Page 28 of Kiss Me, Darling

“I’ll still wrestle your ass.”

He laughed. “Well it is the off season.”

“The golden arm isn’t off limits?”

“Get out of here. Go home. Have a good trip tomorrow.”

* * *

The drive south was...well,it was weird. Lucy was tense for some reason. She had been all morning. She kept wringing her hands and giving me sideways glances.

I didn’t know what to do.

I tried small talk. That was a disaster.

So we ended up driving mostly in silence until we got to the retirement community where Grandma Kaine lived. It was a gated and secure subdivision with smaller one-story houses, maintained lawns, a golf course, and the requirement that everyone who lived here was at least the age of fifty-five. Everyone drove golf carts around the neighborhood, and there was even a special back exit path that led to a Publix grocery store.

With my grandmother in charge of the social calendar, I was pretty sure no one ever needed to leave, unless they wanted to.

As soon as I parked in her tiny driveway, the front door flew open and Grandma Kaine stepped out, arms wide. “You’re here!” She went right past me and grabbed Lucy in a tight hug.

“Nice to see you too, Grandma.”

She, of course, ignored me. “I told Scott, ‘Don’t you dare come back without Lucy.’ I’ll not have it.” As usual, she wore a flowing bright pink, purple, and gold caftan. Three long gold necklaces hung from her neck, bracelets adorned her wrists, giant blue flowers were attached to her ears, and her silver hair was wrapped up into a twist. “Come meet Raymond.”

Grandma’s house was like a tiny museum. She had pictures and mementos of every part of her life displayed throughout the house. There was a lot of color. A lot. Raymond was dancing in the kitchen. At least, that’s what I’d call the weird hip swaying thing he was doing while mixing a cocktail.

It was barely noon, but I learned quickly from Grandma that cocktails were always on order at Shoreline Retirement Village.

Raymond’s pencil-thin mustache was gone, but now there was a silver goatee. A perfect triangle. Today he wore bright orange swimming trunks and a bright blue Hawaiian shirt. “Hey there, Sport!” He set his drink down and shook my hand.

I never took offense to his nicknames. I just let them roll off my back. “Good to see you, Raymond. How are things?”

“Good. And you must be Lovely Lucy!” Just like Grandma, he moved past me like I didn’t exist. “I’m making lemon drops for lunch. Would you like one now?”

Lucy blinked. “Uh, it’s a bit early for me. I think I’ll wait until we eat.”

There was lots of gushing after that. Lucy went from overwhelmed to relaxed, so at least the weird tension from the car ride was gone. What was up with that anyway? Was my being gone yesterday a problem? That didn’t seem right. Things like that were never a problem with us. Which was a good thing since my career—and hers for that matter—meant travel and weird schedules. We never would have made it this far if a day apart was a deal breaker.

But something was definitely off.

“And how is my grandson?” Grandma followed me out onto the pool deck. I was sipping on a seltzer, not a lemon drop.

“Do you ever think about the things you said to us as kids?”Wow. I really hadn’t planned on going there today. But the words came out anyway.

“Which things in particular?”

“You said a lot.” Tarot card readings, psychics, prophecies, and sometimes real wisdom. Like “love your brothers even when you hate them.” That was always a good one.

“I did. But I can see something is bothering you. So I suspect it’s something specific.”

I fidgeted with my water and then gave up trying to find an easy way to ask. “When we got struck by lightning you said it was a sign, and that we’d be cursed until the old was new again.”

Her face softened. “Oh. That.” She huffed. “I must caveat that with the explanation that I was going through a hard time myself. It’s easier to lean on cards and signs from the universe than to admit you have no control. It’s true though, isn’t it? Ben did not find love until he came back to London. Chris did not find love until he came back to Olivia.”

The old is new again.

“You’re saying their old childhood crushes had to be revisited? They had to fall in love all over again?”

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