The Boss Project(8)

I hadn’t bothered to read the cover letters. They were usually bullshit, just a place to drop annoying buzzwords. “I must’ve missed that.”

“Oh. Well, I apologize. I should have pointed it out before you started the interviews.”

I shook my head. “It’s fine. My fault. Have a good night, Joan.”

? ? ?

Later that evening, I decided to give my grandmother a call. It was almost nine by the time I got home, but she was a night owl. Besides, I was overdue, which I was certain she’d remind me of. So I poured two fingers of whiskey and picked up my cell.

“Well, well, well…” she said when she answered. “I was beginning to think I was going to have to get on a plane and open a can of whoop ass on you.”

I smiled. That didn’t take long. “Sorry, Grams. It’s been too long. Work’s been really busy.”

“Ah, that’s horseshit and you know it.”

I chuckled. “How are you?”

“Probably about the same as you, only better.”

I really missed this woman. “I’m sure you are. What’s new? You still dating that guy, Charles?”

“Oh honey, it really has been a while. Charles got the boot at least two months ago. I’ve moved on to Marvin.”

“What happened with Charles?”

“He ate dinner at four o’clock, wore house slippers out of the house as shoes, and didn’t like to travel. I’m seventy-eight years old. I don’t have time for that boring stuff. Did I tell you we’re related to Ava Gardner?”

“Ava Gardner was an actress, right?”

“A damn good one, too. She always had these big, full lips. It’s probably where you got that pouty mouth of yours.”

My forehead wrinkled. Grams was already halfway down the road, and I was still stuck at the intersection. “How does Ava Gardner relate to Charles?”

“She doesn’t. Ava is one of my new finds on Ancestry.”

“Oh…” I’d almost forgotten about my grandmother’s hobby. Over the last two years, she’d charted over six-thousand connections on Ancestry. Every week, she Zoomed with whatever new distant relatives were willing to talk to her. Some she even met in person. The woman had never sat still a day in her life. Hell, she’d only retired five years ago from the domestic violence shelter she’d founded, and she still went back to volunteer once a week.

“So how are we related to Ava?” I asked.

“My father’s great grandfather—so that would be my great-great grandfather—was first cousins with her great grandmother.”

“That branch is pretty far up the tree for my lips to come from her.”

“We have strong genes. Lord knows your stubbornness runs at least five generations back.”

I was pretty sure the woman on the phone had enough of that for five more lineage lines.

“What’ve you been up to lately, besides not calling to see if I’m dead?” she asked. “Still blowing through models instead of looking for the mother of my great grandchildren? I’m not getting any younger, you know. It would be nice if you could get started sooner, rather than later.”

“I’m busy running my business, Grams.”

“Bullshit. Life gave you some lemons. Stop sucking on ’em and make some lemonade. Then go find a girl with vodka.”

I smiled, but it was definitely time to change the subject. And speaking of lemons… “Listen, I wanted to ask you about Evie Vaughn.”

“Ah, Everly. I never could get used to calling her Evie.”

“Apparently she goes by Evie.”

“I figured she might be the real reason for your call. Everly told me the two of you met last week.”

Shit. “What did she say?”

“The usual. That you were just as debonair as I’d said and very polite and professional.”

Polite, huh? My grandmother did not pull any punches. She would have reamed into me if she knew I’d treated Evie the way I did. I was grateful Dr. Vaughn had kept the truth about our meeting private.

“She’s a looker, isn’t she?”

“Evie’s a beautiful woman, yes.”

“Nice rack, too,” she said.

That I definitely knew from the fitting room. But I wasn’t having a conversation about any woman’s tits with my grandmother. “I wouldn’t know. I was interviewing her, not ogling her.”

“Good. I love you. You’re my favorite grandson. But the last thing my Everly needs is a workaholic with commitment issues. Just give her a job, not a ride on the Merrick Express.”

“First of all, I’m your only grandson, so I better be your favorite. And second of all, I don’t have commitment issues.”

“Uh-huh. So are you giving my girl the job or what? She’s had a rough year with her breakup and that dumb video and all.”

“Dumb video?”

“Do you listen to anything I say? I told you about it. It was probably six months ago now. The week after my gallbladder surgery, to be exact. That’s why I couldn’t come up for the wedding.”

Now that she said it, I did remember she was supposed to come up for a wedding, but she’d had a gallbladder attack, and instead I’d gone down there for her surgery. “I remember the wedding… So they broke up? Evie called it off?”