Read Online Circle in the Sand by Lia Fairchild - Free Book Online Page A

stays silent. She and Jax exchange conspiratory glances that leave me
     curious and a little bit jealous. Has she convinced my grandmother to make nice with
     me?
    “Hey, Rose,” Jax says taking a seat at the piano. “Don’t you look pretty today?”
    “Cut the crap, Jax,” she says flatly. “I look hideous. My clothes are swimming on
     me and my face looks like a deflated balloon.”
    “Agree to disagree?” Jax winks at Rose.
    “That’s a lovely scarf,” I say. I smile and shoot my doe eyes to the hunter.
    Rose pauses, draws a shaky breath. “Thank you. It covers what would be a lovely shirt,
     if I had the boobs I used to.”
    I take a seat in the chair next to her. I know it’s the right thing to say, but still
     I cringe when I let out, “How are you grandmother?”
    “Oh, I’m just dandy. Living it up here at the Plaza.”
    Jax startles us both when she belts out a few low notes on the piano. That foreshadowing
     music you hear in movies when something bad is about to happen: Dun, dun, dun duuun . Grandmother fires her a dirty stare, and I try not to laugh.
    She conveniently leaves out her health and says, “I’m fine, Sage. Your father visits
     me once or twice a week, and I see Jax here about as much. Maybe more.”
    I gaze down in my lap, already guilt-ridden. A moment of silence passes between us
     until I feel her hand on mine. “I know you’re busy, and that’s a tough drive,” she
     says.
    I hear the words, but they don’t register. This is not my grandmother. I should be
     happy, vindicated. But the regret and confusion linger and I look up. “I’m sorry it’s
     been so long.”
    “Well, Jax tells me that boss of yours has you hopping around like a trained seal.”
    Okay, now this woman I recognize. I don’t bother to glance over my shoulder at Jax.
     She knows. “Grandmother, I’m just working hard, trying to do a good job.”
    “Did you get that promotion yet?” she asks, leaning back in her chair.
    She knows Christine has been hanging this promotion over my head for more than a year.
     It’s exactly the type of job grandmother would have wanted for me, working with clients
     that have ultra-high net worth, traveling, enjoying greater financial success. “Not
     yet, but I got a new client in San Diego which will have me here more.” Now why did
     I go and say that?
    “I see.” She pauses, pulls the scarf from around her neck. I glimpse the gorgeous
     sapphire pendant hanging from the chain she’s had since I was a little girl. “Is it
     hot in here?” she asks fanning herself with the scarf.
    I shrug and turn to Jax who copies me. When I look back at Rose she is staring at
     me as if she’s aware that whatever she says next will make or break this visit. I
     pull my lips tight and will myself to wait it out. I will not speak first. Let her
     be the one to cause the disaster. I don’t know how many seconds or minutes go by.
     I can hear my stomach grumble, my heart beating. I begin to examine every feature
     on her face. She has the same blue eyes I do. Her sagging skin is dotted with coffee-colored
     spots and her hair still in that same sixties tight curl with the sides pulled up—the
     only difference being that it’s all gray. “So, are you seeing anyone?” she finally
     says.
    It wasn’t even close to the response I was expecting. Before I can answer, someone
     calls Jax’s name. A young man pushing an elderly woman in a wheelchair stops in front
     of us.
    “Hey, Dante.” Jax rises from the piano and heads over to him.
    “Hello, Lydia,” grandmother says to the woman. “Is this your nephew?”
    “Yes it is. He’s a troublemaker so watch out for him, ladies.”
    “That’s right,” Dante says as he tilts Lydia back a tiny bit. “I’m a bad boy. Ladies
     like bad boys, right?”
    “Key word being boy ,” Jax says. “Call us in five years.”
    “That’s cold.” Dante shakes his head sending dark braids flying across each side of
     his