Free Change of Scene: A 100 Page Novella by Mary Kay Andrews Page A

suitcase was full of junk food.”
    “We should all have Dearie’s metabolism,” Lise agreed.
    “You know what happens when you eat that kind of crap all night and all day?” Greer demanded. “Gas! It’s horrific. She’s a human fart machine. And she’s smoking in my bathroom. She denies it, but she’s definitely sneaking cigarettes. My place smells like an ashtray. I’m telling you, Mom, she has to go.”
    “But where?”
    “She probably only weighs eighty pounds, soaking wet. Sean and Luis could carry her up the stairs to your place. Once she’s upstairs, she’d be okay. It’s not like she’s gonna be running out to do errands or something. And it’d just be for a few days. Until I hear something from Vista Haven.”
    “No way,” Lise said quickly. “We’ve already been over this. Can you imagine me talking to one of my regulars while she’s got her game shows blasting away? Talk about a buzzkill. I love my mother, but no, she can’t stay with me.”
    “I love her, too, but I can’t keep up like this,” Greer warned. “I’m supposed to have a meeting about a new job, hopefully by tomorrow, and if it goes well, I’d probably have to leave town immediately.”
    “Then you’d better get busy and call that Vista Haven place,” Lise replied, motioning to the waitress for the check. “You’re a resourceful girl. You’ll figure it out.”

CHAPTER 9
    CeeJay finally called on Friday morning. Greer had been up for hours, staring at the phone, willing it to ring.
    “So?” Greer said brightly. “Is today the day I get to meet your mystery man?”
    “Sorry, but no,” CeeJay said. “He’s still in New York, firming up some stuff with investors. I hate to call you with bad news, but now he’s saying it might be the middle of next week.”
    Greer got up and closed her bedroom door. Not that it really mattered. Her grandmother had the television volume turned up so loud, Dearie couldn’t have heard a train wreck, let alone Greer’s private telephone conversation.
    “Oh, God,” she moaned. “Midweek? I don’t think I can take much more of this insanity.”
    “Why? What’s going on?”
    “It’s Dearie. She got kicked out of her nursing home, and she’s staying on my sofa while I try to find her a new place. And she’s driving me batshit crazy. Keeps the television on, day and night. I haven’t had any sleep. And who knew an eighty-seven-year-old could eat like that? You can’t believe what I’ve spent on groceries, just in two days. I’m going broke here.”
    “She can’t stay with your mom?”
    “No. My mother has the good sense to live in an apartment on the second floor. Dearie can’t do stairs.”
    “Oh, man. Your grandmother is such a sweetie, but I guess it would get old, having her living with you.”
    “I adore Dearie, but I’ve only got eleven hundred square feet here,” Greer emphasized. “I’m telling you, CeeJay, I gotta find some kind of a job, before I do something drastic.”
    “ Well … I wasn’t going to mention it, because I was afraid it might be beneath you, but I’ve been working a music video shoot this week, and the production assistant tripped over some rigging and broke her ankle last night. We’ve got one more day left to shoot. I know it’s not what you’re used to, but the pay’s not bad. And it’s cash.”
    “Where? Never mind. I don’t care where. Just tell me the address and what time to show up.”
    “What about Dearie? We’re working twelve-and fourteen-hour days, trying to get it wrapped up. Can you leave her alone that long?”
    “She’ll be fine,” Greer said. “She’s currently binge-watching I Love Lucy reruns. I made a grocery store run last night. There’s a week’s worth of junk food here. And I’ll get Lise to drop in and check on her later in the day. Text me the address.”
    “I’ll do better than that. I’m in the car right now. Pick you up in ten.”
    “I’ll be ready in five.”
    *
    The shoot was in a