Lead Me Home (Fight for Me #3)(69)

Well, hell.

Was it written all over me?

Guessed it must have been because heat went rushing across my flesh and rising to meet with the hand she held on my face.

“Who, Ollie? No,” I defended a little too quickly.

Amusement danced across her face. “Think he’s always been the one causing all your troubles, hasn’t he?”

I attempted to suck down the emotion that followed the blush and painted a big smile on my face. “No, Grandma. He’s just a friend. That’s all he’s ever been.”

She patted my cheek. “It’s always the one who causes the biggest commotion inside us who leaves the biggest mark. Isn’t that right, Megs?” She turned to look at my mom, who was watching us just inside the room.

She started our way. “Sure is. And that boy has been nothing but a commotion since the day Nikki met him.”

I waved them off. “You two are ridiculous. He wasn’t anything of the sort.”

“Ha,” Mama said, starting to clear up Grandma’s dinner things that were on a tray. “You were the shyest thing in the world and then those Preston’s came in and shook you up.”

I frowned, and she continued, “Now don’t go looking at me like I said that was a bad thing. Those two had you soaring. Not a lot of us get to say we had friendships like that.”

“That they did,” Grandma agreed before she lowered her voice conspiratorially, “Bet that boy sends you soaring now.”

She winked.

I swatted at her. “Grandma.”

Mischief sparkled in her eyes. “What?” she defended as if I was crazy. “Have you seen him lately? Whoo-ee. Now that’s one fine-looking boy.”

On all things holy.

How did I stumble down this rabbit hole?

“Grandma,” I scolded again. “That’s my friend you’re talking about like he’s a piece of meat.”

As if I hadn’t ogled him like he was every time I watched him slinging drinks behind his bar.

So sexy.

Powerful.

Beautiful.

Hell, I’d straight told Lillith I wanted to eat him up at least ten-thousand times.

But this was my grandma we were talking about.

“Besides, he’s not a boy.”

Memories from last night flashed behind my eyes. Hitting me hard and fast and hot. Heat gathered in my belly, pulsing low.

I inhaled a sharp breath.

He was all man.

Grandma grinned like she’d just won the lottery. “That’s what I thought. And the fact he’s no longer a boy just means it’s time to make him your man.”

“I don’t need a man to make me happy, Grandma.”

I just . . . wanted this one.

To fall into his safety and care because I knew I’d always belonged there.

She waved me off as if I was silly. “I know, I know, you modern women livin’ it up by yourselves. Bet that gets lonely after a bit,” she said, eyeing me from the corner of her eye, knowing she was hitting it just right.

Dishes clinked as my mama picked up the tray and set it on the desk by the window. “Now, now, Mama, think our Nikki here knows what she needs. Don’t give her too hard of a time.”

A huff left Grandma’s mouth. “Is it too much to ask for another great grandbaby before this old girl rides off into the sunset? That sweet Penelope could use a cousin to run around and get in trouble with. Nothing would make me happier than seeing a new generation taking over before this one blinks out.”

I brushed my fingers through her hair. “Don’t talk like that.”

“You know it’s true . . . not gonna be around forever.”

Somberness moved through the room, and Grandma patted my hand. Not the teasing way she’d done my cheek. But with such tenderness it brought moisture to my eyes.

“I’m just playin’ with you, girl. Not about to pressure you into something you don’t want. But I sure would be happy to kick your tail in the direction that you actually want to go.”

Sydney’s voice moved through my mind like the softest breeze.



“I think it’s the things that hurt the worst that mean the most, don’t you? Good or bad. That’s what’s gonna shape us. Make us into who we are. Guide us on the path to what we want the most. I think we’ll know it when there’s no other direction we can go. And I’m not going to be afraid of walking it anymore.”



“Some things are just worth the wait, Grandma.”

I felt compelled to at least give her that.

She smiled. “Mm-hmm . . . just don’t let him drag his feet too long.”

I wondered if she could possibly know how complicated our lives had been. What the tragedy of losing Sydney had done to both of us.

She sighed and settled deeper into the pillows, and I adjusted the blanket higher on her chest. “So, Grandma, I wanted to ask you . . . did you sell Grandpa’s old Bel Air?

A small smile lit at the corner of her mouth. “Yeah. Todd came back to take care of me the way your mama has been doing. He’s cleaning up this place, getting it back into shape. Lord knows, I’ve let it go to rot these last few years. Gave him the go ahead to sell whatever he wanted since he dropped his job to come out here and fix up the house.”