Page 22 of Always a Roommate
It was the nature of the beast.
“You listening to me, boy?” Dad eyed me curiously.
I cleared my throat. “Sure, Dad.”
“Then, where did I say it’s going to make landfall?” When I didn’t answer, he took pity on me. “They’re expecting Sarasota to take a direct hit and maybe all the way down in Port Charlotte.” Port Charlotte was no stranger to the damage hurricanes could cause.
“That’s rough.”
“Yep,” he agreed. “And check out those wind speeds.” He pointed to the screen. “It’s a big one. They say it’ll still be a cat two when it makes its way inland to Orlando.”
The front door opened, and Mom walked in with my favorite person in tow.
“Grams.” I stood and crossed the room to my grandma.
Her wizened face stretched into a grin. “There’s my baby boy.” She wrapped thin arms around me and squeezed.
I wouldn’t contradict her characterization of me, never her. “What are you doing here?”
She slapped my chest. “I could ask you the same thing. Aren’t you supposed to be living with my favorite redhead?”
Grams loved Rae, my entire family did. They’d never understood why we didn’t get along. “I just came by to chat with Mom.”
“Notice he said his mother,” my dad piped in. “Not me.”
I didn’t feel bad, and I knew my dad was only joking. He loved how much his kids still came to Mom. It let him tease us endlessly.
“That’s because he’s a smart boy.” Grams patted my cheek. “I still don’t understand why I had to leave my house. I was in the middle of a wicked game of sudoku online.”
“Sudoku is a game?” I’d never gotten into puzzles like she did, but it always seemed so solitary. Maybe it was perfect for me.
She grinned. “The way I play it, it is. You just have to put money down and know how to flirt for distraction.”
My mom rolled her eyes. “It’s so wonderful to know my mother is playing sudoku for money with strange men online.” She took Grams’s bag and shoved it at me. “Take that to the guest room please, honey. Your grandmother is staying until the storm passes Orlando.”
Grams lived in the path of a lot of storms, so this was mostly par for the course. Her third husband died a number of years ago, but even at her age, she was the most independent person I knew. It probably rankled her to be forced to come here—even if she loved being with us.
I dropped the bag in her room and turned as she entered.
“A birdie tells me you’re buying a house.” She didn’t look too happy about that.
“It’s time, Grams.”
“Oh, pah. Time, what a stupid construct. There is no right time to do anything.”
“Is there a problem with me buying a house?”
“Of course there is, you dingbat.” She sat on the edge of the bed. “Of all my grandsons, you’re supposed to be the smart one.” I was definitely telling Tanner and Johnny she’d said that.
“Just your grandsons?”
“You really don’t think I’m going to say you’re smarter than your sister, do you?” She swatted at me.
“Okay, I’m going to regret this, but what’s the problem?”
She rolled her eyes, looking like a teenager rather than a grandmother. “You’re living with a beautiful woman, who also just happens to be awesomesauce.”
“Awesomesauce?” I raised a brow.
