I shook my head. “That’s completely different, because he’s full of himself and talks too much.”
“It’s a talk show, dear. That’s what you’re supposed to be doing.”
I pointed at her with one of my french fries. “Whose side are you on?”
“His. This is so good.” Grandma Joyce took another bite of her jambalaya. “Speaking of tasty, Ben’s voice is deep and smooth and hypnotizing. He’s like a snake charmer and I’m a cobra.”
I smirked. “More like a cougar.”
“Okay, I admit that Ben may be a little young for me, but men my age are lacking the oomph that makes life exciting. I think I’ll try online dating. I don’t want to be alone the last twenty or thirty years of my life.”
I smiled. “In thirty years, you’ll be a hundred and ten. Don’t you think you’ll be slowing down a little by then?”
“Not if I can help it. Life is like a ripe peach, and I want to suck every last drop of juice out of it before I kiss it goodbye.”
These are some of the things I loved most about my grandma: her optimism, and her attitude of always embracing life.
“I’m looking for a man with pizazz,” she continued. “Someone who doesn’t use age as a reason for not enjoying the years we have left. And I especially would like a man with a sexy voice.”
“I know where you’re going with this.”
“Can you at least admit that Ben’s voice is sexy?”
“No. The man doesn’t even take breaths when he speaks. He’s like one of those turtles who breathes out of his butt.”
Grandma Joyce laughed. “I know it will be just a matter of time before you’ll start singing his praises. Say what you want against that man, but his advice is just as good as yours, and you’re going to have a hit show on your hands very quickly. You and Ben have chemistry.”
I blinked. “That’s what Kyle said!” I shook my head, thinking about it. “Am I really that blind to not notice?”
Grandma Joyce nodded. “And deaf, since you don’t think his voice is sexy.”
“Kyle also told me that there’s more to Ben than meets the eye.”
“Maybe they work out at the same gym and shower together.”
“Grandma. Would you please get your mind out of the gutter?”
“Okay, but only while we eat. What was Kyle talking about, specifically?”
I took a bite of another french fry. “I told him that Ben wasn’t a nice person, and then he implied that what Ben was doing on the air was all an act, and that he’s not like that off the air.”
“Doesn’t surprise me. You are in the entertainment business, sweetie.”
I blinked. “Kyle said that as well.”
“Great minds think alike.” She smiled. “Did he tell you anything else about Ben that you didn’t find out by being so close to him in the studio? And how close were you, by the way? Close enough to touch?”
“I thought you were going to behave.”
“Oh, you’re no fun.”
“Anyway, Ben supposedly does a lot for the community. Honestly, I find it very hard to picture him as a philanthropist. Kyle was probably just telling me that so I wouldn’t kill Ben.” I laughed and took the last bite of my grilled salmon sandwich.
“I’m sure you’ll see firsthand how generous he is, since you’re going to be spending a lot of time with him. He did buy you that mocha.”
I nodded and swallowed. “Yeah, but by the way Kyle was talking, Ben is supposedly the next Bill Gates. He even suggested that I Google him, but I’m not going there. I’m curious, yes, but it’s not like I’m dying to know.”
“Well, I am.” Grandma Joyce pulled her phone from her purse. “I’ve got this new fancy gadget with all the bells and whistles. The salesman’s words, not mine. Might as well take this baby for a spin.”
I was about to tell my grandma to put the phone away, but the curiosity had gotten the best of me, for one reason or another. Maybe I wanted to be right. Or maybe I wanted to be proven wrong and be shown that you can’t always judge a book by its cover.
Either way, I sat there watching her, waiting.
“Let’s see here . . .” Grandma Joyce scrolled through her phone, nodding occasionally, and talking to herself. “Very interesting.” More scrolling. “Wow, I can’t believe this.” More scrolling. “Unbelievable, really.”
I tapped my fingers on the table. “Would you spit it out, please?”
I guess I wanted to know more than I had thought.
She pointed to her phone. “Looks like there’s a thirty-percent chance of rain tomorrow.”
I shook my head and laughed. “You’re terrible. You did that on purpose.”
She gave me a knowing smile. “Of course, I did.” She got her eyes back on her phone, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. “Okay, here we go. Just as I suspected.”
I laughed again. “What are you looking at now? Winning lottery numbers? The traffic on highway five? I don’t believe you.”
“No, no. This time I’m really prying into the life of Ben Baxter and that man is certainly a keeper.”
“A keeper? Right . . . There is nothing you can tell me right now that can change my opinion of him. And I’m sure you didn’t find anything, so give it up.”
She looked up at me. “On the contrary. Listen to this . . . Ben Baxter, aka Dr. Tough Love, will be appearing at the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe next week for their annual open house to help promote their animal adoption and spay programs.” She looked up and smiled. “Isn’t that sweet?”
I nodded. “That’s great that he’s going to be there because the Helen Woodward Animal Center is amazing, but you have to keep in mind that he’s getting paid to be there since he’s going on behalf of the radio station. That’s not charity or philanthropic work. Remember when I did those live call-ins from the San Diego Zoo?”
Grandma Joyce nodded.
“Well, they paid me three hundred dollars to do that.”
“Like when you were out at that Toyota dealership giving out free hot dogs?”
“Exactly. Same thing. Those are paid personal appearances.” I pointed to her phone. “Anything else or is that it?”
Grandma Joyce shook her head. “I can’t see anything now. An advertisement just popped up for hemorrhoid cream.” She sighed, tapping her phone a bunch of times. “Forget it.” She slipped the phone back in her purse. “Anyway, I still think Kyle is right. There’s probably way more to Ben than meets the eye.”
“If you say so.”
I suspected something completely different.
Kyle was trying to make Ben look good in order to motivate me to continue with the morning show. He obviously saw the desperation in my face and was scared I was going to quit, which had crossed my mind more than a few times.
But with no other radio jobs available in the area at the moment, I didn’t have a choice.
I had to stick it out until something better came along.
I just didn’t know how much more I could take of Dr. Tough Love.