Page 59 of A Break in Communications

“I mean, you said it, not me.”

“You can’t spend your best years just… worrying about me. I won’t be around forever.”

I frowned, standing up taller, facing her. “Grandma, you’re not going to die from a broken arm.”

“I know that. You think I’m going to die before I see you and that underwhelming woman get married?” She snorted. “But I’m going to die at some point, no matter how much you do for me. Just… make sure you have other things in your life. That woman. Don’t take it for granted.”

I would never in a million years take Anna Preston for granted, if I actually had her. Still, I smiled awkwardly her way. “I know.”

“No, you don’t. You’re supposed to be out having a good life, not keeping me company all the time. Supposed to be out starting a family with that woman.”

“We don’t even want to have kids.”

“Ah, all the better. Having kids is a mistake. Ah, look here, you dumb little lady—just because I’m getting old doesn’t mean you have to, too. Now, get on out of here and let me sleep. I’m tired. And everything’s too loud right now. And if you see that nurse with the big chest, tell him I need some very close attention from him specifically or I might die.”

Maybe Grandma’s master plan was seducing a nurse half her age to look after her so I could have more time to marry Anna Preston. I wouldn’t put it past her. “I’ll tell him you need careful attention, maybe to read you a romance novel in his deepest voice.”

“Ah, you’re so dismissive. Just because you’re a lesbian doesn’t mean you can’t tell when a man looks good.”

“I’m dismissive because he’s probably my age and probably married, but I’ll pass the message along. Get some sleep, Grandma.”

Made good time, all things considered—still got to the office fifteen minutes early, before even Anna Preston arrived. Got to my desk, and I opened my computer and stared blankly through my files.

Everything I had worked out for the G&S case… I was in the middle of formulating something good, but Anna had beaten me to it. Guess there was no point now. Dobbs had put us on the case together, but I knew Anna had it taken care of. Now that I knew I didn’t have a shot, it probably made more sense for me to take care of my quotas and clean up my regular work so that I could spend more time focusing on Grandma.

But it was hard to bring myself to get rid of any of it, even just setting it aside to be forgotten instead of deleting it outright. Did what I could, but I couldn’t get my mind off of it and onto the regular work, and I was in a bad mood over it all when I heard tapping on my desk, and I looked up at where Kelcey stood swaying from side to side, batting her eyelashes at me. I kept on a polite smile.

“Kelcey, so good to see you,” I said, closing my laptop. “What can I do for you?”

“Good morning, Lucy,” she said. “How are things with you and Anna?”

I folded my hands on top of my laptop. “Any chance we can focus on work topics?”

Her face fell like I’d just killed someone in front of her. “Oh my god, so it’s true you broke up?”

I hung my head. “Because this is a conversation I want to have right now.”

“Well—that’s perfect, because I’m here right now and ready to have this conversation. What happened? Do you want me togo bring you a muffin? I always have a muffin and a coffee when I’m feeling sad and it helps pick me up.”

I sighed, pointed and heavy, and I strained a smile at her. “I was being sarcastic. I don’t want to have this conversation.”

She gave me puppy-dog eyes. “Don’t knock the muffin, though, honestly. Do you want to try it?”

Fuck it, I was going to start crying. I could at least cry into a muffin. “Sure,” I said, standing up. “Let’s go get a muffin on your dime.”

Her jaw dropped. “Where are you getting muffins for only a dime?”

“Four dollars, a dime, I’m sure it’s all the same to you… let’s go get a muffin on your four dollars.”

Nothing mattered right now, so I just shot Dobbs an email that Kelcey and I were talking business at the café for the morning around Anna’s big press release event, and I caught Kelcey off guard by taking her out of the office altogether, skipping the shoddy café in the lobby for the independent place down the street, normally a sleek modern place dressed up today in so much Christmas decoration that it felt more like Santa’s workshop. Ordered a Guatemalan pourover, for no reason, and a triple chocolate muffin, and I sat by the window with Kelcey underneath the big hanging wreaths.

“So what happened?” Kelcey said as soon as we sat down, and I shrugged.

“Some bullshit. I’m not looking to talk about anything, I just wanted a free coffee and a pastry.”

“Okay, I can start guessing.”

That sounded worse. “We weren’t really together in the first place, kind of just screwing around. You can ask your girlfriend to confirm it if you like, she knows all the details.”

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