Page 38 of Player Next Door

“Well, I broke up with him.”

Grady’s blue eyes opened wide. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“It needed to happen. I was going through the worst moments of my life, and he wanted me to go to a party with him. We certainly didn’t have the same priorities.”

“I’ll say. Probably for the best.”

“You can say that again.”

Grady’s phone chimed. He pulled it out of his pocket and took a quick read. “It’s my mom. She’s summoning us back.”

The timing couldn’t have been better. Discussing Jordy was the last thing she wanted to do. They jogged back to the cottage, catching their breaths as they walked up the stone steps. Grady was reaching for the door when it suddenly swung open. Julia Radcliffe was standing there, the biggest smile on her face. Her deep blue eyes seemed to be smiling at Reese as she stepped forward and hugged her.

“Hello, Reese! We are so happy to have you here! When Grady told me he’d invited you, I was over the moon. You are a national treasure! And that sweet Cam! You two are the best figure skating pair of all time.”

“I don’t know about that,” Reese said, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

“You both are! And such a gorgeous pair. And a silver medal in your first Olympics? You made the country proud.”

“Mom, you need to get a grip.”

“Oh, you,” she said, swatting her son out of the way. She then grasped on to Reese’s hand and led her into the house. “I know I shouldn’t ask this, but I can’t help myself. Is Cam secretly your boyfriend?”

“Mom, I need to cattle prod you,” Grady said from behind them.

“Shush. Is he?” Julia asked, leaning in and whispering to Reese.

“He’s not. He never has been.”

“I knew it!”

“You did not!” Grady said. “You were convinced they were secretly married.”

Julia stopped and turned to stare at her son. “Don’t you have something to do?”

“No. Because right now I’m scared of leaving you alone with Reese.”

“You probably don’t know this, but I’m a huge skating fan,” Julia said, leading Reese into the dining room. There she had set up a teapot and coffee carafe. Next to them was a plate of various cookies and another plate of what looked like lemon poppyseed cake. “Please sit. Coffee or tea?”

“Tea would be great.”

“You pulled out the fine china?” Grady said incredulously.

“All right, I’ve had enough out of you, Grady. Your father needs help hauling firewood. Take your time.”

Reese tried not to giggle as Grady reluctantly left. Once he was gone, Julia motioned for Reese to sit at the table and poured her a cup of tea. Reese took a piece of lemon poppyseed cake, wondering how Julia knew that it was her favorite. On further thought, she hoped it was a coincidence, because if she’d found that out, what else did she know about her?

“I am just mortified about what is happening to you. That Jennifer woman should be sued for slander. Her story isn’t even believable. I’ve been reading that she’s doing all this to gain publicity for her skating academy.”

Reese broke a piece of poppyseed cake. “I really don’t know, and I haven’t seen or heard from her in years.”

“She’s not a nice person.”

“I think that maybe she’s a desperate person.”

Reese enjoyed her lemon poppyseed cake and listened to Julia’s theories. While she still didn’t know much about Ted, she could see that he was very different from his wife. Julia definitely had more personality.

“About Grady,” Julia said, pouring Reese another cup of coffee. “Are the two of you dating? My son is being cagey.”

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