? On the house, obviously.”

“I thought the hot chocolate was always free,” Drew said.

“Drew, a real drink. Come on. Let me buy you a drink. You’ve been watching my kid for hours.”

“Mom, did you bring Monopoly?”

“Shit. I left it upstairs.”

“You said, ‘Shit.’” Gia laughed.

“Gia!”

Drew laughed, too.

“Drew!”

“What? You said, ‘Shit.’”

Gia cackled and practically fell into Drew’s lap. Drew wrapped an arm around her and laughed harder, too. Selma stood there, looking at her daughter and how happy the girl was with the woman who would soon be leaving, and she couldn’t help but think back to her last relationship. It had ended after about six months into it, the day she’d gotten back from the Olympics, and she’d never let him meet Gia. Her kid had only been six at the time, so she’d been terrified that if Gia had met the guy Selma had been dating, that she would get attached, and it would devastate her little heart if Selma wanted out of the relationship.

“You know what?” she said. “It’s getting late, and she still hasn’t eaten, right?”

“No, we didn’t eat,” Drew answered.

“Chicken fingers?” Gia asked.

“No, baby. Let’s go upstairs, and I’ll cook you a real dinner.”

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