Chapter 42
Grant
Grant was excited that Kate had agreed to have a drink with him. He spent the walk home on his phone, looking for places to go, then finally settled on an upscale bar on the water’s edge.
For their date, Grant decided to wear one of his new suits. It had a subtle pattern, and Stefan had insisted he wear a dark-green tie with another subtle pattern and a matching pocket square.
“It’s dashing,” Stefan had said. “Kate will like it.”
“You look stunning,” Grant said when he picked Kate up later that evening. She was wearing a slinky little black dress, and her hair was down around her shoulders.
Grant leaned over and kissed her.
“We’re just going as friends,” she reminded him.
He gave her his best puppy-dog eyes. “But look… my pocket square has corgis on it!”
She laughed as she noticed the fun pattern. “That’s adorable.”
Score! he thought.
He draped his arm around her on the car ride over. She seemed as if she approved of his choice of establishments. It was warm enough for them to sit by the water on the deck, and they followed the waiter outside.
“So you seem like you’re getting acclimated,” she said after he helped her into her chair.
“I think so,” he replied.
“You don’t want to go run off and reenlist?”
He shook his head.
The waiter brought them their drinks, and Kate raised her glass and said, “Here’s to you. Done with the military but still kicking butt.”
“No, to you. I wouldn’t have been able to survive this long without you.”
After a few drinks, the car dropped Kate off at her grandmother’s house. Grant opened the door for her, and Kate looked at him seriously and said, “This was just a friendly evening.”
He ignored her and leaned down and kissed her.
“Goodnight, Kate.”
He felt elated. The evening had gone really well. He gave Stefan a thumbs-up when he got back. “Do not tell my father,” he warned.
Stefan mimed zipping his lips.
Grant saw Kate sporadically the next few days. She was constantly on the phone or yelling at her grandmother or talking to the party planners.
The yard was filled with people tacking up lights and setting up tables. They were installing several custom wood bars that were brought out of storage.
Grant flew out to his base the day before the party. Just as he had thought, the military was cutting it close to the wire on his paperwork. He spent the night in a hotel then arrived on base for processing very early in the morning. After Grant had spent the entire day trying to have his final paperwork processed, the staff sergeant handling it handed him the final stamped and signed papers.
“You’re sure you don’t want to reenlist?” she asked jokingly.
Grant shook his head.
She laughed. “I can’t blame you. I heard you are inheriting a fortune.”
“I’m not counting on it,” Grant said.
“Well, you can always come back to the Marine Corps if it doesn’t work out,” she quipped.
After shaking her hand, Grant left the building, sat down in his rental car, and numbly drove off the base. He’d been in the Marines for eight years, and what did he have to show for it? Nothing.
The Gulfstream jet was waiting for him on the runway when he arrived.
“All good?” the captain asked.
“I think so,” Grant replied.
“Cheer up!” the captain said, clasping him on the shoulder. “You’re out! It’s a bright new sunshiny day outside of the military.”
The setup for the party was well underway when Grant returned. Kate was directing the musicians and caterers on where to set up.
“Can I help with anything?” he asked her.
“Go shower and change,” she said brusquely. He had hoped that the near-death experience at the clubhouse would have warmed whatever chill she harbored toward him, but she wasn’t melt-in-his-arms happy to see him.
“You’re all mine now,” his father said when he ran into him in the foyer. “I have the lawyers drawing up paperwork so you can change your name.”
“Excuse me?” Grant said, stopping short.
“You’re a Holbrook,” his father explained. “You can’t be Jones. It’s confusing to people.”
Changing his name—Grant wasn’t sure about that.
“I’ll have to think about it,” he said cautiously.
“It would be a few months before you would have to go in front of a judge,” his father said, checking his phone. “There’s a process. The paperwork has to pass through the various departments. You know, bureaucracy.”
“I need to go shower and change for the party,” Grant said, and his father waved him away. He walked up to his room, set down his things, and stripped off his clothes.
After showering, he reached into the dresser, looking for a clean undershirt, and his hand hit the letter from his birth mother. He hadn’t opened it yet, and now he took it out to look at it. He thought maybe he should just ignore his birth mother and trust his father. Walter seemed as if he was changing for the better, but maybe not. He wished he could ask Kate about it, but she was being so distant. She seemed as if she was angry with him. He didn’t know why; he had thought their date had gone well.
As he held the letter in his hand, his curiosity got the better of him. He took out his knife and sliced open the envelope then took a deep breath and took out the letter.
My dearest son,
I’m so happy that you have finally been found. I never wanted to give you up. It was the Holbrooks. They made me do it. Your grandfather didn’t want a bastard child. You should have seen the look on his face when I married your father. Priceless.
I had nothing to do with the fire; don’t believe a word Walter says. I tried to rescue the children. I really did. It was the worst day of my life, the second being when I had to give you up. Bad things just keep happening to me, but with the success of the reality TV show and the fact that you have come back in my life, I believe that my life is turning around.
I do so want to meet you. I want to get to know you. I miss my children, and I need to have you around. I have an apartment in Manhattan. You can come stay with me. We can help each other. We can make each other stronger. I have connections
Grant stopped reading the letter—it was too much to handle. It reminded him a bit of his adoptive parents and how they would try to guilt trip him and manipulate him. Maybe his father was right about her after all. He wished he knew what to believe.