He’s right. I do know how important Grammy is to Jake, so there’s no question in my mind. I’ll get her here one way or the other.
“Really? Oh, thank God. I can’t thank you enough.” He groans.
“It’s fine, I’m in Vegas anyway this weekend, so I can drive her back with us.”
“What do you mean? Why do you have to be there? And who is us?”
“I’ve been invited to a family thing.”
“Whose family?” he asks “Who do you know in Vegas—wait, hold on. Are you talking about Becca’s parents?”
“Yeah, how did you guess?”
“Because you said Vegas and this weekend. Why are you going?” he asks.
“Because she invited me.”
“You?” He snorts. “Why would she invite you?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t remember inviting me.” I chuckle. “But she’ll be honoring it.”
“She doesn’t remember anything about that night?” He laughs. “Even if she did invite you, she’s not going to believe that.”
I grin. “Then it’s a good thing I have proof.”“Becca, can I speak to you for a moment?”
“Yes?” she asks.
She walks over to my desk and sits down, her eyes narrowing suspiciously, like she’s trying to work out what I want.
“I was just wondering what time I should pick you up on Friday?” I smirk as confusion, annoyance and finally concern flash in her eyes, my question catching her off guard.
“Excuse me?”
“What, you don’t remember?” I frown at her, pretending to be offended. “I wonder what else you don’t remember about that night,” I muse.
“What are you talking about?” she snaps, her irritability showing through.
I smile. “You invited me to your parent’s anniversary party.”
“And why the fuck would I do that?”
“I think you were upset that nobody else could go, because you didn’t want to go alone.” I smile at her. “Something about not being able to look either of them in the eye, knowing that they were really celebrating their reconnection…sexually?”
“Oh God,” she whispers, her face going white.
“Yes, there was probably a lot of that being said during that reconnection,” I agree, my tone grave. “So, what time? I prefer to get an early start—”
“You don’t think you’re actually coming with me, do you?” She gasps.
“Well, you did invite me…”
“How can I be sure that you’re not just taking advantage of the fact that I was a tiny bit drunk?” she asks, narrowing her eyes.
“See, I thought you might say that.”
I reach for my phone and scroll through the audio files. I stop on one and press play, smiling at her as her voice floats through the speakers. Her eyes widen.
“They’ve invited fifty people to celebrate the fact that they’re sexually active again. I mean, who does that? I should’ve known the moment they called it a ‘reconnection ceremony.’ There’s no way I can go to that alone, which is why you’re coming with me.”
“Me?”
“Yes. I’ll make it worth your while. Anything you want. It’s yours…Anything…”
I stop the recording and look at her.
“So?” I prompt.
“So what?” she huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re still not coming with me. It’s ridiculous—”
“Okay.” I shrug. “You can tell Jake the bad news.”
“Jake?” She frowns. “What does Jake have to do with any of this?”
“A lot, actually. He’s going to be shattered.”
“About what?” she practically growls.
“His grammy not being at the wedding.”
“His grammy?” she repeats, flustered.
I nod, keeping my expression solemn.
“She conveniently lives about twenty minutes from the resort where your parents sex ceremony—”
“Please stop calling it that.”
“Sorry, reconnection ceremony is. If you go back on your invitation to me, then I can’t go and pick Grammy up, which means she won’t be at the wedding. If Jake could only have one person attend his wedding, it would be her.”
“Can’t she fly?” Becca asks.
I shake my head sadly. “She is afraid of flying and she won’t touch public transportation.”
“Why can’t you go on your own?”
“Because she suffers from mild dementia. There’s no way in hell I could handle her and Andrew on a five-hour drive. I picked her up from the care home she used to live in by myself once, and during the ten minute trip to Mom’s, she tried to jump out into oncoming traffic three times, then she covered my eyes with her hands because she thought a game of peekaboo was in order.”
Becca stifles a smile. “And the cat? He has to come too?”
“Andrew goes everywhere Grammy does,” I say with a straight face. “If it came to choosing between saving my life and Andrew’s, I’m not sure I’d win.”
She sighs and runs her hand through her hair.
“Fine. I’ll help you with Grammy, but I’m not letting you anywhere near my family.”
I smile and watch her stalk off.
We’ll see about that…Chapter EightBecca“Okay, so let me get this straight. You’re going on a road trip, with your professor…and his grandmother?”
Laura dissolves into a fit of hysterical laughter. I frown, resisting the urge to reach over and slap her as she wipes the tears away from her splotchy, red eyes. I’m glad someone is enjoying this whole, fucked-up situation.