Page 31 of Pour Decisions (Stryker Family #3)

JD

Nana: Summoning you and your lady love for dinner at my house.

I frown at my phone a little, glance at my computer, then back at my phone. Bringing Katrina to “meet” Nana feels like the next right step. It’s very long overdue.

Me: Let us know when and what you want to eat.

I pull up my text with Kat next. She sent me a few memes when I was sitting right next to her last night, buried under the photos she sent me the other day.

I glance up to make sure that no one is lingering outside my door and scroll up to those.

The photos don’t show her face, but I can see everything else.

Her tiny scrap of a lace bodysuit clings to her tits and the curves of her hips.

I nearly fucking lost it when she sent them to me, even though she warned me they were coming. I got home and made her put it on again, just to fuck her in it.

Me: I was supposed to text you about something, but I can’t remember what it was supposed to be because of that pic you sent me.

Katrina:

I genuinely have to sit there and try to remember what I was doing when Nana’s text reminds me.

Nana: Are y’all free tonight? I got invited to a party tomorrow. And make whatever you want.

I open up my text to Katrina again and ask if she’s free to go to Nana’s for dinner. She texts back yes right away.

I wrap up my day and head to the store. Katrina can cook, but it’s not her thing, so I take the lead on the menu.

I buy ingredients for a quick, spicy Cajun pasta that Nana likes, and head home.

Katrina is already there, whipping something up in a bowl.

She’s changed into a jeans and a thin sweater since it’s getting cool out.

Bubba is a polite distance away from her, stretched out on his side.

He’s rarely ever home during the day, and usually when he is, he’s antsy when I get back. Katrina must have calmed him down.

“I’m bringing cookie dough so we can bake them there. Is that okay?” she asks. “They’re peanut butter chocolate chip.”

“It’s perfect.” I sweep some flour off her jaw and kiss her. “Nana loves cookies.”

We easily slide into a comfortable post-work ritual, talking about our days and what I’m going to cook.

Once she finishes the cookie dough and puts the balls into a container, we head over to Nana’s with Bubba. Since it’s cooler out now, Nana is standing inside her screen door, Coco in her arms.

“Hey, Nana,” Katrina says first.

“Hey, you!” Nana opens the door and gives Katrina a hug, smothering Coco between them. “It’s so good to see you. Both of you.”

Nana pulls me in for a hug next, letting Bubba barge through next to us.

We get set up in the kitchen, Nana at her small table with Coco, and Katrina sitting across from her.

Bubba lays right in the way until I scoot him over into the doorway to the living room.

I pour us all tea and get started on dinner.

“I didn’t plan to set y’all up,” Nana says, sipping her iced tea. “You know that, right? Delia’s going to be fuming.”

I snort and fill up a pot of water. Despite Mom’s efforts, her attempts at matchmaking haven’t worked for anyone yet.

“But did you recognize Kat?” I ask Nana. “I showed you her picture back then.”

“I was so stressed out about my damn hip back then that I hardly remember anything.” Nana sighs. “Except for all those episodes of Maury I ended up watching.”

“All episodes of Maury are basically the same,” I point out. Some days when I was sick as a kid, I stayed with Nana and watched it, despite it being wildly inappropriate in retrospect.

Nana waves me off. “Anyway, no, I didn’t know y’all already knew each other. I just felt that you two needed something to shake things up. So I just played Mother Fate.”

“Yeah.” Katrina gives me a warm smile. “God knows neither of us would have tried to go to the thing you told us to go to, much less together at that point.”

“Oh, that thing?” Nana says. “Yeah, I saw it and thought it was a wild idea for Jepsen’s little community center. Of course it was Hugh the Cashew who thought of it.”

“Hugh the Cashew?” Katrina snort-laughs into her tea. “Because he’s a nut?”

“Yep.”

Both Katrina and Nana cackle like old friends.

“Cashews are technically drupes, not nuts,” I say, even though the moment the words are out of my mouth, I know they’re going to roast me for it.

But I kind of like it when they do.

“Booo, don’t suck the fun out of it,” Katrina says, her tone light. “Plus Hugh the Almond doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

“Almonds aren’t nuts either, technically,” I say.

“Then what is a nut?” Katrina asks with a sigh.

“Hazelnuts. Acorns.” I shrug.

“Nuts aside, how did you like the event?” Nana asks. “What’d you make?”

We tell her about our sculpture misadventures, and Nana laughs her ass off when we show her the terrible finished products that Katrina brought home after Hugh fired them in the kiln. I finish up the pasta and the conversation flows easily.

It’s like Katrina is meant to be here, like we didn’t have the past ten years apart. Yeah, we look different than we did back then, but besides that? The ease I’ve never felt with anyone else is back.

After we eat dinner, Kat pops the cookies into the oven and we eat them with hot tea.

