Page 55 of The Corner of Heartbreak and Forever
“Expecting company?” Grace asked as they pushed to their feet.
“No,” he said as they went inside and headed downstairs. He pulled open the front door as Nana, Hellie, Janie, and Janie’s guide dog stepped from the car. A second later, two younger girls climbed out of the backseat. Nana wore a pair of big, dark sunglasses. She squared her shoulders and looked at the others, as if she were the leader of the pack. Hellie smoothed her dark tunic over her hips. Her colorful skirt swept around her legs as she and Nana led the others determinedly toward the porch.
“What the heck are they doing here?” Grace descended the porch steps while simultaneously tying the hem of his jersey into a knot at her hip.
“There you are,” Nana said, and glanced at Hellie. “I told you they were busy making out.”
Reed chuckled.
“We werenotmaking out,” Grace said sharply. “How did you even know where I was?”
She looked so cute in his jersey, he wanted to…Why not?He pulled his phone from his pocket and snapped a picture of her.
“After movie night at the Majestic?” Nana waved her hand dismissively. “As if you’d be anywhere else?” She ducked into the car again.
One of the younger girls, a redhead, said, “Sorry to interrupt. We tried to call.”
“It’s okay,” Grace said. “Reed, this is Lauryn.”
The girl smiled sheepishly.
“And this is Phoenix.” Grace motioned to the other young girl, who waved.
“Nice to meet you both.”
“If Grace had answered her phone, we wouldn’t have had to interrupt your lovefest.” Nana handed Reed a bag. “We brought breakfast since everyone knows you don’t have a functioning kitchen.”
“How doeseveryoneknow that?”
“Never mind how,” Nana said with a sigh. “Just say thank you.”
“Thank you.” He peeked into the bag at the Tupperware containers. “Did youcookus breakfast?”
“We baked as we worked,” Lauryn said. “Nana and Hellie taught me and Phoenix how to make corn bread and cinnamon rolls.”
“Kids these days are so busy with phones and Facebook, they don’t learn the basic skills of life,” Hellie said.
“The reason we’re here is that we’re justsoexcited, we couldn’t wait to tell Grace our news,” Janie explained.
“News?” Grace turned to Reed and said, “Sorry.”
Amused by the whole scene, he said, “It’s all good. And now we have breakfast.”
“We finished our script!” Phoenix blurted out.
Hellie handed Grace a folder. “It turned out even better than we hoped.”
Grace opened the folder and scanned the contents. “You finished theentirescript? You must have worked all day and through the night.”
“Yes, ma’am. We practically had ourselves a slumber party. Worked right up until midnight and started at the crack of dawn again this morning. Now we’re here, and we’re going to make our masterpiece into a play.” Nana lifted her chin and said, “Andyou’regoing to produce it.”
Grace smiled, studying the script. Without taking her eyes from the papers, she said, “Uh-huh. Sure. This isreallygood, you guys.”
“I tried not to spice it up too much,” Janie said, “despiteNana’s prompting.”
Nana threw her hands up in the air. “What is it with you kids and your hang-ups about your bodies? Sex is as much a part of love as compromise and that squirrelly feeling in the pit of your stomach. It all goes hand in hand. And, Janie, I saw you and Boyd smooching at the ice cream shop the other night. You can’t tell me you don’t love to touch that man.”
Lauryn giggled.
