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My heart leaped up into my throat. Grant rarely cursed in public, and he sure as hell didn’t at work. “I’m sorry,” I blurted, as if I’d splashed it all over social media.
“Not your fault, Brody.” His voice was filled with regret. “It was naive of me to think we could keep it a secret. This was my doing.”
“Ourdoing,” I corrected. “I agreed to it. Don’t forget that.”
“No,” he whispered, low and intimate. “I haven’t forgotten.”
I knew, logically, that he was only lowering his voice so he wouldn’t be overheard at work, but my stupid heart couldn’t help interpreting his tone in a different way—a way that made logic fly out the window, just as it had the other night when I’d agreed to this scheme.
There were a billion reasons why marrying Grant was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever done and bound to end in disaster—Fen had laid out every single one to me in scathing detail when I’d told her about this yesterday—but the most important by far was that we’d created a situation where the girls could get hurt… and now one of themhad.
I should have seen this coming a mile off, and my own ceaselesswantinghad made me blind to it.
“She ran into the changing room,” I told him. “I’m going to try to talk to her when she comes out. To explain. I’m going to tell her the truth. Unless… do you want to tell her yourself?”
“No. You know I trust you.” Grant blew out a breath. “Please tell her why we did it and why we kept it quiet. And I suppose I can look into getting an annulment and finding the girls another school, if it comes to that.”
“If we have to,” I hedged. “But that’s a last resort. I think Jacey will understand once I explain that we did it for the girls.”
I could almost hear Fen’s laughing voice from last night, as though she was standing here with me.Oh, sure. You did it for the girls. It has nothing at all to do with your need to cling to the Brighton kids and their father for as long as you can, right?
“I hope so. I don’t want Jacey to be upset at you when you’re only trying to help her.” Grant took a breath. I could picture his long fingers threading through his hair. “I’m sorry, Brody. I should have asked. Areyouokay?”
His kindness caught me off guard, and tears filled my eyes.
No. No, I’m not. I’m calling you Grant in my head all the time now, even though I haven’t said it out loud. I’m finding it even harder to keep my distance. Jacey’s upset, and I’m afraid I’m going to get my heart broken, and it’s still notreal… and I should really regret marrying you more than I do.
“You don’t need to worry about me,” I said softly.
“But I do.” Grant’s voice was hard to make out over the sound of the hospital’s intercom system paging people. Any minute, he’d be called away to get back to work. “We’ll figure this out, okay? We’ll do whatever we have to do. If you need me to leave early, I’ll—” A commotion came over the line, and I heard Grant bark that he’d be right there. “Shit. Brody, I’ve got to go. But call me again if you need me. And I promise, no matter what happens, I’ll make sure you’re taken care of. Okay?”
I shut my eyes. God, I wished he meant that in a way that had nothing to do with money and contracts.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “I’ll let you know how it goes. Maybe Jacey will have an idea we haven’t thought of. She’s brilliant, even if she’s only fourteen.”
Grant blew out a harried breath. “Yeah. Let me know. And please, tell Jacey I love her.”
“I will.” Jacey peeked out of the ladies’ room as if determining whether she was clear to come out. I lifted my eyebrows at her. “Later,” I murmured into the phone before ending the call. “Jacey, come talk to me for a minute?”
She looked ready to argue.
“Please, sweetheart?” I begged. “Let me explain.”
She emerged cautiously and took a seat in the upholstered chair I indicated in a small alcove. She looked equal parts angry and hurt.
“Okay, first… I’m so sorry you overheard that conversation. I didn’t want you to find out that way.”
“It sounds like you didn’t want me to find outat all,” she shot back. “How could you get married without telling us? Oh, my god. Like, who even does that? Was this Dad’s idea?”
“We didn’t…” The denial stuck in my throat, and I broke off, rubbing a hand over my head in frustration. “It’s complicated.”
“Then explain it! I’m not a littlekid,Brody. I’mfourteen. God! Is it that Dad thinks I don’t know he’s gay? Because I do, and I don’t give a shit! Half my friends are queer or questioning. So he’s gay.Who cares?”
“Language,” I said sharply. Her expression turned mutinous. “I’m serious, Jace. I’m about to explain a very confidential situation to you. Please show me that you’re mature enough to know when and how you can use your words, okay?”
She nodded once and sat up straighter in her seat, trying so hard to projectadultthat my heart squeezed with affection. There was really nothing I wouldn’t do for this girl or her sisters.
“Okay. When your dad met with the dean of admissions at Mountbatten, she explained that the school had an unofficial two-parent policy.”
