Amy,” Wyatt said, turning on the charm. “I was just bragging to Ms. Steele yesterday about what an outstanding cook you are.”
Amy blushed and stammered. “Uh…thank you. I’m making raspberry lemon bars.”
“My favorite,” Leo said, beaming.
Wyatt ignored that and did his best to charm and reassure Amy. “I’m sure they’re lovely. I’m still thinking about the lasagna you made last week.”
“I’ll save you some to take home, if you’re still here when they’re done.”
“Thank you, Amy. Now, could you excuse us a moment? Jane and I need to talk to my uncle.”
“Of course,” she said, looking uneasy again.
Wyatt gave a curt nod to Leo, to follow them into the empty dining area. He pulled out a chair for Jane, touching her reassuringly on her shoulder, then seated himself.
“She’s not armed, is she?” Leo asked, still standing.
Jane felt like a worm, like one of the lowest creatures on earth and wished she could just crawl away right now.
“Uncle Leo?” Wyatt said none too softly.
Out of the corner of her eye, Jane saw Amy startle, heard the pan clatter on the stove like she’d lost control of it for a moment.
She was expecting the worst.
“Just sayin’, you feeling better, girly?” Leo inquired.
“Now you’re just trying to be annoying,” Wyatt complained. “Let the lady explain why she’s here.”
“Mr. Gray,” Jane began. “I am so very sorry about everything I did the other day, and I’ve come to humbly beg for your forgiveness. My behavior was completely unacceptable, and I am both shocked and humiliated that I resorted to violence as a way of settling our disagreement.”
Leo grimaced, then shook his head. “Kathleen and Gladdy said you were kind of prissy.”
Jane winced. Had they told him that she was a prude, too?
Because if he brought that up in front of Wyatt, she would happily just sink into the floor and try to disappear into the crevasses in the stone tile.
Wyatt shot his uncle a hard look. He might have even stepped on Leo’s toe or something, because Leo gave a little yelp and eased away from both of them.
“Tell her you accept her apology,” Wyatt insisted.
Leo turned to his nephew, chuckling as he asked. “She give you that shiner, boy?”
“Leo!”
“Okay, fine. I accept,” he said, not looking either sincere or happy about being forced into saying it.
Wyatt didn’t take his gaze off of his uncle. “Jane, would you excuse us, please? I’d like a moment alone with Leo.”
“Of course,” Jane conceded, eager to escape as fast as she could.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” Wyatt practically roared the moment Jane disappeared from sight.
“She is a prissy little thing. I still can’t believe she hit me.”
“She didn’t hit you,” Wyatt reminded him.
“But she meant to. The only thing that stopped her was you. And then she hit you.”
Wyatt sighed, feeling a headache coming on, as it often did when he had to deal with Leo. “Did your doctor change your medication or something? Because you seem…particularly outrageous lately, even for you.”
“I’m just enjoying myself here,” Leo claimed, slapping his hands to his chest. “Life was meant to be enjoyed, boy.”
“God help me,” Wyatt muttered. “Are you trying to get kicked out of this place?”
“No, I love it here. This is the best old folks’ home I’ve ever been in. Best-looking women, the friendliest, the fittest. I think this place is God’s gift to Leo Gray.”
“I doubt God sees it that way, and I know for a fact that Ms. Steele doesn’t. She sees it as you potentially ruining this place, and she’s this close to kicking you out.” Wyatt held his thumb and his first finger an inch apart. “One more thing, and I swear, you’re gone.”
Leo made a disgusted, dismissive sound. “We done? ‘Cause I’m supposed to meet someone in thirty minutes, and I need to spruce up a bit. A man can’t just let himself go.”
“Please tell me it’s not one of Jane’s relatives.” Wyatt said, then wondered, would it be better or worse if it wasn’t Kathleen or Gladdy?
“You gonna start policing my social calendar, boy?” Leo challenged.
Wyatt sighed. “There aren’t enough hours in the day for me to control you.”
Leo looked particularly pleased with himself. “Didn’t think so.”
“But I’m telling you, you’re going to get kicked out of here, and Ms. Steele’s going to blackball you with every retirement home administrator she knows, and she claims that will cover the entire state of Maryland. Think about it, Leo.”
Jane found Gram and Gladdy in Gram’s room whispering urgently to each other. They clammed up the minute they saw Jane.
That was odd.
“What are you two up to?” she asked.
Gram got a sad, disapproving look on her face. “Talking about you, my girl.”
“We can’t believe the things we’re hearing, Jane. You attacked that sweet Leo Gray?”
“He is not sweet! He’s trouble! How can you both not see that?”
“He is sweet as can be and just delightful to be around,” Gram insisted. “Do you have any idea how boring most men in their eighties are? Sad and grumpy and complaining about one thing after another. Their backs, their head, their eyes. It’s really disheartening what you have to choose from in men at our age, Jane.”
“You could just give up on men altogether,” Jane suggested.
Gram and Gladdy groaned, then looked at each other like it was too horrible an idea to even think about.
“Surely you’ve both had enough men by now,” she tried.
“I hope to have a man in my life for as long as I’m breathing,” Gram said.
Gladdy nodded her head, obviously agreeing. “You’ve just never learned how to truly enjoy a man, Jane. If you had, you’d understand.”
“Enjoy a man?” She winced, remembering being called a prude and Gram and Gladdy feeling sorry for her, just because she didn’t
