Page 12 of Cul-de-sac

“Which you failed.”

“Or I passed, depending how you look at it.”

Julia smiles. At leastsomeonein her family has a sense of humor.

“Do you really have a gun?” he asks.

“An antique, apparently.”

Her grandson’s turn to smile. “Where is it?”

“I have no idea.” Julia assumes it’s in the garage, in one of the boxes full of Walter’s belongings, but she keeps this to herself.

Mark pops a bite of the muffin into his mouth. “Nana…”

“Yes?”

“I’ve been thinking…”

Not too sure that’s a good idea,Julia thinks, waiting for him to continue.

He surprises her by saying, “Maybe I could move in with you for a while. Then I wouldn’t have to go back home and you wouldn’t be alone. I’m even a pretty good cook.”

“Really? When did you learn to cook?”

He shrugs. “None of Dad’s wives, including my mother, were too great in the kitchen. I didn’t really have much choice if I wanted to survive. Anyway, think about it. My moving in with you would solve everyone’s problems.”

Julia isn’t sure that his moving in wouldn’t create a whole bunch of new ones, but the fact is she adores her grandson, has from the minute he was born. It isn’t his fault that his father is a humorless jackass and his various mothers have been a series of self-absorbed bimbos. She’s reminded of the punch line to the old joke about why grandparents and their grandchildren get along so well:They have a common enemy.

Mark picks up the morning paper lying on the counter. “It’s ‘squander,’ ” he says, tapping the puzzle with his elegant fingers.

“What is?”

“The word you’re missing. For ‘spend wastefully.’ It’s ‘squander.’ ”

“You’re right.” Julia fills in the word. “Thank you.”

He laughs and grabs another muffin. “These are terrible,” he says, eating it anyway. “Pretty sure I can do better.”

“You’re certainly welcome to try.”

“We’ll go grocery shopping this afternoon. You’ll see,” he says with a smile. “You’re gonna like having me around.”

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