Chapter 13

You're rubber, I’m glue. Eat shit and fuck you.

-Verity’s very adult thoughts

Verity

I quit working at the pub.

I just didn’t show up.

I hoped that all the work I’d put in didn’t totally implode, but I suppose that wasn’t my problem anymore.

At least it hadn’t been until I opened the folder in a moment of weakness.

I’d had the folder since the night that I’d spent with Truth in Vegas.

I didn’t know why I kept it. It was only some of the hotel information that I’d hastily grabbed as we’d left that day.

But it’d held sentimental value…or at least it had until now.

The first piece of paper I pulled out was a hotel receipt for room service.

The second was a receipt for flowers.

My brows furrowed.

“Flowers?” I mumbled, flipping to the next page.

And that’s when my breath caught.

Because what I thought was just some hotel flyer, wasn’t.

It was a cream piece of cardstock paper with gold embellishments on the side, shining and bright to bring attention to the words between the border.

And the words, yeah, those were shockers.

CERTIFICATE OF MARRIAGE

This certificate certifies that

Ernest Alan Reacher and Verity Ruthann Cassidy

Were united in marriage on this day

The third day of July two thousand sixteen.

The ceremony was officiated and witnessed

by Johnathan Roy Presley and Jezebell Reanald Corriander.

My stomach churned.

What had we done?

I did the only thing I could do.

I went to my GG, marriage certificate in hand, and cried onto her shoulder.

***

“I’m scared,” I whispered to my grandmother.

My GG looked over at me, her face softened.

“If I could have anything in this world back right now, it would be your grandfather,” she murmured softly.

My heart constricted.

“I know,” I whispered. “I wish for him to be back all the time.”

Her smile was soft and reassuring, but I could also see the sadness in her eyes.

“I think about him every night as I get ready for bed. I think about him when I close my eyes.” She took a shaky breath. “But in my dreams, he’s right back where he belongs. At my side.” Her mouth pinched. “I knew that Kenneth wasn’t for you, but you were happy, so who was I to say that he wasn’t for you?”

I didn’t reply.

“Does he take your breath away?”

I knew we were no longer talking about Kenneth, but about Truth.

“Yes,” I said simply.

“What about when you’re sleeping?” she asked. “Can you sleep without him?”

I thought about the night before, how I’d laid in bed for hours and hours just willing myself to finally go to sleep, only to let my mind wander to where it ultimately wanted to go. Him.

And then I’d be lost all over again.

“No,” I finally admitted.

“The true test is,” she stood up and walked to a picture of my grandfather and her that was hanging on the wall next to the kitchen sink. It was an older one, one that was taken two days before they got married forty-seven years ago. “Can you imagine your life without him? Does it hurt to think about him not being there anymore?” her voice cracked. “Can you see yourself going on a trip without him? Can you think about buying a car without his input? What about choosing paint color? When you think about what color you’re painting the living room, can you imagine doing it without first getting his input? Because,” she smiled, “if you can’t, then you’re already gone. If you think about him more than you think about anything else, you’ve already made the decision. Now stop putzing around and go get your man.”

I stood up.

“But…his background.”

My GG stared at me.

“I would’ve stood by your grandfather if he’d done those things …and I wouldn’t have questioned him. He would have been mine, and that was the only question I ever needed answered.” She hesitated. “What you’ve told me about your man, is that he really does care for you. He’s made some bad decisions, yes, but he hasn’t done anything so sinful that he won’t be redeemed at the end of his life. If tomorrow he was gone, dead never to come back again, what would you do?”

And that was that.

Everything she said was the truth, and I needed to stop thinking so hard with my head and let my heart lead a bit.

“You’re right,” I admitted fully.

She smiled.

“I already knew I was right. It just took you knowing that you were.”

With that I walked out my GG’s door and went to find my man.

She was right.

I didn’t care about what he’d done in his past.

I didn’t care if he wanted to become a contract killer and hunt down men for the rest of his life.

If that time came, I’d be there when he got home.

With my arms wide open.

Now I just had to convince him that he wanted the same.