Luck Be a Lady - Cathie Linz [63]
“Yes. The fact that they are ready really fast was always a good thing. Not that you were an impatient little thing, because you weren’t. You had such a long attention span even at a very young age. You got that from your father.”
“I wonder what I got from my mother.”
“She did not like cooking.” Gram took care of pouring the tea, as she had for as long as Megan could remember. “She didn’t like much aside from mathematics.”
“Did she not like me?” Megan asked quietly.
“What makes you think that?”
“Because she left me. Gave full custody to my father, who paid her.”
“Who told you such a thing?”
“He did.”
Gram’s face reflected her confusion. “But he did not have much money in those days. The company hadn’t become as big as it is now. We were still struggling.”
Megan had to admit she hadn’t thought of that, putting the timeline together that way. She offered Gram a scone before saying, “Maybe he continued to pay her to stay away.”
“I thought you talked with him about this.”
“I tried talking to him but he didn’t say much. He claims he did what he did because he loves me. That he was trying to protect me.”
“You don’t believe him?”
“I don’t know what to believe,” Megan said.
“I know the feeling.”
“You’re thinking of Buddy, aren’t you?”
Gram nodded.
“I don’t think he lied to you on purpose, Gram.”
“He lied by omission. By not telling me about his second marriage.”
“It didn’t last very long. What did he say . . . forty-eight hours?”
“It just makes me wonder what else he hasn’t told me.”
“Yeah, I wonder about that with my dad as well.”
“We make quite a pair, don’t we?”
Megan squeezed her grandmother’s hand. “Yes, we do. A fine pair.”
Gram gave her an innocent look as she asked a naughty question. “So you and Logan really haven’t had sex?”
Megan nearly spewed her tea all over. As it was, she choked, forcing Gram to pat her on the back. “Gram!” she gasped.
“What? You were choking so I hit you on your back. What’s wrong with that?”
“I wouldn’t have been choking in the first place if you hadn’t asked me that question.”
“Which you still haven’t answered.”
“No, we did not have sex. I haven’t known him that long.” Megan couldn’t believe she answered her grandmother’s question. Where was her backbone? Her resolve?
The call from Danny the doorman was a welcome relief. “Miss Megan, your cousin Faith is here to see you. I sent her on up. And please thank your grandmother again for the mints.”
The instant Faith walked in, Gram said, “Megan seems upset that I asked her if she and Logan had sex. We Swedes are more liberal about such things,” she added matter-of-factly. “Sex is nothing to be ashamed of as far as we are concerned.”
Megan slapped her hands over her ears. “I don’t want to hear this.”
Faith pulled Megan’s hands away. “So what did you tell her?”
“That she hasn’t had sex with Logan because she hasn’t known him very long,” Gram said on Megan’s behalf.
Megan and Faith shared a look, both knowing that Faith and Caine had done the deed after their first week together.
“Before I forget, I want to talk to you girls about Thanksgiving,” Gram said. “You know, it’s next Thursday, and we usually celebrate at Jeff and Sara’s.”
Megan nodded. She was dreading the holiday given the awkward situation with her dad and uncle.
“This year we’re having it at my house,” Gram said. “It’s neutral ground. And since everyone always brings their specialty dish it’s not much work. You’ll still bring your cranberry Waldorf salad, right, Megan?”
Again she nodded.
“Faith, you’ll bring your lemon-glazed sweet potatoes?”
Faith followed Megan’s lead and nodded in agreement.
“Excellent. We’ve got that settled then.” Gram checked her watch. “I’ve got to get going. I’ve got a meeting concerning global warming to get to. You do know that Swedes are responsible for the refrigerator and vacuum cleaner, right?”
Even though she didn’t see the connection between vacuum cleaners and global warming, Megan again nodded obediently before hugging Gram and seeing her out.
“Did Gram ask you that kind of question about having sex with