“Since when do you have to worry about high cholesterol?”
“Since my doctor called with my latest blood tests, but there’s nothing to worry about, so eat!” Charlotte proceeded to follow her own words.
“How high?” Lexie asked.
“Not as high as my blood pressure.” Charlotte covered her full mouth as she spoke. “So, Coop, tell me about your family,” she said, in a clear attempt to change the subject.
Lexie lowered her fork to the table. “We’re not finished discussing this.”
“There’s nothing to discuss. I’m watching my diet and taking new pills. My blood pressure will go down even more when I’m certain you are happily settled with your new man.” Charlotte waved her silverware at Coop. “So, back to your family—is your father retired?”
Coop shot a worried glance Lexie’s way. She’d set her jaw, but she gave Coop a small nod, indicating he should just humor her. Obviously, she’d deal with her grandmother’s health issues later.
“My father’s a retired cop,” Coop said.
“Ooh, I love men in uniform!”
Lexie slipped off her glasses and placed them on the table, pinching the bridge of her nose.
Coop decided to keep the easy subject going. “These days my dad owns a bar downtown. It keeps him busy since my mother died.”
“Got any siblings?”
Lexie rolled her eyes. “It’s like the Grand Inquisition.”
Coop laughed. “One brother.”
Charlotte placed her knife and fork on her plate. “So your mother went for two, huh? One was all the domesticity I could stand, especially since my son was practically born wearing a three-piece suit. How someone like me ended up with a stuffed shirt for a child, I’ll never know. I love him, but he’s not a load of laughs, that one. Speaking of your father, he called for you earlier.”
Lexie sighed. “I hit ignore on my cell phone,” she admitted. “I’ll call him back later.”
“How often do you speak to him?” Coop asked.
She shrugged. “I call my parents once a week out of obligation. It always ends up in an argument about something. We just can’t see eye to eye on anything.”
“It’s their way or no way,” Charlotte said, echoing Lexie’s description.
“They live about forty minutes from here, but in reality the distance between us is much further. I see them about once a month. Now can we please change the subject?” Lexie asked.
Coop glanced down at his plate, realizing that during the discussion he’d finished his entire meal. “You turkey meat loaf is delicious. Thank you,” he said.
Charlotte beamed. “You’re welcome. Now let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. If I’m going to trust you with my granddaughter’s future, I need to know all about you. Any skeletons in your closet?”
This was the point where he should remind Charlotte that they really weren’t engaged, but with her health revelation, he didn’t want to upset her. What harm was there in letting her push her agenda? He and Lexie knew the truth, while Charlotte merely appeared to be amusing herself, more than putting too much stock in their words.
He was about to answer that, no, he had no hidden skeletons, when he realized there was something he hadn’t told Lexie. Since they were sharing information, he figured, why not reveal it now?
“There’s an ex-wife in my closet.”
Lexie coughed, then met his gaze, clearly intrigued by the information.
Charlotte perched her chin in her hand. “Do tell.”
“Yes, do,” Lexie murmured.
“Why would any woman let you become an ex?” Charlotte stared pointedly at her granddaughter.
“She was a flight attendant whose travel was everything to her,” he said without meeting Lexie’s gaze.
Charlotte leaned in closer. “What happened to make her an ex?”
Lexie groaned.
“She left me for one of her coworkers.” And with that revelation, Coop was finished with the personal inquisition. “Time to turn the tables, Mrs. Davis.”
“It’s Charlotte, remember?
He grinned. “Charlotte. Tell me about the necklace you’re wearing. The one that matches my ring.”
CHAPTER SIX
COOP WAS A SLY ONE, dropping a bombshell then expecting them all to switch gears, Lexie thought. Well, fine. She wanted to know more about the necklace as much as he did, but she wasn’t going to drop the subject of his ex-wife, either.
Cheating flight attendant, she thought in frustration. Was it any wonder he had an aversion to Lexie’s lifestyle choices?
“The necklace?” Coop prompted Charlotte, bringing Lexie back to the matter at hand.
“My husband and I had been married for about three years and my son was a year old when he gave me the necklace,” Charlotte said in a wistful voice.
“Did he say where he got it, Grandma?”
Charlotte’s gaze slid to the photograph of her husband, Henry Davis, in military uniform that she kept on the table by her favorite chair. “He received it as payment for work done. You see, before the draft for the Korean War, he was a chauffeur for a wealthy family, but they’d fallen on some hard times. Your grandfather, bless his soul, agreed to accept jewelry instead of cash.” She lovingly fingered the necklace around her neck.
“Do you happen to know the name of the family who gave it to him?” Coop asked.
Lexie hadn’t thought of that question. Then again he was the reporter.
“Heavens, no. My memory isn’t that good anymore.”
Lexie frowned. Her grandmother was still sharp and she had fantastic recall for most things.
Suddenly, from somewhere long ago, a memory surfaced for Lexie. “I remember Sylvia once mentioning that Grandpa drove for the Lancaster family. Remember when they filed for bankruptcy? Because they owned a lot of real estate in the city, it hit the news.” She glanced at her grandmother.
Charlotte shook her head. “No, I don’t remember that at all,” she said and turned to Coop. “What about the ring the store owner gave you? Did she say where it originally came from?” Charlotte asked.
Lexie had already asked Coop the exact same question.
He shook his head. “She didn’t say anything about it.”
And since they’d agreed not to mention that the jewelry had been stolen, he left it at that.
“Well, is there any chance I can see the ring? I didn’t know it existed, but now that I do…” She turned to Coop with pleading eyes.