6. #2
“How does that work?” I asked.
“None of our biological grandparents are still alive, but Martha and Smokey Forrester are Gamma and Papa, and one of the original members of the Knights is Tink. We call him Tinkie and his wife, Sandra, is Nana.”
“Grunt could be considered a grandparent, but we don’t call him anything in particular.
His wife is known as Gigi, though,” Jonas explained.
“They’re technically Emerald’s grandparents, I guess.
I’ve got grandparents on my mom’s side and my dad’s side that we see a lot, but none of the other kids were ever as close to them as me and my siblings. ”
“I’ve got my grandma, and that’s it. She and my grandpa weren’t ever able to have kids even though they wanted to badly. They eventually adopted my mom when she was four or five years old, and she was their only child.”
“Give any of them three minutes around your kids, and you’ll have more sets than you can count,” Zane said with a grin. “Gamma’s got a soft spot for wild little boys.”
“She loved us too,” Zoey argued. “She’s just the best. You’ve been in Rojo for a while. I’m sure you’ve met her or at least seen her before.”
“Where?”
“Over at Martha’s Diner. She doesn’t work very often, but she still goes in all the time to make sure that everything’s running the way it should,” Zoey explained.
Zane topped off my mug with coffee from the fresh pot as he explained, “I don’t think she’s really worried that it’s not being run right, I just think she isn’t content to be idle.”
“My grandma wasn’t really one to sit still either. Now she doesn’t have much choice. That big heart of hers just couldn’t handle the stress anymore. She had her first heart attack right after Leo came to her, and that’s when I moved to Rojo.”
“She might have only had one daughter, but because of her, she’s raised several other kids, I guess,” Zoey said sadly. “At least y’all had her, though, right?”
“I can’t imagine what my life would have been like without having my grandma to lean on. In a way, I don’t understand how she can keep giving my mother so many chances, but then again, I sort of get it because I could never give up on my kids.”
“That’s because you’re a good mom.”
I smiled at Zane as I shook my head and argued, “I wouldn’t go quite that far, but thanks for the sentiment.”
When Zoey yawned followed by Garvey and then Jonas, I finally convinced all of them to go home after thanking them profusely. I followed them to the door and stood behind the glass as I watched them leave.
Zane walked up and stood behind me, and I watched his reflection in the glass when he said, “Not only am I exhausted, but I’d imagine that you want all of us out of your hair.”
“I can’t believe Emerald is still out there talking to him.”
“Would you like me to wait with you until they’re finished?”
“You don’t have to.”
“I don’t have to do a lot of things, but I’m offering.”
“You’re a pretty terrific guy, Mr. Duke.”
“Thank you. You seem like a pretty terrific woman, Ms. Banks.”
“If you want to call off our date, I will completely understand.”
“I don’t want to, but I understand that . . .” He looked at his watch and said, “Seventeen hours from now might not be the best time for me to take you away from your family for a while, although that may be exactly what you need.”
“I should stick around and see if I can make some sort of peace with Dayton.”
“Let’s put our first date off until next weekend.”
As sad as that made me, I had to agree. “That’s probably for the best.”
“Does Dayton like pizza?”
“Who doesn’t like pizza?” I retorted.
“Instead of taking you out, what do you think about staying in? We can watch a movie, gorge ourselves on carbs, and just hang out instead.”
“You’re going to come back here . . . willingly?”
“You’ll find I don’t do many things I don’t want to do, Courtney.”
“And you want to come back?”
“Very much. There’s something else I want to do, too, but I’ll wait until the kids go to bed tonight for that.”
“For what?”
Zane leaned closer until our lips were almost touching when he said, “A little of this . . .” He moved his head until his lips were near my neck before he finished, “And a little of that.”
“Oh.”
Zane’s slow smile transformed his face as he stood up straight and looked down at me. “Call me if you need anything today, Slugger. I’ll come running.”
“I can’t wait to see that,” I blurted without thinking. Zane’s deep chuckle seemed to vibrate the air around us, and I said, “That was supposed to be my inner voice.”
“No need for an inner voice when you’re around me.” Zane reached around me and put his hand on the doorknob, crowding me against the glass, before he said, “Bye, Courtney.”
My voice was way too breathy and wistful when I said, “Bye, Zane.”
I didn’t have time to move aside, so our bodies touched right before he walked out the door. I couldn’t tear my eyes off of him, which meant that when he glanced over his shoulder, he saw me watching him leave, and that made him smile again.
I was still standing at the door when I saw Dr. Hamilton’s reflection in the glass as she came out of the sunroom. I turned around and walked back toward the kitchen only to realize that she was alone.
“Is everything okay? Where’s Dayton?”
“He fell asleep. I found out that he’s been staying up all hours of the night for weeks now. All of this emotional upheaval has completely drained him. We were sitting next to each other on the sofa, and he nodded off. I didn’t have the heart to wake him to go to bed, so I just left him there.”
I looked past her into the sunroom and felt my eyes well when I saw Dayton asleep with his head on the arm of the sofa with an afghan covering him.
“How much does he hate me?”
“He doesn’t hate you at all, Courtney. If anything, he has an immeasurable amount of respect for you.”
“But I’m not making him happy.”
“He’s at an awkward age. I don’t know if you remember when you were fourteen, but there are a lot of emotions and hormones that show up and announce they’re at war with each other, which is hard on any kid but especially one who is trying to figure out his place in the world.”
“When I was fourteen, I was taking care of him, just like I am now.” I laughed before I said, “Of course, the sleepless nights back then were from colic and not from him sneaking out of the house, but at least there aren’t diapers and bottles involved anymore.”
“I think you’re strong enough to withstand whatever he throws your way, Courtney. He’s lucky to have you in his corner.”
“And he’s certainly lucky to have you. I don’t know of any other doctors who make house calls, especially in the middle of the night.”
“Nighttime is when the monsters come out, and I’m always available to fight them.”
“Thank you again, Dr. Hamilton.”
“Call me Emerald. After what I saw tonight, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing each other a lot more, and not just on a professional basis.”