Page 8 of From Best Friend to Bride
Fred peered up, and a ray of sunshine glinted off his thick-rimmed glasses. “I was trying to, until you so rudely burst in here.”
“We have different definitions of the word rude.” I looked at the puzzle book in his hands. Who still used paper puzzle books under the age of fifty? It was like a pensioner was stuck in a thirty-year-old body. “Well, since you’re not doing it right now,Grandpa, can you help me? I’m having a huge crisis, and my world is ending. The only person in the world who could possibly help me is you.”
He sighed the kind of sigh that could only be from an exasperated best friend who was absolutely sick of my shit, then dog-eared the corner of the page and closed the book. He made a big show of pointedly clicking the top his pen to retract the nib, then put the pen and book on the sofa next to him with a little too much vigour.
He slowly pulled off his glasses, pausing to fold the arms in at an excruciatingly glacial pace, before gently setting them on top of the book and hitting me with his deep blue gaze. “Who let you in? I must fire them.”
“Harry did, of course. Why else would he bring me to the office if he wasn’t the one who’d opened the door?” I replied, dramatically throwing myself down on the sofa opposite him. “Besides, who else answers the door in this place? If he didn’t, nobody would ever visit you.”
“I might prefer that, especially if you’re the visitor.”
I poked my tongue out at him in a way I’d done since we were children. “Do be serious, Frederick. I need your help.”
“I guessed as much, given the vigour with which you threw yourself onto the sofa. Have you been watching Disney movies again? I seem to remember the princesses throw themselves around crying occasionally. Lots of dramatic flopping onto conveniently placed water fountains.”
“Darn, I should have made use of that fountain in the driveway,” I mused, then flapped my hands and sat up straight. “Stop distracting me. I find myself in the middle of a crisis.”
“Yet you haven’t bothered to elaborate on it.” He eyed me speculatively. “If it’s because I didn’t tell you I was back…”
“What, do you think I’m so co-dependent on you that I can’t live without you?” I raised my eyebrows. “You think ever so highly of yourself, my lord.”
He shuddered. “Don’t call me that. It sounds wrong when you say it.”
“You’re such a dick.” So, what did it say about me that merely being in his presence made me feel so much better? “I came here for comfort and advice, not your abuse.”
“Abuse? You’re the one who’s called me an arse, Grandpa, and a dick since you walked through the door.”
I paused. “Well, you should know better than to arrive home without telling me.”
His lips pulled to one side. “What are you, my wife?”
“Please don’t say such terrifying things.”
“Then why are you here acting like it?”
“Ugh.” I grabbed a throw pillow and tossed it across the coffee table at him. “I should have known you wouldn’t comfort me. What a rookie mistake.”
“You said it.” He picked up his glasses. “If you’ve changed your mind, can I go back to my crossword?”
I stared at him. I didn’t really care if he did or not. We’d been best friends for so long that just being around him offered me a certain level of comfort. We knew each other better than anyone, and that was how I knew he was doing this deliberately.
There was no way Harry hadn’t told him about Nana’s diagnosis.
Fred was simply waiting for me to bring it up. Until I did, he was treating me like normal.
“Fine. Do your dumb crossword,” I said, pulling my phone out of my bag. “I’ll browse Reddit until the last of my brain cells die.”
“I thought you said you were having a crisis.”
“I am, but your crossword seems to be far more important than whatever chaos is unfolding in my life. Who am I to take you away from your puzzles?”
“I’m glad you understand that your importance in my life is beneath that of my crossword.”
“I pity the woman who’ll become your wife.”
“So do I. Can you imagine what her life will become when she not only gets me as a husband, but also you as a third wheel?” His eyes twinkled. “Poor woman.”
I wrinkled up my nose. “This isn’t some weird poly relationship you’re cooking up, is it? I want no part in it.”
