Page 33 of The Usual Family Mayhem

“This isn’t about me, you know,” she said.

Oh, Gram. “Maybe a little?”

She made a noise that sounded likepfft. That signaled an end to the argument. Some of the tension left her shoulders. She still held her body stiff but the strain around her eyes eased. Then she snorted. Number three. Three in a matter of five minutes, which might actually be a record.

“I just want you to think about one thing.” She stared at me until I nodded. “That man took so much from you. Don’t let him steal your faith as well.”

She kissed me on the cheek then called out for Celia. A few minutes later she was in the car, driving to the place that meant so much to her.

“I wondered if you’d cave.”

I squealed at the sound of Jackson’s voice. “What the hell?”

My stomach lodged in my throat. At least it felt that way. It took a second for my wild heartbeat to stop thumping in my ears.

Jackson stood in the kitchen doorway. He had the grace to look sorry. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I thought you left.”

“I forgot to drop some paperwork off for Celia.”

Interesting... or maybe not. Could just be boring legal stuff. “What kind of paperwork?”

“She can tell you if she wants you to know.” He shrugged. “Honestly, I was sneaking back in here to grab a muffin.”

“No church for you?” Funny how only I got interrogated for not going.

“I usually work on Sunday.”

Much more of that work schedule and he’d lose all of his personality. “That’s healthy.”

“I’m headed to the office now.”

He hadn’t changed out of his jeans. I liked the look but doubted his partners did. “Kind of business casual today, aren’t you?”

“I’ll be the only one there.” He held up a muffin. “This will help me concentrate.”

“Carbs have the opposite effect on me.”

“Running would help you with that.”

“Again, am I being hunted in this scenario?” He didn’t respond because we both knew the answer. “Exactly. Not going to happen.”

“There are still a lot of questions between us. Want to deal with them now?”

Wasn’t he chatty all of a sudden? Curiosity poked at me, but I had other activities in mind for the next few hours. “No, I’m good. Go put in ten or twelve hours of Sunday work time and we’ll handle the questions later.”

He didn’t leave. He stood there staring at me. “I know you’ll be alone in the house but don’t snoop through laptops and business paperwork while they’re gone.”

He knew. Of course he knew. “I can’t promise you I won’t see something while I’m in the house.”

The service lasted an hour. Including drive time and a buffer for gossip, that gave me about ninety minutes of uninterrupted time to look around for the previously locked cabinet and whatever Gram and Celia hid inside.

He shook his head. He turned away but then turned back to face me again. “One thing.”

Comments prefaced with that never led anywhere good. “Okay.”

“I didn’t have a date last night. I dropped off a friend at the airport. A guy I work with who was going out of town on business. He was giving me the status of a case.”

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