Chapter Seven #2
“…and, y’all, don’t be afraid to ask the young people in your life.
I’m extremely blessed to have three wonderful grandbabies who help me out all the time.
One of them is here now. Jamie, baby, where are you?
” BamBam craned her neck as she began to scan the room.
My nerves rattled. I could not stand up with Ethan next to me.
“I agree with Mini. I have a delightful grandson who is here as well,” Buzzy said, causing BamBam to throw her a sideways glance.
I grimaced. BamBam had so little subtlety in her facial expression that it felt like the entire room could practically hear her yelling, Get your own ideas, without her having to say it.
“Y’all, I don’t want to spoil anything, but Jamie has some great video ideas, too.” BamBam plowed on, ignoring everything Buzzy said. “Jamie, why don’t you wave so the people can see you?”
I felt Ethan stiffen. Meanwhile, I began to wonder if a sinkhole would appear and swallow me if I prayed hard enough. With each second that that didn’t happen, the room got quieter. Finally, I gritted my teeth and raised my hand as Buzzy said, “Ethan, hon, where are you?”
Next to me, I could almost feel Ethan’s energy joining me in my silent sinkhole prayer.
To his credit, he wasn’t foolish enough to raise his hand when mine was already in the air.
The most desperate part of my brain hoped that BamBam didn’t have her contacts in and therefore wouldn’t be able to see who was sitting next to me, even though I knew that was impossible.
She wouldn’t have even made it into the room without—
“There she is. That is my brilliant granddaughter Jamie…” BamBam trailed off as she registered the exact thing I feared.
“And there is my handsome grandson Ethan.” The generally chipper tone of Buzzy’s voice died off somewhere around the second syllable of Ethan’s name as she processed what BamBam had figured out roughly two seconds earlier.
While I can’t prove this scientifically, I’m almost certain that my heart stopped, and my entire body went cold for a full minute.
When I finally heard BamBam’s voice, it was as if I were outside of my body.
Like she’d already murdered me, and I was a ghost hearing her words.
“Young person, you want to tell me why you are sitting next to my grandbaby?” BamBam arched an eyebrow.
As if suddenly remembering she was in front of an audience, she put a you-know-better smile on her face and said, “Jamie, this is like school. You gotta watch out. He’s probably trying to copy off you. ”
“Ethan would never.” Buzzy’s voice was miffed, like she’d just missed out on a good flash sale. “No one in this family has ever copied anyone.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” BamBam grumbled. “You were wearing my outfit last night.”
Half the room erupted into chuckles as Buzzy sputtered.
Ethan glanced over at me, as if we had received the same telepathic message.
The only hope we had of salvaging this panel was to separate and pray that they got distracted.
Giving me a quick half smile, he feigned complete surprise and jumped up.
Raising his voice loud enough for the room to hear, he said, “So that’s who you are!
I won’t copy your outfit if you don’t copy mine, okay? ”
“I’ll be watching you,” I called, pointing two fingers at my eyes and then back at him as the room laughed. Ethan slowly backed away.
“I didn’t copy your outfit,” Buzzy said, still clearly irritated by my grandmother’s accusation. “Lady and House sent—”
“Oh, Buzzy, don’t get your nose out of joint. We all know it was an accident. We’re joking around.” Gregory frowned. “You two are so dramatic, and I say that as someone who is an expert in drama.” He rolled his eyes. “Evelyn, what’s the next question?”
Evelyn laughed, then cleared a dirty sock from their throat and asked, “So, as about everyone here knows—other than the two grandchildren in this room—we get tired a little more easily as we age. How do you all manage your energy and your filming schedule with the needs of an aging body?”
The space next to me felt surprisingly empty without Ethan.
I tried to fight the urge to see where he was in the room.
If he was badgering some other poor unsuspecting grandchild in a different row or if he’d snuck out entirely.
I waited until BamBam, Buzzy, and Gregory were thoroughly engaged in a discussion about managing their energy levels—they were all big fans of the micro-nap—then threw a quick glance over my shoulder.
As soon as I did, I regretted it. Ethan was standing at the back of the room, staring directly at me. Feeling my face flush, I mouthed the one thing I knew would give me the upper hand. I told you so.
Ethan raised an eyebrow and leaned against a wall, a small smile crossing his lips, before he mouthed back something that looked suspiciously like Worth it.
He turned his attention back to the front of the room, leaving me with more questions and absolutely no upper hand.
I started filming BamBam again but couldn’t focus.
By the end of the panel, I realized that the only thing I knew about him for certain was that there was more to Ethan Wyatt than I’d anticipated.
And that I’d just agreed to something that could get us both into a lot of trouble.