Page 14 of A Summer Mismatch
Ever the peacemaker, Winnie said, “I try to remember that they just think I’m senile.”
Julia let out an abrupt laugh. “And that helps you let it go?”
“It gives me some cognitive wiggle room.” She waggled her eyebrows at Julia, making her giggle again. Only Grandma Winnie would use the phrase cognitive wiggle room.
She stared at her hands. “I didn’t realize Timothy got on your nerves.”
The timer on the oven went off, and before Julia could stop her, Grandma Winnie was up off her stool. She pulled the bread from the oven with a burst of delicious smelling steam that made Julia’s mouth water. Grandma Winnie’s garlic bread was legendary. “I was probably looking for things to dislike,” Grandma Winnie admitted. “It bothers me that he bounces you around like a yo-yo, pulling you close one minute and pushing you away the next. You deserve better. Like an”—she glanced around the kitchen and paused on her own torso—”apron. You need a man that’s an apron.”
“Clingy and willing to get dirty?” Julia smirked.
“Holds you close and is there for the successes and mistakes. And smells good too.” Grandma Winnie waved her hands about. “Look, my metaphor is a work in progress. All I’m saying is that you don’t have to live by the whims of others.”
“Easier said than done.” Julia studied her short purple nails. She had painted them just that afternoon. And then Cameron had wanted his painted green, so she’d done his next while they listened and sang along to a Disney musical playlist on her Alexa. Then Cameron had needed some quiet alone time to decompress, so she’d opened Allegra Winters’s historical romance, intending to only read one chapter but had been sucked in all the way to chapter five.
Which certainly didn’t have anything to do with the fact that the hero of the story was a frontier veterinarian. And shedefinitelydidn’t picture Logan Kent as the vet the whole time she was reading.
Mabel, the spunky heroine, would have never settled for a yo-yo relationship.
“All the best things take work.” Grandma Winnie patted her hand. “Go get the boys and tell them that dinner’s ready.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Julia
Everyoneatetheravioliand garlic bread enthusiastically, though the garlic bread seemed significantly less garlicky than usual.
Grandma Winnie’s words ran on a constant loop in the background of Julia’s mind.All the best things take work.What would happen if Julia said no more often? If she showed some spunk, asserted herself? What was the worst that could happen?
She might lose friends. Someone else would be inconvenienced. They would be angry at her, maybe even hate her. She could lose an opportunity to help someone.
But what could she gain? Time. The ability to choose the projects she was passionate about. And maybe she’d respect herself a little more—and all those self-help books from Grandma Winnie claimed that people would respect her more too. Julia’s older sister, Eliana, didn’t care if people liked her or not, but they sure respected her. And she had hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers to prove it.
Julia wasn’t Eliana though. She didn’t have the same tough exterior and thick skin. She was just Julia, and it made her feel good to help people and make them happy. Was that so wrong?
Julia helped get Cameron’s dinnertime medications ready and then started cleaning up the kitchen while Grandma sat at the table, typing something out on her phone.
“Where does this go?” Julia asked, holding up a spatula.
“Hmmm?” Grandma asked, clearly distracted as her thumbs flew across the screen at an impressive speed. Julia bit back her growing smile. It was like talking to a teenager.
“The spatula?” Julia asked again.
“Oh, in the cupboard next to the oven.” She finally looked up from her phone. “Don’t worry about the dishes. I’ll take care of them after you leave.”
Julia ignored her and kept washing them, and Grandma, so distracted by her texts, let her. Julia’s mind wandered back to Logan Kent and the weird mixture of mortification and elation she’d felt at seeing him again. The thought of crossing paths with him on Tuesday filled her with a thrill. Hopefully the birds were done bestowing luck on her head.
“Who are you texting?” Julia asked, once she finished with the final dish.
Grandma pulled her phone to her chest. “No one. Just some friends.”
“That doesn’t sound shady at all.” Julia laughed at Grandma’s sheepish look.
“Sorry I’m so distracted. I’ve made some lovely friends here at The Palms, and one of them has a crisis.”
“Oh, no. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, but actually… she could use some help.”
