Page 115 of Against All Odds

She grins and then turns to him. “You bring Violet Stewart in here after fifteen years and this is what you get. You should’ve brought her here sooner.”

“Well, this was the first time I could get her to agree to a date,” he defends.

“To be fair, he didn’t ask me before today,” I say with a mischievous smile.

“He didn’t, huh? Not surprised. The brains in these boys are lacking, but they make up for it in their hearts. Now I’m going to go in the back and make you your favorite meal.”

Oh, no. I have no idea what she thinks my favorite meal is. “Aunt Marge, you don’t have to do that. I can order off the menu.”

“Good luck with that. The menu is whatever she decides we should eat,” Everett says with his arms crossed.

“If you were able to make good decisions, I wouldn’t have to step in.” Aunt Marge mirrors his posture and tilts her head. “I bet you don’t even know what her favorite dish is, do you?”

“Anything with sugar.”

I huff at that. “I like other things.”

“You bake. A lot. You like sugar and sweet things, and for some reason you like me.”

“Liked. Right now, it’s past tense.”

Everett tilts his head. “Doubtful.”

“See, no brains,” Marge cuts in. “I’ll be back with some wine.”

Before I can refute the alcohol, Everett cuts in. “No wine for us.”

Marge looks affronted. “No wine? On a date? Look, I know you haven’t had one in a long time, but ...” She leans in, although she doesn’t moderate her voice enough and I can hear it. “You have to wine her and dine her before you can ...”

He coughs. “Please don’t finish that. I might have to throw myself off a cliff. Neither of us are drinking, if you can bring us each some water to start.”

She shrugs, muttering as she walks away. “You can lead the man to wine ...”

Once she’s out of earshot, Everett groans. “Miles warned me about coming here for our first date. I figured she wouldn’t be bad, since she loves me.”

“Marge loved Miles most, if I remember correctly.”

“Seems she loved you most,” he retorts.

Marge was my favorite friend that Granny had. She was funny, never hid her feelings around us, always thought that kids needed exposure to things so we were prepared. Analeigh reminds me so much of her. Devoid of a filter and utterly lovable.

“I’m sure she would’ve felt different if I lived here.”

Before we can say anything else, Marge reappears with two waters and eyes Everett. “Are yousureyou don’t want wine?”

Poor Everett is going to get the heat for this, so I step in to save him from further ridicule from Marge. I reach out, resting my hand on her forearm. “I can’t have wine or anything like that. I’m getting over an illness, and with the medication I took, it’s for the best.”

Her eyes widen. “Oh, my heavens. I didn’t know you were sick.” She turns to Everett. “Lead with that next time.”

“I was trying to spare her the embarrassment,” he says with a sheepish grin.

Then she yells back to the kitchen. “Ignore that order. Way too heavy for them. I’ll come up with something else!”

“What were you making?” Everett asks. “We didn’t even order.”

“After the wine, I wasn’t trusting you to decide what to eat.”

He shakes his head. “I was warned and I didn’t listen.”

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