Read Online RYDER: A Standalone Military Romance (Blake Security Book 1) by Celina McKane - Free Book Online Page B

wouldn’t hear of it. “I’m livin’ on Ol’ Sly’s turf,” she’d said. “I couldn’t live with myself if I got him kilt off so that I could take over.”
    Instead, she gets her broom out when he gets too close to the house. One of these days that old gator is going to have himself a Granny sandwich. Very delicate, knowing she was going to argue with me I said, “Don’t you think it would be better to just stay inside until he’s gone, Granny?”
                  “Nope. If I stayed inside Ol’ Sly would make himself at home on my porch and never leave. I don’t wanna kill him, but I ain’t havin’ him chasing off all my company.”
                  “What are you going to do when he decides to turn on you, Granny? You ought to at least use a more lethal weapon than a broom.”
                  She cackled out her Granny laugh and said, “That old broom has chased off more than one critter in its time. It’ll do. Did you need something, cher ?”
                  I had forgotten why I called. “Yeah, I’m not going to be able to come out for a couple of weeks. I have to work fulltime on this kidnapping thing while Blake is out of town. I was thinking about asking Mrs. Olsen to check on you.”
                  “What do I need to be checked on for?”
                  I smiled. “I just want to make sure you’re okay, Granny.”
                  “And who’s gonna make sure you’re okay, cher ?”
                  “I’m a big boy.”
                  “And I raised you up. You forget that I been lookin’ after myself since before you were a swimmer in your daddy’s…”
                  “Okay, Granny, I get it. You’ll call me though if you need anything, right?”
                  “I will, and you do the same.”
                  “I love you, Granny.”
                  “ Je t'aime, chéri .”
     
    ********
     
    I spent the next week at the mansion getting to know both Alicia and Celia’s schedule. Most of the time, it was kind of fun. Celia and I were beginning to understand each other a little better, and I was finding out every day that there was a lot more to Alicia than a pretty face and model body. She continuously amazed me with the baby, and she treated everyone she met with respect. When Celia took a nap, Alicia and I would share a meal or just sit and talk. She told me a lot about growing up in Russia. I found out through those conversations that she was born in Georgia and lived there most of her life but moved to Moscow as a teenager. Her father split when she was only two years old and her mother was rarely home. Her older brothers took on the role of her parents. She said they were tough on her, but she seemed grateful to have had them, considering her alternatives were a single, middle-aged prostitute and an absent father.
    Alicia’s days off were Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I didn’t like it when she was gone, not only because I missed her, but because Celia was not happy with Ezra, the girl that worked as her replacement. The baby did a lot of crying, and I took to picking her up and walking with her or playing with her just to get her to stop. Ezra took care of her basic needs, but her maternal instincts were nowhere near matching Alicia’s.
    I was relieved when Alicia was back on Thursday. I only got to see her for a few minutes before Leif came to relieve me for a few hours. Granny wasn’t answering her phone again, and I hadn’t been able to get ahold of anyone else to check on her.
    I had visions of Ol’ Sly eating her dancing in my head.
    As soon as I got to Granny’s, she fixed me a plate of shrimp étouffe and served it with a slab of cornbread the size of a brick. “Eat, cher. ”
    I picked up my fork and took a bite of the delicious stew. After I’d chewed it and washed it down with some of Granny’s