He cut her off again. “Because they love me. I know—” Nana sat up abruptly, shaking her finger in his direction. Even with his desk between them, he leaned back.

“Look,” she started, her eyes narrowing. “You wanted me to lay off the guilt trip and tell you why I’m here, so...fine. Let me finish a flippin’ sentence once in a while, and you might learn something.” Her voice sharpened to the tone she used to use when he and Mary were children—usually right before she threatened them with a wooden spoon. “Yes, your sister and cousins love you. How awful for you, you poor thing. Over the past few months, you’ve gotten awfully prickly, you know. I don’t need you to be your old self, but you being a jerk isn’t going to work for anybody.”

Mike’s mouth fell open. “You think I’ve been a jerk?”

Her expression softened. “Let’s call it borderline jerk for now.” One corner of her mouth quirked up into a slanted, affectionate grin. “This all started after Bridget and Finn got married last fall. I know a wedding may have brought back some tough emotions for you—it’s the first family wedding since Becca passed. But it seems to me that you’re more...restless...than grieving.”

His cousin, Bridget, once told him she was convinced their grandmother had second sight—the ability to read minds or foresee the future. He’d scoffed at her at the time, but right this moment? The hair on the back of his neck was on end. Nana had just nailed it. He was restless.

He didn’t know why, or for what, but he’d been more on edge the past few months. Less willing to sit in an empty house. Less willing to be the subject of people’s pitying eyes. But also less willing to be sent out on dates with women he had no interest in. Ready to move on, but having no idea how to do that, or who he was supposed to do it with.