Restore Me by J. L. Mac Page A

told everyone that we went to Miami for
some time on the beach. Score another for Brian. He probably sent
people postcards and everything.
    “Miami. It was really nice,” I lie.
    “Where’s the glowing beach tan, girl?” Her eyes
scan me head to toe.
    “A-ah,” I stutter, thinking fast. “We didn’t,
um, spend much time out of our hotel room.”
    Noni’s eyes get huge and her cheeks blush a
flaming red before heading to the kitchen for my takeout order. She
returns in a flash, holding out the paper bag with our lunch in. I
slide the cash across the counter.
    “Don’t disappear on me again! And bring that
handsome boyfriend of yours around more often!”
    I wave over my shoulder at Noni the Cougar and
hurry to my car with our burgers. Another good thing about Frank is
that I never have to worry about takeout getting cold. The heat
index has got to be 105 degrees, so it must be at least 102 inside
Frank. I get my ass over to Grams just as quickly as I can without
getting a ticket, just so I can get the hell out of the car and
enjoy some air conditioning.
    When I make it to Grams’ door, I knock twice and
walk in. “Lunch is here!” I say in a singsong voice. I’m shocked to
see Andy sitting beside Grams in casual clothes.
    “Yum! Let’s eat,” Grams says as her wrinkled
hands clasp together in anticipation. Damn, it’s just a burger.
Granted, they’re the best burgers in town, but it’s not caviar or
anything. I drag her rolling table over to her bed.
    “No, no. We can eat at my table.” She gestures
to the dining table in the corner of the room. I’ve never seen her
use it before.
    I arch my eyebrows at her as she straightens
herself in the bed to get up.
    “Come on Andy, we can share.” She smiles wide at
him and he looks like a deer caught in the headlights.
    “Yeah, okay, I can hang out for a while longer.
Hey, Jo.”
    I smile politely at him. “Hey. No uniform
today?”
    “Nah, I’m not technically working today but I
told Bee I would come by and take care of those scuff marks on the
wall.” He motions with his chin towards Grams’ freshly painted
wall; all evidence of the bogus cane damage is gone. She’s such a
con. It’s hilarious.
    “Isn’t he nice, Jo?” Grams purrs.
    “Yep, that’s great.” I open the paper bag and
start digging out our lunch as Grams settles in on her side of the
small dining table. She got all dressed up for him too. She’s got
on one of those velour jogging suits that old ladies like to wear.
It’s royal blue and ridiculous looking. I catch a glimpse of one of
her socks and I am not shocked in the slightest to see that they
match her outfit perfectly. Royal blue socks. I’m not even sure
where the hell to find colored socks like that. The whole outfit
has me wanting to burst out into a fit of laughter. When the hell
is Grams going to go jogging?
    “Wanna share?” Grams slides her burger and fries
towards Andy.
    “Oh, no ma’am. I already had lunch.”
    She nods and smiles at the poor sucker, diving
into her burger with a reckless abandon I thought was reserved for
circus peanuts.
    Andy’s attention turns to me. “So, Jo, what do
you do?”
    Seriously? I catch myself before I roll
my eyes at his clichéd attempt to make conversation. “Um, I run a
bookstore.”
    He pretends to give a damn, asking lots of
questions about the bookstore, how long I’ve been there, yada yada,
which only makes the urge to roll my eyes more difficult to
resist.
     
    “Yeah, Damon bought the whole store just so he
could date her. Can you believe that grandson of mine?” Grams
chimes in.
    Andy sends a charming smile in my direction and
nods knowingly. “Is that what I’d have to do to date you? Buy you a
bookstore? Or a hardware store, maybe?”
    I nearly choke on a damn French fry. He reaches
over and pats me on the back.
    “I’m fine,” I croak out. He keeps his hand on my
back and rubs in a circular motion. My eyes water like I’m crying.
That’s what I get for