Page 56 of Matchmaking the CEO

"Grandfather, it's goodto see you at the table again," I said on Sunday evening. Gran had called us all out of the blue, inviting us for dinner, saying our grandfather was well enough to attend and he wanted to see all of us.

He nodded. "It was time. I don't know why the doctors were so stubborn. It was nothing bad."

"What are you talking about? Itwasbad," Cade pointed out. "You looked like a ghost. You couldn't even get up from bed.”

"Hey, let Grandfather play Superman," Spencer said. "It’ll do him good."

Grandfather stared at him. "Young man, I don't know what you mean by that, but I’m doing just fine. I’ll admit that I thought I'd recover more quickly, but I feel like I have my strength back." He looked at Grandmother with a wink. "Certainly enough to be at my very best for your grandmother's party and deliver all my dances."

Grandmother looked pleased. "That's still a couple weeks away. I trust you'll be in top shape by then. Although, your doctor did say you shouldn’t move around too much for the next few weeks."

Grandfather waved his hand as if it didn’t matter. He was stubborn, which was probably where we got it from. But I could understand his anxious state and wanting to get out and about.

"I'm glad you're looking better," Cade said, pulling my mind back to the moment.

"But you're still not to go anywhere near the office again," Gabe added. The carefree brother sounding so serious was very unusual.

"There's no need for that," Grandfather said, looking at me, "now that Jake's here. How are things going, Grandson?”

Grandmother cleared her throat. We’d discussed this earlier, and I agreed with her. Grandfather did not need to be burdened with any news until it was good news.

“You’re not getting any details,” I explained.

Grandfather looked at his wife. Grandmother simply shrugged, sitting down next to him.

She’d cooked five different dishes and made sure to include all our favorites. This dinner jolted me back to my childhood. Mom and Dad would drop us here for the weekend. Grandmother would cook our favorites for every dinner, making sure that by the end of the weekend, we all had our fill. Now, it seemed, she prepared everything for one single meal.

"And what do we have for dessert?” Gabe asked.

"Ice cream," Grandmother replied.

"Where did you buy it from?” Cade inquired.

"Oh, this quaint little shop." She rattled off the address, and I narrowed my eyes. It was the same one where Natalie and I had gone.

"How did you find out about that spot?" I asked.

"By accident." She sounded too innocent. "Cal came to drive me to the grocery store, and I saw that address in his GPS. When I asked him about it, he said he'd taken you to an ice cream shop. And then I remembered that Natalie also told me about it. It's her favorite, apparently."

“Yes, she told me about it too. We met there Monday afternoon.”

My brothers started to snicker at the same time.

"Grandmother's onto you," Cade said with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Yeah, I'm not sure that's a good thing," Gabe said.

"Grandmother, since when are your detective skills so developed?” I asked calmly.

"Oh, they’ve always been. I just don't have many opportunities to use them."

Spencer snorted. "Guys, I'm sure Grandmother is sleuthing all the time. She's just being very secretive about it. Unlike now."

"Yeah," Colton said, sounding as stunned as I felt. Then he looked at me, shrugging. "Be on the lookout, Jake."

"But wait, more importantly," Gabe said, snapping his fingers as if he'd just had a light-bulb moment, "Monday afternoon? That means you actually left the office early on your first day there."

"Define early," I said.

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