Page 27 of From Best Friend to Bride
I nodded. “Now, you know why I didn’t say anything.”
“Maggie.” Nana grabbed her arm with her other hand. “Is it true? Did you know this?”
To her credit, Granny acted the part of a woman who’d just had both the biggest shockanddelight of her life. “No, Judy, I had no idea!” she replied excitedly, clasping her hands. “They’ve hidden it very well—oh, I really must have caught them cuddling the other day!”
“That’s it, Granny,” I said flatly. “You got us.”
“Oh, dear.” She pretended to look embarrassed, but her eyes gave away her mischievous side. “Tell us the details, sweetie! How long have you been secretly seeing one another? Does he know Nana wants you to get married? Is he going to propose to you?”
I swear to God—
Nana’s phone rang in her bag, and while she fumbled inside for it, I glared at Granny and pointed at her before I mimed slicing my neck. She fought back a laugh at my silent threat, hiding her smile behind her teacup.
“Oh, it’s the nurse with my blood test results. I’ll be right back,” Nana said, getting up and weaving her way through the tables, bobbing happily with each step.
“She’s so spritely,” Granny said, marvelling after her. “You’d never think she was… well.”
Dying.
She was dying.
“I know. As much as I hate the thought of her turning down treatment, when I see her like this…” I shook my head. “This is the version of her I want to remember.”
Granny reached over and gently squeezed my hand. “It’s the version of her she wants to leave behind for you, dear. Which is just as well—did you see how her face lit up when you said that just now?”
I groaned and buried my face in my hands. “Goddamn it, Granny.”
7
DELILAH
ME: Level 5 emergency. Red alert. Open these bloody gates.
My phone buzzed as he replied.
FRED: I’m sorry, we can’t let any old riffraff into the estate.
ME: I can assure you that you want to let me in here before our grandmothers arrive.
FRED: What did you do this time?
I resented that.
Well.
I would if it weren’t my fault.
ME: It’s not what I did. It’s what Granny made me do.
FRED: Always shirking the responsibility.
FRED: Fine. What did she make you do?
ME: Open the gates and I’ll tell you, dickhead.
FRED: What you did depends on whether I’ll let you in or not.
ME: LET ME IN, FREDDIE.
