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“I’m glad you see it that way.” He kissed her lightly.

“I’ll call you later.” Allie kissed his cheek before turning to me. “And don’t be a complete jerk.” With that, she disappeared.

Chapter Four

Casey

People shouldn’t knock on your door before nine a.m. Although I didn’t seem to need quite as much sleep lately, I didn’t enjoy getting awoken just as I’d finally fallen asleep. I rolled over, assuming it was the super telling me about some maintenance issue. When that happened, he usually left a note. The incessant knocking continued. The last time someone had woken me up by knocking, I’d met Jared. Something told me it wasn’t him this time. And then my phone started ringing. With a sigh, I looked at the screen. Allie. Okay, that could be important.

“Hey,” I answered as cheerfully as possible. Toby said she was interested in helping me. I needed her on my side, and in the little time I’d spent with her, she seemed to go out of her way to be nice to me.

“Hey. You need to open your door.”

“Wait. Is that you knocking?” I struggled to sit up in bed.

“Uh, sort of.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I didn’t like the vagueness in her words. It meant she wasn’t alone.

“I can’t explain. Just open it.”

Reluctantly, I pulled myself out of bed and walked the short distance to the front door. We didn’t have a peephole, so I was completely unprepared for what was waiting for me on the other side when I swung open the door.

“Beautiful.” A woman, probably around eighty, barreled into my apartment. “You are truly a sight.”

I looked down at the oversized t-shirt and shorts I’d slept in. I didn’t need to touch my hair to know it was a mess. Beautiful wasn’t exactly the word I’d use to describe how I looked at that moment.

“Who are you?” I asked the woman but looked to Allie for help.

“I’m Georgina, but you can call me Grandma.”

“Grandma?” I coughed. But then things fell into place. “You’re Levi’s Grandma?”

“Yes. My son is your father.” She took my head in her hands. “You are a spitting image of your great-grandmother. It’s incredible.” She stared at me for a moment before she dropped her hands.

“Did you know about me?” I wrapped my arms around myself. My world was falling apart. Meeting a grandmother I never knew I had might have been great in some situations, but in my current one, it just freaked me out more.

“Not until last night. I came right here.”

“If you’re worried about me staying quiet, I will. I just want to figure out more about my father and what happened.” I stood my ground. I wasn’t going to be pushed over.

“I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about you. How did you come to live in such a place?” She looked around my living room with disdain. Just like Toby did the first time. I tried to push away that thought.

I stood up as straight as possible. Grandmother or not, she wasn’t going to put me down. “It’s my cousin’s. I needed a place to stay.”

She made some sort of grunting noise. “You will be moving. I don’t know anything about this cousin, but a Laurent doesn’t live in such squalor.”

I decided not to mention that I didn’t have the money to move, let alone pay the rent on a better place. It didn’t seem worth the effort. I was still trying to face the reality that I had a whole new family.

She mumbled something about realtors. “I hope you don’t have plans for today.”

“I work this afternoon.” I’d picked up an extra shift. I was working as often as possible. It wasn’t like I had much else to do, and I was still saving for college tuition.

“Work? Where do you work?”

“Coffee Heaven.”

“A coffee shop?” Georgina looked ill. “You serve coffee?”

“Yeah… it doesn’t pay great, but it’s something.” By the way she was staring with her mouth gaping open, you’d have thought I’d just admitted to being an exotic dancer.

She took a couple of deep breaths then let them out. “Okay. First thing, get yourself dressed. Allie and I will wait here.” She looked around at the furniture like she was deciding whether it was safe to sit down.

“Okay… but then what?”

“We will worry about that when you’re dressed.” She looked confused. Like she couldn’t imagine anyone questioning her. At least I knew that women got respect in the Laurent family. I already knew Allie spoke her mind, but boy did Grandma do it too.

Allie mouthed, “Don’t argue.” I wasn’t planning on it. Something about that woman made her more intimidating than any of the giant paranormal guys I’d met recently. I also liked her. She seemed real, and I respected that.

“Okay…” I figured stopping for a shower was out of the question, so I slipped on a sundress and pulled some of my hair back and left the other half down. If Georgina was telling the truth about how I looked earlier, she’d be satisfied with my attempt. I brushed my teeth, slipped on flat strappy sandals and walked back out into the living room. I wasn’t a big make-up person, but I remembered to apply some lip gloss before I met up with the others.

“Who is this?” Georgina held a framed picture of Vera. She sat on the couch while Allie sat across from her on the only chair in the room. The fabric on all of the above was well worn.

“My sister.”

Georgina continued staring at the frame. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”

“She’s missing then?” Georgina set aside the frame and studied my face like it was a puzzle.

“Yes. She disappeared without a trace a few years ago, but I recently got a lead.”

“And who gave you this lead?” she pressed.

I hesitated. I assumed Georgina was telling the truth about being my grandmother, but the whole “you’re part of the family” thing could all be an act.

It’s like she read my mind. “You have to trust me. I can’t help you if I don’t have all the details.”

“Why do you want to help me?” People always had ulterior motives. Like Toby. I hoped his motivation was wanting to spend time with me, but I wasn’t dumb. It could be something else entirely—like wanting to somehow use me to see Allie again. Argh. I needed to stop worrying about my love life at such inappropriate times.