Grace froze for a moment.

On the other end, Alexander responded to Claire, "Okay." Then, speaking into the phone, he told Grace, "Just tell Grandma I already have dinner plans."

Grace wasn’t surprised. She simply replied, "Alright, I’ll let her know."

"Mm."

With that, Alexander hung up.

Grace set her phone down, went downstairs, and informed Grandma Sterling that Alexander had already made arrangements for ...