Mariah squeezed Johanna’s hand. “Tell me about your trip so far. The pictures are wonderful but I want to hear what you think, Johanna.”
Mariah was shifting topics deftly, ensuring Stone wouldn’t have to battle through weightier emotions right now. Or was it Mariah who wasn’t ready to face those feelings today? Johanna had never fully appreciated how alike the two of them really were. But for now, she gladly distracted both of them with talk of a safe subject.
“Well, Gem loves the wide-open space of the Donavans’ home, and their home in Monte Carlo has a fenced area, as well. Sterling is enjoying his life as a pampered lapdog. You chose well for both of them.”
Her eyelids fluttered closed for a moment before she looked up at Stone and Johanna again with a mist of tears in her eyes. “Thank you, and I truly mean that.”
“Gran.” Stone leaned in. “Are you sure you want us to continue with the placements? You could keep Pearl and Ruby. Trust that we will take care of finding them new homes, if the time comes—” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple making a slow trip down the strong column of his throat. “If the time comes you can’t care for them anymore.”
Johanna had to blink her eyes hard. God, maybe it was her who wasn’t ready to face the big emotions in the room today. Mariah had become so dear to her. A role model. A friend.
“I’m absolutely certain that I want you to continue the plan.” She smiled sadly. “I already can’t give them the attention they need. Call me a micromanager if you will, but I need to know where they are and who they’re with.”
“Gran—” Stone’s phone cut him short and he cursed softly. He pulled out the cell and checked the incoming call, before silencing the chimes and tucking the phone back in his pocket.
His grandmother touched his wrist. “Who is it? Your cousins?”
He shook his head. “It’s from Montana. Probably something about Pearl. I’ll take it later.”
“No,” Mariah said with surprising strength. “That’s important business to me.”
His cheeks puffed out with an exhale. “Okay, Gran. If that’s what you want, but I’ll be right back.”
Phone to his ear, head ducked, he strode out, door swooshing closed behind him.
Mariah patted Johanna’s hand. “Pull up a seat and talk to me, Johanna. How is it really going, dear?”
“What do you mean?” she asked evasively, looking away under the guise of tugging a chair over.
“No need to be coy,” Mariah tsked. “Are you and Stone a couple again?”
Johanna dropped into a seat. “Wow, you really cut to the chase.”
“I don’t have time to dillydally around the subject.” Mariah pushed the controls to raise the head of the mattress. “Even at half speed in this hospital bed, I can tell the chemistry is alive and well. I see the exchanged glances. You have to know I was hoping your trip together would fix things between you. Did my matchmaking work?”
The optimism in the woman’s face was unmistakable. Johanna didn’t want to give false hope, and she wasn’t sure where things stood with Stone right now. “I wish I could tell you what you want to hear, but I honestly don’t know.”
“The fact that you didn’t deny it outright gives me hope.”
Johanna sagged back, rolling her eyes. “But no pressure, right?”
“You’re more confident now than you were a year ago.” She nodded approvingly. “That’s a good thing. Your parents would be very proud of you.”
She couldn’t deny that Mariah’s words of encouragement meant a great deal to her. “Thank you. I appreciate that, but please just focus on taking care of yourself. You’re important to a lot of people.”
“You’ve always been dear.”
Johanna scrunched her nose. “You make me sound wimpy.”
“I just told you I see your confidence and I meant that.” Mariah studied her with perceptive eyes. “But there is a gentleness to you that my grandson needs in his life. It softens his harsher edges.”
Johanna found herself growing defensive on his behalf. “Why is it that everyone assumes because his mother named him Stone he’s hard-hearted?”
Mariah smiled. “And that’s why you’re perfect for him.”
* * *
Stone ended his phone call the second he saw Amie and Alex entering the visitors’ waiting room. The muted sounds from a mounted television broadcasting a talk show mingled with the soft conversations from a handful of other people in the waiting area. Fake plants and magazine racks were tucked into one corner. A coffeepot gurgled in the other.
He and his cousins had spent little time alone together since their grandmother’s announcement. His gut twisted at the realization they would be meeting up in waiting rooms like this many more times in the coming months.
In light of that, any bickering between them felt like a waste of precious time. And the frustration with the Montana family that had changed their mind about Pearl? He would deal with that later.
He had Johanna’s reassurance that there was nothing between her and Alex, and Stone couldn’t blame his cousin. Johanna was an amazing woman.
Alex stuffed his hands in his jean pockets and rocked back on his boot heels. “You’ve seen Gran already?”
Stone nodded, tucking an arm around Amie, her shoulders too thin beneath her silk blouse. “She seems alert, just tired. Thank you for calling me.”
Amie hugged him back quickly before stepping away. “Alex said not to bother you.”
Alex shrugged. “I’ve got things under control here, so you can finish up your business with the dogs.”
Stone held back the urge to chew out Alex for being an ass. Even his quiet cousin would have blown a gasket if left out of the loop on news about Mariah’s health.
Torqued at Alex’s attitude, Stone couldn’t resist jabbing, “Wait until you’re the one turning your life upside down to make her happy. And you know damn well you both will.”
He glowered at his cousin until he was sure Alex understood he wouldn’t have appreciated being left in the dark about Gran. Then, hoping to distract Amie, he asked, “Any idea from Gran about what test she has in mind for the two of you?”
Amie shuffled from high heel to high heel, gnawing her thumbnail. “She hasn’t mentioned it, but you know there’s no rushing Gran. She has a plan and a reason for everything she does.” She looked at her hand as if only just realizing she was chewing her nails down to nothing. She tucked her fist behind her back. “Have you told your mother yet?”