Page 38 of He Loves Me Knot
The knock sounded again, and she swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat. “I’m coming,” she grunted. She didn’t know where her flip-flops were, so she walked barefoot toward the door.
She opened it to find her granny and Kyle standing there. “Up and at ’em,” Granny said with a wide smile. Her five-foot-nothing, spry body was swathed in pink Lycra, and her tight white curls were perfectly in place as she strode inside.
“What on earth?” Liddy said. She hadn’t seen her brother since Christmas and Granny for over a year, and this was the hello?
“Where’s the hot rod?” Granny said, looking around the room.
Kyle face-palmed and came in grudgingly, wincing at Liddy. “I tried to stop her. Told her to give you some privacy.”
“Hot rod?”
“You know. Your personal joystick. The one you’ve been hiding from the whole family.” Granny waved a finger in Liddy’s face. “I had a whole plan to come stay in this room with you until you showed up all shacked up. Leo’s snoring is keeping me up all night.”
“You mean Callum?” Liddy gathered her hair into a ponytail, sitting on the bed wearily.Jet lag is a thing.She was sure her body thought she should still be asleep.
“No, Leo. You know, you met him at Parkview last time. He’s the widower from 7B. Where’d you come up with a dipshit name like Callum?”
“She knows who Leo is, Granny,” Kyle said in a voice that sounded extra deep due to it being so early. “She means her boyfriend, who is apparently named Callum.”
It’s too early for this.
“Oh, then, that’s the one. That one’s got a nice ass. I saw you two running away from here last night before I could even get over to say hello from my chair at the pool. You Winnick girls sure pick them good-looking, but Quinn’s got no ass. Don’t tell Elle I said so, though.”
They were all used to Granny Winnick’s antics, but even this seemed outrageous for her. Liddy shook her head. “Granny, if you ever call any man my personal joystick again, I’m buying you a bark collar.”
“Oh, don’t pretend you don’t have fun riding?—”
“I’m leaving,” Kyle said, holding up his hands.
“You and me both,” Liddy muttered. “Why are you guys here so early?”
“Surfing lessons. On the beach. I signed us up last night,” Granny said with a smile. She looked around the room again. “But I was hoping your man could join us. I’d like to meet the fellow.”
“What?” Liddy rubbed her eyes again.Surfing lessons?I am not doing that.“I think Callum went to get some work done.” Her brain was slogging through Granny’s comments like a sheep walking through a bog. Maybe it was the melatonin she’d taken the night before. It helped with jet lag, but she’d never liked the way it made her feel the next morning.
“Work? What the hell is he doing working at this hour?” Granny looked like she was about to pass judgment over Callum—and not a positive one.
Did she even have time to do anything today? If she and Callum were going to track down Sergio, they would need to leave soon, wouldn’t they?
“What hour is it, exactly? A monkey stole my cell phone.”
“It’s five twenty,” Kyle groaned. He tilted his head against the door frame, closing his eyes. His hair, which was blond and tousled, looked like the epitome of bedhead. But being Kyle, he looked like he belonged on a surfboard at this hour, too.
Liddy’s eyes burned. “Five twenty . . . that’s like, what eleven twenty for me?”
“Exactly. You should be wide awake. Come on, get your swimsuit on.” Granny started turning lights on in the room.
“Is that what you’re wearing? A swimsuit?” The bright pink outfit appeared to be a one-piece.
Granny looked insulted. “It’s a wetsuit.”
“You look like aGood & Plenty.”Liddy’s gaze flicked to her brother, still wondering how her brother had gotten pulled into this. Of course, Kyle was probably the easiest going of the three Winnick siblings. “Are you seriously doing this?”
Kyle shrugged. “I guess.”
“He sure is. And you are, too. I don’t want to hear any of that ‘oh, but my back, Granny.’ I got the same damn issue as you. And I got a bikini to wear later at the beach, so no moping around in a muumuu either.”
Liddy threw her a glare. “Thanks, Granny.” But then Granny had never—not once—treated Liddy like she was frail. If anything, she had always ragged on Mom and Dad for going too easy on Liddy and letting her wear oversized T-shirts when she’d been in middle and high school.