So they talked, her face at times hovering so close she looked as though she were a contorted reflection in a house of mirrors, making him laugh the way only she could.
She knocked Gage for a loop when she said, “So you’re in a slump lately, but these things have their ups and downs. What I really want to hear about is your new girl.”
“My new girl?” Who’d told her about Lily? He hadn’t told anyone except the first conversation he’d had with Sarah. Ah. Grandma was fishing, the sly fox. “You mean Jessica?”
She flapped her hand in front of the screen. “No, I’m not talking about the Phelan girl! She’s not for you, Gage.”
Funny. Grandma was the only one of his family who thought so.
“I really don’t have a girl, Grandma.”
“What!” she exclaimed loudly. “A handsome boy like you? Where have you been living? Under a rock?”
“No, Grandma. Under a puck.”
She guffawed, then gave him a smug look. “Your sister tells me you really like this one, and that she has a little girl of her own.”
Shit, Sarah! What happened to the bro code? “Well, it’s not … We’re not … I like her, but it’s not serious …” Why did he feel like a heel saying so?
“What a boatload of crap! She has you stammering, Gage Nelson, so it’s obviously more than you’re letting on. And good for you! Oh, your mother will be fit to be tied if you pick someone besides Jessica, but you listen to me, young man.”
“Yes, Grandma.” He smirked, loving her uppity tone. He’d missed it.
“Go grab yourself another gear on the stick shift of life.”
His puzzlement, and amusement, might have shown all over his face, but nothing slowed her roll. “You make a decision in the moment based on what you know or think you know, but you live with the outcome forever. And life is too short. Don’t let Nola bully you or pick for you. You pick your best life, and pick someone who loves you for who you are inside, not for what you do or for what your friends and family think. You have to build your life with her, no one else. So listen to your heart and find that girl you’re crazy about, and make sure she takes good care of you because you deserve nothing less.”
She laughed a heartfelt, belly-rumbling laugh that sent warmth spiraling through him, that took him back to being a boy being scolded and loved by her at the same time.
“Are you giving me another pearl, Grandma?” A precious Grandma pearl of wisdom. “I think I have enough to string a whole necklace now.”
It struck him that she could help him with his Grims dilemma, and he grew hopeful. But suddenly, she seemed confused and began looking around as if she had no idea where she was.
“Grandma?” His voice broke as he tried to haul her back to him.
Now Oscar’s face was on the screen. “I think your grandma’s tired from all the excitement, Gage, so you might want to say good-bye for now.”
Oscar moved away, and Grandma was back. Hands he assumed were Oscar’s rested on her shoulders, seeming to steady her, and once again Gage was grateful the man was there.
“Oscar says I should go now. Gage?” Her voice sounded panicky, and it twisted his heart into knots. If only he could reach her and hold on to her!
He took a calming breath. “I’m here, Grandma.”
“There you are. Before I go, I want you to know you are so very special. Have I told you lately? No, I don’t think I have.” Her voice was laced with sadness. “Anyway, you stay on that right path. Don’t deviate.”
“It isn’t always so easy.”
“You’ll make it out. And if you veer from it, I’ll leave my grave, hunt you down, and haunt you!” Her chuckle didn’t resonate; she was fading from him fast.
He kissed his hand and pressed it to the screen. “Grandma, I love you.”
She kissed her hand and pressed back. “I know, sweetheart, and I love you. You’ve always been a good boy. You make me so proud. Don’t ever stop. Don’t hold back. Live full-out.”
“Grab the next gear on the stick shift of life?”
“That’s it.” She shook her fist. “Living isn’t for wussies. No chickenshit crap now, you hear?”
“Never,” he choked out.
Chapter 28
Claiming a Stake
Derek stood in Lily’s open doorway, his hand poised on the doorknob as they exchanged good-byes. Daisy was reaching up to hug her uncle when Gage’s car glided curbside. Lily glanced at her phone. No message from him. Why was he early?
When he strode up the walkway and paused at the bottom of the stoop, she knew why.
With his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, sunglasses on, he projected California casual, but she didn’t have to look very hard to know it was an act. There was nothing casual about the testosterone pouring off of him in heady waves. She could practically smell it, hear it crackle in the air.
He wore a tight brown button-down that displayed every ripped muscle. And every ripped muscle was taut. His sleeves were cuffed at his elbows, and his flexing forearms showed off the corded veins along their surface. A neck muscle jumped. He looked as though he’d just bench-pressed a bus.
Saying Derek’s name in a rumble that reminded her of thunder, Gage gave him the curtest of man nods. Derek’s fist clenched at his side, and he wordlessly returned the same short nod. And didn’t move—except to turn his body so it blocked Gage’s way to the landing where he and Lily stood.
A glare-down ensued.
Oh my God! How soon before they ram horns? Pee all over my steps?
Lily placed herself between the two men, who both seemed to snap out of their male hormone-induced standoff and act surprised to
