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He crossed the street, stopping beside Vince’s truck. He was looking a lot better than he had before, although he still had the cane.
“Evening, Mr. Anthony.”
“Evening, Grant. I noticed you have a fine new companion.”
“This is Chopper. I got him from the shelter a few days ago.”
Vince bent down to scratch the enthusiastic dog behind the ears. “That’s a good-looking dog. Are you two off to something important?”
“No, sir. We’re just off for a stroll to get out of the house. It’ll be a few more days before I’m back at work and I’m getting stir-crazy.”
“Do you think you could help me with something, inside? You can bring Chopper in, too.”
“Sure thing.” Grant followed Pepper’s father into the back door of the garage. They walked through the parts room, past the actual garage where they worked on the cars, and into the office where Kate took care of all the paperwork for the business.
“Have a seat,” Vince said, gesturing to the guest chair.
Grant sat down, curious as to what his chore might be. There wasn’t much he could do in the office, especially sitting.
“I wanted to chat with you, son.”
Alarm bells started going off in Grant’s mind, but there was nothing he could do about it. Trap or no, he couldn’t be rude to Mr. Anthony. And he couldn’t run, because Chopper had just curled up to take a nap on his foot. “What about, sir?” he asked, knowing full well it probably had to do with his breakup with Pepper.
“Well, my wife came home from her hair appointment the other day and gave me a real earful. She told me that you and Pepper had called it quits. I think that’s a shame.”
Grant’s brow went up slightly in surprise. “I thought your family would be celebrating to hear the news.”
“Bah,” Vince said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Not all of us are worried about all that. My concern, first and foremost, is for my daughter. May I ask what happened? She wasn’t very chatty on the topic, at least to her mother.”
This was the perfect example of where his policy of honesty might get him in trouble, but he couldn’t help himself. “Well, sir, I try to live a very transparent life. There are enough people in the world who lie about important things and I decided I wouldn’t be one of those people.”
“Sounds noble,” Vince noted.
“The problem is that I expect the same honesty from others in my life, especially in the woman I . . .” Grant suddenly wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence. The words that very nearly rolled off his tongue were “the woman I love.” That was a frightening prospect, and a thought he hadn’t allowed to slip into his mind before. “In the women I date,” he corrected. “Something was bothering Pepper. She’d been pretty distant since Estelle’s funeral. When I asked her, she said she couldn’t talk about it. She got in a fight with her brother the other morning and when I pushed her about it, she just ended things between us.”
“I’ve always found Pepper to be very forthright,” her father noted. “If she was keeping something from you, she probably had a good reason for it.”
“She wouldn’t elaborate either way. All she would tell me was that it wasn’t her secret to tell and that all things considered, maybe us dating was a bad idea.”
“And you let her go?”
Grant’s jaw tightened at her father’s assessment. It made him sound cowardly, although he supposed that’s how it looked. And felt, after the fact. “Well, sir, this is the second time she’s dumped me. My ego wasn’t up for a third round. I’ve already had a pretty crappy few weeks.”
“And how are you feeling now?” Vince asked.
Grant got the distinct impression he wasn’t talking about his arm. “I’m feeling stupid. I let my self-righteousness get in the way of the best relationship I’ve ever had. And yet, how could she really care about me if she’s keeping things from me? Whatever it was, it was important to her. Logan had threatened to stop talking to her over it. The whole thing really seemed to throw her for a loop, but she wouldn’t confide in me. What chance do we have if she can’t talk to me about things?”
Vince nodded thoughtfully. “Communication is important—even more important than attraction, because that fades, but communication has to stay strong.” He sighed and ran his hand over the short stubble of his beard. “Son, how do you feel about my daughter? Is this serious?”
“It was. I was really thinking she might be . . . the one.”
“Do you love her?”
Grant swallowed hard. That was a huge thing to say. He’d never said it to anyone outside of his family before. And yet, the answer that nearly leapt from his mouth when he was asked was yes. “I’ve never been in love before, Mr. Anthony, so it’s hard for me to answer that question. I know that there’s this empty feeling in my stomach that won’t go away no matter how much I eat. I miss her smile and her laugh. I wake up and reach for her, only to have my hand continue across the cold, empty mattress. I can still feel her in my arms and smell the scent of her shampoo. The idea that I might never hold her again . . . it makes my chest ache just to think about it.”
Vince nodded and clapped Grant on the shoulder. “Afraid that’s love, son.”
All Grant could do was nod as the revelation sunk in. Love. He was in love. With the woman who dumped him. Good job, Chamberlain.
