again?” I turned around to see my brother Tim closing in on us. Tim was my favorite brother. While I loved my brother Richard, Tim and I had been partners in crime growing up. Now with all the new beginnings in my life, Tim had been there to keep me from falling too far into a funk.
“She thought she would miss Simon’s opportunity to play in the Macy’s parade.”
“I may still miss it,” Grandma said. “TV’s on the fritz.”
“Grandma, I said I would show it at my house when you’re over for dinner.”
“Now, you know I can’t be watching television when my babies are around.” She stuck her lip out in a pout.
“No worries, Grandma, we’ll take care of it.” Tim hopped up on the parade float and brushed a kiss on Grandma’s cheek, then just as quickly hopped off.
My brother was tall and lanky. The kind of man who had a grace to his movements. He brushed his shock of blond hair out of his face. “We can buy you a television, and I’m sure Toni will get you a copy to watch.”
“How about you get me one of those tablet thingies and I can stream the parade through Wi-Fi.”
“What do you know about Wi-Fi streaming?” I asked.
“I’m a lifetime Mensa member.” Grandma straightened in her seat. “There isn’t much I don’t know about.”
“I heard Mrs. Martle got a tablet and has been showing it off at the senior center,” Tasha said as she glued the last flower into place. “Roxanne Iger told me that the electronics department at Walmart can’t keep enough in stock.”
“Really?” It was hard for me to imagine senior citizens buying up tablet computers.
“We like to watch movies,” Grandma pointed out. “And we like to ride on floats and hand out cookies.”
“Wait, you said I was making you ride on the float—”
“Yes, but now that you’re buying me a tablet, I don’t mind so much. Tasha, did you know you can store hundreds of books on those things?”
I made a face and turned my back. Tim chuckled. Grandma had a way of getting what she wanted every time. I bet she planned that whole conversation. It wasn’t like her to complain about her television—which, by the way, was a flat screen that I bought her this time last year. I stepped down off the trailer with a long sigh. I’d been had by a ninety-year-old woman. At least I could use the fact that she was a lifetime member of an organization for geniuses. It didn’t make me look so stupid.
CHAPTER 2
“N ice float.”
I turned to see Brad Ridgeway leaning on one of the metal poles that held up the roof. Why did the sight of him always make my heartbeat pick up? Was it his electric-blue eyes? The wide cut of his shoulders? The thick blond hair now sporting white at the temples? How was it that the man managed to still look like he was a teenage heartthrob?
“Thanks.” I stepped toward him without thinking about it. Today he wore a tailored dress shirt tucked into nice-fitting Levi’s. His shirt-sleeves were rolled up and there was a smudge of dirt on his cheek. “Are you working on a float?”
“Elks club.” He pushed away from the beam. “What gave it away? My workman’s tool belt or the cut on my thumb?”
His words had my gaze going to his belt. What was it about a man with a tool belt slashed across his hips? I forced myself to concentrate on the bandaged thumb he held out. “Neither,” I admitted. “It was the smudge on your cheek.”
“There’s a smudge?” He rubbed at his face, smearing whatever the smudge was until he had a long dark streak.
“More than a smudge now.” I pulled a handkerchief from my pocket. “May I?”
“As long as you don’t wet it with spit.”
I stepped in close and took a deep breath of warm male and starch. “Man, you take all the fun out of things.” I reached up and wiped the dirt off. I really didn’t want to step back. I really didn’t, but we were in a very public place, he was my lawyer, and I had sworn off dating.
His blue eyes sparkled and