A sexy, witty, fun contemporary romance novella from USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Brown originally published in the anthology In Bloom.
Monica Allen still hasn’t forgiven Tyler Magee for breaking her heart when they were teenagers. Ten years on, they’re back in Luella, Texas, visiting their respective grandmothers. and there’s just a white picket fence and a whole lot of awkwardness between them. Will two weeks be long enough for Monica to learn to stop holding a grudge—and hold on to love?
Release date:
April 25, 2023
Publisher:
Zebra Books
Print pages:
112
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The crack when they slapped hands could be heard all up and down the halls of the Pecan Valley Retirement Center. A smile deepened the wrinkles around Dotty’s mouth and bright blue eyes. “It’s liberating, not to think about mowing the lawn and making sure the plants are watered this summer, ain’t it? But I thought Monica was going to cry when I handed her the keys and the paperwork.”
“She’ll settle into the change, and didn’t I tell you how good it would feel to be free of all that stuff?” Winnie eased down on the brown and orange plaid sofa. “It’s like making peace with the fact that we’re both happy as baby piglets in a fresh mudhole right here in this retirement home. We should’ve done this five years ago. You are welcome.”
“For what?” Dotty asked.
“Putting our names on the list to live here,” Winnie answered.
“I suppose you’re going to lord it over me like you do that trophy for the best afghan, aren’t you?” Dotty sighed.
“Yep, I am,” Winnie said, nodding. “If you’d have agreed to come with me, you wouldn’t have had to wait three months for an apartment, but oh, no, you weren’t leaving your home. They gave your place to someone else, and you had to be lonely for all those weeks. So, you are welcome for me putting both our names on the list, and for me begging the supervisor here to put your name back at the top when this place came open. If it hadn’t been for that, you wouldn’t live here, and you wouldn’t even have a chance to be Mother of the Year.”
“I want that Mother’s Day crown so bad.” Dotty sat down in the recliner she’d brought from her house three months ago and hit the button on the side to raise the footrest. “I’m going to wear the fancy blue dress that I bought for Monica’s wedding at the Mother’s Day party. Promise me you’ll take a picture of Gladys’s face when they put the crown on me.” She reached up with both hands and set an imaginary crown on her thick, curly hair.
“Pshh!” Winnie cut her brown eyes over at Dotty. “I told you not to buy that dress. The way your granddaughter is dragging her feet when it comes to commitment, that dress will be old, faded, and out of date by the time she gets around to walkin’ down the aisle. She might even end up being an old maid, and you’ll never have them great-grandkids you want so bad.”
Dotty shook a bony finger at Winnie. “You can blame your grandson for the way my granddaughter shies away from relationships. Tyler broke her heart, and she’s never gotten over it.”
“Hmmph,” Winnie snorted. “That was ten years ago. She needs to grow up, and you’re not going to need to wear that dress anyway, because I’m going to win the crown. I was here a week before you finally made up your mind to join me, so I’m the senior resident of the two of us, and besides, I’m prettier and nicer than you.”
“You are not,” Dotty argued. “And them combs that hold the crown on need someone with enough hair to keep the thing from fallin’ off. You ain’t got enough hair left to even hold the dang thing in place.”
“I’ll superglue it to my head and sleep in it if I win,” Winnie told her, “and I’m wearing the pink dress that I wore on Easter. Your blue dress is way too fancy for the Mother’s Day party. Didn’t you see the pictures on the bulletin board in the dining room? The women were all dressed semi-casual, kind of like they were fixin’ to go to Sunday school.”
“Then I’ll bring some class to the party,” Dotty said, “and I’m going to get more votes than you do.”
“Like you did when I won the blue ribbon at the fair for my afghan.” Winnie shot a dirty look at her best friend.
“It’s my turn to win, since you got the prize for the best afghan,” Dotty argued.
“You goin’ to stuff the ballot box,” Winnie countered.
“Every resident only gets one vote—period,” Dotty reminded her. “I’ll vote for you if you vote for me. That way, maybe we can beat out Gladys with our joined forces. She’s got five crowns lined up on the shelf in her room, already.”
“She’s been here ten years, so everyone knows her, and they say she’s”—Winnie’s voice went an octave higher—“ ‘just the sweetest thing ever,’ or something like that. I’m going to prove that I’m just as lovable as she is.”
“I’ll just sit back and watch y’all try to outdo me.” Dotty narrowed her eyes and thought about ways to garner more votes. “We could get Monica and Tyler to vote every time they come to see us, because visitors get a vote a day.”
“Great idea.” Winnie nodded. “But remember, the staff gets two votes each a day. Gladys has a bowl of hard candy in her apartment that she offers the nurses and aides, and even the cleaning staff, when they come in to see her.”
“Is there anything in the rules that say we can’t bribe votes with candy and food?” Dotty asked.
“Not that I ever read in the booklet they gave me when I checked into this place, and Gladys can have her old hard candy.” Winnie giggled. “I’ve got one of them two-pound bags of miniature candy bars in my room. I bet the folks like chocolate better than peppermints.”
Dotty shot a dirty look toward Winnie. Some best friend she was.
“What’s that for?” Winnie asked.
“You didn’t tell me that you had candy bars,” Dotty answered. “I’m going to call Monica and tell her to bring mini-cupcakes tomorrow.”
“I’m not stupid. You’ve always been competitive, so I got a head start on you,” Winnie declared. “I even give the cleaning folks chocolate, ’cause they get two votes a day, too, just like the doctors and nurses. And since my grandson Tyler is the resident PA here at the center, he can vote three times a day. I’m going back across the hall to my place. Come on over, and we’ll watch our soap opera after lunch.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? That way, if anyone comes in, you can give them a candy bar, and they’ll vote for you. I’ll just watch our soap at my place until after Mother’s Day, thank you very much.” Dotty had no doubt that she would miss Winnie. They’d watched their program together for the past twenty years. But the game was on, and Dotty had her heart set on that crown, which was way prettier than the blue ribbon and trophy Winnie got for her afghan.
“You aren’t nice even to me, and I’m your best friend, so I don’t think you’ll need to wear that blue dress.” Winnie got up slowly and left the room.
Dotty pulled her phone out of her pocket and called Monica.
“Hello, Nana,” her granddaughter answered. “Is everything all right? Have you changed your mind?”
“Hell, no!” Dotty said. “I’m at peace with my decision. Where are you right now?”
“At the grocery store, buying supplies for a couple of weeks,” Monica answered. “Do you need something?”
. . .
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