Page 5 of Dear Bookworm Beauty
“You look nervous,” I say, noticing Laurel twisting her hands in her lap. “I thought you two were friends.”
"We never met in person before. And she is the closest living relative to Josephine. I don't want to make a bad impression."
“That’s not possible.” I chuckle quietly to myself. “She will love you.”
I know I do.
“Do I look okay?”
“You look beautiful.”
LAUREL
I'm feeling so much at this moment. Not only am I about to finally meet Evangeline in person, but Grant just dropped the fact that he thinks I'm beautiful into the conversation like he was admitting something simple like he liked sunny days and then proceeded to get out of the car. I hadn’t planned on waiting for him to open my door, but I was still trying to process everything as he circled the car and opened it, reaching his hand out for me to take.
“You finally made it,” Evangeline calls from the front porch of the house.
I smile at Grant and run up the steps to greet her. It feels like I’m meeting an old friend when she opens her arms to me for a hug.
“Thank you so much for letting us come to visit on such short notice,” I tell her as I pull back.
Grant stands at the bottom of the steps, allowing us to greet each other.
"You sounded so determined on the phone. I couldn't say no to you." She turns to Grant. "I bet your young man understands that just as much."
“Oh, he’s not—” I start to say, just as Grant says to her, "Yes, ma'am."
“Manners.” She smiles at him and then turns to me. “That’s nice. I like your young man.”
“I do too,” I accidentally say out loud.
Grant beams and walks up the steps to stand with us.
“Come inside,” Evangeline instructs us as she starts walking towards the front door, her cane thumping against the old wood planks of the porch.
"I like you too," Grant whispers to me before moving around Evangeline and holding the door open for her.
A meal that could feed at least six people is laid out on the dining room table when we walk in.
“Mr. Waters has been cooking up a storm since I told him you all were coming to visit today," Evangeline says, sitting down at the head of the table.
Mr. Waters walks in with a dish of roast beef and sets it down on the table.
“I’m sorry, you didn’t have to go to this much trouble for us.”
“It’s no trouble,” Mr. Waters says brightly. “I enjoy cooking. You all coming here today gave me the excuse to go all out. I hope you brought your appetites.”
Grant and I sit down across from one another on either side of Evangeline at the table. She insists we fill our plates and dig in before there is any talk of why we’ve come. All she knows is what I told her last night when I called—that Grant and I made a discovery involving Josephine. She didn’t have to hear anymore, insisting we come to visit right away.
After we all eat way more than we should have and finish the small talk, Evangeline seems ready to know the details of why we came.
“So, you said on the phone that you two made a discovery. I’m all ears to hear everything about it.”
Grant and I exchange glances across the table. He gives me a slight nod, urging me to lay it all out on the line.
"I was doing research and reading one of Josephine's journals when—" I start to say but get cut off when the phone begins to ring.
“Hold that thought,” Evangeline holds up her hand to stop me. “I’m sorry, but I’ve been waiting on a call from my doctor. I need to take this call in the library.”
