Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Ray
My brother and I walk Grandma back to her room. She leads the way, holding her head up high as she shows off her grandsons to anyone looking. When we reach her room, I help her to her recliner while Trevor fetches her slippers and shawl.
“I am truly blessed,” Grandma sighs, looking up at us with her pale green eyes.
“That’s us, Gran,” Trevor says, wrapping her in the shawl.
“Isn’t Ms. Artio such a lovely young woman?” she says, making a point to look in my direction.
“Ray certainly thought so,” my brother teases before filling Grandma's teakettle with water.
I shoot him a What-the-Fuck look and turn back to my grandmother, who is grinning ear to ear.
“I was thinking the same thing. Those two had quite a spark between them.”
“Ray looked totally gaga.”
“Uh, hello, I’m standing right here,” I say, unable to hide my irritation.
My grandmother reaches out and pats my arm.
“Oh Ray Ray, it’s nice to see you smitten with someone. I hope you ask her to your brother’s wedding.”
Next to the kitchen island, Trevor’s eyes go wide and he rapidly points at me while bouncing on his toes.
“Yes! There’s your plus one, Ray!”
I hold up my hands, as if I am trying to protect myself from an onslaught of dogs.
“Hey, hold up, you two. I just met the woman. For barely an hour. Geez.”
Grandma reaches out and takes my hand, patting it with her other one.
“Of course, Ray Ray. I just love seeing Trevor so happy with his true mate. What a joyful ending to my life if I got to experience both of my boys in love and happy.”
Words escape me, so I bend over to kiss her on the forehead and pull up a chair. Trevor delivers her tea and I crack open our current Agatha Christie read.
On Monday, work is a little more hectic than normal, since Enid is still on her honeymoon.
I finally finish double the paperwork when I realize I am late to visit my grandma.
She is always understanding when I get stuck at work, but I am becoming more sensitive to time since who knows how many weeks left she has with us.
I find her in her recliner, listening to a podcast about serial killers.
“New episode, Grandma?” I ask after kissing her hello.
“It’s a retro one from ten years ago. I forgot about this guy,” she says, before telling her smart speaker to pause.
Topping off her tea, I sit down with our book, but she waves it away.
“Not tonight, Ray Ray. I’m awfully tired. I just stayed up for you because I wanted to see how it went when you asked Artio to the wedding?”
I stare, dumbfounded, at my shrinking grandmother and her hopeful pale green eyes.
“I haven’t had the chance yet, Grandma. I promise to let you know.”
Taking my hand to her cheek, she presses into it just like she did when I was a kid. My heart falls into my stomach and I feel sick, wanting to make everything perfect for this wonderful, loving, badass woman.
“Let’s get you to bed, Grandma.”
Twenty minutes later, I walk out the front door and straight into hot-as-hell Artio Baer.
“Oh, I am so sorry,” I say, bending down to help her pick up the files she dropped.
We share a few awkward laughs while we gather the folders.
When we stand, my hand brushes hers as I hand them back to her.
A zap of electricity bolts up my arm and my entire body heats.
Artio’s beautiful face looks bewildered and I wonder if she felt it, too.
We stand awkwardly for a long pause until I break it.
“I didn’t realize you worked at night.”
She shakes her head, her gold hoop earrings catching the walkway’s lamplight, and says, “Oh, no, I actually left work an hour ago. Then I realized I still had these files in my car and they need to be filed tonight. So I had to hurry back.”
Artio moves her body like she is about to step away. I open my mouth to ask her to the wedding, but a knot in my stomach stops me. We say goodbye, and she turns to take the last few steps to the front door. A desperate nausea boils up inside of me and I startle her with my raised voice.
“Artio? I’m sorry. I need to talk to you about something.”
Furrowing her brow at me, she walks back to where I am standing.
“OK, so you probably know that my grandmother only has months, maybe weeks to live,” I say, continuing after she sadly nods, “OK, so she has expressed, more than once, that she wants to see both of her grandsons in love and happy before she leaves us. My brother has checked that box and is about to be married in like five weeks. But, then, there is me.”
Artio’s rich brown eyes study my face and she asks, “What does this have to do with me?”
I take a deep breath in. This woman disarms me in such a way that I can’t explain. It isn’t just because she is built like an hourglass-shaped time-bomb, but her commanding presence is also intoxicating.
“Well, since our dinner the other night, she has been very adamant that I take you to the wedding as my date. Would you at all be willing to do that, by any chance? As friends, of course. Although, we wouldn’t tell Grandma that. And please feel free to say no. I get this is quite a whacky request.”
Artio stares at me with a perplexed, but amused, expression.
“Mae is an amazing lady. When is the wedding?”
In shock, I say, “The third Saturday in February.”
“OK, let’s do it.”
Since I am excited to tell Grandma my news, I pop in during my lunch break to say hi. I find her in the rec room, playing checkers with her bestie Myrtle. They burst into excited twittering when I tell her about Artio. Another woman walks by them, obviously intrigued by their excitement.
“Oh, Blanche, you’ll never guess who my grandson’s girlfriend is. Our Artio! Don’t they make a beautiful couple?”
I watch Blanche join in on the twittering as a bowling ball forms in my stomach. Girlfriend?
Fuck.