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I was shaking my head when I heard, “Mommy.”
Clutching my leg was my heart, a cherub-faced darling who looked so much like her father it was eerie because that meant he’d be a darn good-looking woman.
“Gracie,” I said, sweeping her up in my arms.
“Grandad is trying to get me.” Her giggles were the oxygen that filled my lungs.
“There she is,” Dad said.
Yeah, Dad. That day on the beach when Grant showed up led to a night I’d never forget. In the afterglow, Grant had called me out for owning a house right on the beach, saying I was a rich girl.
When I explained that I’d had a firm budget of a few hundred thousand for a house and how I’d looked and looked, until my realtor told me a short sale was on the market in my price range and we had to move fast, Grant didn’t think that was the full story.
After checking the value of my home online, I finally had that conversation with my father.
He admitted that when he’d found out I was looking for a house in Palm Beach, he’d decided that it was time to make up for the inequities between my half-siblings and me. Because he wasn’t sure if I’d take his money and also because he didn’t want his wife to find out, he’d bought the property and sold it to me through a broker for far less than it was worth.
That had started the healing process, and not because he’d bought me a house worth millions, but because he’d done something for me without seeking any sort of emotional gain out of the transaction. He’d been happy knowing I was happy, and would have never told me the truth if Grant hadn’t helped me figure it out.
“Dad, you made it,” I said, embracing him.
He kissed my cheek. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
Gracie reached for my father and he took her with so much love in his eyes, it nearly broke me. My life had grown so full. Besides Grant’s father treating me like a daughter, I’d ended up gaining two.
“Is Gran here?” I asked Dad.
“Yeah, she’s with your mom.”
They’d all come together. Dad’s divorce had been final for well over a year. He and Mom were apparently dating and taking things slowly. Slower than he’d liked. She didn’t want to jump into something so soon and have anyone, including his other children, think he’d been cheating on their mother with her.
Madeline hadn’t walked away with much. At the time the ink hit paper, airlines around the globe were still recovering from the losses the virus had brought.
My brothers were okay with their parents’ split. Partly because they’d seen more of the discord between their parents over the years. Sophia, on the other hand, wasn’t. I couldn’t make her like me or the situation, but I was ready to make peace whenever she wanted to.
I waved at people as I made my way over to Gran, who’d fully recovered from her ordeal.
“Gran,” I said, hugging her for all I was worth and maybe a little more for the hug I couldn’t give my mother because she wasn’t there mentally yet.
According to Dad, she was seeing a therapist to work on her issues, and that was something.
“Jo,” Gran said. “Where’s that handsome husband of yours?”
“He’s somewhere over there.” I waved. “I think he’s talking to his dad.”
She looked at the house. “It’s so much bigger,” Gran said.
It was. Grant had worked hand in hand with contractors to keep the cost down to add a second level. Since they were the same people the mayor and other investors were using to build, that also kept the cost down since they were doing work in the area already.
My dad had also given us a generous amount of cash as a wedding gift, even when the economy was recovering. When we tried not to take it, he’d said he owed me so much more.
“Jolie.”
I looked over and found my mother cuddling my sleeping baby boy.
“Teddy is such a sweet boy,” she said and cooed at him.
We’d named our son after Grant’s father.
