“I’ll tell Pearl if you don’t share fair and square,” she threatened.
“Tattletale.” He handed over the container to her.
She took out two legs, one for each hand, and gave the open container back to him. “Reckon there’s any chocolate cake left?”
“If there is, I get half of it, or I’ll tell Mama you don’t play well with others,” he teased.
I might learn how to play well with others again now that you are home, she thought as she bit into the cold fried chicken.
Chapter Eleven
Grady didn’t make it to church on Sunday morning. When he called, he said that he couldn’t be there for Sunday dinner, but that he would stop by around three o’clock to check on Sonny’s progress. He also said that he had something to talk to Addy about, but not on the phone. Grady was always on time, so when he had not arrived by three thirty, Addy began to worry. She tried calling his phone but got the voice mail message telling his patients if they had an emergency to go to the nearest hospital.
“What do you do if the doctor himself is the emergency?” she muttered.
She finally went out to the porch and waited on the swing, and at exactly four o’clock, he parked his car beside her truck next to the yard fence.
“You are late,” she called out when he got out of his vehicle.
“Sorry about that. We’ll talk later. Right now, I need the reports on Sonny, and could you start faxing them to me at the hospital on Friday morning from now on?” he asked as he made his way across the yard.
“Sure, but you’ve always picked them up here.” She stood and headed into the house. “I would have appreciated a call if you weren’t going to be here at three. I’ve been worried.”
He opened the screen door and talked through it. “Time got away from me. We’ll talk as soon as I visit with Sonny. I’d like to do a private exam today, so if you’ll wait on the porch, that would be great.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Sure thing. Bring out a couple of beers when you come back.”
“I’ll bring one for you, but I’d better pass,” he said. “I’m driving, and I need to be in Bonham at five.”
He went on into the house, and Addy sat back down on the swing. Something definitely was not right. She might have blinders on when it came to Mia, but not with Grady. He was an open book for the most part. He hadn’t been around in a week. Yep, something was amiss, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that it had to do with the woman Betsy had seen him with. She had her phone in her hand to call her friend and ask for directions when Jesse came round the house.
He rested his arms on the porch railing and smiled. “You look like you could chew up fence posts and spit out toothpicks. What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure, but Grady says we need to talk,” she answered, “so you need to get lost.”
Jesse snapped to attention and saluted her. “I’ll be down at the bunkhouse if you need me.”
“Thanks, Jesse,” she said.
He dropped his hand and whispered, “One more thing. Have you heard from Mia?”
She shook her head. “Now, go. I’ll see you in a little while. You got beer down at the bunkhouse?”
“Yep, and whiskey, both.” He waved and disappeared around the end of the house.
Addy sat back down on the swing for a think. She hadn’t quite figured out what could be so important that Grady couldn’t talk to her on the phone by the time that he came out of the house and sat down in one of the wicker chairs instead of on the swing beside her.
“We need to talk.” Grady pulled out a clean white handkerchief from his pocket, removed his glasses, and cleaned them. “I don’t know how to say this other than just spit it out: I’ve met someone, and I’ve fallen in love with her. I’m in love with Aurelia, like I was with Amelia.”
“Really?” Addy asked. “Tell me more about her.”
“She’s the head nurse at the hospital, and I don’t know why we have taken so long to realize that there’s something between us.”
“It sounds like you should be really happy. So why the need for such a serious talk?” Addy said.
“Well…” Grady fidgeted in his chair. “I told her about you, and she’s not comfortable with me having a woman for a best friend.” He wrung his hands the whole time he talked.
“So because she says so, you’re going to give up our friendship? Just like that?” Addy could barely believe it. “Is this why you didn’t tell me about her before? How long have you two been together?”
“I’ve been seeing her since New Year’s, and I didn’t tell you because I knew this is what you would say,” Grady answered. “We moved in together this morning.”
“Wow, that’s mighty fast. And don’t you think it’s odd that her name is so close to Amelia’s? Betsy said she looked just like her, too. Are you sure you’re not confusing love with grief?”
“I would have told you sooner, but with Mia and Jesse both coming home and…” He let the sentence hang.
“Hey, don’t blame this on Jesse or Mia. I think you need to take a step back and think this over. First, are you really over Amelia? And second, do you want to move in with a woman who says you can’t even talk to a good friend? Neither one sounds healthy.”
“I’m sorry I kept you in the dark, but you haven’t always told me everything either. Like who Mia’s father is, and I had to hear it through gossip about Mia leaving with Ricky O’Malley. I was here the day that she left, and you didn’t mention it,” he said. “Or is it because you had Jesse here to talk to instead?” His gaze came up to meet hers. “I can see there’s something between you two and that it was hindering our friendship.”
“Hey, Jesse’s been home a week and you’ve hardly even been around the whole time he’s been here. In fact, I don’t think you once asked how I was doing. Maybe then it would’ve been easier to tell you about Mia and Ricky.” She suddenly realized just how one-sided their friendship had been, and that made her even madder than him telling her that he couldn’t talk to her anymore.
Grady stood and headed toward the porch steps. “You can just fax Sonny’s reports to the hospital every week from now on.”
“Fine, Dr. Adams.” Addy stood too and crossed her arms over her chest. “I wish you and Aurelia the best of luck. I have a feeling you might need it.”
As soon as Grady had driven off, Addy marched out to the bunkhouse and slung open the door without knocking. Jesse was sitting on the sofa with his feet propped up on an old coffee table that had seen lots of scuffed-up boots in its lifetime. Everything that she had packed away and stored out there had been taken out of the boxes, and the living area of the bunkhouse looked a helluva lot like Jesse’s bedroom had when she first moved into the house.
“Did he ask you if y’all could be more than friends?” Jesse asked.
“Why did you put all this stuff out?” She slumped down on the sofa beside him.
“My question first.” He picked up one of the two beers from the end table and handed it to her. “Is Coors still your favorite?”