Kat does the dishes even though Nana insists that she’s got it.

It’s long gotten dark, and soon I’m yawning.

I’m usually winding down for bed by now.

But both Kat and Nana look wide awake. Kat I’m less surprised by—it seems like she goes from regular relaxing to passed out asleep in seconds. But Nana has always been early to bed.

“You aren’t tired, Nana?” I ask.

“Nope.” She grins. “It’s these little gummy things Ash gave me. They knock me out deep so I get better rest, then I don’t need to go to bed so early. Love them.”

Kat and I exchange a glance. Ash didn’t give our grandma edibles, did he?

Nana starts talking about how getting more sleep gives her more energy to garden and I open up my text to Ash. The last text we exchanged was him saying ‘fuck you’ without any context I can remember. As was the text before that, from me.

Me: Did you give Nana edibles?

Reply bubbles pop up immediately.

Ash:

Then, the bubbles disappear.

Me: Ash. ASH.

“Nana, can I see those gummies?” I ask, putting my phone down facedown.

“Hm? Why?” Nana frowns, pushing her glasses up on her nose.

“I just want to see what’s in them. Ash isn’t telling me.” I pause. “It might not be…legal.”

“Oh, do you think they’re pot?” Nana asks with a snort. When I don’t reply she full-on laughs. “John David, I’m familiar with the Devil’s lettuce. Your mom was as squeaky clean as can be, but your aunt Nadine sure wasn’t. These are magnesium gummies.”

“Aunt Nadine? Really?” She’s the most uptight aunt I have.

“Whew, yes. She was trouble and a half. Then she popped out those cousins of yours who gave her hell as revenge, and now she’s the fun police.” She huffs, then looks at Kat. “Are you keeping him fun, Kat?”

“Of course.” Kat smiles at me. “He’s more capable of fun now, I think. We had a nice little overnight trip to Nashville and we went dancing.”

“JD? Dancing?” Nana’s eyebrows go up.

“I’m not Waylon,” I say, stuffing the rest of a cookie into my mouth. “I can dance.”

“Thank god for that. He dances like he’s being attacked by a swarm of invisible bees. Most of the musicality in y’all’s gene pool went to Ash.” Nana sips her tea. “Or your damn father sucked it all out of you.”

Dad doesn’t like music—any music at all. I think he’s genuinely tone deaf. So needless to say, Ash being in a band and blasting music most of our time growing up didn’t get him any favors.

“He’s a great dancer.” Kat squeezes my hand, then yawns. “Sorry. It’s been a long day.”

“Want to head out?” I ask.

“I don’t, but we should.” Kat stands. “Where’s the bathroom?”

“Down the hall, to the left,” Nana says.

Kat disappears down the hall and shuts the door. Bubba follows her and lays down outside of it.

“She’s a good egg, JD,” Nana says seconds later, scooping Coco up from the floor. “She’s the one you never got over for a good reason.”

“I know.” I glance down the hall. The water is still running. “I’m just afraid of messing it all up again.”

“Well, from my understanding, your damn father was a big part of the first time everything fell apart, wasn’t he?”

I nod. Even though the contexts are different, I can see how he hasn’t changed a bit in the past decade. He made it clear that I had to do as he asked to get approval. But I’m not the same person as I was back then.

“Dad and I haven’t been seeing eye to eye for a while, and it feels like I’m seeing how he’s always been for the first time. Really seeing.” I swallow. “ I feel dumb for not seeing it sooner.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Nana sighs. “You’re not dumb. You’re just an adult realizing that your father’s just as human as you are. He’s a jerk human, but human just the same. You have to relearn how to be with him.”

I have a lot to relearn, then. And determine what my future looks like.

Kat comes out of the bathroom and grins at Bubba, then at me. Her smile is bright and warm, like we’re seeing each other for the first time in a while.

I need to determine what our future looks like.

We say goodbye to Nana and head out.

“Nana is so fun,” Kat says, stroking Bubba’s head where it rests between the two front seats. “We should hang out with her again.”

“We should. Usually she swings by on Thanksgiving.” I start up the car. “Speaking of, do you want to spend it with me? It would be a big step, though, and there’s the matter of my father.”

I don’t want her to take that step if she’s not ready, as much as I want to be with her.

“My mom invited me to have dinner with her, her boyfriend, and his kids.” She pulls some lint off her sweater.

“But I’m not sure about that either since she’s been acting a little weird.

.But I would like to spend time with you and we have to face your father at some point. We’re in this for the long run.”

I lace my fingers in hers, and Bubba rests his head on our joined hands.

“Would you like me to come with you to your mom’s? To make it easier?” I ask.

“I’m not sure what she’d say to that, to be honest.” She sighs and looks at me. “I need to ask her since she’ll have to plan the food. But maybe we could do both? Get the awkward over with in one go?”

“That sounds like a plan.”