Page 78 of Craig

"Her name is Regina, and if you upset her--"

"What're you? Her protector?" he demanded.

"Damn straight." Rising, he moved over to drop a kiss on top of her head.

"I'll be in the kitchen hassling Andre over the menu."

"I'll be out in a few."

"He fancies himself in charge of you." Cecil's jade green eyes, which had not lost their sparkle, met hers.

"He does." She tilted her head to the side and studied his face.

"How're you?"

He felt the clutch of his heart as he stared at her lovely face. She got to him.

He had played hardball with his son's wife even when Rosemary had tried to reach out to him in friendship. He had a hell of a lot of regrets for the way he had treated them.

But now was his chance. He had been given a second chance, and he had every intention of taking full advantage of it.

He wasn't going to screw things up.

"Was that a difficult question?" she asked mildly, her lips twitching. "Want a simpler one?"

"Smartass," he muttered, unconsciously echoing his grandson's earlier remark. "I don't need a babysitter."

He held up the pipe. "Thanks."

"With that gracious response to my gift, I'll leave you to it." She started to rise when he gestured her back down.

"You went to the cabin."

She eyed him curiously.

"Yes."

"How was it?"

"The cabin?"

"No," he waved an impatient hand.

"The time you spent there. I would have thought a city girl like you would have been bored out of your skull."

A whimsical smile touched her lips.

"I thought I would have been as well. I learned to fish, we took long walks, and he showed me the town where his parents saved the residents. Your daughter-in-law was quite a woman."

"A do-gooder," he muttered.

"Damn right. She was that and more. The place belongs on a postcard. Have you been there?"

"A long time ago. I don't have much use for the quiet."

"That's what you need in your last days. There's a rocker on the porch," she added, tongue-in-cheek.

He glared at her and had her biting back a smile.