“Well, at least now I know for sure where my dickish tendencies come from,” he finally managed to growl.
The sly glint in his grandfather’s eyes when he handed off a monogrammed handkerchief got Arnie’s attention. What was on the old guy’s mind?
“You’ve been working on this flower for years?”
Granddad nodded. “Your grandmamma’s suggestion. Josie adored Lianne. She was everything a mama wanted for her son’s bride. They were very close. When we lost Lianne, I thought my Josephine would die of a broken heart.”
“I wish I’d known them both,” he whispered. Honking into the handkerchief, Arnie fought to hold on to his self-control.
“Yes, well, life’s a bitch. Something your dad found out when 1982’s Miss Succubus rolled him like a piecrust. If not for your brother, that horrible woman wouldn’t be allowed to spit shine my shoes.”
The very last thing Arnie was interested in discussing was Stan or Giselle, so he took the conversation in another direction.
“Why are you telling me about the flower now?”
“Because I sense something. You’re different. It’s as if you looked up and found the sun shining.”
His granddad was nothing if not a shrewd old fart. When Arnie paused to gather his wits, the sly senior citizen came back with a frontal push, leaving him slack-jawed and speechless.
“Does she have a name?”
“Er, uh, name?” He squeezed his eyes shut and marveled at how foolish he sounded. In a blinding flash, he knew now was not the time to run away or deflect. Instead, he stood his ground and let the chips fall.
“Yes, Arnie. A name. You’ve met someone, and she’s scrambling that thing you talk about. What’s it called? Qi? Yes, that. You can fool everyone else, my boy, but not me.”
He studied the rose named for his mother. His grandmother’s hand in the making of the tribute flower warmed his heart. Holy fuck. How could he explain Summer to a man who used sunshine and sweetness as ingredients?
“It’s complicated,” he grumbled.
“How so? Does she belong to someone else? Is that it?”
“No.” He shook his head. His mouth tilted to the side, and he murmured, “There’s a situation.”
Granddad hesitated for a second and then squinted.
Keeping his top secret life top secret required upper-level management skills. The people he came into contact with professionally were close-mouthed by habit and not an issue. It was his private life where things got dicey. Only his father knew how deep the rabbit hole went. Granddad might not know a lot, but he had enough understanding to acknowledge the gravity of what Arnie was trying to say.
A grim smile tugged at the old guy’s mouth. “Duty calls?”
He made a gesture with his hands and grunted. “The leash has been yanked.”
“Then why are you still here?”
“Waiting for the call.” He grimaced. “And I can’t leave her. Not yet.”
“Am I the only one who knows?”
“Yes.”
The ensuing silence was heavy and thick with emotions.
“I don’t know what to do,” he admitted. “She took me by surprise. Falling for a California girl wasn’t high on my to-do list for this visit.”
“May I ask who she thinks you are?”
He smirked. “She thinks I’m a visiting trust fund baby with questionable taste in shoes.”
“That wasn’t the question, my boy, and you know it.”
“NIGHTWIND,” he said.
“So she isn’t aware of the Wanamaker connection? Or any of the other stuff.”
“Not really. Not the family at all and just the skeleton of my government work.”
“Is that wise, Arnie? You’re going to have some serious explaining to do at some point.”
“I don’t know what to say, Granddad. It happened so fast and so completely that the real world hasn’t had time to weigh in.”
“Ah, yes. It’s how the men in this family fall in love. The real men.” His domineering grandfather sneered. “It happens in an instant.” He snapped his fingers and chuckled. “Lovers in their own magical little world.”
“Spot-on.”
“Where is this woman, Arnie? Will I get to meet her?”
Arnie’s conscience let out a heavy sigh, and in his head, the failure tune from The Price is Right rang out. He gritted his teeth and blurted out the facts as they were.
“Um, first of all, don’t freak out, okay? This might sound bad, but it’s not.”
Granddad rested his butt against a potting table and crossed his arms. He motioned with his head to the lush blooms. “Your mother and grandmother are listening. Go ahead.”
He dropped his jaw and shook his head. “Did you really just play that card?”