Page 58 of Mr. Edwards

He leans in, placing a soft kiss on the tip of my nose. “Sunshine, you’re all I see.”

We climb the front steps and the door opens before we even reach it. My breath hitches, and my stomach rolls. None of the previous guys I’ve dated ever introduced me to their families. Granted, I usually broke things off before things got serious, but still...

A beautiful woman stands at the threshold, wearing a smile that looks a lot like her son’s. “Mom,” Grayson says as she steps forward and wraps him in her arms. When she releases him, her eyes zero in on me and I just stand there in stunned silence.

“You must be, Carlee?” She engulfs me in a tight hug before I even get a chance to reply. My arms remain limp by my sides. She draws back taking me in beforeskimming her hand affectionately down the side of my face. “Look how beautiful you are.”

“Told you,” Grayson says, grinning.

“You have no idea how happy I am to finally meet you.”

The sincerity behind her words brings a lump to my throat. She’s the polar opposite of Roxy, and that thought makes my heart pang. I would’ve killed for a mother like Grayson’s when I was a little girl.

“Likewise, Mrs. Edwards.”

“Please call me Janelle, Mrs. Edwards makes me feel so old.”

“Watch your mouth,” a female voice says from behind us.

“Granny,” I hear Grayson say, and when I look over his mother’s shoulder, he’s wrapping his arms around the short, older lady standing in the doorway, lifting her off her feet. It’s such a sweet thing to witness; I love this side of him.

“Ah fuck-a-duck, Grayson,” his grandma screeches, slapping his arm. I inhale a sharp breath. Did she just say fuck? “Put me down you big baboon, you’re going to break my hip and I have a hot date tomorrow night.”

Grayson throws back his head and barks out a laugh. He plants a big kiss on her weathered face before slowly lowering her to her feet. When he steps back, my eyes take her in. I must’ve misheard her; she doesn’t look like someone who’d cuss. She’s wearing rollers in her short silver hair for Christ’s sake.

She barely comes up to his chest, and her head is tilted back as she smiles up at him with so much love in her eyes, it brings a lump to my throat. It’s a look I’m not familiar with, but one I envy nevertheless. This man maybe worth millions, but he’s rich in love, and for me, that’s far more valuable.

Janelle lets me go, shaking her head at her mother-in-law, but she’s smiling as she does. “I thought you were going to change your shirt, Mom?”

She shrugs her frail body, feigning ignorance. “What you see is what you get, I’m not going to put on the airs and graces for anyone.” She side-eyes me briefly as she speaks. “Grayson’s new girl needs to realize that me and my grandson are a package deal. If she wants to be with him, she’ll need to accept me too.” There’s a hint of animosity in her voice.

Does she view me as a threat?

My gaze moves away from her face and down her body. My eyes widen to saucers when I read the large, white, bold print on the front of her dark grey T-shirt…‘I tried to stop swearing, but I cunt.’

I blink a couple of times in case my eyes are playing tricks on me. Cheese on a cracker, this sweet-looking old lady has theCword, as Emma calls it, on her top.

Grayson said she was hip, but I wasn’t expecting this. I was thinking more along the lines of someone laid-back and open-minded for her generation, but instead, she’s like Woodstock on crack.

“She’s going to love you, Granny, and you her. This one’s different,” he says.

Different how?

He draws me closer, tucking me under his arm. All the while his grandma sizes me up. A smile tugs at her lips when her eyes skim over my arms. I see no judgment there. I’ve had enough of it over the years to recognize it when I do.

“Nice ink.” She lifts the hem of her shirt and pulls down the side of her yoga pants, showing me the large redrose she has tattooed on her hip. “I got this in my twenties, hurt like a bitch, but I have no regrets. It’s kind of pruney looking these days, but the men at bingo still go crazy over it.”

This time I laugh. Grayson was right, I love her already.

“Come inside,” Janelle says, rubbing her hand down my arm. “We’ve made lunch.”

We enter the house and I’m still tucked into Grayson’s side. Leaning down, he plants a kiss on the top of my hair. “Are you okay?”

I glance up at him with a smile and end up gulping in a woosh of air when I see the expression on his face. He’s staring at me, and if I’m not mistaken, he’s giving me the same look his grandma just gave him.

My step falters, and his arm slides from my shoulder to my waist, keeping me upright. “I tripped over my own feet,” I say, laughing, trying to mask my embarrassment.

“Nah,” he whispers, leaning down closer to my ear. “I think you’re just falling for me.”