Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“Sure,” I agreed and walked past Amory, who was standing silently.
Grams, however, stopped and turned back around to look at him. “Aren’t you a handsome young man?” she said, her eyes widening. “Isn’t he handsome, Royal?”
I glanced up at him, and he was giving her one of his female-slaying smiles. He closed the space between us and took her hand, then pressed a kiss on the top of it. “Amory Blaine, ma’am. It’s nice to meet you. I can see where your granddaughter gets her beauty from.”
Grams giggled. She actually giggled. I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t keep from grinning at him. Merce had never spoken to her. He’d only come inside once. Amory had said he’d come today to charm me, and I had to admit, he was successfully doing so.
“Well, isn’t that sweet?” she said, smiling at me with a pleased look on her wrinkled face. “I like this one. He’s a sharp boy. Just like your father.”
I grimaced and patted her shoulder. “Let’s hope not,” I muttered under my breath and turned her back around toward the living room. “I believe I hear Victor now,” I told her.
“You do? That scoundrel. There is no telling what he’s doing.”
She hurried over to her chair and sat down, her eyes now glued to the television.
I left her there and looked back at Amory. “Thanks for that. She won’t remember you tomorrow—or in ten minutes probably—but thanks.”
His gaze went from her to me. “I was just being honest. You can tell a beauty, no matter what the age. I’m sure she had the men falling at her feet back in her day.”
I headed back to the kitchen. “Oh, she did. Back when she could tell me the stories. My grandfather was four years older than her and would come to her high school and buy her lunches. He worked at the coal mines, and she was from a poor family, much like his. He knew she didn’t have much in the lunch she brought from home. Normally, a cold biscuit from breakfast or an apple, if she was lucky. So, he wooed her with hot lunches from the cafeteria.”
I’d heard that story so many times that I knew every detail by heart.
“If only a hot lunch was all it took these days,” Amory replied teasingly.
I opened up the refrigerator to get the last piece of pizza out to heat up. I needed to go get some more food tonight. I hadn’t been by Rise and Dine in a week. Anya could probably hook me up with the leftovers this afternoon.
“It was more than the food, I assure you. Grams loved him so much that even though he died before she even turned sixty, she’s never looked at another man. We once had a neighbor, Mr. Burnswell. He had a thing for Grams. Brought flowers and chocolates over. When he had a good watermelon crop, he would bring us fresh ones all summer long. But not once did she give him more than a thank you. Poor guy finally gave up.”
I placed the piece of pizza in the microwave and prayed it worked today. It had been struggling lately. Sometimes, it was fine, and other times, it wouldn’t stay on for longer than five seconds before cutting off. Due to it being difficult, I’d been using the oven for almost everything. It continued to cook, so it seemed that Amory’s luck was rubbing off.
“I thought she wanted pork chops,” he said.
I cut my eyes over to him. “We don’t have pork chops, and even if we did, she can’t chew them with her dentures.”
He raised his eyebrows slightly. “But she will forget she asked for one,” he guessed.
I nodded. “Yep.”
• Ten •
“I tried dating out of my league, and it didn’t end well.”
Sebastian
My phone rang, and I already knew who it was. I leaned up against the front of my car and answered it.
“Already miss me?” I asked.
“I didn’t say I needed groceries,” Royal snapped on the other end of the line.
I smiled. I wished like fuck I hadn’t reacted to her, but after today and all I’d witnessed, I knew there was a part of me that liked her. Even if she was a con artist.
“You didn’t have to. I saw the contents of your fridge.”
A deep sigh on the other end. “Amory, I’m not a charity case. I can buy food. I was going to get us dinner tonight.”
“With what? Your Vespa?” I asked, reminding her that we’d left it at school with two flat tires. It had new ones now and was currently being delivered to her house, but she didn’t know that yet.
“I would have figured it out,” she replied. “This is entirely too much food. There are twelve full bags. Twelve. I don’t know if we have room for all this. And the delivery guy said he couldn’t take it back.”