Blue Smoke

family?”
    “Like a lotus blossom, elegantly twined in a grapevine.”
    “Hey, nice image. I love them, you know. I loved your family even before I loved Xander. I lusted for him, admired him, but boy, was I dazzled by them. Now look what I’ve got to show for it.”
    She kissed Dillon on the belly, wrapped an arm around Reena’s waist. “Isn’t he the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?”
    “Takes the prize.”
    “I said no the first time Xander asked me to marry him.”
    “What?” Surprised, Reena looked down at her sister-in-law’s gleaming hair. “You said no to Xander?”

    “Complete panic. No, no, are you crazy? Let’s just keep everything the way it is. We don’t have to get married. We’re fine, let it alone. Which he did, for nearly an hour. He came back at me and told me to stop being stupid.”
    “Romantic devil.”
    “Actually he was. He was so revved up and sexy. I love you, you love me, so let’s start building a life together. I said yes, and we did.” She picked up the baby, pressed her cheek to his. “Thank God. And the reason I’m telling you,” she added, “is just to illustrate it’s okay to be a little scared. But it’s better to make a move.”
    Maybe she would, she mused on the drive home. What was stopping her? An had a point—as An invariably did. It was better to make a move. And the person who made the move, Reena reminded herself, generally had the upper hand.
    She didn’t have to have the upper hand in a relationship, but she didn’t object to having it. And it made sense when she really thought it through. He’d been carrying a fantasy torch for her for . . . what had he said? Seven-seventeenths of his life. And how cute was that? So that meant, logically, he had all manner of ideas and images of her built up. Most of them, undoubtedly, exaggerated and inaccurate.
    But if she made the move, they’d have a fresh playing field.
    And she did like to play.
    Sometimes you just went with the urge, she decided as she parked her car and grabbed her bag. No point in making a big fuss or overanalyzing.
    So she walked straight to Bo’s door and knocked. He took so long to answer she wondered if he was out in the back working as he did some evenings. But when he opened the door, she had a flirtatious smile in place.
    “Hi. I was in the neighborhood, so I thought . . .” He looked shocky, she realized. Pale and punched. “What’s wrong?”
    “I . . . I have to go. Sorry. I need to—” He broke off, looked blankly behind him as if he’d forgotten what he was doing.
    “Bo, what happened?”

    “What? I have to . . . my grandmother.”
    She took his arm, spoke carefully. She knew a victim when she saw one. “What happened to your grandmother?”
    “She died.”
    “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. When?”
    “They . . . they just called. Just now called. I have to go to her house. She’s in her house. I have to go take care of things. Something.”
    “Okay. I’ll take you.”
    “What? Wait, give me a second.” He pressed his fingers to his eyes. “I’m messed up.”
    “Of course you are. So I’ll drive you.”
    “No. No, that’s okay.” He dropped his hands, shook his head. “It’s way out in Glendale.”
    “Come on, we’ll take my car. Got your house keys?”
    “My . . .” He stuck a hand in his pocket, pulled them out. “Yeah. Yeah. Listen, Reena, you don’t have to do this. I just need a minute to get my head around it.”
    “You shouldn’t drive, trust me. And you shouldn’t go alone. Lock your door,” she told him, then led him to her car. “Where in Glendale?”
    He rubbed his face like a man trying to scrub off sleep, then gave her an address and vague directions. She knew the area well enough from her college days.
    “Had your grandmother been ill?”
    “No. At least nothing major. Nothing I knew about. A lot of little stuff, I guess, that you deal with when you’re eighty-seven. Or -eight. Shit. I can’t remember.”
    “Women don’t mind you not remembering their age.” She brushed a hand over the back of his as she drove. “Do you want to tell me what happened? Or would you rather just be quiet?”
    “I don’t know. I don’t know exactly. Her neighbor found her. Got worried because she didn’t answer the phone. And she hadn’t been out to get her mail this morning. She’s—my grandmother, she’s habitual, you know?”
    “Yes.”

    “She has keys. The neighbor. Went over to check on