Whispered Curses

"Cheese and crackers, the things you kids think." She turned to look at me. "You think the things I randomly mutter are some sort of blessing or curse or whatever? Some sort of ancient truth telling? Honey, I’m not that old."

I realized that I was scarcely breathing, and starting to get dizzy. Forcing myself to take a few breaths, I finally said, “You told Eva never to drive in the freezing rain. Then when she did, she had an accident."

"Of course she did. Freezing rain is really dangerous. You know I watch the weather channel all the time."

"Okay. What about telling Mom that she should tell people when she's hurt? She didn't listen to that, and then she really got hurt when she fell down the stairs."

Nana looked completely perplexed. Then suddenly her eyes grew wide. “Bloody hell. Do you mean when I look up and whisper song lyrics to myself?"

I blinked hard. "What?"

Eric looked like he was trying not to explode with laughter.

Nana laughed brightly, getting up to arrange a plate of sugar cookies. "Eden, it's one of my little tricks to stay right in the head as I'm getting older. I'm not old enough to be a crazy soothsayer yet. But if I get there, I want to still have my marbles."

She placed a tray of cookies in front of us and sat back down. "Sometimes when I remember a song lyric or a quote from a movie, I say it out loud so I'll remember to look it up later. It’s a memory trick I read about. Something about looking up and to the left, and speaking the words aloud locks it in your memory better."

"So when you told Eden not to get into bed with the devil," Eric said softly, "That didn't mean anything?"

She shook her head. "That's an old country song. Fiddlesticks, I did forget to look that one up."

Nana turned to me, grabbing my hand and squeezing it. "Eden, you look like you've seen a ghost. You know those things aren’t real. None of that superstitious curses and hokum and whatnot is real. I thought you had a better head about you, girl."

My mind was spinning, and I actually felt a bit dizzy. Instead of screaming, I slowly ate a sugar cookie.

Eric helped himself to a cookie as well, then flashed me a smile. "So, Mrs. Palmer–"

"Victoria, please."

"Thank you. Victoria, since my original name had slightly devilish undertones, Eden was worried that us being together might bring bad luck and destruction upon us. I desperately want to give her my heart, but I don't want to keep running after her if that's not what she truly desires."

Looking up into his warm, deep eyes that were completely fixed on me, I was completely positive about which answer I wanted my grandmother to choose.

"I told Eden that instead of flipping a coin, we should let you decide. She obviously respects your opinion. You certainly don't know me very well, but based on the evidence in front of you, and your gut feeling, do you think that Eden and I should date?"

Nana's hand flew up to her necklace, touching the small diamonds that my grandfather had given her for their tenth anniversary. She always did that when she was overcome and needed a moment.

She turned to me. “Honey, there are a lot of lazy, careless, heartless men in this world. This one here," she said, nodding to Eric as if he couldn't hear her, "Came here to beg for my approval. I can't think of any reason why you shouldn't give him a fair shot."

"Thank you," I whispered to Nana, just before my throat closed completely.

Eric reached around the teapot to grasp my other hand. "It's okay. We're going to be alright."

As always, Nana knew how to lighten the mood. "Now, shall we talk about your clumsy mother? I have told that woman to slow the heck down when she gets running around. The woman never listens."

We finished our tea and cookies, and listened to several of Nana’s gossipy stories about some of the other seniors in this complex who were, "Getting horizontal, if you know what I mean.” Then it was time for us to leave.

Watching my grandmother hug the daylights out of Eric almost made my heart explode. It was at that moment that I realized I felt complete again.

As she hugged me, she whispered in my ear, "Your boyfriend is fucking hot. Get a piece of that."

"Nana!" I shrieked.

She giggled girlishly. "Whispers don't count as cursin’," she said with a wink.

~ Chapter 26 ~ Eric ~

* Quiet Dinner *