Page 25 of Easy On Me

“Not going to tell you to relax,” I murmured near her ear. “But I wish you would.”

She scoffed, a small sound reeking of mortification. My girl was mortified.

By my grandma.

Whatever they shared, it wasn’t a good memory for Tyler for sure.

I drew her to a stop on the sidewalk. “We don’t have to stay.”

She flicked a glance up at me, mouth set in unhappy lines. “It’s your grandparents.”

“They know me and see me on the regular. I’m not asking you to stay where you’re uncomfortable.”

Emotions flickered over her face, so quick I couldn’t parse them all. She peered at the double doors Grandma and Grandaddy had just walked through. She squared her shoulders. “I’m fine.”

I snorted.

She glared.

“Look, I’m not stupid. I know what it means when a woman says I’m fine.”

“I’m sure you do.” Arms crossed, she wrinkled her nose, dripping disdain.

“Because my mama says it to my daddy just like that and he calls it out as bullshit every time.” I rolled my neck, tension holding the muscles with merciless hands. “Elizabeth didn’t hesitate to tell me when something wasn’t to her liking.”

That earned me an incisive look. “Including you.”

“Including me. Never could satisfy her, so I stopped trying. But we’re talking about you. You are obviously not fine. Grandma threw you, and if this is going to be an hour of discomfort for you, we’re not staying.”

She stared up at me, lips parted. I cocked an eyebrow.

One breath later, she surged up to kiss me, gripping my shoulders.

Flattening my hand at the base of her spine, I pressed her into me, soaking in her warmth and softness and strength. After another hard kiss, I tilted my head toward the doors, where Grandaddy had reappeared and watched with a longsuffering scowl.

“You’re gonna get me in trouble. That man does not like to wait on his food.”

Her small snort of a laugh puffed across my chin. “So that’s where you get it from.”

“I’m a paragon of patience.” I ignored the slight tremor in her voice because she’d want me to.

“Now I know she’s your grandmother, I know where you got those five dollar words from.”

Grandma had taught drama for years at Chandler-Haynes, and I’m sure her presence expanded my vocabulary. But Mama read all the time and she talked to me – I was an only child so who else was she going to talk to?

I shrugged and nudged her toward the entrance, where Grandaddy still waited. Bet Grandma was at the table, fussing because he’d come to look for us. “Hey, working with my hands doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”

Sure enough, Grandma waited at a four-top near the back. I didn’t need to look at the menu because I always ordered the meatloaf, so I used those minutes to watch Tyler. I caught Grandma and Grandaddy examining me a couple of times, too.

Once our orders were in, Grandma folded her hands on the table and leaned forward with a soft, genuine smile. “Tyler, honey, tell me about yourself now.”

That now hit. If there was a now, there was a then, and that meant Grandma knew something I didn’t. Not sure I liked that – I wanted to know everything about her, and I’d developed a possessive streak about her a mile wide.

Tyler smiled, polite, a little distant. “I’m a receptionist at Coney Ford.”

Grandaddy moved a pin on the peg game, his attention on the wooden triangle, but I knew he was listening to every word.

Grandma’s smile widened, her features softening with pleased pride. “I bet you are wonderful with customer service.”