“Hi, Gram,” Dax said bending down to kiss her cheek. “Glad to see you, too.”
“Oh, stop it,” she scolded kissing, him and then gently patting his cheek. “You can’t fool me, kid. You never could.”
“I know,” he nodded as he looked around and spied something that caught his attention. “I’ll be right back.”
We watched him exit the skybox and then Gram patted the chair next to her and said, “Come sit down, Payton. We need to have a talk, you and me.”
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“I don’t know, you tell me,” she said sternly. I could feel the weight of everything building up inside me, and I wanted so much to unburden myself, but I wasn’t sure I should tell Gram. I didn’t want her to reject me, too.
“Dax and I…” I began and then a wave of emotions rolled through me and started the tears. “I don’t know what to do, Gram. I fought with my mother and she’s basically disowned me, and now Dax is upset because I can’t explain what’s happening, but he doesn’t understand football. He doesn’t even like it!”
“Shhh, there, there,” Gram said as she pulled me to her and patted my head. “Honey, my grandson is one of the best men I’ve ever known, but sometimes he can be a real jackass. He’s afraid of what he doesn’t understand. Most people are, you know.”
“But I want to share things with him,” I said, sitting up and wiping my eyes. “He says he wants to hear them, but I don’t think he does. If he knew what was going on between my mother and I, he’d flip out. And he doesn’t understand that the Bears aren’t just a team, they’re part of my blood.”
“I know you think he can’t understand, but that’s not true, Payton,” Gram said. “David is a stubborn boy, but he’s got a good heart. Keep trying. He’ll get it one of these days.”
I nodded knowing that Gram didn’t understand the whole situation between Dax and I, and I wasn’t about to try and explain our unconventional contract. She thought we were really in love, and I was starting to wonder whether there wasn’t a kernel of truth to that, but there was no way I was going to broach the subject with Dax while he was stubbornly interviewing GM prospects and I continued doing the job. If we were going to have that discussion, he’d have to meet me half way, and I didn’t see that happening, despite all of his offers to listen to my tale of woe.
Dax wasn’t back by the kick off, so Gram and I cheered and shouted as the Storm tried their hardest to rise to the occasion and beat the Packers. It was a tough game, and the trainers carried more than a few of the players on both sides off after particularly hard hits. Gram and I winced as Johnny Riggs was sacked again and again.
“Why the hell doesn’t the defense wake up and protect him?” Gram shouted as Riggs was taken down yet again. I watched as he lay on the ground for a moment, and then rolled over and took the hand of one of the Storm’s offense and pulled himself up to a standing position.
“Gram, that doesn’t look good,” I murmured as I watched Riggs shake his head a few times trying to get his bearings. “I hope Nick pulls him and has the doctor look at him.”
“That son of a bitch wouldn’t pull his own mother from a game if it meant losing the edge,” she spat with contempt. “I told David not to hire him. He’s a mean man with a small—”
“Gram!” Dax said as he reentered the skybox. “You can’t say those things in front of other people!”
“Why not?” Gram protested. “It’s not like Payton doesn’t think the same thing, right?”
I grinned and raised my hands in surrender, letting Dax know I wasn’t going to contradict his own grandmother. He laughed and said, “Still, you can’t say that stuff about our team!”
“Please,” Gram said waving him off. “Get me another Manhattan!”
Dax brought her a drink and we watched as the Storm was beaten by the Green Bay Packers 28-0. It was a humiliating defeat coming off the two previous wins, but at least it was to the Packers, the legendary NFL champs. Still, the loss stung, and Gram was muttering under her breath as we exited the stadium.
“You two come for dinner this week,” Gram called as she slid into the backseat of her waiting car and waved.
On the ride home, Dax looked over and said, “Dinner at Gram’s this week, then?”
“Can’t exactly say no to her, can we?” I smiled as I reached out and took his hand. He smiled and squeezed my fingers lightly as we sped back to the penthouse.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Dax
On Tuesday night, Payton and I headed over to Gram’s for dinner and found that she’d invited a group of kids from the neighborhood to join us. Their varying ages made for a lively meal as the kids peppered us with questions about the Storm and the Bears, and Payton shared as much as she could about her football passion with the kids. As I watched her excitedly discussing the draft, I felt the doubt that Finn had planted in my mind being pushed back into the recesses of my brain. A woman this passionate about the game couldn’t be playing me for a fool, could she?
After dinner, the kids all helped Gram and Payton clean up the kitchen before moving out to the porch where we sat drinking lemonade and eating the sugar cookies Gram had made that afternoon. I chuckled softly when I looked around and realized I was enjoying this evening despite the fact that the Storm had lost their last game and I hadn’t heard anything from Finn in days. And I was enjoying it even more because Gram and Payton were here sharing this with me.
“You okay?” Payton whispered as she sat down next to me on the porch swing and took my hand.
“Yeah, fine,” I smiled. “Just happy.”
“Oh, well, that’s a switch!” she smiled as she leaned over and kissed my cheek. I wanted to ask her if she was doing this because we had an audience or if it was because she wanted to, but I didn’t want to call attention to us, so I chose the latter and leaned back as I listened to two of Gram’s kids arguing about whether it was better to work for yourself or for someone else.