Page 74 of Branded

“He was very handsome.”

“Whew. Don’t I know it? That man made me weak in the knees. When he came home from the war, Lord Jesus. We couldn’t get enough of each other.”

“Okay, okay. Enough of that. I don’t need to get the mental image of you and Grandpa in my head. It’ll bury itself there and never leave,” Isaac says, shaking his head as if he is trying to shake the image away.

“You had to get here somehow, Isaac. Obviously there was lots and lots of sex involved.”

“I take it all back. I don’t want to do this anymore today. Sawyer, we can have dinner alone.”

I roll my lips together to keep myself from laughing.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Jean says to him.

“You’re right. I like you too much,” he replies. “Did you decide on where you’d like to eat tonight?”

“Actually, I was hoping you’d both agree to eat in the community center with me tonight. It’s lasagna night, and I have to tell you, it’s the best I’ve ever had, plus they’ve got a jazz band coming to finish out the night. It could be fun.”

I look over to Isaac for his answer, but he’s looking to me for mine.

“I love lasagna,” I tell him and he grins.

“Well then, let’s go have some lasagna.”

“Whoever made this is a genius and we should go thank them personally,” Isaac says, as he takes the final bite of his food.

“I told you. I don’t know what it is but they do serve good food. None of that hospital food mess you’d think.”

Jean is sipping on a cup of coffee and swaying a bit to the music coming from the small room to our back, where the band is set up for dancing and enjoyment. There are many people inside watching, and just as many dancing together. They’ve forgotten about all their worries and are enjoying the moment.

“So, Sawyer, Isaac tells me you’re a teacher?”

“I am. I teach English over at Sunset Valley High.”

“How do you enjoy doing that?”

“I love it. I grew up wanting to teach, and I always had this passion for literature. It seemed like the perfect fit for me.”

“And you handle those rowdy teens all right?”

I wave my hand like it’s nothing. “I’m meaner than they are. They know better than to mess with me.”

She laughs and reaches over to pat my hand. “I like this one, Isaac.”

Isaac has been watching Jean and I converse with a smile on his face. He didn’t contribute much unless he was directly asked, and I think that was intentional. I know, even if he wasn’t nervous today, introducing me as his girlfriend to his Grams was a big step. It holds a lot of weight and I am taking that very seriously.

“I like her too, Grams. A lot,” he says the words while his eyes are on me. The butterflies that have permanently resided in my belly since the moment we met begin to flutter wildly.

“Excuse me, Miss Black?”

We all turn to see an adorable older gentleman with khaki pants and a blue polo shirt tucked in. A pair of gold, wire-rimmed glasses are perched on his nose and there’s a tuft of white hair on top of his head.

“Oh, hello, Samuel,” she says happily, with her face lit up like the Fourth of July. “I was hoping you’d be here.”

“You know I never miss the jazz,” he says with a chuckle.

It’s obvious to me immediately what is going on here, and I think it’s so fucking cute.

“No, you never do.” She smiles up at him. “Let me introduce you to my grandson. Samuel, this is Isaac and his girlfriend, Sawyer. Isaac and Sawyer, this is Samuel.”

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