My Almost Ex (The Greene Family #2) - Piper Rayne Page 0,65
titties in years.”
My body shivers—and not in a good way.
Lucy puts her hand on his shoulder and leans in close. “Let’s use our inside voices. We don’t want to scare our guest.”
“Sorry, Lucy,” Earl says. “Sometimes those two are so judgmental.”
“I hear ya,” I say.
Lucy squeezes my shoulder before continuing around the room. For a moment, I’m able to push all the noise around me somewhere else and zone in on my drawing. But I don’t draw mountains or trees or a sunset with glistening snow. Instead, I draw a woman—my woman. From memory. It’s her smile that captivates me, and I use charcoal to shade in my work, not about to add a speck of paint.
They call for a break because the residents can’t sit on the stools too long without their ankles swelling.
“You should put her in a bikini,” Earl says.
“This is a PG class.” I turn the picture around during break so no one can see it. Although I’m a little terrified that Earl is going to beat off to my wife tonight regardless of whether I put a bikini on her or not.
The staff set up some cookies, coffee, and tea. It’s a thankless job and the residents all complain, asking for decaf and sugar-free options because otherwise they’ll be up all night and their blood sugar will rise.
Dori distracts Lucy before I can get to her, and Grandma blocks me into a corner.
“I think it’s great that you found some forgiveness for Lucy. I found her at The Grind today, trying different coffees. What’s with this old Lucy, new Lucy crap?” she whispers.
“She’s just trying to find herself, that’s all.” I stuff my hands in my pockets.
She pats my cheek. “Well, I’m proud of you for stepping out of your own way. Your grandfather would be so proud of the man you’ve become.”
“Thanks, Grandma. Hopefully I’m not the center of embarrassment again in Sunrise Bay.”
She glances over her shoulder at Lucy. “Don’t tell her—because there was nothing wrong with her before—but I like the new her. She holds her shoulders higher. She looks like she’s in charge of her destiny now.” She grabs my shirt sleeve and turns me toward the sweets table. She stacks some cookies in a napkin. “You take these home for you and Lucy.”
“We don’t need any cookies.”
“Who doesn’t love something sweet before bedtime? They’ll just go to waste with all the diabetics around here.” She puts them in my hands and nudges for me to hide them.
“Where do you expect me to put them?”
“In your pocket. Hurry, here comes Ivy and she’s a stickler for the rules. No food is supposed to leave the premises. But my fees pay for these treats, so it shouldn’t matter if I give them to my grandson.”
“Um…” I put them behind my back.
Ivy smiles at me, checking over the station. “Are y’all having fun?”
“The best.” Grandma smiles way too big to not be suspicious.
After Ivy walks away, I say, “I’m pretty sure Ivy saw that I’m hiding something, and I don’t think she’ll care if I eat some cookies.”
She waves me off with a smile. “They’re different when the families aren’t here.”
“Oh yeah, they’re nice. Plus, we’re not feeble. Half of us have canes. We’d revolt if they weren’t. Now I gotta smuggle these to Lucy before we start up again.”
I watch Grandma walk over to Lucy as though she’s doing a drug deal with stolen cookies. Dori actually turns around to act like the lookout. It’s so comical I can’t help but laugh. Lucy just puts them in her purse and says thank you.
Grandma has a point. Maybe that’s what it is with Lucy—she’s holding herself differently. Not that she lacked self-esteem before, but she’s almost like, ‘Take me as I am, and I don’t care if you like it or not.’
I know I sure as hell like it.
We’re midway through the second half of the drawing night when a lady with a name tag that says Mrs. Pierce drags me down into the vacant chair next to her.
“I’ve always thought it was adorable how you did this for him. I heard the gossip. You know Ethel’s always playing her granddaughter’s gossip news radio station here. You lost your memory?”
I nod, feeling weird discussing this with someone I don’t know.
“Yeah, I wondered why these nights just stopped abruptly. It all makes sense now.”