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“So,” he said, settling back into his seat. “Tell me something. Distract yourself.”
“Tell you what?”
“Anything. What’s been going on with you? We’ve been so busy with the shoot and the shopping and everything, I feel like we haven’t actually talked in forever.”
I took a sip of my ginger ale, considering. “My grandmother has a boyfriend.”
Jeremy’s eyebrows shot up. “Seriously?”
“His name is Harold. He’s a retired dentist.”
“A dentist.” He grinned. “That’s adorable.”
“They met at a dancing class. Apparently, he asked her to be his partner for the cha-cha, and now they’re inseparable.”
“Your grandmother does the cha-cha?”
“My grandmother does everything. She’s very popular.” I shook my head, smiling despite myself. “The retirement community she lives in is wild. They have activities every single day. Bingo nights, book clubs, water aerobics, cocktail hours. It’s like a cruise ship that never leaves port.”
“That sounds amazing. I want to live there when I’m old.”
“You’d fit right in. Lots of women to flirt with.”
He laughed. “How’s she doing? Your grandmother? Aside from the new beau.”
“Really good, actually.” I traced my finger around the rim of my glass. “She seems happy. Harold treats her well. Takes her to dinner, brings her flowers. The whole old-fashioned courtship thing.”
“That’s sweet.”
“It is.” I paused, the next words harder to say than I expected. “She’s spending Thanksgiving with him this year. With his family.”
Jeremy went quiet for a moment. “So you’re not going to see her? Or she’s not coming to see you? I forget how you guys do that.”
“No. First time in… I don’t even know how long. Even when I was traveling for work, I always made it back.”
“That sucks, Lucy.”
“It’s fine.” I waved my hand dismissively. “She deserves to be happy. Harold’s daughter invited them, and it’s a big deal for her to meet the family. I’m not going to make her feel guilty about that.”
“Still.” He bumped his shoulder against mine. “That’s hard. The holidays are supposed to be about family.”
“Yeah, well.” I shrugged. “I’ll survive. I’ll order Chinese food and watch bad movies. It’ll be fine.”
“Or.” He drew out the word. “You could come to Thanksgiving at my parents’ house.”
I turned to look at him. “What?”
“Family dinner. Thanksgiving edition. It’s chaos, but it’s fun chaos. There’s always room for one more.”
“Jeremy, I can’t crash your family Thanksgiving.”
“It’s not crashing if you’re invited.” He held my gaze, sincere in a way he rarely let show. “Seriously, Lucy. Everyone loves you. My mom asks about you all the time. You’re practically family already.”
I felt that in my soul. “That’s really sweet.”
“I’m a sweet guy.”
“Debatable.”
