What We Do in the Night (Day to Night #1) - Stylo Fantome Page 0,77
she really was talking to her Gam-Gam. To the woman who'd been like a second mother to her. She sniffled, then pushed away the tears and slowly turned the wheelchair around.
“I bet it is,” she whispered, then she pulled herself together “C'mon, it's cold out here. We'll come back when the sun is out.”
“Sounds fun. Maybe we can invite my daughter, Patricia,” Gam-Gam suggested, and the tears finally escaped Valentine's eyes.
“Maybe,” she breathed.
Her mother had been dead for five years. She didn't have the heart to break the news to her grandmother. Again.
The wind picked up, making her skin feel as raw as her soul – she'd been so concerned with her grandmother, she hadn't dressed appropriately, herself. Her teeth were chattering when they turned the corner back onto their street, but she paused when she saw someone standing at their gate.
Not now. I didn't realize that when he said he owned my nights, he really meant it.
“What are you doing here?” Valentine asked when she finally wheeled up to the gate. Ari turned to face her, then glanced down at her grandmother.
“Aren't you going to introduce me?” he ignored her question and asked one of his own. Valentine sighed, wiped the tears from her cheeks, then stepped to the side of the wheelchair.
“Gam-Gam,” she said, smiling big. “This is my friend, Ari. Ari, this is my grandmother, Eugenia.”
The two stared at each other, Eugenia glaring up at him. Him glaring back down at her. Then he finally reached out with one leather gloved hand, and he grabbed one of hers, gently shaking it.
“It's good to finally meet you, Gam-Gam,” he said in a soft voice. “I've heard a lot about you.”
She continued glaring at him, and Valentine held her breath. It had been a really good day, but they'd had good days before that had ended badly. She hoped her grandmother wasn't about to say something offensive. The old woman huffed and chuffed, pulling her hand free from him.
“I don't trust any man as good looking as you,” she grumbled. Ari looked startled, but then he smiled when she winked at him. “But as long as you make my granddaughter happy, I guess you're not too bad. Now help me inside, it's freezing out here. Who thought it was a good idea to take a walk?”
Valentine went to grab her grandmother's arm to help her up, but got shoved away by the old woman. Instead, Gam-Gam gripped onto Ari's forearm and forced him to haul her out of the chair. Then she clung to him and made him walk her up to the front door. Valentine folded up the wheelchair before hurrying after them.
“... yes,” Ari was responding to a question she hadn't heard. “She has a beautiful smile, ma'am.”
“And a great figure – she takes after me,” Gam-Gam insisted, and he laughed.
“That she does. You're quite the looker, ma'am,” he assured her.
“Better treat her right, kid,” her grandma warned him. “Or you'll have to deal with me.”
He smiled at her again, but lifted his gaze to Valentine.
“I'll do my best, ma'am.”
Valentine couldn't even begin to know how to interpret that look, or that statement.
They went inside and she had hoped he would stay by the door, but he didn't. Ari took the lead in helping Grandma up the stairs, then stepped aside so Val could guide the way to the bedroom. He left them at the doorway, allowing her and the nurse to get her grandmother ready for bed. When the old woman and the nurse shuffled into an en suite bathroom, Valentine finally left the room, closing the door behind her.
“What are you doing here!?” she hissed, all but dragging him back down the stairs.
“Were you crying out there?” he asked. She snorted.
“It was cold out,” she babbled. “And seriously – what are you doing here? You can't just show up.”
“Why not?”
“Because ...” she stuttered. “You just can't. Things run on a schedule here, and when you just turn up, it confuses her, it could upset her.”
He seemed thoughtful for a moment.
“That hadn't occurred to me,” he admitted. “But you weren't answering your phone, and since you were very emphatic about not coming to my place tonight, I had to come over here.”
Val ushered him outside, then shut the front door so they could have some privacy.
“Well, you're here now, so what is it you want?” she asked again, folding her arms across her chest.