Page 93 of What Started In Deception

Everly climbed onto her knees as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “You can ask her, so she won’t say no.”

James laughed as Ty did.

Ty grinned as Everly looked at him—as she’d done several times from across the table during dinner. “You can’t fault her logic.”

James chuckled again as he hugged her. “This one’s a smooth operator. She knows she has her grandpa wrapped around her finger. Don’t you, Ev?”

“Yup,” she said as she smiled at Ty.

Ty smiled again as he winked at her.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hey, Everly.”

“You have dance parties. Lydia said.”

And apparently, they were friends now. “I like to dance with Lydia. It makes us laugh.”

“Yup.” She looked at her grandpa again. “I need ice cream, Grandpa.”

James stood with Everly in his arms. “I’ll see you in the morning, Ty. Ev, let’s go see what your mom thinks of your idea.”

Everly waved as they walked away.

He waved back as he chuckled, understanding why Lydia adored her second cousin.

“That one’s a hot ticket,” Marietta said as she walked over with the aid of her cane, wearing white cotton pants, a pale-blue blouse, and her trademark lipstick and accompanying jewelry. “She might have struggled with some speech delays in the beginning, but that’s certainly not an issue anymore. My Beau would have adored her.”

Ty stood and hurried to her side, offering her his arm the rest of the way to the chair.

Marietta sat down. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” he said as he sat down again, always happy to visit with Lydia’s grandma.

“Are you enjoying your visit so far?”

He nodded, catching hints of her jasmine perfume mixing with the salty breeze. “Very much. Your home is beautiful. Lydia’s, too.”

Her eyes tracked around the grounds. “I raised my boys right here. There are so many good memories. There are also a few I would rather forget.”

He nodded, deciding to leave that one alone.

“Tyler, I walked over here with selfish intentions.” She gave his arm a gentle pat with her bony hand. “I thought I’d sweeten it up with some small talk.”

He grinned, liking Marietta very much. “What can I do for you?”

“I’d like you to help me develop a plan to become less frail.”

He nodded, intrigued by the idea. “We can do that. The best strategy is going to be to get you into the gym and get you lifting weights. We can start increasing your muscle mass and bone density.”

She nodded. “I’ve done plenty of reading on the subject.”

“I’ll want you to clear it with your doctors first and make sure we’re not hurting your hip.”

“I already did. I knew you would be up here, and I plan to take advantage of that. I don’t have time to be breaking to bits and falling to pieces. I have too much to do, so you’re going to help me fix that.”

He grinned again. “We can get started tomorrow if you want.”