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“Here.”
“Oof!” I exclaim as Gram presses something into my chest with more strength than she should have for her tender age of seventy-eight. I slide my hands around the object. A shovel. “What’s this for?” I ask.
Gram smirks and points to the end of the yard. I focus on the spot where the altar once stood.
Two months ago, that’s where Jude and I buried the bottle of bourbon.
“Dig.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Now? The ground is all –”
“You heard me, Chase. If you want this inheritance, you go dig right now. That’s an order.”
Don’t be so silly as to question Gram now. “Yes ma’am.”
“Good boy.” Gram turns on her heels and goes back into the house.
I’m left with the shovel and the sinking feeling in my stomach as I look at that silly little spot. The bottle of bourbon might have protected us from rain on our wedding day, but it couldn’t have protected the day from me.
Time to make amends with that bottle.
I need a stiff drink anyway.
Chapter 19
Jude
“Wherearewegoing?”I ask for the fifth time.
“I told you. Dinner.”
I glare at Caroline. “Is that why we’re suspiciously driving in the opposite direction of town?”
She smiles. Unfazed. “Yes.”
I watch as the landscape passes by, all lush and rain-soaked. I quite nearly called Caroline to cancel our dinner date. An excuse such as the weather might seem lousy, but at this point in my life, it doesn’t take much for me to decide that conditions aren’t amenable to leaving my house. Rain is as good a reason as any.
However, Caroline, for the first time in her life, showed up early. I had no choice but to go.
My stomach, however, has been growing heavier as I realize the route we’re taking is… familiar, to say the least.
This is the way to Gram’s. I know the drive like the back of my hand. And certainly Caroline couldn’t actually believe she’s pulling the wool over my eyes, could she? “You can’t keep me out too late. First day of school is tomorrow,” I say.
“Oh, please. You don’t have a bedtime.”
“Uh, yeah, I do. I’m a teacher. Remember?”
She squeezes her lips together. “I kinda liked you better unemployed.”
“Don’t be rude.”
To no one’s surprise, and certainly not mine, we arrive at Gram’s. Caroline turns into the long driveway. “Now, listen –”
“Why are we here?” I ask. “This is ridiculous.”
“Callum is dying!”
“You’re so full of shit. You don’t care about Gram’s plants.” Caroline is the only Gladstone whose plants I don’t water because she thinks plants are a waste of time.
