Page 19 of Grumpy

Lightning flashed across that storm cloud. What. The. Fuck. His mom knew he hadn’t cheated, knew how much it hurt to have those two women in his life accuse him of such a travesty. And she claimed that she believed him.

He never told her about the other instances. The times in high school and in the Army, when he’d start to get close to a woman and suddenly she’d dump him.

“Is this why you left the hospital? Left me at the hospital? You thought I would start a relationship with you and then—what?—have a nurse start sucking me off the second you left for the night? Is that the sort of man you think I am?”

“No!” Kelly shouted. “No, it wasn’t that. I… I mean, maybe a part of it,” she admitted, cheeks flaming. “I didn’t believe her. I don’t believe her. But it was… It was so weird, Grumpy. She knew nothing about our date. I introduced myself as your friend. But the way she said it, it was like she was trying to protect me. And I knew I shouldn’t have listened. But cheating is a big red flag for me.” Kelly shook her head, shame making her feel hot and cold at the same time. “And if I’m being honest, I was a coward. Watching you struggle, seeing you like that…” She rubbed her hand under her nose. “It hurt, Grumpy. I saw a way out, and I took it. Everything I said to you that day in the hospital was the truth, but I could have made it work. I chose not to. I chose to leave because it was easier.”

“Easier than what?”

Kelly dropped her head down into her palms. Her shoulders shook as she took large breaths before straightening. “I love my mom, but I’m her caretaker more than I am her daughter. I love my bubbe, but I work overtime to be able to afford keeping her in a facility so I don’t have to take care of her, too. I’m always the caretaker. And this is going to sound so rude and selfish, but here it goes. One of the reasons I liked you so much was because I felt like, for once, I met a man that would take care of me. And when I saw you lying in that hospital bed, it broke something inside me.” She clutched her hands to her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Grumpy, I was all in. I am all in. If this is what you want, if this is something you’re ready for… I don’t know if you can forgive me for being a coward. I didn’t leave because I didn’t want to take care of you. That’s not it at all. I’ve been in love with you for nearly a decade. I just…” She shook her head. “I’ll go. I’m sorry for word vomiting all this on to you. You’re a good man, Grumpy. I won’t bother you again.”

Kelly got to her feet before Grumpy even got a chance to adjust himself on the couch or process what she’d just said.

“Do not make me chase you down, woman. It won’t be pretty, for you or for me.”

Kelly stood there, halfway across the living room. “No, really. I should go. You have your lunch, and I’ve been on my feet since five this morning. I need to check on my mom, and take a shower.”

“I swear to God, Kelly Doyle, if you take another step towards that fucking front door, I will spank your ass the second I catch up to you. It might take me a week, but I’ll do it.”

Kelly shifted on her feet, biting her lip. “Please don’t hurt yourself.”

“Then don’t run out on me—again! Never took you for a fucking bunny, but you just keep running from me.”

Kelly stiffened, squaring her shoulders. “I am not some scared little bunny rabbit!”

Grumpy’s lips twitched, and this time it wasn’t a muscle spasm. “There’s my fierce Kell Bell. Now get your sexy ass back over to this couch. We have a lot to talk about, starting with you telling me everything you have to go through to take care of your mom and Bubble.”

“Bubbe,” she corrected on a laugh.

“That’s what I said.” He watched Kelly drop her purse onto his coffee table. “Now, take your shoes off and give me your feet. I can at least give you a foot massage while you talk.”

Kelly glanced down at her shoes like they might bite him. “Really?”

“Don’t question my sincerity when it comes to taking care of you. I’ve been doing it for a decade.”

Kelly slowly lowered herself onto the couch. Toeing off her shoes without looking away from him, she asked, “So I haven’t been imagining it. You have been doing things for me over the years. Things I didn’t ask for and you didn’t tell me about.”

“Clearly not enough if you’re still struggling this much,” he growled. It took more energy than he cared to admit, but he was eventually able to get himself situated on the couch to face her. Their legs crossed over each other’s until their feet were in each other’s lap.

Kelly wiggled his “old man slipper”. “I’ll do yours if you do mine.”

“Deal. Now, tell me about your struggles taking care of your mom and Bubble Lady.”

* * *

Kelly didn’t know where to start. Hell, she wasn’t even sure this was real and not just some fantasy her overtired mind had cooked up for herself. Sitting on Grumpy’s couch giving each other foot massages? Best sixty-nine position she’d ever been in.

“Mom’s got rheumatoid arthritis. It’s severe, especially at her age. And the woman’s Jewish, so saying she’s stubborn is an understatement.”

Grumpy grunted, and somehow got his prosthetic eye to look at her just as accusatorily as his real one.

“Are you calling me stubborn, Sir Grumpsalot?”

“Touché,” he conceded. “Continue.”

“She also has osteoporosis after falling about five years ago.”

“I remember that. You called an ambulance for her in the middle of the night.”