Page 86 of Break My Fall

“How old were you?”

Meredith thought about it. “Fifth grade? Maybe sixth?” She laughed then. “I had to wash my hair in the cold water while keeping my body out of it as much as possible. There was a lot of squealing on my part. When I turned off the water and declared myself poop-free, Granny handed me a towel and told me to go to my room and shower again. Then she put Mo in, and Cal went last.”

Gray held up a hand. “You had a room at your grandparents’?”

“We have our parents’ rooms. More or less. Mo and I had our dad’s old room. When we got older, he shared with Cal in Aunt Carol’s old room.”

Something tickled her again, and she laughed harder. “Whenwe were all clean, Granny informed us that she had thrown our clothes on the burn pile. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so mad. Granny put up with a lot, but we pushed her too far that day. We were supposed to be going into town to have dinner. We’d run out to play, and that would have been fine if we’d come back ready to go. As far as Granny was concerned, we were far too old to be going on with such nonsense. She lectured us all the way to dinner.”

Meredith sighed. “We apologized profusely, of course, but that was the day we realized it was possible to tick Granny off.”

“I’m surprised it took you that long. Your granny isn’t a woman I would ever cross.” Gray turned onto the road that led into town.

“Yeah, but she’s my granny, and Granny spoils her grandchildren. I’m still spoiled. I know I am. I’m not sorry. My granny would turn the world upside down for me. So would my papa. My entire family. Not everyone has that.”

“No, they don’t.” His comment wiped the humor from Meredith’s gaze, but she didn’t question him.

“Of course, Papa found out about it at dinner. He was most displeased. But not that we’d gotten in a cow-patty fight. He was disappointed that we’d disrespected Granny.”

“Ouch.”

“Oh yeah. The disappointment factor was the worst.”

“How long were they upset?”

“Granny ordered us all desserts at the end of dinner.”

Gray paused at one of Gossamer Falls’ few lights. “That fast?”

Meredith’s smile was soft and held a flirtatiousness he’d never seen from her. “Lucky for you, some Quinns take after Granny. She has a long fuse. When you make her mad, you will know it when she explodes. But then she’s over it. She forgives quickly.” The flirtatiousness faded away. “Papa pointed out that night that we had apologized, and that we had repented, and that God forgivesand doesn’t hold a grudge, so neither would they. I’ve never forgotten it.”

She looked out the window. “Mom and Dad weren’t quite so forgiving. Neither were Aunt Carol and Uncle Craig. They told us that while Papa and Granny had forgiven us and our relationships were restored, that didn’t give us a pass on the consequences. We had to clean cow patties out of the pasture for the next four Saturdays. It was disgusting. Never forgot that lesson either. Forgiveness doesn’t mean there aren’t any consequences.”

“Pretty sure I’m living that out right now.” Gray pulled into his driveway. “Your family won’t be quite as quick to forgive me as you’ve been.”

“They’ll come around. Someday it will be a funny story with a lesson. Something we’ll be talking about for decades. Last Christmas, Cal found cow-patty ornaments. He gave one to Mo and to me each. But he also gave one to Granny Quinn. She thought it was hilarious.”

Gray chose not to acknowledge the way Meredith had indicated that she had, in fact, forgiven him or the part where she expected him to be around decades from now. Both statements filled him with hope. He parked and rushed to where Meredith sat waiting for him to open her door. She tucked her hand into his arm without any prompting and, once inside, allowed him to take her coat and scarf. She left her purse, with her phone poking out the top, by the front door.

“Shoes on or off?” she asked him.

“Your preference. I tend to keep mine on. I know there are germs in the world, but I frequently have to run out the door. If my shoes are on, it makes it faster.”

She slid her boots off, revealing feet clad in colorful wool socks. “I tend to take mine off, but only because I like to sit with my feet curled up in the chair. It makes me feel more comfortable.”

“Fair enough.” Whatever made her more comfortable, he was in favor of. He led her through his small front room and into the kitchen.

Gray poured Meredith a glass of water and set the tray of munchies he’d made earlier on the table. “I’m planning seared sea bass, risotto, and a wedge salad. Hope that’s okay.”

Meredith’s expressive features lit with obvious delight.

He gave himself an internal high five. He’d gotten it right.

“That sounds amazing. I’ve never tried to cook sea bass or risotto.”

“In the interest of transparency, the risotto comes from a mix, but it’s very good. Wedge salads only require the knowledge of how to slice iceberg lettuce into, well, wedges. And Cassie made the dressing for me. She said you were a ranch girl and wouldn’t touch blue cheese, so it’s wedge salad with ranch, bacon, and tomatoes.”

Meredith’s laughter stopped him in his tracks. He’d heard her laugh like that twice since he picked her up. He wanted her to laugh that way, many times a day, forever, and he wanted to be the one who made her do it.

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