Page 73 of Trevor Takes Care

His grandma’s eyes narrowed. But instead of challenging that, she said, “This is another reason I need to talk to Sky… and G.G.”

Trevor didn’t follow. “What is?”

“The rest of the family isn’t going to approach Sky—or G.G.—to give them the… what do they call it? The shovel talk?”

“Grandma!”

“But I will,” she sailed on, ignoring Trevor’s squawk. “Your parents, bless their hearts, love you and think whatever they think about you, but I love you and actually know you. That’s why Sky will listen to me. Hmm. G.G. seems reasonable, but between me and Sky, we should be able to get him on board if he isn’t at first.”

Trevor reared back. “I don’t need that. I, well, I can’t say I know what I’m doing, exactly, but I don’t need that. I’m not the useless child Dad thinks I am.”

“Did he say that?” His grandmother tossed her head. “Get me the phone.”

“Grandma, no. No, he didn’t say that.” Trevor hurried to assure her while glancing around for her phone to hide it. “But he thinks it. They all do. You know, loser, dreamer Trevor. Squandering his talent, no sense or head for business. It’s clear.”

“And yet, someone like Sky thinks you’re wonderful and would come all the way down here to see you, and be kind to your interfering grandmother…”

“Sky adores you,” Trevor interjected.

“And G.G., who doesn’t talk to anyone if he can help it, talks with you.” His grandma paused there, as though possibly remembering that G.G. and Trevor didn’t justtalk. “And you got Nancy to let you help her with her house. And I haven’t kicked you out yet—and I could have, no matter what my children want. You know, I planned to talk to your boys about their feelings and then about you, but I see I should have talked to you first.”

“My boys?” was, unfortunately, the response that Trevor heard himself saying before anything else he should have sputtered over.

His grandma put her hands to her cheeks. “What else am I supposed to call them? Really, you can’t go around doing these things without at least providing the correct terms or etiquette.”

“No, yeah,” Trevor agreed, and then had nothing else to say. He drank more coffee.

So did his grandma. “Now,” she declared with finality after caffeine had been ingested and they had both had a moment to recover from honesty and weirdness, “get the bread so I can make toast. And a mixing bowl for the eggs, please.”

Trevor came back from a shorter-than-usual jog to Sky and his grandma on the couch, with Sky doing her nails. Sky had brought her some polish colors because she’d missed getting her nails done. Trevor hadn’t realized. It hadn’t even occurred to him as something to do.

He dropped a kiss into her hair and then did the same to Sky before going off to shower. It was technically a day where Trevor ought to get work done. But he sent off a few emails while sitting through Sky’s turn in the shower, then went out to run errands with Sky in tow. Sky was, likewise, also using his phone for work stuff, but shook his head and smiled brightly whenever Trevor asked if he needed to get back to something or to use Trevor’s “office” for a while.

They got more groceries, following his grandmother’s list, and an iced coffee for Sky that he drank while they sat at a table outside and discussed things that it was best Trevor’s grandma not hear. They hit up Bakery Rosemont on the way home.

Trevor delivered a custard Danish to his grandma while she flipped through her recipe collection, noting that she’d pulled out a few cards already. Possibly the desserts to impress and hopefully silence his mother at the next family dinner.

“Buttering me up,” his grandma said while sliding the pastry closer.

“We’re going over to see G.G.,” Trevor explained. “The pastries are more to butterhimup.”

Sky, enjoying his second croissant, coughed, spilling crumbs over his clothes. “You told her? How much did you tell her?”

Trevor ignored that and started sweeping some of the crumbs into his palm. “I texted him that I was stopping by early. But I thought if I mentioned that Sky will be with me, G.G. would dash back into his cave and we’d never see him again.”

“This is not inspiring much confidence, Brian Trevor.” Despite saying that, his grandma returned to digging through her recipes and then added, “But he probably would. Will he be calmer about it by this summer? He’ll have to be if he comes to the family picnic, even as yourfriend.”

Her tone implied the air quotes impeccably.

Trevor stopped gathering pastry bits. “Is that definitely happening?” He got a knowing stare. “Ah. Well. I will invite him as the date approaches, but I doubt he’ll go. At least not this year.” A relief for both of them, really, since Trevor was the center of enough family drama at the moment. But by next year, Trevor would have been helping his grandma run regular family events for a while… taking them over, more than likely. “Ah,” he said again, realizing that if he was in charge of gatheringsandin possession of his grandma’s recipes, the family would be in a weak position to argue with him. Aboutanything. “You’re a schemer at heart, Grandma.”

Sky cackled. The two of them must have discussed her plans for Trevor before this.

Trevor looked at Sky. “You’re invited too, obviously. If you can make it.”

“About that,” Sky said, reaching into the pastry box for one of the chocolate croissants and biting into it without warming it first. “The thing about my job is that it can be done from anywhere, which I think all this has helped prove, but some people in the company are traditionalists. So I’ve been trying to demonstrate to them how much I can get done without ever seeing any of them in the flesh.”

Trevor closed his hand around a bunch of crumbs. He exchanged a glance with his grandma before turning to Sky. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

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