AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Grant looked up. “When were you in the ER?”
“Your father had anincidenta few months ago.” Joanna took a sip of coffee. “It turned out to be an angina attack.”
“It was nothing.” Edward set his menu aside with a frown.
“It was notnothing.” Joanna peered at him over the tops of her reading glasses. “Angina is a symptom of heart disease, and with your history of heart trouble, you need to take care of yourself.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me Dad was in the ER?” Though he knew exactlywhy, he hated thinking that his family, even Nathan, would deliberately keep him out of the loop regarding a health emergency.
“I didn’t want to bother you, dear.” Joanna closed her menu.
“Telling me that Dad was in the ER isn’tbotheringme.” Tension crawled through his shoulders. “You can dislike what I do and where I live all you want, but I’m still part of this family. Nathan didn’t even tell me.”
“We told him not to.” Joanna arranged the silverware neatly at her place. “Don’t be upset, Grant. There was nothing you could have done.”
“That’s not the point, Mom. When something serious happens, I want to know about it.”
“Why?” his father asked gruffly. “So you can come running home and be the hero?”
“Bliss Cove is home, but yes, I would have come to visit you.” Grant managed to keep his tone even. “But be the hero? How?”
“Maybe by making chicken soup.” Edward shrugged and sat back, eyeing him narrowly. “You don’t bothervisitingwhen everything is fine, but you want to be kept informed when things go bad?”
“I don’t visit because you spend the whole time telling me what a shitty son I am for not doing what you want me to do,” Grant snapped. “You couldn’t even hold it together for Nathan’s wedding, could you? You had to let everyone know what a—”
He cut the words off as he felt the warning pressure of Rory’s hand on his thigh.
Edward’s face darkened with annoyance. “So you figure that visiting me in the hospital would change my mind?”
“Stop it.” Joanna threw her husband a fulminating look. “I will not have you two fighting, especially in public and in front of Rory. Both of you need to get it together and be civilized to each other, or I swear I will lock you in a room and not let you out until you’ve made peace. Now I would like to order and have a nice breakfast. I’m going to take Rory’s suggestion of a Belgian waffle, my diet be damned.”
Edward huffed, still staring Grant down beneath his heavy eyebrows.
“Either you’re part of this family through good and bad,” he said, his voice low, “or you’re not part of this family at all.”
“Edward!” Joanna grabbed her purse strap. “One more remark like that, and I’m walking out and not coming back.”
“Liz, can you come take our orders?” Rory waved frantically toward one of the servers. “We’re really hungry over here.”
Liz hurried over, and after they placed their orders, Rory switched the conversation to the history of the Mousehole, which used to be a stagecoach stop in the nineteenth century. Though Joanna made interested noises and acted as if the Belgian waffle were the most incredible thing she’d ever eaten, tension clouded the atmosphere. Edward didn’t speak, and Grant struggled to contribute to the conversation.
Finally, he pushed his half-eaten eggs aside and gestured to Liz for the check. Edward reached for his wallet.
“I’ve got it, Dad.”
“No need.” His father tossed a fifty on the table. “I’m not a charity case.”
“Speaking of charities,” Rory said quickly before Grant could respond. “Did you know Grant helped start a non-profit organization to bring healthier food and nutritional education into low-income schools?”
“Really?” Joanna looked at her son with pride. “Why, that’s wonderful, Grant.”
“It’s really made an impact on many of the rural communities,” Rory added.
“At Intellix, we work with many tech-related non-profits to help get computers and technology education into underserved communities.” Edward put his crumpled napkin on the table and stood. “We’re also working on legislation to bring fiber optic lines and broadband services to areas that have minimal connectivity. I noticed the signal at your house is weak, Grant. Maybe we should put Bliss Cove on our list.”
He strode toward the door. Joanna muttered something, grabbed her purse, and went after him. Grant pulled a breath into his tight lungs.
“Wow,” Rory murmured. “He’s like King Claudius. He was the asshole king, right?”
