Smokin' Hot by Lynn LaFleur

Author:Lynn LaFleur [LaFleur, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-02-16T23:00:00+00:00

6

Despite the hot summer day, cold sweat covered Rayna’s skin. She’d barely made it out of the restaurant on her shaky legs. She thought she had prepared herself for whatever questions Marcus might ask.

She apparently hadn’t prepared herself enough.

It took several minutes of sitting in her car in the hospital parking lot before Rayna felt strong enough to visit with her grandmother. She’d managed to hold back the tears, so at least her eyes and nose wouldn’t be red. Nana could always tell when she’d been crying with only one look at her rosy nose.

She checked her reflection one more time in the rearview mirror before getting out of the car. The slap of heat and humidity helped bring her back to the present. She pushed aside all thoughts of her lunch with Marcus and concentrated solely on her grandmother.

Rayna found Nana sitting up in bed, watching her favorite soap opera on television. It pleased her to see her grandmother seeming so refreshed. “Hi.”

Nana looked her way and smiled. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d forgotten about me.”

“Never.” She kissed her grandmother’s cheek, then sat in the chair next to the bed. “How are you feeling?”

Nana pushed the Mute button to silence the squabble between the two characters on TV. “I feel fine. A little tired, but fine. When can I go home? Or do I have a house to go home to?”

Gossip traveled fast in a small town, and even faster in a hospital. “You know about the fire?”

Nana nodded. “Mattie told me there was some damage to my house. How bad is it?”

“I haven’t been there yet. I have an appointment at three-thirty to look at it with Marcus.”

Nana’s white eyebrows rose and a pleased glimmer filled her eyes. “With Marcus, huh?”

“Get that gleam out of your eyes, Nana. My meeting with Marcus is strictly business.”

“It could be more.”

The hopeful tone to Nana’s voice sent a shaft of pain into Rayna’s heart. She knew how much her grandmother loved Marcus, and how much it hurt her when Rayna left him. “No, Nana, it can’t. Marcus and I have been divorced for four years. There’s no going back.”

“Pffft. Until you’re dead and buried, there’s always a chance of righting a wrong.” She held out her hand, palm up, until Rayna laid her hand on top. Nana squeezed it gently. “You and Marcus belong together. You have since you were teenagers necking in my driveway.”

Heat rushed to Rayna’s cheeks. She had no idea her grandmother knew about that. “Nana!”

“What, you think I’m an idiot? I knew exactly what went on when Marcus brought you home from a date. It doesn’t take thirty minutes to say good night.” The sparkle of laughter filled her eyes. She squeezed Rayna’s hand again. “You were always an intelligent girl. I knew when you and Marcus went beyond kisses, y’all would be careful.”

“We didn’t . . . go beyond kisses until his first year in college.”

“And you were always careful, so I didn’t worry.

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