Page 93 of Hot Stuff
“Well, we don’t need to go to that extreme.” She grins. “The house is big. And Pa’s room in on the ground floor, far away from my room.”
“Will he object to us living there? Together? He might be okay with his granddaughter living with him but adding me to the house could be a deal breaker for him.”
“No. He’s talking about moving out to give us the house.”
“Why would he move out of his home?”
“I don’t think he’s serious. At least I hope not. I think maybe he thought you wouldn’t want to live with him.”
“Huh. I guess I need to make it clear I’m not about to usurp his place in your life and home.”
“Funnily enough, I think he might want you to. I think he’s hoping for great grandchildren.”
“I’m ready to give him those whenever you are,” I tell her.
“You… I…” She shakes her head, and I have to smile that I’ve managed to make her speechless. It’s not something easily done.
I’ll be honest, I haven’t given kids much thought, but I do know I want them.
“I know we’ve got a lot going on. We don’t need to add to the chaos right now but when you’re ready, I’m game.”
“We’re not even married yet?” she argues. Although we’re not fighting because as I said, whenever she wants them is fine with me.
I shrug. “I’m not worried about that.”
“You’re not one of those men who needs the mother of his children to bear his name?”
“No. Do I want you to? Yes. Need you to? No. Besides, I thought you’d want to keep your maiden name.”
“James?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“It’s your family name and I know you’re the last of your line to pass it on.”
“Right, well, it’s actually not my birth name.”
“Sorry, what?”
“My mother was Pa’s daughter. My father’s name is Doyle. When Pa came and got me, he had my last name changed to James.”
I’m so surprised by this information that I don’t speak for several seconds. But then something occurs to me that I can’t believe I haven’t noticed before now. “You don’t talk about your parents. At all.”
“No. My mother died when I was two and my father didn’t want me after that and didn’t take care of me very well. Pa and Grams came and got me when I was three. I’ve lived with them since.”
She hasn’t mentioned her grandmother before either and I have a feeling I know the answer to my next question but ask anyway. “Grams?”
“My grandmother. She died when I was twenty-two.”
Saying sorry in these situations always seems useless so I go with something else. “I wish I’d gotten to meet her. She raised an amazing woman.”
“I have no idea where I would be if they hadn’t come for me. Probably dead in a gutter like my father.”
“Wait. Your father is dead?”
“Yes, he was walking home drunk and got hit by a car. Grams said it was a blessing because after my mother died, he turned into someone she didn’t recognize, someone she didn’t like.”
