Page 353 of The Maxwell Brothers
He jerked his head back. "You’re flinging them under my nose and they're not even for me? Why are you so cruel?"
"You can always come back with me to the bakery afterward and have your fill.” Turning to Gran and Reese, I said, “I've made cookies for your trip. They're going to last for a couple days, so it's okay if you don’t eat them all at once."
"Sounds good," Reese said, excitedly rubbing her palms.
Gran beamed from ear to ear. "Declan, you found yourself a good woman."
"That I have," Declan said, keeping a hand on the small of my back. I liked being connected to him like this.
"Liz, you shouldn't have," Gran said.
"Of course I did. These are goodbye cookies."
"Thank you, dear."
"You didn't have to stop by, Gran," Declan said. "You could have just told us all to come to your house."
"Nonsense. In my time, before one left on a trip, they went out to meet and bid goodbye to friends and family. It’s easier to catch up with you all here at the office than dropping by yourhouses. I’m sorry I left it to the last minute, but I had so many things to do to prepare for the trip. I already spoke to your parents and to John."
"Who's John?" Luke asked.
Travis stopped pacing the room. Tate cocked a brow. Reese pressed her lips together, but she looked curiously at Gran.
"Oh, he's a very good friend of mine. You could say he's a companion."
Luke’s jaw dropped. "Wait, what do you mean, companion? You're dating him?"
"At my age, you don't call it that. You just call it going out for coffee."
The brothers all looked at each other.
Tate cleared his throat. "Good for you, Gran."
Poor guy, he sounded stunned.
"Why didn't you tell us about him?" Travis asked.
"It's none of you boys' business,” she admonished. “Besides, I'm not sure yet if I’ll introduce him to the family."
"Oh, come on, Gran. You've been going out for coffees for a few months, right?" Reese asked.
Gran frowned at her. "How do you know that?"
"Um…."
She waved dismissively. "It doesn't matter.”
“We should get going,” Tate said.
Gran nodded. “Okay. It’s good to see you boys. Behave while I'm gone."
"Will do, Gran," they all chorused.
"And wish me luck," she murmured.
"It's going to be fine," Reese said. "We're going to have fun in London, and you're going to meet your youngest granddaughter. I’m going to meet my half sister. I'm very excited."
"Bye, group. I'll catch up with you later,” Tate said.
