Page 13 of Wrong Number, Right Unicorn

“Hey, Grams, I was thinking maybe I could come and stay for a few days.” If I acted like it was for me, she’d definitely be more amenable to me coming back. She really had an aversion to being treated like, quote, “a child.” “There’s an issue with my plumbing, and I need to wait till it’s fixed,” I lied.

“Sure, dear.” She went on to tell me about the new pillows she got for the guest room and then described the one she bought a few years ago. I’d made the right call.

I hung up the phone with her and grabbed mine, embarrassed to realize I hadn’t, in fact, hit mute.

“Sorry about that. Looks like I’m going to be spending a few days with Grams.”

“I heard. Plumbing, huh?”

I told him why I made the choices I did, including the lie about the plumbing.

“If we need to reschedule, that’s fine.”

“No, we don’t need to reschedule, but I’ll send you her address, and maybe we can eat at the diner. It’s pretty close to her house, and they make really really good pie.”

“Sounds like a plan. See you soon.”

I packed my bag, making sure to bring my great-ass jeans for my date. We wouldn’t be able to stay out long, and the food would be hardly woo-worthy, but it was a date with the man I was crushing on hard. Patiently waiting was going to be rough, that was for sure.

Bag in hand, I headed over to my new temporary home.

Grams was happy I was there and she wasn’t great, but she was holding her own. We fell into a pretty good routine, and more often than not she was coherent, especially in the morning. Maybe I hadn’t been far off when I said it was sleep deprivation to the social worker. I needed to suggest asking about a sleep study for her when the time felt right.

Finally, after what felt like forever, it was date night. Grams insisted Davien come in like a proper gentleman, and the two of them hit it off right away. She made him promise to have me back by ten—the curfew I had the summer I lived with her when my parents decided to do a month-long cruise. Some things never changed.

“Ready for our date?” I reached for his hand, and instead of taking it, he pulled me in for a hug.

“Now I am.” He stepped back, took my hand, and off to the diner for meatloaf specials and amazing conversation it was.

Chapter 7

Davien

Errol asked for the check.

This was awkward. I hated doing the dance of who should pay because one person often got offended and the process went on and on with both people saying, “No, it’s my treat.”

If I’d been thinking ahead, I would have fibbed and said I was going to use the restroom earlier and paid.

“That’s kind of you but?—”

“Hey, I might not have a spare five hundred lying around, but I can pay for a meal at the local diner.”

“Thank you. That was kind of you. I had fun.”

“Me too.”

I’d kept quiet about Grams since meeting her, but both I and my beast sensed something wrong. Her scent was off, and not because she hadn’t bathed or changed her clothes. This was deep-seated… a health issue… but I wasn’t a medical professional, so what could I say? Other than “I’m not human,and I can smell when someone is ill,” I couldn’t think of a way to broach the subject.

Engaging Errol in conversation about his grandmother might give me hints as to what was happening, but he clammed up when I mentioned her.

We stood outside the diner, both of us with our hands in our pockets, shuffling our feet. More awkwardness.

Why were first dates so weird?

“Do you have to go straight home, or would you like to come back to Grams’s place? She loves company.”

“Absolutely.”

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