Page 5 of Sweet Obsession
On the counter, his grandmother had set a pitcher, silverware, napkins and glasses on a tray. “Take this and I’ll bring the pie.”
Setting the tray down beside the plates, he couldn’t help but think how normal everything seemed. Nothing about his grandmother’s behavior seemed odd or out of place. Not a single word had set off any alarm bells. So why did he still feel more uneasy than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs?
Quietly perched on the edge of the Queen Anne wingback, Jillian looked like she might bolt any second. Blake sank into the sofa, the cushions sighing under his weight. The air in the room still, his grandmother taking her time slicing the fresh pie, he finally looked at Jillian, really looked at her. The years had been kind. More than kind. The fiery kid he remembered was still there in her green eyes, but now there was a poised, capable woman staring back at him. A woman who, he reminded himself, had been perfectly willing to shoot him a few minutes ago.
“So.” Sliding a slice of pie onto a dish and holding it out for her guest, Grams smiled sweetly. Too sweetly. “Tell me what’s so important it had you flying all the way from California and climbing through my window like a teenager sneaking into a house before his parents have had time to figure out he’d been out all night.”
“It started the other night when you called to wish me a happy birthday.”
Her brow furrowed. “Your birthday? But your birthday isn’t for months. Why would I do that?”
Her response was so clear, so lucid, that for a second, Blake questioned his own memory. Had he dreamed the call? Had the exhaustion of the tour finally made him crack? But he knew he hadn’t. He remembered every bewildering word.
He leaned forward. “You called at four in the morning, wished me happy birthday then told me you had to get off the phone to cook dinner.”
“Cook dinner at four in the morning?” Brows arched high quickly buckled over her narrowed gaze. “I don’t suppose you were… drinking when you got this phone call?”
His days of drinking and partying from tour to tour were long gone. “No,” he shook his head, “but the call did worry me.”
“Did you have sushi? That raw fish probably gives lots of people nightmares. I mean, really, why would anyone want to eat raw fish?”
This all sounded so much like the grandmother he’d known all his life and loved dearly. But he knew he wasn’t dreaming when she called. Had he been asleep, maybe he would have believed he’d imagined the whole thing, but he’d been wide awake. Now he was more confused than ever.
“Oh, my. I forgot the ice cream.” Grams sprang up from her seat. “I’ll be right back.”
As his grandmother’s back disappeared into the kitchen, Jillian cleared her throat. “I really am sorry about before, with the gun.”
Tearing his gaze away from the kitchen doorway, he leveled his gaze with hers. “While I prefer not to have loaded guns pointed at me, it’s good to know folks are watching out for Grams.”
“Always.” Jillian’s smile was sweet, soft and at the same time, radiant. “We all love Mrs. Kirby.”
His attention darted back to the kitchen where he could hear his grandmother puttering about, no doubt scooping ice cream into bowls.
“You’re really worried?” Jillian’s voice came out low and laced with concern.
“Yeah.” He blew out a heavy sigh. “I didn’t dream that call. She was totally confused.”
“She seems fine now.”
“I know. Which hasmetotally confused.” He shook his head. “I can’t leave. For all I know, that call could have been caused by a stroke, or…worse.”
Jillian’s brows buckled. “Worse?”
“The call reminded me of a friend’s mom right before she was diagnosed with dementia.”
A small gasp escaped from Jillian’s throat as her gaze drifted to the kitchen where his grandmother was now closing the freezer door.
“She seems fine now.”
He nodded. She did. But he couldn’t get that call out of his head. “I can’t leave now and pretend nothing happened. But I can’t stay in town either.” He raked a hand through his hair. “It would be a circus.”
Jillian’s eyes were thoughtful. “What about the Sweet Ranch?”
“What about it?”
“You could stay with us. We’re far enough out of town that you could stay out of the limelight, but close enough that you can check on your grandmother and visit your parents. At least while you figure out what to do about your grandmother.”
Growing up, the Sweet Ranch had been like a second home to him, but that was back before he and Kade had left Honeysuckle to follow their dreams. Could he take her up on it? Did he have any other choice? Something was definitely not right with Grams, and until he figured out what, he wasn’t going anywhere. He sure hoped the old adage was true and there really was no place like home.
