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“I should go.” Though he nodded, he licked his lips and I had a desperate urge to kiss him. A sharp whistle blew, killing that fantasy out of my head. I pushed at my hair and said, “Until next time.”
Before he could say anything else, I closed the door on him and any possible future. I had no idea if he was flirting with me or not. My track record with men wasn’t good. Yet, I couldn’t keep the stupid smile off my face as I went into the hospital.
It wasn’t until I found my grandmother’s room in the ICU that whatever giddiness I’d found from moments before died as my heart lay in the bed with tubes sticking out of her.
14
Grant
The stunning brunettegot away and it was probably for the best. Though we’d found common ground, she belonged to a wealthy man and I couldn’t compete. I wouldn’t make the same mistake my father made.
We’d made decent time even with the snow. The roads had been treated and it hadn’t been a terrible ride.
Now I had the afternoon to kill. I wasn’t due to arrive at the airport for my first flight with Skyland until the morning. I didn’t bother trying to find a hotel in the city. I could afford it, but it wasn’t worth it.
I took the exit to go back to Jersey. Though in my head I’d used the excuse of frugalness, I had a different reason for driving back.
In about twenty minutes, I arrived in Saddle River, New Jersey. The place where my mom lived. Although Chestnut Ridge Road was open to the public, the house that lined it was hidden behind gates.
For years I’d dreamed of this moment and I wouldn’t let a brick wall, or an iron fence keep me from it. I parked on the side of the road, uncaring how it looked. I was eying the gate when it opened.
A sleek navy Maserati pulled out with a sunglass wearing man behind the wheel. Though I couldn’t see his eyes, I was pretty sure it was the same man that had stolen my mother away from my father and me. Curiosity and a little cyber stalking and I had a clear picture of the perfect family that didn’t include me.
I got out of my truck, and as the man turned at the next intersection, I barely slipped past the gate to gain entrance.
My heart beat like a drum against my chest as I marched up the driveaway and halfway around the circular part up some stairs to the double front doors. I avoided peeking through the side windows and rang the bell. It sounded rich with its triple tones and I tried not to be bitter.
“Where’s Marley?” a voice asked, hidden behind the solid wood door before it swung open. If I hadn’t spied pictures of my mother on social media, I would have still recognized her. Time had been kind, or rather she had the best plastic surgeon money could offer. She looked more like an older sister than a mom.
“Yes,” she said.
That one word hit me like a punch in the gut. She didn’t recognize me.
“Mother.”
She gasped and quickly covered her mouth with her delicate hand. Then she stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind her.
“Grant.” She said my name like a prayer or a curse. I couldn’t tell the difference. “What are you doing here?”
I would ask myself that very question a thousand times over after it was all done. But I’d made the choice. I’d been in New York plenty of times but never had a vehicle to make this trip. It had been another reason I’d decided to drive to New York with Jolie.
“Why do you think?” I asked instead.
“To ruin my life.”
I looked up toward the sky to stop myself from saying something I hadn’t planned on.
When I met her gaze again, I said, “Whose life was really ruined here?” before glancing around at the opulent estate with its manicured lawn, perfectly sculpted shrubs, and three floors of windows to make a point.
“You don’t understand,” she pleaded.
“What don’t I understand? That you left a six-year-old boy who adored his mother with the words, ‘I’ll be back soon’ and never to return.” She opened her mouth, but I didn’t give her a chance to speak. “Not a birthday card, a Christmas present, not even a call to apologize for not keeping your promise. You just moved on.”
“Grant,” she said, looking on the verge of tears, but I didn’t buy it.
“Don’t bother. I didn’t come here to mess up your perfect life. I came to see what meant so much to you that you left my father brokenhearted and abandoned your son. Then again, you replaced me. Didn’t you?”
She didn’t get a chance to answer as the door swung open, and first one blond head then a second appeared in the doorway. They shared many features of our mother.
