Page 39 of About that Fling (The Can’t Have Hearts Club #2)
“Bald spot?” Gramps ran a hand over his shiny scalp. “Yeah, well, that runs in the family, too. You wait and see, Adam here will be dropping clumps of hair left and right when he gets to be my age.”
“No, I?—”
“Jenna is Adam’s girlfriend, Gramps,” Beth said. “Don’t you think he did better this time around?”
At that, Adam turned to face them, not sure if he was more interested in Gramps’s reaction or Jenna’s. He saw his grandfather grin widely, and Jenna followed suit, looking a little nervous.
“Sure am happy to have you here,” Gramps said, leaving it open whether he meant Jenna or Adam or the whole family. He looked past Jenna to Adam and nodded. “You have her eyes, you know. Edie’s. She sure was proud of what you made of yourself, boy.”
“Thank you,” Adam said, swallowing back the lump in his throat. “That means a lot.”
Gramps swiveled his gaze back to Jenna’s and grinned. “You sticking around for lunch, girlie? Corned beef and mashed potatoes. ’Course it’s not as good as what Edie used to make. Boy, she was one helluva good cook in her day.”
Jenna gave Adam a nervous smile, then turned back to Gramps. “Yes, that’s what Adam said. He told me about the little diner she used to own. How people would come from miles and miles just to have a slice of pie at Edie’s.”
“ED?” Gramps frowned. “Well, now you’re getting real personal, missy. A man’s erectile dysfunction is his own business, and they got those little blue pills now that can?—”
“Okay, Gramps, cut it out.” Beth was snort-laughing in the corner, wiping tears from her eyes.
Jenna gave her a perplexed look before turning to Adam. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “You told me he was hard of hearing, but I had no idea?—”
“What’d you say about my hard-on?”
Adam choked on a laugh of his own, his hand gently squeezing Nana’s. “Gramps hears just fine, Jenna.”
“What?”
“He got better about wearing his hearing aids a few years ago, so now he hears better than I do. He’s yanking your chain.”
Jenna blinked, then turned back to Gramps. “Is that true?”
“I’m not allowed to yank anything around here,” Gramps muttered, though the twitch of a smile gave him away.
“Nurse came by just last week and smacked it out of my hand when I was sittin’ there in the common area enjoying a little adult television.
If they don’t want us to watch the Playboy channel, they shouldn’t have it out there. ”
“They didn’t have the Playboy channel, Gramps,” Beth said, still dabbing at her eyes. “Not until you figured out how to hook it up illegally.” She nudged Jenna with her elbow. “In addition to his hearing being perfect, his mind is still sharp as a tack.”
“He teased us mercilessly when we were kids,” Adam said, watching as Jenna’s shoulders started to relax. “If it’s any comfort to you, he only screws around this way with people he likes.”
Jenna shook her head and turned back to Gramps, a smile spreading slowly across her face. A look of fondness had replaced the horrified expression she’d worn moments ago, and Adam gave her hand a squeeze.
“Jeez, you had me worried,” Jenna said. “I think I see now where your grandson gets his sense of humor.”
Gramps grunted. “Well if he’s good in the sack, he gets that from me, too. If he’s lousy, blame his father.”
Jenna laughed and leaned back in her chair, turning to beam at Adam. “I think I like this family.”
“Yeah?” he said. “I think I can speak for all of us when I say it likes you, too.”
Nana’s fingers twitched against his palm, so faintly Adam knew he might have imagined it. He looked down and saw her expression hadn’t changed. Her face was still serene and creased with age, and her hand still felt limp in his.
But her fingers twitched again, this time curling faintly against his, and he knew he hadn’t imagined it.
Across the room, Jenna and Gramps and Beth sat talking as the tiniest ghost of a smile played across Nana’s lips.
Then her hand went limp again, the rhythm of her breathing making the blankets rise and fall in a soothing tempo.
It was enough.
Later that evening, Jenna leaned back against Beth’s sofa, comforted by the feel of Adam’s arm around her shoulders. It felt natural there, like it had always belonged.
“Here you go.” Beth rounded the corner of the kitchen and handed her a stemless wineglass. “It’s a cab from a winery just a few miles from here. Very juicy, though it probably needs to open up a bit more.”
“Mmm, it’s delicious,” Jenna said, taking a sip. “Thanks again for dinner. It was amazing.”
“Don’t mention it. It was the least I could do after subjecting you to that bland crap at Nana and Gramps’s place.”
“I didn’t mind at all,” Jenna said, taking another sip. “Your grandfather is quite the character. Made me miss my own grandpa.”
Beth smiled. “We’re lucky we’ve had both our grandparents this long. Most of my friends lost theirs in middle school and high school.”
