Page 40 of Primal

I found Nana cackling, gathering a pile of chips in front of her, clearly having won a card game. Her friends threw their cards down in front of them in frustration while she grinned at me. “Oh, Riley! Perfect timing. I just cleaned up the table.”

“I hope you’re not playing for money, Nan.” Ileaned over and gave her cheek a kiss and said hello to the others around the table. I knew them all, and they definitely knew all about me. Nanalovedto share stories about her sole grandchild.

“Why, would you rather we played for clothes?” she asked then winked.

I laughed. Her friends pretended to be shocked, but I knew they loved her free spirit. Her friend Miss Ruby had told me once that things had been boring until Nana moved in.

“No, we’re just playing for street cred, and I have it all,” Nana declared, getting up from her chair. “Now, let’s eat. You sore losers can stay where you are because I have a date with my lovely granddaughter.” She took my arm and leaned on me as we walked slowly to the dining room.

“Have you talked to the doctor about your hip replacement?” I asked. She’d had it replaced fifteen years ago, but the last few years it had caused her a lot of pain. She pretended otherwise, but the main reason she moved into White Elm was because there were too many steps in her house. “Pshh,” Nana scoffed. “There’s nothing to talk about. He’s going to say I need to get a new hip put in, and I don’t want to go through that again.”

“There are my lovely dates for the evening.”

I felt the reverberation of Cody’s voice right between my legs. Yep. It happened every time he spoke. Nana stopped walking and looked up, and her eyes widened behind her glasses. “What is this?” She looked behind us to make sure of who he was addressing.

Before us was Cody, who held two giant bouquets of flowers.Theywere what took him the extra time.Flowers.

I’d never been given flowers before, and the look on Nana’s face told me that they were a treat at any age.

Damn, hewastrying hard. He really must be serious about this.

About me.

I mentally gave my dad the middle finger at putting doubts in my head.

“These are for you, sugar.” Cody presented me with a fragrant bouquet of big white Casablanca lilies and white roses as he bent to give me a peck on the lips in front of Nana and Sarah, who’d followed behind him, probably to lead him to the game room. Both gaped in shock. “And these are for you, Mrs. Abbott.” He handed Nana a smaller, but not any less gorgeous, bouquet of purple flowers.

“Cody McIntire, what is going on here?” Nanaasked, as if he was a toddler instead of a grown man. “You’re seeing my granddaughter?” She took the flowers and craned her neck to look up at him.

Now that his hands were free, Cody took off his hat, then nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

Nana turned her surprised gaze my way. I was sure my face was as pink as the roses interspersed in her bouquet. “How long has this been going on?”

I hesitated, and Cody spoke for me. Us. “Long enough for me to be sure that she’s the woman for me.”

Nana thrust her flowers at me, let go of my arm, and took Cody’s instead. “Well, it’s about time.” She looked at Sarah, as if for validation. “I have the prettiest granddaughter in town, and she hasn’t had a single boyfriend until now.”

Sarah grinned, looking as pleased as my grandmother.

“Nana,” I groaned, rolling my eyes.

Cody began walking her slowly toward the dining room. “That’s because she was waiting for a real man.” He winked at me over his shoulder.

I smiled into the flowers. Damn him and his cowboy charm. I was going to fall head over heels whether I could help it or not. “I’m going to put these in your room, Nana.”

“Nonsense.” She waved her hand through the air. “Bring those to the dining hall, so everyone can see what a thoughtful young man you have.”

Cody chuckled. “I appreciate you calling me young.”

Nana huffed. “Well, you might be a bit older than Riley, but that’s good. She was always yearning to grow up fast.”

I blinked and stared at Nana.

Wow. Really? My throat constricted at how well she knew me. After Dad’s reaction this morning, I thought everyone would hate this relationship… whateverthiswas with Cody. It came as a huge relief that my nana was at least keeping an open mind. Sarah didn’t seem all that judgy either. Only thrilled.

Nah, not justopen mind, but all in. She was on Team Cody from the very first sentence. Hell, from the flowers.

If Dad could only be so easily swayed.

---