Ignite on Contact: Brotherhood By Fire by Burton Jaci

Author:Burton, Jaci [Burton, Jaci]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9781472270801
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2020-02-03T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

“YOU’RE SURE YOU’LL BE OKAY?”

Carmen’s grandfather gave her that look, the one he always gave her when he thought she was treating him like a child.

“We’ve had this conversation before.”

“No, we haven’t. I haven’t left you overnight before.”

Again, that steely stare, and she knew she’d pushed him too hard.

“I fend for myself just fine when you’re at work, child. I think I can handle an overnight with a friend helping me out. What? You don’t trust Theo to help me if I need it?”

“It’s not that. It’s just . . .” She should shut up. She smiled. “You’ll be just fine.”

Carmen hadn’t been separated from her grandfather since she’d moved in four years ago. So leaving him for a couple of days was going to be extremely difficult. She knew Grandpa had made great improvements with his therapy and was able to do many more things for himself, but he was continually working on that weakness on one side.

Still, he was out of the wheelchair most days now and using his walker and his cane. He made his way over and stopped in front of her, then looked down at her. “I’m more capable than you give me credit for. I never miss a therapy appointment, and I’m getting a lot stronger. So you need to stop treating me like an invalid, like I can’t do a damn thing for myself.”

There was more to this than just taking a trip, than just her questioning his ability to care for himself. She pulled a kitchen chair out and motioned for him to sit in the one next to hers. When he did, she asked, “What’s really going on?”

He lifted his chin. “Nothing’s going on that I can’t handle myself.”

“Grandpa. Talk to me.”

“It’s stupid.”

Okay, so there was something else. She just had to be patient about it, because pushing him too hard would make him resistant to talking to her. “Nothing about you or how you feel is stupid. And we’ve always been able to talk about anything.”

She waited, because she knew that sometimes he had to let things mull around in his head for a bit before he was willing to share with her. So she sipped on her ice water and scrolled through her phone.

“There was this lady.”

Her head shot up. A woman? He’d never mentioned dating anyone.

“Okay,” she said, not wanting to lead the conversation. He’d get to it when he got to it.

“We met at bingo. She thought I was too slow stamping my card, so she helped me out. We met several months ago. Her name is Felice. She’s beautiful. She’s a widow, too. Same age as me. She has one son who lives in Texas, and two grandchildren.

“So we started meeting up regular at bingo. We got along well. We’ve had dinner a few times. I’ve been to her house to play cards.”

Grandpa had been busy when she hadn’t been looking.

“We were having a good time, and then I invited her over here for dinner.

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