Adam slid his arm around Jenna’s shoulder and craned his neck to look at his sister. “How’s the new job going?”
“Great! Get this.” She leaned forward conspiratorially. “Guess who owns the place?”
Jenna tilted her head. “Adam tells me you work at a bookstore?”
“A bookstore that’s also a cat cafe.” She looked back at Adam. “The owner is Joe Porter—as in Vivienne Brandt’s husband?”
“No kidding?” Adam nodded at Jenna. “They co-wrote her last book together. He has this whole ‘Average Joe’ schtick where he gives regular-guy counterpoints to Dr. Viv’s clinical perspectives.”
“He’s a really cool guy.” Beth sipped her wine.
“Goes by Jonah, not Joe, and he never talks about Dr. Viv. I mean never. Doesn’t even carry their book in the store.
” She shrugged and set down her glass. “I get the sense he likes to stay incognito. Probably wants to be known as himself and not as his famous wife’s sidekick, you know? ”
“That makes sense.” Jenna quietly marveled at the PR magic required to navigate a situation like that. They must have an excellent team. “How do you like living in Seattle, Beth?”
“I love it. Way different from Chicago, but that’s a good thing. And it’s nice being this close to Grandma and Gramps.”
Adam’s fingers stroked Jenna’s shoulder, such a casual gesture that left her feeling soothed and desired at the same time.
“Was that the doctor on the phone earlier?” he asked Beth.
“Yeah. He normally checks in a couple times a week, but he’s been more in-touch since she started this downhill slide.”
Jenna watched Adam’s throat roll as he swallowed. “Anything new on her condition?”
Beth shook her head. “He said it could be a few weeks, could be a few hours. Usually at the point where the patient stops eating and drinking, it doesn’t take long.”
“Yeah, but this is Nana we’re talking about,” Adam said. “She’s probably got a little more fighting spirit than the average ninety-year-old.”
“Could be.” Beth shifted in the a tufted leather chair beside the television. “Then again, she might be ready to quit fighting and rest for a change.”
Jenna slid her hand to Adam’s knee and gave a small squeeze she hoped he took as comforting rather than lecherous. Or maybe he found lechery comforting. Now that she’d met Gramps, she wouldn’t be surprised.
She turned to Beth, who was making fast work of her wine. “Do you have any videos of your grandmother? I’d love to see what she was like before she got sick.”
“That’s a great idea.” Beth thunked her wineglass onto the end table and dropped to her knees in front of a large chest fringed with copper rivets. “I’ve got a bunch of old DVDs here. I swear, I’m the last person on earth who hasn’t converted them all to digital format.”
“Luckily, you’re also a packrat,” Adam said, plucking Jenna’s wineglass from her fingers and taking a sip. “You’re also the only person on earth who still has a DVD player.”
Beth grinned and shoved the disc into the player, while Jenna leaned back against Adam’s arm, feeling warm and safe and stupidly happy. “You like the wine?” she asked.
“I do,” he murmured. “It’s different from what you’ve been introducing me to lately—all the Oregon Pinots?”
Jenna nodded, surprised he noticed. “This cab is really juicy—a little higher in tannins. Pinot tends to be a little closer to medium bodied, and the earthy ones are my favorite. The one we had with dinner is a great example.”
“Juicy versus earthy,” he repeated, taking another thoughtful sip of the cab. “Yeah, I think I see what you mean.”
“You sure you don’t want your own glass?”
“Nope, I don’t want the wine.” He planted a kiss along her hairline as he handed the glass back to her. “I just wanted a chance to put my lips someplace yours had been.”
“In that case,” she whispered, “you should work on your contortionist skills.”
He laughed and kissed her forehead this time, pulling her tighter against him so she could feel the ridges of his abs against the base of her ribcage.
Funny how aware she was of every spot where their bodies touched, all the little ways they connected.
She felt like she belonged here. Like they’d always been together, connected by breath and bone and skin.
Being here with him like this, she felt like a part of his life. Like this could be them a few months from now, a regular couple without all the baggage.
“This should be a good one,” Beth said, sitting back on her heels and hitting a button on the DVD player. “It’s from that family reunion six or seven years ago. Remember that?”
“Yeah,” Adam said, nuzzling Jenna’s hair. “Nana wore a red dress that Gramps said made her look like a tart.”
“He meant it as a compliment, I’m sure.” Jenna watched the video flicker to life on the screen and a scattering of relatives appeared, joking and laughing as they juggled paper plates and bottles of beer.
“There’s Uncle Martin,” he said, nodding toward the screen. “Ten bucks says he’s already wasted.”