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Now, her eyes sparkled. “I’m sure he has love for her now, but neither of them married the other for love. I wouldn’t describe their marriage as happy, would you?”
“I wouldn’t know. I… I guess I don’t spend enough time with him to know either way.”
“And that’s not your fault,” Granny said, patting my knee. “Your father will be furious with me for telling you the truth, but I don’t care. William is a nice boy.”
“He’s almost thirty.”
“And until he’s the same age as me, he’s a boy,” she shot back. “You have a history as children, and if nothing else, a connection to your mother through Katie. Do not cut them off because of decisions other people made.”
I stared at her. “Why do you care so much?”
“Because I couldn’t talk your mother out of making a bad decision that broke her heart,” she said, squeezing my knee. “But I can with you.”
“What if I decide not to see him again and that’s not a bad decision?”
“If you truly believed that never speaking to him again was the right thing to do, you wouldn’t have asked me that, would you?”
I swallowed, fidgeting with my own fingers. “I think I need to talk to Dad about this.”
“I agree. And if he wants to talk to me, do me a favour and tell him my plane crashed. I’m not in the mood for his bitching today.”
My lips tugged to one side. “Will do, Granny. Will do.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE – GRACE
Home Truths
The ringing of his phone was like an alarm filling my car, and my head pounded while each little ‘brr’ did its thing until they finally stopped, and the ringing turned to, “Grace?”
“Dad. Are you at home?” I asked, grateful not to hear that horribly repetitive noise anymore.
“Yes. What’s wrong? You’ve called three times.”
“I’m aware. You should try answering your phone once in a while,” I replied dryly. “I’m five minutes away. Is anyone else there?”
“No. Vincent is at college, and Carmen is at the hospital with her mother. Why?”
“Oh. Is Sandy all right?”
“Yes, just a routine appointment with the cardiologist for her angina. Why are you on your way here?”
“Can’t a girl drop in to see her dad?” I asked innocently.
“No, not when that girl is you. You haven’t done that in… ever.”
“Fine, okay, I just need to talk to you about something. Do you have time?”
“I always have time for you, Gracie. And if you’ve called me three times and are already practically here, then yes, I definitely have the time.”
“Okay. I’ll see you in a few.” I reached over and hit the ‘end call’ button on the radio screen and took a deep breath.
My mind was reeling from everything Grandma had just told me. How could it be true? There was no way Mum would have done those things. She had no reason to lie to me and even less reason to stick up for my father, but none of it fitted with what I knew of my mum.
She’d loved Dad more than anything in the world. I had memories of her crying when she thought I was asleep, only for me to creep into her bed and curl up next to her so she’d stop.
She’d always tell me it was an emotional workout—some people ran or lifted weights to keep their body healthy, but she liked to cry to keep her mind healthy.
It made sense in a weird way. I always felt better after a good, hard cry, but why would she be so sad if she was the one to instigate it?
