and me spending more and more time with Maren, we’d missed our usual weekend lunch date more often than not the last couple of months.
“Sorry, we’ve both been so busy, Grandma. We wanted to make sure we spent some time with you before we head off to shoot this movie. We’re going to be filming in Vancouver primarily. We won’t be able to stop by as often, but I’ll call you every weekend.” I thanked the housekeeper when she brought me a glass of water and told her whatever was fine when she asked what I wanted for lunch. I wasn’t picky, and my grandma was mostly a vegetarian, so I always let her pick the menu.
The older woman reached out and gave Jeno’s beefy arm an affectionate pat. “You’re going with him?”
My younger brother nodded and covered her wrinkled hand with his tattooed one. “I am. I’ll keep an eye on him for you.”
She tossed back her head and laughed long and loud. “You do that, but don’t forget to get out and have some fun for yourself. I need one of you boys to meet a nice girl so you can bring her home to meet me. I’d love to see one of you settle down before I need a walker to get around.” She wiggled her painted eyebrows suggestively. “I wouldn’t complain if one of you brought me a baby to snuggle either.”
Jeno pulled back and made a disgusted face. “I am a baby. No way should you look at me to make that happen for you, Gram.”
She laughed and turned her sparkling eyes that were the same deep brown color as mine in my direction. “How about you, kiddo? Are you ready to think about dating and maybe starting a family down the road? You’ve been pretty quiet when it comes to your love life lately.”
Thank the Lord the woman didn’t have social media. She’d have me married off to Maren regardless if either of us was ready for something that serious.
Jeno nudged me with his elbow as he took a seat next to me at the custom-designed outdoor dining table. “Sal’s been hanging out with his longtime crush. If you look closely, you can see stars in his eyes.”
“Oh, really?” My grandmother leaned closer to me, reaching out to grasp my chin so she could stare directly into my eyes. “Sparkle, sparkle. You do have a certain glint in your gaze, my boy. Who is she? The only girl you’ve ever given more than a passing thought to is that uppity girl you worked with when you were a teenager. You talked about her nonstop. You wouldn’t listen when I warned you that she was too old for you and too prissy.”
I groaned and lifted a hand to cover my face as Jeno threw back his head and let out a loud belly laugh that had my grandmother looking between the two of us with wide eyes.
“What did I say?”
I rubbed my face and flashed her a sheepish grin. “The lead actress in the new movie is that same girl, Maren Copeland. She’s still the only woman I can’t get off my mind. I screwed her over pretty good back in the day, so getting her to forgive me took some work. Getting her to consider dating me might be a long shot.”
My grandma snorted and lifted her spiked drink to her lips. “With that pretty face of yours, I’m sure all you have to do is smile at her and she’ll fall head over heels for you.”
I shook my head. “Nope. She still doesn’t trust me fully, so she keeps her distance.”
“She was really pretty back then. But her attitude was…” The older woman trailed off and gave me a look, “difficult.”
Jeno nodded and thanked the silent housekeeper who quickly dropped off bowls overflowing with some kind of salad on steroids in front of us. “She’s nice, but very particular. I’m glad she agreed to do the movie, but watching her and Sal dance around one another is exhausting. I have to give him credit, though. One of the hallmarks of a successful recovery from addiction is staying single and abstaining from sex for a period of time once you leave rehab. He didn’t even look at a woman until it was time to approach Maren for the part in his movie. I have to say he’s pretty serious about her.”
“Is that so?” My grandmother gave me a look I couldn’t fully decipher. “I