Chapter Thirty-Seven
Grant
I couldn’t get Emily out of my head. After I’d calmed down, which took a lot longer than I’d hoped, I finally made my way to her house. I had to see her. I had to know that she was okay. Brady was right: I was falling in love with her, and if I didn’t rectify things now, I was going to regret it for the rest of my life.
I went to the shop and bought a few ingredients, and then made my way to her house. When I arrived, she wasn’t there, and I had a sinking feeling that she might not come home that night. Maybe she was going to spend the night at Terra’s. But I decided to wait before calling Terra, in case I was wrong. When I finally saw her car pulling into the driveway, my heart lurched with joy. When she got out the car, I could see she hadn’t seen me. She got her bag and coat out the car and started walking toward the car. When she saw me, she stopped and put a hand to her heart.
“Grant?”
I smiled at her. I couldn’t believe how much I’d missed her.
“Hey, Em.”
“What are you doing here?”
I held up the bags. “I’ve come to make you dinner.”
“Dinner?”
“And to apologize. If you’ll let me.”
She smiled. “I was going to call you, anyway. I also need to apologize.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. I’ve been thinking about it all day. Come in,” she said and opened the door.
The minute we got inside, I pulled her in toward me and kissed her. At first, her body felt tense. But as our lips pressed together and we shared our warmth, I could feel her relaxing in my arms.
“I missed that,” I said.
“I missed you,” she replied. Then she looked at my bags. “So, what’s for dinner?” she said casually, as if we’d never had a huge fight at all.
I chuckled. “I figured you still hadn’t tasted my cooking, but at the same time, I didn’t want to poison you. So I thought it would be nice to get pizza crusts and just throw a whole bunch of toppings on them and stick them in the oven. So, in a way, it’s sort of like me cooking.”
“Oh, that totally counts as you cooking,” she said. “So, what toppings did you get?”
“Like you really had to ask. I have four packs of bacon, and four different varieties of cheese.”
She burst out laughing. “Four packs of bacon? That’s amazing. We’re totally using them all.”
“And, of course, I have champagne. It felt like a champagne sort of night. Let me open this thing. You get the glasses.”
She got out the glasses while I popped open the bottle, and I poured us each a glass.
“This is nice,” she said and smiled at me.
“Yeah, this is so nice.”
“Okay, should I help you cook?”
I shook my head. “Nope. You can sit at the counter and watch me.”
“Really? Come on, let me help.”
“Okay. You can grate the cheese. I’ll fry the bacon. There’s not actually that much to do.”
“I like your style of cooking,” she said and reached for the grater. She sat down and started grating the cheese. I laughed when I saw that the mound of cheese wasn’t getting much bigger.
“Are you eating or are you grating?”
“I have to test for quality you know. Make sure it’s okay and all that. And you’re one to talk! I saw that piece of bacon you popped into your mouth.”
I laughed. “Damn, I thought I’d been so sneaky. So, where were you this afternoon? Did you have to work late?”
“I was at the graveyard, visiting my mom. I usually go once a month to chat with her and my gran. But I didn’t get a chance to go last month.”
“That’s nice of you, Em.”
“Also, my dad was there,” she said.
“Your father? John?”
She nodded. “Yeah, turns out he’s been visiting every day since he arrived in Buffalo.”
“And you seem so calm. Did you guys talk?”
She smiled. “Actually, there’s something I have to tell you. You were right about everything you said to me, Grant.”
I shook my head. “No. I shouldn’t have said all those things to you. It’s your life, and I have no idea how you feel. It wasn’t right that I said that.”
“Yeah, maybe you went about it the wrong way. But you were still right. Anyway, I invited him out for dinner again.”
“You went for dinner?”
“I did. And this time I didn’t storm out. I listened to him and got to know him. And, well, he’s actually a really nice guy.”
“You’re not mad at him anymore?”
“Oh, I am. I mean, I get my moments. But I’m trying. And it was really nice talking to him and getting to know him. He’s an author. How cool is that? I read one of his books this week. He dedicated it to me.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. So much had happened since the last time I’d seen Emily. I couldn’t believe that she’d done all this without me. I should’ve been there for her. I told her, but she just shook her head.
“I needed to do this on my own. It’s okay. I’m feeling better about it all. I’ve spoken to him every day since that dinner. And then, today he came to see my mom, just like I did. We didn’t plan that. We sat for ages just telling each other stories about my mother. It was difficult sometimes, but I loved it. We’re going to do it every month. I’m learning things about her that I never knew before, and so is he.”
“Wow, Em. That’s so special.”
“He’s the one that told me I should call you. He said he could see how much we liked each other. He really liked you, by the way.”
I smiled. “I liked him, too. I can see a lot of you in him.”
“Yeah, me too actually.”
“Em, I also have quite a few things that I need to tell you.”
