Page 25 of Maverick

"She's at the community center. But she's supposed to meet me here."

She rinses the soap off and steps back. I finish scrubbing and rinse too, turning to face her, holding my hands in front of me like a doctor going into a surgery.

"We can wait for her."

"You guys don't really want to go to dinner with my grandma, do you? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Better than having dinner with a smart, kind hearted, generous woman and the grandma that raised her? No, I can't think of anything better than that."

She stares at me, mouth open and I take a little satisfaction in stunning her.

She clears her throat and opens a cupboard, wiping her hands on a clean rag, then passes it to me. I do the same, then carefully drape it over the tap.

"You have many dinners with seventy-year-old women?"

"Nick's other girlfriend is pushing eighty. I crash their dates once in a while."

Her eyes dart to Nick and Bree where they're leaning on the wall, teasing each other. "Other girlfriend?"

"It's pretty serious," Nick says, eyes dancing. "She has the best cookies."

"You guys are not at all what I expected," she says, grinning.

Nick laughs. "We get that a lot."

"I bet you do."

Cadence tries to make a few more excuses, but before she can get them out, the door opens and an older woman walks in.She's got silver hair cut short, sort of like Julia Roberts when she played Tinkberbell in that movie. Her bright blue eyes are sharp and assessing as they move over the group of us.

Bree grins and waves. "Hi, Tess."

Nick steps forward, his most charming smile plastered across his face. "Well hello there. I'm Nick, and you must be Cadence's grandmother."

The woman arches an eyebrow at him, her lips twitching. "And you must be trouble."

Nick laughs, his head tipping back. "Oh, I like you. Tess, is it? We were just trying to convince your granddaughter to join us for dinner. We'd love for you to come too. Cadence mentioned the two of you normally eat together. It's great that you're so close."

Tess looks over at Cadence, her eyes narrowing. "Is that so? Well, that's awfully kind of you to offer, but I ate at the center. Salisbury steak night. Can't miss that."

She moves over to Cadence, reaching out to cup her elbow. "You should go though. You work too hard. A night out with friends will do you good."

Cadence leans in, whispering something in her ear. Tess whispers back, then pulls away, patting Cadence's arm. "I've got it handled. The dogs will be fine. Go, have fun. But not too much fun, you hear?"

She looks over at Nick and me, her gaze assessing. "And who are you, young man?"

I step forward, conscious of my size. Cady's Nan comes across as a spitfire, but there's also an air of fragility about her. She offers her hand, and surprises me with a strong handshake.

"My name is Maverick, ma'am."

She laughs and shakes her head. "Of course you are. Your mother must be an interesting woman to saddle you with that name."

"She was. She was the best. And she loved that movie."

"What's not to love," Tess murmurs, eyes turning soft as they run over my face. "I think she chose well. It suits you."

Stepping back, she claps her hands, and makes a shooing motion. "Off you go love. Go have fun." She turns to me. "I'm trusting you boys to take care of my girl. Have her home by midnight, you hear?"

I nod solemnly. "Yes ma'am. You have my word."

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