Page 72 of Their Stormy Reunion

“And a sweet tea for Fallon,” Little Grandma said.

“I didn’t see country ham and red-eye gravy on the menu,” my dad complained.

“It’s one of today’s specials. I was getting ready to tell you about them,” Lettie explained. “Besides the ham, we also have shrimp and grits.”

“I’ll take the shrimp and grits and a sweet tea,” Dad told Lettie.

“What about you, Miz Vickers?” she asked Mom.

“I’ll take a turkey sandwich with sweet potato fries and a glass of sweet tea.”

“Got it. Your orders will be out soon.” She pushed her pencil back behind her ear and hustled over to the kitchen window.

I watched as Little Grandma placed her hand on my dad’s. “Tell me Bob, how are you doing really? There’s a lot of different stories flying around, but what is the real truth?”

“I think the reason there were so many rumors is because Isla and I didn’t know day-to-day what was going on. It seemed like the doctors were constantly e-mailing us information that we couldn’t decipher, and we would have to wait forever to get a hold of a doctor to have them tell us what everything meant.”

“Is that still going on?” Little Grandma asked gently.

My Dad grinned big as he focused his attention on me. “Not recently. Fallon’s been a Godsend. She did something that puts everything into words that Isla and I can understand. After all of Fallon’s help with Isla’s arthritis doctor, I’m thinking about having her come in on my next follow-up appointment for me.”

Damn! I sagged back into my chair. Did my dad just compliment me?

“Bob, I don’t understand why you’re so surprised. Your daughter graduated Summa Cum Laude. She’s always been a marvel.”

“Yes, well. That was with all that math and computer stuff. It wasn’t like she got a degree to become a doctor or a lawyer.”

“Robert Vickers,” Little Grandma said harshly. “I can’t believe you just said that about your own daughter. She is a prize, and you should value her. Seems to me that you never did realize how lucky you were, to have such a wonderful daughter.”

My dad was turning all kinds of shades of red. If it had been anyone else in the town saying this to him, he would have shouted them down. But Little Grandma was the town matriarch. And she had home field advantage and Dad knew it. He was stuck sucking it up, and I thought he might actually explode right there in the corner of the diner.

“Begging your pardon, Mrs. Magill,” my mom started. “But we love our daughter. And we surely do appreciate her coming home and helping us out.”

Lettie sniffed as she set down a biscuit and a cup of tea in front of Little Grandma. “I’ll be back with your teas in just a moment.”

“My wife is correct, Mrs. Magill. We love Fallon.”

This time it was Little Grandma who gave the disbelieving sniff.

Lettie came and passed out the teas.

“Little Grandma,” I said. “Didn’t I hear that you recently had another great-great grandchild?” I asked. I was desperate to change the topic of conversation.

She turned to my dad. “Like I said, Bob. She’s a prize.” She turned back to me. “Yes, I did. His name is James Oliver Rafferty.” She put her hand into her voluminous sweater pocket and pulled out a flip style cell phone. “Let me show you some pictures. He was just born two weeks ago. He was over eight pounds when he was born.”

Mom squeezed my hand, and I looked over at her. She mouthed the words, ‘Thank you’.

Chapter Twenty-Two

If I’d thought the air had been thick in the SUV driving to the diner, it was nothing compared to driving home. I knew Little Grandma had been trying to help, and it had felt really good having her defend me like she did, but boy I was going to end up paying for it tonight.

As soon as I backed into the carport, Dad had the passenger side door open, and he was getting out of my SUV. I immediately saw he was struggling to stay upright. He’d definitely overdone today.

“Dad, wait for me,” I said softly.

“I don’t need your help,” he bit out.

I watched as Mom pulled one of Dad’s arms over her shoulders and she took his weight so that they could get into the house. I hurried out of my vehicle, knowing what was coming next if I didn’t get my ass into the house. But the alarm sounded before I could get inside in time.