if my grandmother doesn’t kick our asses to the curb, and I wouldn’t blame her one bit. I’ve been a real shit. She really pulled the wool over my eyes, Wilson. Meaning Elaine, of course, not my grandmother. I’m even worse than a shit!”
Wilson whimpered.
Ten minutes later, they were at the turnoff to Blossom Farm, which his grandmother had renamed after his grandfather, Brad Hollister, had died, and her sisters, Iris and Violet, had come to live with her. For the sake of simplicity, his grandmother had also taken back her maiden name, Blossom.
“Okay, get ready, Wilson, we’re coming to the driveway. Look, this is serious, so pay attention. If it looks like Granny is going to kick my ass off her property, you have to step in and whine. However she feels about me, she loves you. You know what to do, so just do it!”
Wilson whined to show he understood his master’s words as he tried to untangle himself from the seat. The moment the car stopped, he was pawing the door to get out.
Inside the old farmhouse, the three residents were gaping out the window. “Rose! It’s either that gold digger or Gus! What are they doing here at this time of night? Oh, my God, lock the doors! Is the door locked? Of course it’s locked, we always keep the door locked,” Violet, Rose’s sister, squealed.
“We need to hide,” Iris, the third sister, said. “Rose, you can’t let him in, even if he is your grandson! We can’t let him find out what we’re doing.”
Rose Blossom peered out into the darkness. It was indeed her grandson and his dog coming up to the front porch. In full panic mode, she crouched next to her two sisters under the front bay window. “He knows we’re in here. Something must be wrong,” she hissed.
“Who cares?” Violet hissed in return. “If you let him in, we go up in smoke. Is that what you want?”
“Good God, no! We could go out on the porch. I’ll just tell him . . . something will come to me,” Rose dithered.
“No, something will not come to you, Rose. I say we just hunker down and wait him out. Unless, in one of your stupid moments, you gave Gus a key. Did you, Rose?” Violet snarled.
“He’s always had a key, you know that. I don’t see him using it. We are, after all, estranged,” Rose reminded her sisters. “Anyway, the key won’t work because we have a deadbolt inside. All he can do is bang on the door. Let’s just stay put and see what he does.”
“Why is he driving her car?” Iris hissed.
“Maybe she’s dead,” Violet whispered.
“You wish. Highly unlikely, or we would have seen the obituary,” Rose said.
Violet clapped her hands over her ears when she heard the first bang on the front door. Her sisters did the same. Outside, Wilson howled and barked, the sound loud and shrill enough to set the sisters’ teeth on edge.
“My legs are cramping,” Iris grumbled.
“Mine, too,” Violet added.
“I know you’re in there, Granny, so open the door. Wilson needs a drink. I’m sorry! I really am. Please, open the door!”
Winifred, the sisters’ basset hound, took that moment to waddle up to the door. She barked, a charming ladylike sound that pretty much said, Welcome.
“Damned dog! Now for sure he knows we’re in here,” Violet hissed. “I really have to get up now, or I’m going to faint.”
“If you’re going to faint, do it quietly,” Rose shot back.
More banging and more apologies ensued. The sisters turned a deaf ear.
Winifred turned and started to waddle toward the kitchen. “Oh, my God, he’s going to the back door. All he has to do is smash the glass, and he can open the door,” Iris said, momentarily forgetting all about the cramps in her legs.
“Gus wouldn’t do that,” Rose said. But her tone of voice indicated that she wasn’t sure if what she had said was true or not.
“He’s not going to give up,” Violet said. “That has to mean the reason he’s here at this hour is important, at least to him. Maybe you should just open the door and talk to him through the screen. Tell him you were just getting ready for bed or something. You and he are estranged, Rose. I don’t think Gus is here just to make nice. Just open the door and tell him to make an appointment to see you. That way we can, you know, just let him see