Page 53 of It Runs in the Family

“Look, he was a perfect gentleman. And like Mrs. Whittleman said, he was gone in nine minutes.” Which I was relieved to hear. While he’d written that note, he could have written it to cover his tracks in case he had taken advantage of me.

“You didn’t remember how long he was here?”

I blinked. “What?”

“You said your neighbor said. Not that you knew it was nine minutes.”

“It’s not like I had a stopwatch,” I said, making a move toward the bathroom door. “Gotta take a shower or we’re gonna be late to Granny’s.” Then I shut the door on him before he could ask more.

I took my sweet time taking a shower and washing my hair. It was bound to be warm today, so I put on a sundress after I blow-dried my hair. I didn’t usually wear much makeup, but I put on some mascara and swiped on some lip gloss before I declared myself ready to go.

Garrett had turned on my TV and was watching some action movie. When I walked out of the bathroom, he grunted in acknowledgement and flipped off the TV. “We’ll ride together in my truck.”

“Fine by me,” I said. “I’d rather have you as my bodyguard for when I see Billy. He wouldn’t dare try to retaliate if you’re next to me.”

His mouth pressed into a thin line. “Somehow I’d forgotten about him in this whole mess.”

I shrugged. “One trouble at a time.” Then something else hit me. “Oh crap!”

He froze in place. “What?”

“I just remembered I didn’t make anything to bring.”

He rolled his eyes. “Just bring something store bought. I still need to get something too, so we’ll stop on the way.”

“I can’t bring something store bought!” I protested. “I’ll get skinned alive, and not just by Granny. All the aunts and cousins too.”

“Pleasssse,” he said. “Let’s see if we can pull one over on ’em.” He walked over to my kitchen and opened the upper cabinet doors.

“What day is it? Meatloaf day?”

He didn’t answer, focused on searching my cabinets, which wasn’t a big job given I didn’t have many cabinets, or many dishes.

I propped a hand on my hip. “What are you lookin’ for?”

He pulled out a big white serving bowl I’d picked up from Goodwill and brought to plenty of lunches, often filled with pasta salad or the macaroni salad Trinity had dumped onto Hannah’s head. Garrett grinned from ear to ear. “Perfect.”

“I suppose you already know what you’re gonna put in there?”

He shut the cabinet door. “You know it.”

“Care to fill me in?”

“Nope. It’s a surprise.”

We headed out, and since he still had my keys, he locked the front door. “While you were showering, I ordered some security cameras so I can keep an eye on your place,” he said as we walked down the stairs.

“Garrett!” I protested. “Those things are expensive!”

“They’re a hell of a lot cheaper than they used to be, and when this is all said and done, I’ll set them up around my place. I’ve been meaning to buy some anyway.”

I almost said I’d hand them over after I inevitably had to move in with him, but I kept that to myself. Like I’d told him, one trouble at a time.

“They’ll be delivered to my house tomorrow morning, so I’ll install them after my shift.”

I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and pulled him to a halt. “Thanks, Garrett. Really.”

“It’s nothin’, Irie. You’d do the same for me if the roles were reversed.”