“You do? Tell me,” she said.
I took another sip of the champagne and sighed. “It’s about your house. I know who did it.”
“What? Are you serious? How?”
“I only just found out today. I actually caught the guy at the house.”
“Who was it?”
Suddenly I remembered why the man had looked so familiar to me. The time I’d gone to visit Emily at work. I’d seen a man standing outside staring at the building. He’d glared at me. It was the same man. I felt cold just thinking about it.
“Em, is there a man who has asked you out three times recently? Some man you keep turning down?”
Her eyes widened. “Brett! That’s Brett. Did he do this?”
“Who is he?”
“He’s the father of one of the kids that I teach. Wendy is the sweetest girl in the world, but her father is a real creep. I used to think he was sweet, and when he asked me out the first time, I thought it was nice of him. But then he asked me out two more times, and it started getting weird. Then, when the house burned down, he tried to get me to stay with him. Grant, did he do this?”
I nodded. “Yeah. And he totally admitted it to me. He didn’t know who I was. He told me he wasn’t trying to hurt you, but he just wanted to give you a reason to come and stay with him. That was his way of getting you to go out with him. I couldn’t believe it. I mean . . . who does something like that?”
“What did you do? Did you tell him you knew me?”
“Uh . . . yeah. And then I punched him in the face.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry. I know I need to work on my temper. But I couldn’t help myself. I mean, the guy could’ve hurt you. And I took away something that meant so much to you. I was so angry. Thankfully, Brady came by and pulled me away.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
“Why? I thought you’d be mad.”
“Thank you for always sticking up for me. And he deserved that. But what if he does it again?”
“He won’t. Trust me. Anyway, I called the authorities. So they’re dealing with him now. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but I’m pretty sure you won’t be hearing from him again.”
“He actually burned my house down,” she said and shook her head in amazement. “How could anyone do that to someone that they supposedly want to date? Thank goodness I didn’t say yes to him that first time. That’s not someone I want to get involved in.”
“There’s something else I want to tell you about,” I said and topped up our champagne glasses. “Although, let’s get these pizzas in so we can go sit in the living room.”
We piled the pizzas up with so much cheese and bacon I wasn’t sure we were even going to be able to lift them up. We put them in the oven and then made our way over to the living room with our champagne. As I sat down, Emily leaned down and kissed me gently on the mouth before going to sit down on the sofa in front of me.
“What was that for?” I asked.
“For punching Brett.”
I grinned. “I can’t tell you how good it felt when I did it.”
“I wish I’d seen it. So, what else do you have to tell me?”
I took a deep breath. “If you’re not happy about this, let me know, okay? I do realize that I should’ve spoken to you about it beforehand. So please be honest with me.”
“Okay, this sounds very ominous. But yeah, I’ll be honest with you,” she said.
I took a deep breath. It was now or never. “Well, here’s the thing,” I started and then stopped.
“Grant, you can tell me anything. Don’t look so worried,” she said.
“Okay,” I said and started again. “I decided to purchase your old house. And I signed the papers already.”
“What do you mean? The house is burned down. How can you buy it? I don’t understand.”
“I know, but it’s not all gone. And a lot of the structure still remains. Most of the important stuff is still there, to be honest. Which means I managed to get it for a very good price. And with the money I saved, I’m going to do it up again. I know how much that house meant to you, and that it was a part of your family history. So I decided to buy it. I needed a place to stay, anyway. I can’t stay with Brady forever. Brady had some connections for me though, and you’re going to get paid out from the insurance. The land is still in your name, so you’re going to have to come in and sign a few papers. I have bought it, but I still want your name to remain. It’s your house Em. It always will be.”
She didn’t say anything for a while. She just sat there staring at her hands in her lap. I thought she was angry at me and I cursed myself for doing this without asking her first. Then she looked up and smiled. She had tears in her eyes.
“You bought my house,” she whispered. A small smile was playing on her face, so I knew that she wasn’t upset.
“You don’t mind?”
“Are you kidding me? I don’t mind at all. I’m just . . . in shock. That’s the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me. I know you say you need a house to stay in, but I also know that it would’ve been way easier for you to just find a house already standing. I know that you did this for me, and I can’t even begin to tell you how much it means to me. The very idea that I’ll have that house again, is the best thing in the world.”
I grinned. “I’m so relieved to hear you say that.”
“Does that mean you’re definitely staying in Buffalo?”
“I am. I love it here. And anyway, there’s no way I’m leaving you. You’re the biggest reason I have for staying. I love you, Emily Audrey Wessler.”
She laughed. “And I love you, Grant Patriot Maxwell.”
I pulled her toward me. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met in my whole life.”
“And I would rather be with a man that builds me a house than one that burns it down,” she said and smiled.
I kissed her, and I realized I didn’t ever want to let her go.