Page 40 of A Lifetime in 30 Days
“Tastier than I thought it would be,” she answered. And that was mostly true. It had been tasty, but she hadn’t really enjoyed it as much as she knew she would have if all that other stuff wasn’t on her mind.
“Good,” he said. “Listen, I’ve got a meeting tonight, and I’m not sure how long it’ll last—”
“Oh, that’s fine,” she hurried to respond. “We don’t need to hook up every night. We’re not that serious. Besides, I have some stuff to do tonight too.”
She was talking fast, so she forced herself to take a deep breath. He took those seconds to go silent again. She was just about to tell him she was heading out for lunch, because suddenly this conversation seemed awkward. Or perhaps it was just the mood she was currently in, who knew.
“I was going to ask if it would be okay to stop by when I was finished with my meeting,” he continued. “I’d like to put eyes on you just to make sure all is well.”
Guilt stabbed at her. She knew she was overreacting and overthinking, and she willed herself to stop both right this minute. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s been a really rough morning. But I did plan to stop by to see Granny after work and maybe take her out for something to eat. So how ’bout you just call me when you’re finished with your meeting and we’ll see how both of us are feeling then.”
“Yeah, that sounds good,” he replied, but he didn’t sound as certain as he usually did.
Vanna didn’t have the energy to question him at the moment. Possibly because she knew that would only end up in a deeper discussion as to what was bothering her. And she didn’t feel like that right now. What she wanted most at this moment was to get out and get that fresh air Sanni had just mentioned. To talk to the other woman aboutherproblems rather than sit and stew on her own.
“Okay,” she said, and closed her eyes for a moment. “I’ll talk to you later.”
There was another moment of silence, which was starting to irritate her. What was he thinking? What did he want to say that he was holding back for whatever reason? And why did she even care?
“I’ll talk to you later,” he finally replied. “And Savannah?”
“Yes?”
“You know you can call me if you need me. Whatever it is, whenever you need me, you can just call,” he said.
“Ah, yes ... yes, I know,” she said, then disconnected the call.
Chapter 13
Vanna:Can you stop by when you’re done with your meeting?
She’d stared at that message for a long-ass four minutes before finally hitting the “Send” button. It was a little after ten in the evening, and she’d been sitting on her couch, pretending to watch theMurder, She Wrotemarathon for the last two hours.
After work, she’d done exactly what she’d told Aden she would do: she went to visit Granny and suggested they go out for dinner. The comment had been impromptu when she’d been on the phone with him, just something to make it seem like she wasn’t going to be sitting at home, waiting for him to decide to show up or not. And yes, that was petty. She prided herself on not being about games in any relationship—never again. So when she wanted to see a man, she would see him, and when she didn’t, she would make that clear. She wanted that same courtesy from whatever man she was dating. But there’d been something in Aden’s tone, something in the way he looked at her each time they were together, that had her feeling a little edgy where they were concerned. It was like she was in uncharted territory with him even though she’d clearly dated before. Hell, she’d been married before, so this, what they were doing, shouldn’t be at all complicated.
And yet, it was.
Or at least, it felt like he was making it complicated. Or was she the one doing that?
“You seem distracted,” Granny said when they were seated across from each other at Outback Steakhouse.
Granny loved a Bloomin’ Onion and the Bloomin’ Fried Chicken. Vanna had chicken last night and for lunch once she and Sanni had returned from their walk, so she’d ordered salmon instead.
Vanna’s response had been to shrug because, just like she hadn’t wanted to unload all that had happened this morning on Aden earlier, she didn’t want to put that on her grandmother’s shoulders either. “I’m okay,” she said.
“You’re not,” was Granny’s absent-minded reply as she pulled another piece of the onion off and put it into her mouth. “You shouldn’t keep it all bottled up. I’ve been telling you that since you were a little girl.”
She had, and Vanna had been ignoring the comment since then. “I’m not keeping anything bottled up. But I’m also not going to dwell on every time I have a hard day. It’s counterproductive.”
Granny finished chewing and reached for another piece. Her bracelets jangled and clunked as they hit the table. She wore wood-and-bronze earrings to match the jewelry at her wrists and her necklace today. “It’s a shame how easily you sit at this table and lie to me,” Granny told her. “But like I said, I’m used to it. You’ve been doing it since you were a child.”
“Maybe I get it from my mama.” The words slipped out before she could stop them, and her eyes widened as Granny stilled before she could get the food into her mouth. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean ...”
Granny shook her head so hard and fast, the long earrings slapped against the side of her face. “Don’t apologize for saying what you mean. Diane is a liar. Has been for most of her life. Neither of us can change that fact.”
Unsure of what to say or do next, Vanna opted to scoop a pile of rice onto her fork and put it into her mouth to chew.
“But what my only child never seemed to have a problem doing was saying whatever she wanted,” Granny said after she finally put thatnext piece of onion into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. “No, that girl was a chatterbox from day one. Think she started talking before she started walking. She was lazy like that.” Granny gave a wry chuckle. “Always wanted to be on my hip, like I hadn’t carried her for almost forty-two weeks before those doctors finally decided to get her stubborn behind out of me.”
