Page 126 of Fish out of Water
Vito stared out at us.
But he wasn’t alone.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Grant
“GOOD MORNING.”
My mother stood in the doorway leading to the garage, looking like a deer in the headlights. “Morning.” She smoothed down one side of her hair. “You’re up early.”
“You’re up late.”
Technically we both were, just for what I imagined were completely opposite reasons.
Her eyes scanned the kitchen as she finally came into the house. “I had business.”
“Here?” My mother had actually retired for the most part, using her free time and power to influence other people in power to make decisions that benefited more than just themselves. But all of that happened back home.
At least I thought it did.
She lifted one shoulder. “Why not?”
“Because you don’t live here? What’s the point in having business somewhere you aren’t actually living?” I poured more coffee into the cup I’d been carrying around since I gave up trying to sleep at four. “I’m not taking care of anything when you leave.” I started to sip at the refreshed drink but stopped. “That includes Vito. I’m done with this shit.”
“That’s one of the reasons I’ve been thinking about changing some things.” My mother went to the cabinet and grabbed a cup of her own. “I can’t keep asking you to babysit him. I hoped he would calm down as he aged, but it’s not looking like that’s going to be the case.”
“What are you thinking about changing?” I came to Florida thinking I could escape my old life.
But it just kept coming back.
And maybe that wasn’t as terrible of a thing as I thought it would be.
“Your grandmother’s tired of the winters.” She lifted one shoulder. “I’m tired of being alone.” She smiled at me. “It would be nice to have a little more company.”
I was confident my company wasn’t the only one she was interested in having. “So you’re planning on moving down here?”
“I was considering it.” She poured a little cream into her coffee. “Would you hate that?”
Maybe a year ago I would have.
Hell, maybe even a week ago.
“I think it might be nice.” It was all I was willing to articulate at this moment.
Mostly because I wasn’t feeling as confident as I had been in the things happening in my life.
“Really?” My mother beamed at me. “I don’t expect family dinners every week. Maybe just a visit here and there. We will give you your space.”
“We’ll see how that goes.” I took a long sip of my coffee.
“Your grandmother does seem to really like Julia.” My mother turned to lean against the counter beside me. “So maybe I shouldn’t make promises I can’t keep.”
“You can take that up with Julia.” I didn’t mean for it to sound as harsh as it did.
One of my mother’s brows slowly crept up. “Have I missed something?”
“They both spent the night at Julia’s apartment last night.” I glared across the room.
