“My dear, you look troubled. Something wrong?” Grams gave her a concerned look as she shifted her hip into a comfortable position. Jessie made herself smile and shake her head. Grams didn’t buy it. “Boy trouble?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Jessie rolled her eyes. Ever since Kai had started dating April, Grams had been relentless. She seemed to think she’d successfully placed one grandchild on the path to happiness, even though Jessie had done the actual placing, and now she was anxious to see Jessie paired off. “No, Grams, and stop trying to set me up.” She sighed in exasperation, letting all of her frustrations about Kai and April seep into the sound. “Some guy named Simon called me last night. Said his mother was a friend of yours?”
Her grandmother gave her a wide grin, her wrinkled face was much more youthful in her glee. “Oh, that’s Susan’s boy. You know, my nurse from the hospital. She said he might call you.”
Sighing, Jessie sank down into a chair next to her. “Yeah, well he did…and no, I’m not going out with him.”
Grams looked about to protest, but Jessie shot her a warning glare; she was not in the mood to be bugged about dating. Not when she had to endure thoughts of Kai’s mouth all over April’s. Having to listen to her friend proclaim how “freaking unbelievable” of a kisser he was, made Jessie ill.
Changing her line of questioning, Grams asked, “So, do you and Kai still get to see each other a lot since he started dating that girl?”
Jessie made herself smile, but it felt sad, even to her. Why did Grams always have to bring up Kai? Jessie would rather be bugged about Simon. She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I mean, just last weekend we went to the museum…but…I don’t know, he’s busy getting to know April, and busy with work.” She made herself chuckle; it sounded hollow. “I thought I wouldn’t lose so much of him if I set him up with my roommate, but…it’s different now. There are three of us in the relationship, and it used to just be me and Kai.” She didn’t mention that was the point of him seeing April.
Jessie’s grandmother frowned as she rested her hands on her lap. She adjusted her hip again and Jessie stood up to get her a pillow to put underneath her. Grams smiled, then her face turned serious. “But you still talk often?” Jessie nodded absently as she helped ease the woman’s pain. Grams was silent for a long moment, then asked, “Is he happy? With April? With work?”
Jessie paused in helping her get comfortable. She’d emphasized work more than April. Jessie thought back to that awkward moment with his boss and Kai’s comment that he didn’t think the man liked him. With a frown, Jessie sat back down. “Well, I think he’s happy in general. He and April are just starting, so I don’t really know about that yet.” And she really didn’t want to know. Bringing a finger to her lip, she tapped it while she thought. “But work…I don’t know. He said something strange once.”
Grams leaned forward, her eyes wide. “What did he say?”
The sudden worry in her voice was so intense, it caught Jessie off-guard. Worried about her grandmother falling off her chair, Jessie quickly answered with, “He just said he didn’t think his boss liked him, and when I met the man, he did seem odd around Kai. I merely told him his eyes were a similar shade to Kai’s, and he practically ran away.”
Her grandmother’s face paled as she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Concerned over the emotion she saw brewing on the old woman’s face, Jessie quietly asked, “Are you okay, Grams?”
Her grandmother looked over at her with aged, tired eyes. “Just feeling that pain now, Jessica Marie.” Reaching over, she patted her knee. “Could you get some more pills for me, dear?” Jessie nodded and stood to go get them. Her grandmother grabbed her hand before she walked away. “Don’t let Kai get so involved with a woman that he slips away from you. He needs you, Jessica. He needs his family.”
Her eyes were intent on Jessie, and swallowing a painful lump, Jessie made herself nod. She wasn’t sure that she could stay close to Kai though, especially if things between him and April picked up. But Grams was right, he was family, and if Kai ever needed her, she had every intention of being there for him. Grams face was so serious, so troubled, and Jessie had no idea why.