Page 49 of Dreaming of You

"And I didn't know she hated the thing until about two years ago," Lance said. "I overheard her telling the cleaning lady not to break the bowl, because it would break my heart, even if it was ugly as sin."

"Really, Grandma?" she interjected. "You never told him that dish was ugly?"

"I didn't want to hurt his feelings. I felt bad when Lance overheard, but then he told me he'd never liked it, either. We'd both been keeping that a secret. We had a good laugh about it."

"But that's the only lie we ever told each other," her grandfather said, giving his wife a look of love. "We were always honest about everything else."

"Always," Bess agreed. She turned toward Kate. "Now, tell us—how did you and Barrett meet?"

She couldn't help but smile. "He knocked over one of the cupid statues I was storing in his office space and got shot by Cupid's arrow. He was covered in plaster dust, and he was not amused."

Barrett gave her a faint smile. "It's a little funnier now when I think about it. I didn't expect to run into a statue the same height as me."

"I told you they were only supposed to be six inches." She looked at her grandmother. "Barrett was furious. He ordered me to move those statues by Monday. I had to work all weekend to find a place to stash them. We did not start out on a good note."

"But you are friends now," Bess said. "After all he did for your grandfather, how could you not be?"

"We are friends. It turns out he's a much better man than I thought," she said, glancing back at Barrett.

"And Kate is nowhere near as crazy as I first thought," he said, his gaze holding hers for a long few seconds.

"Anyway, we need to go," she said abruptly, letting out a bit of a shaky breath. "We both have work. Do either of you need anything else?"

"We're good," her grandmother said, a twinkle in her eyes. "Thank you, Katie. For staying with me all night."

"You're welcome."

"And thank you, Barrett, for staying with me," her grandfather said.

"No problem. I enjoyed getting to know you and watching Kate's ballet recital," Barrett said.

"Oh, you didn't show him those," Bess put in.

Her grandfather gave them a sheepish look. "I thought he'd enjoy it."

"And I did," Barrett said.

"All right, we're going," Kate said decisively. She needed to get Barrett away from her grandparents before they told him more embarrassing stories about her.

They walked out of the hospital and into bright sunshine and crisp, cool air. It was a welcome relief after the stifling medicinal smells of the hospital.

"I feel like I've been here a long time," she said, as she got into Barrett's car.

"Was it a rough night?"

"Not too bad. I think I slept a little in the chair by her bed."

"You are a good granddaughter."

"I wanted to be there for her. And I knew my grandfather needed to rest." She fastened her seat belt as Barrett drove out of the parking garage. "A lot has certainly happened since I interrupted that fight outside your office last night."

He gave her a faint smile. "You can say that again."

"Did you sleep at all?"

"I did—in your old bed," he said. "Although, it was hard to fall asleep looking at posters of boy bands and unicorns—an interesting combination of likes, by the way."

"I haven't lived in that bedroom since I was seventeen. At the time, I was boy crazy, and I liked to believe in impossible things—like unicorns. I need to clean that room out, but my grandparents are always resistant when I suggest it, saying I should take time and not hurry through it, that I might want some of my things later even if they don't feel important now. They don't care for change."

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