spending time with her only grandchild is anything but a blessing. “I’m sorry,” she says, clearly frustrated with herself, especially when she starts crying again. Addy pulls the sleeve of her — my — hoodie over her thumb and wipes away the tears. “I don’t know why I can’t stop crying and I definitely don’t know what I would do without you or your family.”
“You won’t have to find out. And don’t call them my family. You should know by now that they’re your family, too.”
“I know.”
I stand up and stretch my arms above my head, the sun now fully in the sky and warming up the air. “Let’s start some breakfast. I’m starving.”
“Makes sense. You haven’t eaten since your midnight snack,” she teases.
I pat my stomach. “I’m a growing boy.”
She rolls her eyes and stands, brushing past me to go into the house. “You passed that stage a long time ago.”
“I can’t help that I have a big appetite.”
She shakes her head. “You’re inhuman.”
“Why is that?” I reach around her and slide open the patio door and wait for her to step inside.
“Because! You eat enough for three men and still look like that!”
I don’t even try to hide my grin. “You like the way I look?” I ask, teasing.
She does another eye roll but doesn’t answer. “Aren’t you full enough from all that ego?”
Inside the house, we begin getting some breakfast ready for the two of us but since Zoey’s still sleeping and Addy doesn’t want to wake her, just the two of us eat some scrambled eggs.
“I’m going to shower if you don’t mind?” Addy asks while rinsing her plate.
“Of course not. When do you need to be at the flower shop?”
“No set time. I’ll get ready and head in after Zoey wakes up. I’ll only be gone for a couple hours.”
“Take your time and do what you need.”
She nods and walks down the hallway to her bedroom and I settle in on the couch with my phone and another cup of coffee. If I know Grant, and I do, I know he’ll have already sent me an email with some preliminary numbers for what he’s thinking if I buy into his business.
Propping my feet up on the coffee table, I cross my ankles and open my email app, taking a drink of coffee as I let my messages download. Two minutes ago, Grant sent an email with an attachment so I click on it and wait the few seconds for it to open.
I’m not entirely surprised by the numbers he sent me considering that I’ve worked side by side with him for several years and had a firsthand look at most of his accounting.
Chewing on my bottom lip, I pull up the calculator app on my phone and start running a few numbers. I think I should be able to manage the proposal he’s shooting me. Of course, this is just preliminary and not official, but it’s close enough that I have an idea of what I need to bring to the bank.
Shuffling against the hardwood floor brings my attention up to see Zoey walking toward me sleepily. I set my phone down and spread my arms and she picks up her pace, pouncing into my arms. Morning Zoey is one of my favorites. I inhale her sweet scent and run a hand over her hair, trying to tame the wild strays. She’s still holding her stuffed donkey and she pulls her legs to her chest so she’s curled up on my lap.
“Morning, Squirt.”
“Hi.”
“Have a good sleep?”
She nods against my chest and I give her a little squeeze, leaning back so that we’re both lounging comfortably on the couch.
“Can I watch TV?”
“What do you want to watch?”
“Tom and Jewwy,” she says quietly and I sputter a laugh, knowing that came directly from Addy. She was always a nut for that cartoon and I’m not the least bit surprised she’s passed it down to her daughter.
“Tom and Jerry, huh? Is it on?”
She shrugs. “Mommy always finds it.”
I’ll bet she does.
Using the remote, I start searching through the channels until I come to a cartoon channel that looks like it shows only older cartoons and lucky for us, Tom and Jerry is starting in ten minutes.
“Just gotta wait ten minutes. Want to grab some breakfast while we wait? Maybe Mommy won’t even care if you eat in here.”
“Really?”
“We’ll just tell her it was my idea.”
“It was your idea,” she says, like the smarty pants she is.