Page 12 of Friends with Benefits

Evie reaches for the bag of matzo meal in an attempt to rip it out of Theo’s grip and arm him with the pan, but he’s holding on to that bag as if his life depends on it, and itrips, matzo meal flying and covering the cabinets, the floor,them. It coats their clothes, goes up their noses, settles in their hair. It’s going to be a wild sight for the coroner to see at the crime scene, two best friends whose final moments were covered in matzo meal and—

“We’rebaaaaaack,” Grandpa Mo’s baritone sings from the front door.

“Ev? Sweets?” Grandma Pep’s distinctive alto shouts as if it’s not almost 10:00 p.m. on a Thursday and their neighbors aren’t asleep.

Oh.

Evie’s adrenaline-sped heart returns to a normal rate. Her eyes meet Theo’s. Matzo meal is in his eyelashes. “Grandma?” She stands, brushing off her sweats and ignoring Pep’s expression. “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing in my own home?” Pep sasses, a hand on her hip.

“Hello, Theo,” Mo says to a Theo who’s laughing on the floor.

“Do we even want to know?” Pep asks, assessing the mess that is her kitchen and her granddaughter.

Theo stands. “Your unexpected entrance sounded like a break-in.”

Mo snorts. “In this neighborhood?”

Pep laughs and pulls Evie into a hug. She smells like Estée Lauder perfume, the scent still so comforting. “Sorry we scared you, Sweets.”

“I missed you so much.”

“Us too, Evelyn,” Grandpa Mo says with a tender squeeze of her shoulder.

“Are you back?” Theo asks.

Mo shakes his head. “No, son. This is just a pit stop to slumber and, um, share some news.”

Evie pulls out of her grandmother’s embrace. “News? Are you okay?”

Grandma Pep and Grandpa Mo are active, their minds sharp. Still, they’re approaching eighty, so Evie’s brain jumps to the worst conclusion. Someone is sick. Neither onelookssick, but neither does Evie. Neither did Lori until—

“It’s nothing like that, Sweets,” Pep says.

Her shoulders sag with relief. “Okay. So what is it?”

“Why don’t we all take a seat,” Mo suggests, gesturing toward the living room.

So… this isn’t health-related news, but itissit-down news? Evie’s stomach lurches, braces for the bad. “Mo. Whatever it is, just say it.Please.”

Her grandfather sighs. “We’re back because…” Mo swallows and scratches his beard. “Someone made an offer on the house, Evelyn.”

“We wanted to tell you in person,” Pep adds.

Evie blinks.

Reels.

“Since when is it for sale?”

Of all the reasons that her grandparents could be back, she never would have thought it’s because they’re selling the bungalow. House-sitting is temporary, but the bungalow is supposed to be forever. Evie assumed that one dayshe’dpurchase it from them. Keep it in the family and make it hers, for real. She can’t imagine living anywhere else.

“It’s an offer we can’t refuse,” Mo says.

“I’m sorry,” Pep says. “It all happened so fast. Our Realtor advised we jump on it.”

“With Genny out and settled, the timing felt right,” Mo adds.

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