Page 45 of Lead Me On
She’d squeaked, “Hey!” her red mouth plumping into a pout.
“S-sorry,” Chase had stammered. “Uh. I just saw my girlfriend come in.” He’d felt like a dick saying it, but Dynasty had been unaffected. She’d shrugged and flounced off, and five minutes later she’d been perched on another boy’s lap. The next time he’d looked around, Dynasty—and the boy—had been gone.
And now she was…Jane? Unbelievable.
“Who’s that?” a voice called, pulling Chase out of his cloud of confusion. He looked up to find Grandma Olive pointing a finger at him.
“He’s with me, Grandma,” Jane said.
“With you? Well, ain’t he big as life and twice as natural.”
Jane rolled her eyes.
“He doesn’t look like he’ll be starring in one of those little-blue-pill commercials anytime soon, if you catch my drift.”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Jane muttered over Chase’s shocked laugh.
The old woman’s eyes sparked with life as she gestured with her bandaged hand. “He reminds me of your grandfather.”
“He’s not my grandfather,” Jane snapped. “And you seem to be fine, by the way. I’m going to call Mom and tell her not to worry, then I’m going to find your doctor and see if he’ll give you a prescription strong enough to knock you out.”
“Don’t be sassy!”
“Oh,I’mthe sassy one,” Jane huffed as she took out her phone and hurried toward the far doors.
“You there,” the grandmother said to Chase, jerking her head to the side to call him over.
“Yes, ma’am?”
Her eyes narrowed as he drew closer. “You’re a big one, but you look kind of dumb.”
“Uh…” What the hell was he supposed to say to that?
“Well, there you go.”
Chase blinked and smothered the urge to yell, “Am not!”
“Do you have a job, at least?”
This was solid ground, anyway. “Yes, ma’am. I own my own company.”
“Hmph.” She eyed him suspiciously. “What kind of company?”
“Excavation, ma’am.”
Her eyes narrowed even more. “You look scared. You’re not scared of an old lady like me, are you?”
“A little,” he answered honestly.
“Ha!” she barked. “I like you. What’s your name?”
He relaxed a bit, wondering why he was so happy that she liked him. “My name’s Chase.”
“I’m Mrs. Olive MacKenzie, Dynasty’s grandmother.” Her approval seemed to temper her sharp tongue and they chatted about her garden for a while until Jane returned and said it was time to go.
“And Grandma Olive,” Jane said, “let somebody else cut the limes next time.”
“Young lady, I was making margaritas before your mother was born. I’m sure as hell not going to stop now.”
