“She’s great. Getting ready for school to start next week, even though she says she’s not excited, she is.”
“I’ll bet.”
Jase’s eyes are on me the whole time. He’s staring so intently at me that I’m almost scared to look at him, scared to give him my full attention. Who knows what will happen if I do. I’ll probably melt to be honest.
“Cindy, can you call that husband of yours and tell him to come pick me up. I want to see what he’s working on,” Gramps asks Josie, and she smiles easily in return. I love that Gramps still uses the nickname he penned for Josie after he met her. Josie and Andrew had a bit of a missed connection, leaving him with only a hair clip to find her by, andGramps has lovingly called her Cindy, or Cinderella, since then.
She turns her smile to me before grabbing her phone from her back, and walking away to call Andrew, leaving me with Gramps and Jason.
As soon as I lift my eyes to meet Jason’s I know I shouldn’t have. He’s staring at me with such affection, such genuine lust in his eyes. When he sees me standing still, he jumps to his feet. “Here.” He pulls a chair up to the table for me. “Sit.”
“Oh, thanks,” I reply, sitting in the offered chair between him and Gramps. Why is this so awkward? I’m so uncomfortable. I need Josie back as my buffer.
“So, when are the two of you going to tell everyone you’re together?” Gramps asks, no filter, no preamble, simply drops the bomb.
“Gramps,” Jason nearly scolds him, meanwhile, I’m choking on my tongue. I cough and gasp for air. Jason leans over, patting my back like I’m an infant.
Once I’ve caught my breath, I lean back in my chair, trying to come up with something to say.
“Am I wrong?” Gramps asks with pure sarcasm in his voice. He knows he’s not wrong.
I glance at Jason, and find him already looking at me. I have no idea what to say to his grandfather, so I figure maybe it’s best to stay quiet.
“We’re… figuring things out,” Jason finally says. He reaches over, taking my palm and giving it a gentle squeeze. “I don’t really know, Gramps. We haven’t talked about it.”
“Oops,” Gramps responds, though he’s chuckling, like maybe he’s not really all that sorry. Josie arrives back at that moment, and narrows her eyes at my hand in Jason’s. I react, pulling it away and back into my lap.
This is such a mess. We really need to talk.
Gramps and Josie are two peas in a pod. They spend the next ten minutes talking amongst themselves as we wait for Andrew to arrive. Once he does, we spend another few minutes chatting with him, before Andrew helps him out of his chair and out the door.
Jason brings us around the brewery, pointing out places we can hang string lights and decorations. I’m already coming up with so many different kinds of ideas that I cannot wait for this party. Not only for the fact that Marley and Beau will finally be getting engaged, but because I think it’s going to be a beautiful event. The brewery is the perfect backdrop. It has such a cozy vibe, while also providing enough space and room so the guests aren’t over crowded. Once Jason is through with his mini tour and explanations, we sit back down to discuss the final touches.
Josie not so subtly declares that she has to get back to work a few minutes later, and after she leaves, it’s just Jason and I. There’s still an hour before the brewery opens for the night, and his employees are starting to file in for their opening procedures.
I stand from my chair. “I should probably get going myself. Isaac probably thinks I got lost or something on the way back.”
Jason chuckles, nodding. “You look beautiful today, Fallon.” His comment surprises me.
I glance down at what I’m wearing. It’s a simple black sundress, and my hair is in a ponytail because I couldn’t be bothered to curl it today. “Oh, thank you,” I reply. “This is nothing.”
“It doesn’t mean you don’t look beautiful.”
I nod, not really sure what more I can say. “I guess I’ll get going.”Run. Leave the awkwardness. Between Grampstotally calling us out, and this, I might die of awkwardness. I run out the front doors of the brewery, and take a deep breath, letting the warm summer air ground me.
I don’t know how to act around him when there’s other people with us. I’m not used to it. Sure, we’ve been around our daughters together, but around other people, when there is attention on us? Yeah, no. I don’t know what to do with myself.
I’m nearly to my car at the coffee shop when I hear my name being called. I turn toward the voice to see Jason striding down the sidewalk to me. “Wait,” he calls. I stop in my tracks. When he reaches me, he’s out of breath. “That was weird. Wasn’t it?”
I can’t stop the laugh that bubbles out from me. “Yeah, it was weird. I didn’t know what to say.”
“Me either,” he chuckles. “Gramps and Josie are always the ones to notice little things, so I shouldn’t be surprised he said something.”
“It’s okay. Josie talked to me about things earlier too.”
“We’re okay?” he asks, and it’s so sweet, like an insecure teenager.
“Of course,” I respond. “To be honest, I don’t know what we’re doing here.”
