Page 53 of Share with Me

“You have to admit that your grandma was pretty happy it’s all taken care of,” Brinley said.

“It will be your fault if Grandma has a new boyfriend.”

Over the phone, Brinley guffawed. “You think too much, Ivan.”

“I do appreciate your help in getting a plumber, and thank you.”

“Welcome.”

“But I’ll reimburse you.”

“It’s all taken care of.”

“I insist.”

“Stubborn, are we?”

“Like I said, we’re not taking handouts.” Ivan braced himself. “So if you can send me the bill, I won’t hound you again.”

“Well, if you must, you can buy me lunch and we’ll call it even—oops—I didn’t—what did I say?”

“You asked me to buy you lunch.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“You can’t retract it now. When do you want to do lunch?”

“I don’t know.”

“All right. Do you like home-cooked meals?”

“Ilovehome-cooked meals.”

“Anything specific that you like?”

“I’m not allergic. Whatever you want is fine.”

Easy to please.“Great. Grandma and I would love to have you over. Unfortunately, I’ll be in Savannah most of next week. Can you do Monday lunch? I’m gone Tuesday onwards.”

“Let me check my calendar.” Brinley said nothing for a while.

“I will too.” Ivan waited. Tensed. He walked toward the calendar he had nailed to the wall, and sat down at his computer desk next to his MIDI keyboard. He stared at his giant wall calendar. Yes, he had an iPad, but there was something about seeing the whole month on the wall. Something tangible and visual, not in pixels on a too-small screen. The calendar showed that all next week he either had rehearsals or performances. Working in a free day would be hard.

He wanted to get it over and done with before Brinley changed her mind or left town. If she had asked for a restaurant dinner, it could be more expensive than fixing the commode. He knew those people, those rich and famous patrons of SISO. Nothing was too expensive for them, it seemed.

Throw a soiree, invite SISO, splash down half a million dollars, and no one bats an eye.

All that money could pay off his family debts and send him back on tour.

Tour?

Ivan wondered why he had thought of that. As long as Grandma was still alive he could never leave town. And Grandma could live a long time. His great-grandma had passed away at a hundred and two years old. Longevity ran on the maternal side of the family.

“You there?” Brinley was back.

Ivan really loved to hear her voice.Lord, is that good or bad?

Ivan sighed.Probably bad.

---