Page 19 of Back to You
I groaned under my breath. “Gran.”
Anthony’s ears turned pink, but he laughed. “Duly noted…uh, Gran?”
She nodded. “Much better.”
“Thanks,” I added.
“Sure. See you around, Hollister—oh, wait, I almost forgot! Some guy was in here yesterday, asking about you. He, uh… He left this for you.” Anthony bent down to dig around on the shelf beneath the register. Straightening up, he handed me a small business card. It was matte black, embossed with glossy rainbow text. Dane’s name was written boldly across the front and beneath it, in italics, was his number.
My heart flopped like a fish out of water. Grandma Gin shot me an “I told you so” look over her shoulder, and my cheeks grew hot.
“Thanks,” I murmured, quickly tucking the card inside my wallet.
“Sure thing,” Anthony quipped, but his earlier exuberance dimmed several watts. “Have a nice day, guys.”
I drove home in silence, looping what-ifs round and round in my head while Gran hummed along to the oldies station on the radio.
Over dinner, she broke the ice. “So. You gonna call him or not?”
“Gran!” I sputtered, almost choking on the bite of pot pie I’d just taken. My eyes watered as I swallowed it, then chased it with a few gulps of milk. She looked at me expectantly, her wiry brows disappearing into her mousey gray bangs. “I don’t know.”
“I think you’d better.” She speared a chunk of turkey on her fork before popping it into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. She pointed her utensil at me. “You know, I’m of the belief that all things happen for a reason, both the good and the bad. You only live once, you know. Maybe this is fate’s way of bringing two lost souls back together, hmm?”
I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t know about fate, Gran.”
“Why not? People believe in God and that ain’t frowned upon, so why can’t I believe in fate? There’s something romantic about knowing that you got a soul mate out there, somewhere. I know for a fact that Calvin was mine. He made me the happiest woman in the world, Hollister Bay, and if that ain’t fate? Well, I don’t know what else to call it.”
“Yeah.” I smiled, wishing, not for the first time, that I could’ve met Gran’s late husband. She had nothing but good things to say about him, except for when she complained about his terrible flatulence. My shoulders shook in a silent chuckle. Gran met my eye, grinned, and took another bite.
“Maybe you’re right,” I said finally.
“I know I’m right. You don’t live as long as I have and not learned a thing or two. You text that boy and you apologize, and then you leave the past where it belongs—in the past. Understand?”
I bit my lip to hide my smile. “Understood.”
“Good, and remember, if things work out between you two? I want full credit.” She winked. “I expect you to name a grandbaby after me, you hear?”
“Gran.” I covered my reddening face with both hands. She cackled like the wicked old witch she was, but god, I loved her.
I hoped that maybe, someday, Dane might just love her too.
