Free Grounded for Love: A Reunion Romance Novella by Rebecca Talley

knew?
    And who knew she’d ever see Graham again? Or that seeing him would turn her insides to goulash. She leaned her head back.
    Why was I such a fool three years ago?
     

 
    Graham walked into the kitchen for a typical Saturday morning pancake breakfast. Annie was at the oak table with Sarah, who had syrup smeared all over her face.
    “Does she ever get any in her mouth?” he asked, patting the little girl on her head.
    “Once in a while.”
    “Good morning,” his mom said with a cheery smile. She was the ultimate morning person. “What are your plans today?”
    “I thought I’d hang out with the family.”
    “Only if you aren’t going to be droopy,” Annie said.
    “Droopy? What does that even mean?”
    “You know, you act like this.” Annie proceeded to turn the corners of her mouth down, make her eyes sad, and hunch over.
    Graham wondered if spending so much time with a toddler had made his sister’s brain turn to mush. “Mom, what is she talking about?”
    “Oh, Mom knows. We’ve been discussing it.” Annie slid a piece of pancake into Sarah’s mouth.
    “Discussing it ? I have no idea what it is.”
    “I told you he’d play dumb if we said anything,” Annie said to their mom.
    “I’d play dumb ?” He pointed to himself.
    “Yeah. You’re good at it. Remember all the times you did stuff then played dumb and I got blamed?”
    “I think you are remembering things wrong. I believe it was the other way around. I always had to take the blame for you.”
    Annie laughed. “So back to being droopy.”
    “Whatever that means.”
    “Your sister is so eloquently trying to say that you haven’t been your usual self since you got here.” His mom handed him a glass of orange juice. “I’m going upstairs to take a shower. I need to run some errands this morning. Help yourself to breakfast.”
    “Thanks, Mom.” Graham sat at the table.
    Annie raised her eyebrows at him.
    “What?” His sister obviously had something to say and he wished she’d spit it out.
    “You know why you’re acting weird.”
    “I do?”
    “One word,” Annie said. “Serena.”
    “Is that what this is about? Because I saw an old girlfriend?”
    “A girlfriend that you loved and whined about forever after she moved to California.” Annie wiped Sarah’s face.
    “I did not whine.”
    Annie gave him a dubious look.
    “Doesn’t matter. I’m dating Dana. And I love her.” He did. Didn’t he? Well, if he didn’t, he should.
    “You do?”
    “Yes,” he lied. Anything to get Annie off his back.
    “Why didn’t you bring her with you to the wedding?”
    “I don’t know.” He shrugged, the heat crawling up the back of his neck. Why does Annie have to ask so many questions?
    “Okay then. I won’t give you my advice,” Annie said over her shoulder as she took Sarah’s plate to the sink.
    “Thank you.”
    “Actually, I’ll give it to you anyway. Because I’m generous like that.”
    Graham shook his head. No use in trying to avoid one of Annie’s psychoanalyses, because she was relentless.
    “You still love Serena.”
    “No, I don’t,” he said quickly.
    “And seeing her made you all weird, because you’ve been acting strange since you got here.”
    “Wedding jitters for my little brother.”
    “Not likely. You’ve never gotten over Serena, and now that you’ve seen her again all your feelings are back and you’re trying to figure out how to deal with them.”
    “Maybe you should lay off those night classes.” He tried to downplay Annie’s evaluation of the situation, because he didn’t need her getting involved and trying to tell him how to feel or what to think.
    “You don’t have to be an expert in human behavior to see what is so obvious.”
    “Annie, you don’t know what you’re talking about. And even if you did—”
    “All I’m saying is you let her get away once, you shouldn’t let that happen again.”
    “First of all, I didn’t let her go. She ran out on me. And for no