Page 14 of Not My Problem

She smiled. “Yeah. I’m excited too. And I didn’t know what happened with her and my mom. She didn’t mention it the two times we talked on the phone and I didn’t ask. I figured there was no sense stirring up bad memories.”

“Families are complicated,” I acknowledged. “It’s too bad you didn’t know about Jan earlier but now you guys get to make up for lost time and get to know each other.”

She nodded. “The only thing is… I feel weird about staying in my grandmother’s house all alone. I know she said it was okay, but I’ve never even seen more than the kitchen. I don’t know where she wants me to sleep or if it’s okay to eat her food or what the password is for the Wi-Fi.”

“It’s the same as mine,” I said. “We both upgraded at the same time and decided to use the same password in case one of us forgot.”

She nodded, watching me carefully. I had a guess about what Zoe wanted but I needed her to say it herself. I didn’t want to make assumptions or pressure her into something if I was misreading the situation, so I stayed quiet.

“Hey Gretchen?”

“Yeah?”

“I know it’s a big inconvenience and I hate to ask but… can I stay here with you until my grandmother gets back?”

Zoe

Iwasn’t sure if I was asking to stay here because of my discomfort being alone in my grandmother’s house when she was still a stranger, or because I wanted to stay close to Gretchen. Likely it was a little bit of both. But I couldn’t deny that I had a strong urge to stay close to Gretchen and get to know her better. Maybe repeat that hot kiss we had this afternoon.

When she didn’t answer me I decided I’d made a misstep.

“I’m sorry. I never should have asked you that, it’s too much,” I blurted out. “You’ve already put yourself out to let me stay here last night and you fed me and I know I probably made you uncomfortable by kissing you.”

“You didn’t make me uncomfortable,” she said firmly. “I wanted that kiss as much as you did. But it was probably a bad idea.”

“Oh sure,” I said automatically, my stomach sinking even more.

Then I replayed her words. “But why was it a bad idea exactly?”

“You’re my guest,” she said, ticking off the reasons on her fingers. “I don’t want you to feel like you owe me something.”

“I don’t.”

Well, I kind of did, but not a kiss.

“You’re my neighbor’s granddaughter, and if we pursue something and it ends badly, it could affect my relationship with Jan, which I don’t want to happen. And you’re much younger than me --.”

“Only eight years,” I interrupted.

“You’re in a vulnerable position right now,” she continued, as if I hadn’t spoken. “Not to mention that you’re only in town temporarily.”

“What if I decide to stay here in Seattle?” I couldn’t resist asking.

“That doesn’t negate all the other reasons,” she said patiently.

“Well can we at least be friends then?” I asked. I wanted to be more than friends, but if that was all I could get, I’d settle for having her as a friend.

“Sure, of course, I’d like that.”

“Well okay friend,” I emphasized the last word. “Can I stay at your house until my grandmother gets back?”

She was quiet for a few seconds like she was thinking, so I rushed to add, “I’ll pull my weight. I’ll help around the house. Do yardwork. And when I get a job I can pay you rent and chip in for groceries. You won’t even know I’m here. Well, unless I’m doing something helpful.”

For just a second, Gretchen looked pained. “Yeah, okay, you can stay here until Jan gets back, but on one condition.”

“What?”

“You let me teach you how to lift weights. The way you were struggling to push the lawnmower with your skinny little spaghetti arms was a travesty.”