Page 107 of Just One of the Groomsmen
Her emotions nearly gave her whiplash as they thrashed from dirty thoughts toOMG, don’t let your face show your grandma that you were thinking about Tucker.
Or sex. Or sex with Tucker—especially not that.
Engage robot mode.
“Hello, love.” Nonna kissed both her cheeks, and Addie couldn’t help noticing that one arm remained behind her back. “I was at bingo and decided to stop by and see how my favorite granddaughter who lives in town is doing.”
“And if she’d let you eat your contraband takeout in her house?”
“No?”
“Nonna, I can smell the fries.”
Her grandmother closed the door with her body and held it in place like someone might come crashing in after her at any second. Then she brought forward a brown bag with grease splatters, and the scent of french fries grew stronger. “The youngest Bartlett boy was working the cash register at the diner, and he’s the only one Priscilla hasn’t gotten to yet. I saw an opportunity and I took it.”
“My casa is your casa. Bonus, we’ll get to have a double funeral when Mom finds out.”
“She take it too far! This week we had jackfruit masquerading as pulled pork, and she replaced the noodles in my Nonna Cavalli’s lasagna recipe with zucchini. That recipe has been passed down for generations, and I swear I sensed my nonna rolling over in her grave.”
Addie bit back a laugh, and they settled onto the couch, where she charged a fry tax for her troubles.
Then she was thinking about the job offer again. The excitement and possibility and being on the sidelines during the big football games, followed by the downer thought about how she’d live too far away for her grandmother to stop by unannounced.
Maisy would continue to provide her with treats that were secretly low fat and low sugar, but who’d trespass with Nonna in the middle of the night to plant flowers? She could get into real trouble, some that her sexy lawyer might not be able to get her out of, especially if it came down to her health.
“Didn’t you have a follow-up doctor’s appointment today?” Addie asked, and Nonna nodded without providing further information. The fries made her suspect she’d been told something bad about her cholesterol or blood sugar.
The woman was so stubborn that she’d formed a conspiracy theory about how they “rigged” tests so they’d have a reason to see you more.
“How’d it go?”
If it went well, Addie would feel less guilty about considering moving away from Uncertainty.
If it went badly, that’d be another reason she should stick close, and right now, she didn’t know which one to cheer for—the one where Nonna was doing well, of course, but she meant more which effect of the cause.
“I’m perfectly healthy.”
“And your cholesterol and blood sugar levels?”
Nonna chewed a little faster and glanced toward the window. “They fine.”
“You know that with a couple of calls, I can find out just how fine they are, right?” Half bluff, but Nurse Hays could be won over with muffins from Maisy’s bakery, and she was concerned enough about people’s health to the point that most of the time it didn’t even take that.
“Those doctors are in cahoots with the drug companies! They team up and tell you that you need medication that you no need.” Nonna jammed several more fries in her mouth. “I thinking of having my lawyer sue.”
She straightened, and the look she gave Addie sent a prickle across her skin.
“Speaking of my lawyer, why did Tucker drop you off at work today? Is your truck broken? I keep telling you to take my Buick. It’s reliable car.”
Oh, I’m not much for boats, she wanted to say, but she was fully aware of how much Nonna loved her Buick and how sad it made her that she rarely got to drive it these days.
“Sometimes I forget how wicked-fast the grapevine is here. He had to get a bunch of supplies for his boat repairs, and he stopped by for a few minutes and then took me to work. We also had lunch,” she added, since everyone in town had probably heard already.
Addie watched for signs that her grandmother suspected more was going on between them, but she either had the best poker face ever or she didn’t have a clue.
What did it say that not a single person jumped to that conclusion? She wanted to think it was a good thing, but maybe it meant…
Nope, not going there.
