Page 15 of Just Another Silly Love Song

Bacon always made everything better.

Grandma Joyce swung the door open and smiled. “Right on time. Come on in.” She gave me a big hug and stepped aside for me to enter, closing the door behind me. “You just can’t say no to my pancakes, can you?”

I laughed and shook my head. “Or your bacon.”

She gave me a knowing smile. “You can’t have pancakes without bacon.”

“No, you can’t.”

I followed her as she practically bounced down the hallway to the kitchen. She was the most active eighty-year-old I had ever met, with the energy of someone my age. Grandma Joyce still did ballroom dancing and yoga at her age, which was impressive to say the least. Maybe that was what kept her young.

I had no idea what that was like since I was about as flexible as a two-by-four.

Grandma Joyce and I had been inseparable ever since my parents moved to Scottsdale, Arizona three years ago. She was my best friend and there wasn’t a day that went by where we didn’t talk, get together, or do a video chat. My grandmother was cool that way, much cooler than women my own age.

Maybe some people would think it was odd that I was hanging out with my grandma all the time, but my “normal” friends worked during the day when I was off. And most of them just faded away out of my life since we could never get together. Maybe with a new job during the day, I could rekindle some of those lost relationships.

Or maybe not.

Regardless, I loved hanging out with Grandma Joyce.

She knew me well, too.

That’s why it wasn’t a surprise when she called me after she had heard the fiasco on the radio with my ex, inviting me over for pancakes this morning.

My ex.

It sounded weird to me.

I always tried to see the best in Zachary, but I guess that meant I had been ignoring the bad. Incredibly bad. How had I been so obtuse?

I certainly hadn’t seen that breakup coming. It was extremely annoying.

Speaking of annoying, there was a voice coming from the radio that was sitting on Grandma Joyce’s kitchen counter that was going to make me lose my appetite. “We’ll take one more call after this short commercial break. Don’t go away.”

I pointed to the radio. “Please don’t tell me you’re listening to—”

“Dr. Tough Love!” She was way too enthusiastic. “I love that man!”

I winced. “I loathe him. He’s arrogant and brash and doesn’t knowa thingabout relationships.”

Grandma Joyce smiled and turned over the bacon with the tongs. “Oh, don’t be so dramatic, dear. He’s a smart man! And you know what? The two of you have a lot in common.”

I gasped and placed my hand on my chest. “What? How could you even compare me to him? That’s like comparing a flower to a rock. Or something flat and dull under the rock. We are complete opposites. That man doesn’t have a heart and he’s ridiculously rude to his callers on the air.”

“You both give very good relationship advice, but it’s all in the delivery. You’re sweet and loving and he’s no-nonsense. Two different styles, but you’re both helping people. Well, youwereuntil you got the ax.”

“If he’s no-nonsense, you’re saying that my way is nonsense?”

She laughed and pulled each strip of bacon from the pan, placing them on a serving platter that was covered with paper towels to soak up the grease. “Not at all, dear. I’m saying people need advice presented in different ways in order for them to really grasp it. There are those who like positive and encouraging advice like your style, and others who prefer advice that is direct and to the point. Like a slap to the face to wake them up, that’s his style. Neither approach is wrong, they’re just different. It’s not a surprise that you had mostly female listeners and he has mostly male. Two different styles appealing to two different types of people, but they both work.”

I shook my head. “I disagree. He’s rude.”

Grandma Joyce poured pancake batter onto the hot griddle to make the first round of pancakes. “If you say so, dear.”

“Okay, welcome back to the program,” Dr. Tough Love said. “We have time for one more call.”

Grandma Joyce wiped some batter off the counter. “Hopefully, this is another good one.”