Page 19 of Sweet Spot
“Sorry about that.”
She smiles, and it eases some of the tension for the night ahead. Gram appears, and Autumn steps forward. “Hi, Milly. These are for you.”
“Oh, how lovely.”
“I remember how you always had fresh flowers out. I used to love that.”
Grandma’s eyes sparkle, and her gaze slides over to me. “Isn’t that nice, Lincoln?”
Good lord, I’m sure she’s already imagining the flowers at my and Autumn’s wedding. Pump the brakes, Gram.
“It sure is.” I reach for the flowers. “Let me take care of those.”
“Nonsense, you don’t know what you’re doing. You kids grab a drink. Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes.”
We do as Gram instructed and head out on the patio. Maybe the fresh air will help me feel less like I might suffocate at any moment.
Autumn is exactly like I remember her. Tall and thin with long blonde hair. Back when we were kids she was all tomboy, but if her dress and high heels are any indication, I’d say she’s given up playing in the dirt and chasing lizards.
Our grandparents have lived next to one another for as long as I can remember, so we’ve bumped into one another a lot over the years. She and Kenton spent lots of weekends exploring the neighborhood while I tagged along with Pop when he went to work. He’d take me to the range, get me a bucket of balls to hit, and when those were gone, I’d sit on the ground and watch as he worked with clients. If it rained or when he travelled, I’d be forced to stay behind and hang out with my little brother and the girl next door.
“Relax, Lincoln, it’s just dinner,” she says after we’re seated. “You look like you’re ready to take off in a dead run down the ninth hole.” She inclines her head toward the golf course behind Gram’s house.
“Just dinner?” I laugh quietly. “You don’t remember my grandma as well as you think you do.”
She rolls her eyes and settles back into her chair, obviously more comfortable than I am. “What have you been up to? It’s been years. I was sorry to hear about you and Lacey. I always liked her, she was really nice.”
“Still is.” I take a long,longdrink and then fill her in on the major milestones of my life, which takes an embarrassingly short amount of time. “What about you?”
“I went to school upstate. Graduated last May, spent some time travelling Europe, and now I’ve accepted a position teaching middle school. It’s a long-term sub gig for now, but hopefully it’ll lead to a full-time job next year.”
“A teacher?” I ask in surprise. Then she shoots me a glare that I bet makes her pre-pubescent students wet themselves and wipes the look off my face.
As she’s telling me all the reasons she chose teaching as a career path, my phone rings with a call from my IT guy. Gram walks out to let us know it’s time to eat and eyes the phone in my hand with a disapproving scowl.
“It’s work. I’ll be right there.”
“Work can wait.”
“Five minutes.”
“Two,” she states firmly. “Come on, Autumn. I want to hear about your plans now that you’re back.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Autumn says, and they disappear into the house.
I place the phone to my ear. “Hey, Will. What’s up?”
“Hey, boss man. Site crashed.”
“How long?”
“Just happened. Looks like it was an operating system update. I’ll have it back shortly, just wanted to give you a heads-up.”
“Okay. Send me more information when you have it. Anything else?” I ask, mostly to delay going inside. Will is one of those guys who needs minimal supervision, which I appreciate more than he knows. I barely have time to manage myself.
“All good. We’re probably gonna need to add another server sometime in the next six months to handle the traffic, but we’re okay for now.” I can hear his fingers flying over the keyboard. “And we’re back. A few emails came in at the same time, I’ll put them in a zip file and re-send.”
“Thanks.”
