Page 12 of Loved By Tandy

“You promise that you won’t go back to ignoring me?” I hate walking away now, but I have Grampy duties.

Jeremy isn’t the patient sort. He’s patting my cheek and pointing at the ball in the yard.

“Go play with your grandson.” Then she smirks.

The woman is toying with me, which is the Tandy I knew.

“Nice chatting with you.Finally.” I wink, then hurry away before she decides to swat me.

Jeremy and I find Josh, and we toss the ball around. Mostly, I toss the ball, and they giggle while they chase it. It seems like only yesterday I was tossing the ball to Zach and then Eli. Now those little boys are all grown up and have families of their own. Time is weird.

This is what happens when you marry young and live into your seventies.

Another little boy joins our game, and when I drop to my knees, pretending to be hurt, all three boys climb on top of me. I’m thankful to be healthy enough to play like this with these guys.

Trixie, my only granddaughter, isn’t much for rough and tumble play. Not surprising since she isn’t even walking yet.

Zach strolls out into the grass and scoops up his boys. “Time to eat. You need to get off Grampy.”

Laughing, they wiggle down, then run toward Haley, who is waiting near the back door.

And the other little guy follows.

Zach calls after him. “Aiden, your mommy and daddy are inside.” Then he turns to me. “I saw you talking to Tandy. Is everything okay? It looked like a tense conversation.”

“All good. Long ago, before I met your grandma, Tandy and I dated for a few years in high school. We had a rough split, and I was just smoothing things over.”

“You sure? Because her expression made it look like you were stirring things up.” He flashes that Gallagher smile. “But Cami will be excited.”

“Cami? Why is that?” I know the name, but I can’t say I know her well.

“She’s been telling Haley that you and Tandy belong together. Laughable, huh?”

I nod, but this tidbit has me intrigued. Did Tandy say something to Cami to make her think that? When I embarked onmy quest to get Tandy to speak to me, it was just so that we could be friends again.

But if she’s talking about me to others, maybe there’s hope for more. There’s no denying that Tandy was my first love. What are the odds we can rekindle that?

There’s no sense in both of us spending our golden years lonely.

On Tuesday,I show up to Tandy’s ten minutes earlier than I did on Monday. And I have my candy bag and a box of donuts with me.

Tandy opens the door before I knock and props a fist on her hip. “You need to stop bringing donuts every morning.”

“Why? Are you watching your figure? I can watch it for you.” I wiggle my eyebrows, which draws a smile out of her.

“You’re impossible. Did you remember to bring your cup?”

“Nope.” I set the goodies on the dining room table.

She hands me a mug that has Shakespearean insults written all over it. And it’s filled to the brim with coffee. “Good thing I got one for you.”

“Thanks. Should we resume that conversation now? Or do I need to wait until you’ve had more coffee? And two or three donuts.”

“I’d rather we never speak of that night again. It’s in the past. Let’s leave it there.”

“But you forgive me?”

After grabbing a donut, she sips her coffee. “Didn’t say that.”

---