Christian helped Grandma into the car, then once they’d driven there, he escorted her up the front porch stairs into Eric and Anne’s house.
“You are such a sweet boy.” Grandma patted his arm as he held the door open for her.
“No, he’s not.” Maizie said from just beyond the doorway.
She turned and walked away, and a few moments later a door slammed.
“She’s a feisty one, that girl,” Grandma said with a shake of her head.
“You can say that again.” Christian agreed with the older woman.
“But she’s worth it.” Grandma squeezed his hand then walked away.
He wasn’t going to try and figure out what Grandma had meant by that.
He found Mitchell in front of the Xbox and joined him on the couch. He wasn’t very good at video games, but maybe he could beat a fourteen-year-old.
“Want some competition?” Christian asked him.
Mitchell looked him up and down and scoffed. “Yeah, right. Go ahead and try.”
So the cocky attitude runs deep in this family. Good to know.
Mitchell was more than confident. He was skilled. Christian barely had time to figure out where he was before Mitchell killed his character over and over again. Nothing like getting creamed by a fourteen-year-old to humble you.
“Time for dinner.”
Thank goodness.
Maizie reemerged from her room, still wearing her signature frown and texting furiously on her phone.
She almost crashed into Grandpa, who then snatched the phone from her hand.
“Hey!”
“Sorry, sweetheart, I was worried it got stuck there,” Grandpa said with a chuckle and handed the phone back to her.
A small smile split her lips. “Ha, ha. Very funny, Grandpa.” She slid the phone into her pocket and took a seat at the table. Everyone seemed to know where to sit and took their assigned seats. Christian took the last empty chair, right across from Maizie.
After the blessing, the food flew around the table, and Christian waited until everyone had served themselves before diving in.
“So, how are you liking the farm?” Anne, Maizie’s mom, asked him.
Christian pushed the green beans down his throat with a stiff swallow. “It’s cool.”
He made the mistake of looking at Maizie, who peered at him with an arched eyebrow.
“Really? What’s so cool?” She leaned over her plate with false interest.
Christian looked away again and decided to be honest. “It’s so beautiful here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such beautiful sunsets or so many stars at night. Though I’m still getting used to the smell and the cow that likes to moo outside our room at night.”
Eric chuckled and leaned back, placing his hands across his middle. “Oh yeah, that’s Lucy.”
Everyone snickered.
“Lucy is what we call the trouble-maker cows,” Grandma informed him.
“Or the trouble-maker kids, right?” Eric poked Maizie in the side, and she sent him a glare in return.
