Love Me Sweet (Bell Harbor, #3)

He nodded and lit the cigarette anyway.

Grant leaned forward toward his mother and splayed his hands out on the tabletop. “OK, so how much did the cow cost?”

Donna avoided his stare and put another scoop of coffee in the maker, snapping the lid shut. “Well I couldn’t just buy them the cow without getting them the freezer too. That’s really where the money went. In the freezer.”

“That’s what I call cold cash,” Carl murmured to no one in particular.

Delaney might have laughed if she hadn’t been so transfixed by the oddity of it all. If anyone needed a reality show, it was these people.

“You bought them a cow and a freezer.” Grant’s voice was flat. He didn’t sound all that shocked, but Delaney thought a slaughtered cow and a freezer to keep it in was quite possibly the grisliest wedding present ever. Maybe it was a Midwestern thing.

“Does Tyler know that’s what you bought them?” Grant continued.

“Of course not. I want it to be a surprise. So don’t you tell him either.” She turned to fill the coffee pot with tap water, talking even as her back was to them. “You know, this is partly your own fault, Grant. The house only belongs to you because your grandfather’s dying wish was that you’d move back home and rejoin this family. But you didn’t do that, did you? No. You just kept gallivanting around the globe and shunning us.”

Grant popped back in his chair as if he’d been cuffed on the chin. His cheeks flushed. At least the little bit Delaney could see above the facial scruff. There were broad currents of family history here, and it piqued her curiosity, but at the moment she was just a spectator.

“I wasn’t gallivanting, Mom. I was working. And I wasn’t shunning anyone either.”

Donna turned back so fast that water splashed from the pot. “The hell you weren’t. You’ve been mad at me ever since the day I married Hank. Don’t think I don’t know that.”

Hank? Who the hell was Hank? Delaney stole another glance at Carl.

He blew smoke from the corner of his mouth without moving his top lip. “Hank, second husband. I’m number three. Third time’s a charm.” He nodded at Delaney, looking for her agreement. She smiled weakly, because really, what else could she do? She shouldn’t be here right now. She had more than enough of her own family drama to contend with. She didn’t need to be a part of this one. She just wanted her money.

Grant sighed beside her. “Mom, this isn’t the time for that discussion. Right now we have to figure out where to get the money to pay back Elaine and get her out of my house.” Grant’s gaze passed from his mother to Carl. “I don’t suppose you have any money?”

Carl shook his head, not looking the least bit concerned. “Nope, sorry, kid, but I’d be happy to make you a beverage. I find that most problems are more easily solved after everyone has enjoyed a cocktail.”

Delaney felt inclined to agree but decided to keep her mouth shut. If only she’d done that with Boyd she wouldn’t be in this mess now.

“Do you have any money, Grant?” Donna stepped forward, ignoring her husband and apparently forgiving her son for the shunning and the gallivanting. She put her hand on Grant’s arm. “Maybe you could pay Elaine and then I could pay you.”

He shook his head. “I don’t have an extra six grand lying around, Mom. Most of my cash is tied up in a work project right now, and until Blake decides to stop being an asshole, I can’t get my hands on any of it. He wants to sue me for breach of contract.”

His mother pulled her hand back and pressed it to her heart, but her sigh wasn’t despondent. It was full of infatuation instead. “Oh, that Blake Rockstone. What a fella.”

“Did you not just hear me say he wants to sue me, Mom? He’s an asshole.”

Delaney had only seen Grant’s TV show once or twice, and she’d thought the host was about as engaging as a Styrofoam cup. He had the same overprocessed quality too. She recognized Botox when she saw it, and he’d had plenty.

“Please don’t use profanity in my home, young man,” Donna scolded. “That’s a quarter in the swear jar for you.”

Grant ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more than it had been before. “Add it to my tab. In the meantime, give me the information you have on the cow and the freezer and I’ll see what I can do about getting a refund.”

Donna shook her head. “You’ll do no such thing. That’s my gift to Tyler and Evie.”

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