Page 28 of Professor and the Seer
“Because you’re still family, Mum.”
“Of course I am, but not blood descended. John and his cousin are the only remaining ones that can pass on the family name, seeing as how Grams is a tad old now.”
“Tad?” he snorted. “She was old when I was born.”
“Don’t let her hear you say that, or she’ll challenge you to checkers again and most likely trounce you,” teased his mother, with good reason. Grams had a competitive side, and when a little boy with too much energy made a remark about her age, she showed him to never underestimate someone.
“Does she live in the house with you?” Frieda asked, stepping into the kitchen proper and taking a seat on a stool by the counter. She looked more relaxed than he’d ever seen her.
“No. She prefers her little cottage by the pond at the bottom end of the garden, but you’ll see her at dinner. She never misses pasta night.”
Not to mention, she’d probably already predicted his arrival. While she might only give one fortune per person, Grams still knew things.
“Can I help you with anything?” Frieda asked. “I dabble in the kitchen at home.”
His mom paused in her slicing of cheese. He expected her to say no because she’d always hated having him underfoot, sneaking bites, but she nodded and shuffled to the side. “Why don’t you prep the salad, dear?”
There was something oddly pleasing about seeing them working together, Frieda smiling and chatting softly as his mother drew her out of her shy shell. Finding out things he’d have never thought to ask like her favorite subject in school—math because it only ever had one outcome. Favorite book? Turned out to be author Clive Barker because Frieda enjoyed scaring herself with horror. She also liked to knit, but given she could only wear so much, she donated the rest to the local women’s shelter.
When Mum said, “Why don’t you go tell Grams dinner is almost ready and offer her a steady arm,” he glanced at Frieda to see if she’d be okay with him leaving. Mum chuckled. “She will be fine with me.” Then to Frieda, “So scared to leave us alone. Must be afraid I’ll reveal all his secrets.”
“Does he have many?” Frieda teased.
“Alas, no,” his mother sighed, much put out. “But I do have pictures. Naked ones,” she added with a wicked grin.
“Of me as a baby,” he muttered, which led to a bark of laughter from Frieda that she tried to stifle and failed.
“You definitely have to show me.” Frieda snickered.
With her so at ease, he exited and followed the familiar cobblestone path to the cottage Grams lived in. It was a one-story affair with a whitewashed exterior and black asphalt tile roof, which had been a fight because Grams had been rather attached to the thatch she had before.
He made it to the door a second before it opened. His great-grandma stood there, leaning on her cane. Her wrinkled features crinkled. “There you are. So much nicer seeing you in person.” Not the weirdest thing she’d ever said to him.
“Hey, Grams. I’m back with a friend for a visit.”
“Friend?” She snorted. “We both know she’s more than that.”
Did they? Because Frieda, for all she’d warmed up to him, kept him at arm’s length. “Frieda’s not interested in me like that.”
“Ha. It’s a good thing you’re cute because you’re dumb as a rock.”
“Love you, too, Grams,” was his dry reply.
“Give me a hug.” She held out her arms, one hand clutching a cane as she embraced him, her body hunched but still strong despite her advanced age. She’d outlived her son and daughter, the former dying in a violent mugging, the latter in a car crash. He’d only once asked her why she didn’t stop them from what seemed to him preventable outcomes, to which she’d offered him a sad mien. “Alas, while I averted their tragedies as long as I could, even I can’t stop death when it’s time.”
“Mum says to git your ass to the house. Dinner’s almost ready.”
“As if I don’t know how to read time,” Grams grumbled. “But that’s not why you’re excited. You want me to meet your friend.”
“I do. Frieda needs your help. She’s like you.”
“I should hope not. That would be vastly inappropriate given your intentions toward her.”
“Grams!” he exclaimed.
She chuckled. “Still so easy to tease.” She shut the cottage door and tucked her free hand into the crook of his arm.
“How have you been?” he asked as they slowly walked toward the house.