I love her family; but one of them too much – part 2

As she turned away, I could hear Adam calling out from inside the house. “Anyone home?”

She must have heard him pull up. I know I didn’t. I was lost there for a bit, in a different time.

Grandma opened the sliding door, waltzing into the house, spry as a teen. “Dan Simmons,” she said. “Bob’s out back. Your cabinets are nearly done. I’m making my fried chicken. Care to stay for dinner?”

Adam took it in stride, with barely a ripple. “Not tonight, Kate. Thanks. I, uh, I’ll check on Bill.”

“The offer’s open. Bring your pretty little bride along if you want, I don’t imagine you can stay away from her that long anyway.” I was watching as she walked up to him, rubbed her hand down his arm, and turned away with a giggle.

Damn. Grandma was a flirt. A big one.

Adam came out to the porch, where I had stood and picked up the chair to bring it back to the shop for staining. “Cabinets?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Grandma sometimes thinks I’m Grandpa, when I’m working in the shop. I guess he did some cabinets for Dan Simmons. There’s some cabinets in there, which I think got her thinking wrong.”

“Well, she seemed to be in a great mood. And she’s making her fried chicken? Nobody makes better fried chicken. I think I’m gonna call Hailey, and tell her we’re eating over. You say she’s done this before?”

“Just once. Maybe a week ago, when I was finishing the chair Grandpa was working on.”

“It’s good to see her happy. Maybe you should do some more work out here.”

Adam was more than my father-in-law. He was probably my best friend. I couldn’t keep secrets from him. “Dad, she thinks I’m Grandpa. She calls me Bob, and she acts, uh, really friendly.”

The stunned look on his face made me feel better. I wasn’t alone in thinking this was odd.

“When you say really friendly …”

“She kisses me. She’s very touchy-feely. She was, well, talking … talking about what we were going to do tonight. In bed.”

Adam’s eyes opened wide, and then he laughed. A big hearty laugh that, to be honest, irritated me. “It’s not funny, Dad!”

His laughter diminished to mere chuckles. “It kind of is, you know? Not too surprising, everyone’s noticed how much you look like him in the old pictures. I didn’t know the old bird had it in her. You’re going along, right?”

“I kind of have to. I don’t want to upset her. She talks all about their work, their customers, her friends, it’s like she’s back to when they first started out. She thought you were a customer, for those cabinets,” I said, with a nod toward the tarp covered objects.

Adam walked over and uncovered the partially completed cabinets. “You should finish these. They’re beautiful.”

Grandma chose that moment to come back to the garage, holding a pair of iced tea glasses. She offered one to Adam, and gave me the other, with a wink. Then she walked over to Adam, with a sway in her step, putting her hand on his arm. “What do you think? Everything he told you, right? My Bob does the best work around.”

Adam didn’t shy away from her flirtatious touch. “I was just telling him they were great. He should finish them.”

Grandma pouted so cutely, I couldn’t help picture her playing it up back then. “He promised he’d have them done and ready for installation a week from Tuesday. He’ll get them done. It’s no good rushing him.” Grandma looked over at me and rolled her eyes. I almost burst out laughing.

Adam nodded. “I wasn’t trying to rush him, I said—”

“You have my word, Dan. They’re his top priority. He’ll get them done, and they’ll be worth every penny.” She ran her hand along his arm, teasingly. Grandma was cracking me up. “Speaking of pennies, your second payment is due, and we could really use it to buy the hardware. I don’t suppose you have the money on you, do you?”

“Uhm, how much was it again?”

Grandma stomped her foot. “Dan Simmons! I know you’re not the kind of man to try to renegotiate halfway through the project.”

“No, Kate,” Adam said anxiously, reaching for his wallet. “I just forgot. I swear.”

Grandma sighed. “Forty up front, forty more, due last Thursday, and eighty once they’re installed. Anyone else would have made you pay at least half at the start. You know it’s a good deal. Best dang cabinet work in the county, if not the state!”

Adam nodded. “Great work, I know. I’m sorry I’m late with the payment. I have it with me,” he said, waving his wallet.

The grin on Grandma’s face lit up the room. She took him by the arm, and started walking him to the house door. “Wonderful. Come in and I’ll write you a receipt. We should let Bob get back to work,” she said, looking back at me and giving a nod toward the cabinets. Then a grin and a wink.

I could see now that Grandma was a big part of Grandpa’s success. She was a natural. As for me, I wasn’t about to get stuck in the doghouse. I uncovered Grandpa’s old work, and started sorting out the pieces, seeing how much he had finished, and what was left to complete.