Chapter 20

A small smile played on her lips as she found herself getting lost in her grandfather’s words, the scenes playing in her head as he retold the story of the night he met Adelaide. She was almost giggling out loud by the time Mitch came back with the drinks. She looked up with a smile and the relief washed over him to see it.

“What did you end up picking?” she asked with growing curiosity.

“Grown up variety dirty vodka martinis,” he replied with an answering grin.

“Perfection,” she said with a happy sigh and moved over so he could drag his chair to sit beside her. “Look. It’s his version of the night he met Nan,” she said, pointing at the start of the story. Mitch settled in close beside her to read, laughing every now and then at Bill’s colorful language and masterful turns of phrase - ‘rat bastard’ was one that stuck out at him, and an echo of Bill’s voice saying that exact thing sounded off in the depths of his memories.

“From what I remember, he was quite the character,” he said