Page 32 of Miss Understanding

“At least it was my left hand. Wouldn’t want it to ruin my bowling game tonight.” She gave me another genuine smile, making my stomach do this weird little flip.

We both jumped at the voice on the iPad. “Honey, you still there?”

Kendall giggled. “Oops. I’m, um, FaceTiming my nan,” she whispered, going over to the iPad. “Sorry, Nan. I was distracted by cutting some veggies while watching.”

“It’s okay, honey. Let’s get back to the show.”

Her nan turned the iPad back to her television, which appeared to be playing some Western-type show.

Kendall muted it quickly and turned back to me. “I’ll be done in about twenty minutes. We, um, our thing is to watch Little House on the Prairie together every Sunday.” A blush stained her cheeks with the admission.

I recalled the title as something my sister may have read when she was younger, but I’d never seen the TV shows. Guilt crept up. Kendall had to FaceTime her nan instead of being there with her. It also made me miss my grandmother and all of the time I used to spend with her as a kid. “There’s nothing on the agenda. Take your time.”

Chapter Seventeen

Kendall

Nerves struck me once we pulled into Liam’s sister’s driveway. I looked forward to satisfying a burning curiosity about my boss’s family, but I needed to remember they’d just experienced a loss. Although his sister was nice and friendly, I wasn’t here for a party. I was here as part of a family dinner occurring three days after they’d lost their father. It was just difficult to remember that since Liam didn’t seem to want to talk about it nor did he act overly upset. Hell, neither had his sister, come to think of it.

Allison let us in with a smile. She hugged her brother to the side since each of us were carrying trays of food, and much to my surprise, took a turn to hug me, too.

“Oh my goodness, I can smell the enchiladas already. They smell delicious. Thank you so much for cooking, Kendall.”

“It’s my pleasure.” I absolutely loved being able to share my food with everyone.

We went into the large, two-story house, and I was immediately greeted by an adorable four-year-old who took exception to my jacket.

“Your coat is ugly,” she said without warning.

“Chelsea, don’t be rude,” Allison admonished her daughter and turned a deep shade of red.

I unzipped the offensive garment and knelt down to her level, loving her curly hair and freckled face. “It is rather hideous, I know, but I live in California where it’s warmer, so I didn’t have a winter coat. This was the very last one they had at the store here in Virginia.”

She gave me a smile. “You live in California with my uncle?”

“Uh, the same state, yes.” Didn’t need to perpetuate the girlfriend rumor which was probably already running through town.

The girlfriend ruse had been more fun than I probably should’ve had at his expense. To be honest, I’d liked putting him out of his comfort zone. Probably wasn’t the best career move, but it had been an icebreaker of sorts. We’d been able to laugh about it in the truck later. And what could I say? Having his arm around me hadn’t been the worst feeling in the world, either.

“I like your boots,” the little girl said shyly, rocking back and forth in that adorable toddler fashion that either meant she had to pee or was nervous upon meeting someone new.

“Thank you. I definitely lucked out with those.”

“I have pink ones. You wanna see?”

“You bet.”

Within no time I was introduced to Allison’s husband, Warren, and Liam’s mother, Clara. While her children and grandchildren seemed to be dealing with grief in a very non-grief way, I could tell with one glance that Clara was struggling. Her smile didn’t quite reach her red eyes. I’d seen the same expression on my nan when she’d buried my grandfather.

“Hello, my dear. Allison tells me you’re quite a chef.”

“Oh. Well, I certainly enjoy cooking.”

“And you work at the same law firm as my son?”

“Yes.”

Her pride was evident in her expression. “He’s such a hard worker.”