Chapter 26

___________________

Alex

I STEPPED OUT OF the courthouse, feeling like another bad chapter of my life had ended. Just seeing Vanessa again for the first time in well over a year made my blood boil. How did I fall into her trap? I could’ve blamed it on the fact I was young and stupid, but now seeing things from an older wiser perspective…I still should have known better. I met her in a bar and we married after only knowing each other for three months. She was looking for someone to take care of her. All the signs were there that it was a disaster from the start, but I chose to ignore them. Worst of all, I almost sacrificed some of my family’s money just because I had made the biggest mistake of my life. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case, and I was able to walk out of there a single man who didn’t owe her a penny.

“I told you there was nothing to worry about,” Robert, my attorney and a good friend of my family for years, remarked as we stepped outside into the ungodly heat. September in Georgia was still like the hottest day in July back in New York City, and one of the few things I didn’t miss about this place.

“Yeah, well, I would have no problem giving that bitch any amount of my own money just to get rid of her, but there was no way in hell I was gonna let her take from my family. Especially after my father was the one who warned me about marrying her.”

“Don’t say that too loud.” Robert chuckled and looked around. “She may hear you and take you back inside to get some of your money.”

“Wouldn’t put it past her.”

“It took a while, but you’re finally divorced.”

“Yeah, I think that was the longest divorce in the history of divorces.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, three and a half years is a long time, but believe it or not I’ve seen longer…and nastier.”

“I don’t think two people could possibly hate each other more than Vanessa and me. If only I had listened to my father.”

Robert placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled. “Everyone thinks they know all there is to life at twenty-two. Look at it this way…you lasted for three years before things started heading south.”

“Yeah, that’s only because I was away for most of those three years.”

“We all make mistakes, Alex, including your father, and if he tells you differently, he’s wrong. I’ve known him and your uncle Henry for most of my life, and they both have their fair share of regrets. Chalk it up as a learning experience and move on.”

We turned our heads in Vanessa’s direction as she walked out of the courthouse with her sister. She snarled at me as she passed by us and into the parking lot. I couldn’t help but wonder exactly what was going through her mind to think she was actually entitled to anything. She’d basically shoved the divorce papers in my face while I was laid up in the hospital for months, then totally changed her tune when she found out about my inheritance, putting the divorce on hold because she thought we could work things out. By that point, I saw her for what she was. She was after one thing, and one thing only. She didn’t want to be stuck with a guy who was told he’d probably never walk again until she found out that guy had a few million dollars coming to him. Then all of a sudden, she wanted to work things out.

The truth was, I knew it was over a long time before that. I had my suspicions about her being unfaithful, and those doubts were confirmed by a mutual acquaintance once the divorce was underway. She dragged on this divorce for as long as she could, hoping to get some kind of payout from it. Last I heard, she was living in Atlanta with a very wealthy businessman twice her age. She didn’t want to be married to me any more than I wanted to be married to her, but she tried her hardest to get me to pay to get out. Today, any hopes of that happening had diminished for her. Now she was going to have to set her sights on this new guy she was with.

“You need to go out and celebrate,” Robert said. “Are you having dinner with your parents?”

I knew I probably should, since they had been on my case about never visiting, but I’d be lying a little to myself if I said I didn’t want to see what Rose was up to. I glanced at my watch. It was already 3:00 p.m. I remembered her saying her flight was getting in some time around noon, which meant she was already here. It was kind of ironic how everything played out. What were the chances of William’s daughter living about ten miles from where I grew up?

“Actually, I umm…I have to meet up with someone I work with who’s down here.”

“Oh, your mother isn’t going to be happy.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, well. I’ll catch up with them later.” I extended my hand to him when we reached our cars. “I can’t thank you enough for all your hard work on this.”

“This was nothing…I live for the tough ones!” He chuckled. “You take it easy and make sure you pay your mom and dad a visit before you leave or somehow I’ll be hearing about it too.”

“Will do.” I nodded and entered my car, rolling down the windows until the air conditioner kicked in. Scrolling through my contacts, I couldn’t help but laugh when I came to Rose’s alias. I thought about letting her go about her crazy plan alone for a second, but I was the one who got her involved in this whole William situation, so I felt a little obligated to help her out. Even though I did think the idea was a little senseless.

I pressed my thumb on “Pain in my Pompous Ass” and waited for her to answer.

“Well, if it isn’t the pompous ass!” She finally answered after the third ring, although I could barely hear her over the background noise.

“Where are you? I can hardly hear you.”

“Oh, at a place called Barracuda Bob’s, having a cocktail before I head out on my mission. Care to join me?”

“Yeah, I can be there in about ten minutes. Just don’t get yourself crazy drunk like last weekend. You’re here for a reason, and it’s not partying, remember?”

“Yes, Dad, I remember! I’ll see you in ten.”

She hung up the phone and I was on my way. Funny how when I had first met Rose, I didn’t make her out to be such a party girl. I thought she would be more of a prude. I was wrong about that. I was wrong about a lot of things when it came to her. Still, I never in a million years would have expected her to head out to a bar on her own in a strange town. It was a frightening thought. With a little bit of alcohol in her she was capable of anything, even waking up in the same bed as me.

I parked the car in one of the parking garages and headed toward River Street. Savannah, Georgia, was a town like no other, and not just because I had grown up here. It had everything: history, a small-town feel with its cobblestone streets and beautiful architecture, a healthy bar scene from morning until night, some of the best restaurants around, and a beautiful riverfront with so much hustle and bustle going on, it gave New York City a run for its money.

I’d instantly become homesick when I’d come back to visit and walk through the beautiful squares in town or down the picturesque tree-lined streets, never tiring of the grand southern live oaks draped with Spanish moss. Part of me wanted to pack it all up and head home, the other part wanting to stay as far away as possible. I loved my parents, that was for sure, but I felt like I was always a disappointment to my father. He wanted me to follow in his footsteps and take over his law practice, the same way he had with his father.

When I had gotten accepted into Princeton and MIT he was elated, but it was never what I wanted. My dream to become a Marine was one I had from the time I was eight years old. My father would always downplay it and tell everyone it was a phase. When my senior year of high school approached, and I was talking to recruiters instead of visiting colleges, he knew it was more than just a passing thing. I took my SATs and applied to colleges just to appease him, but I knew where my calling lay. My mother was supportive, even though she feared the dangers that such a choice entailed—my father not so much. He didn’t speak to me from the time I graduated from high school to the month that led up to boot camp. No goodbyes, no good luck, no “you can do this” …nothing. I hated him for not being able to be proud of my decision and give me the support all the other recruits were getting from their fathers, which made me even more determined to succeed.

All my letters in boot camp came from my mother, which she’d always sign, Love, Mom & Dad, but I knew he had nothing to do with them. I was shocked he even showed up to my graduation. It was only then he expressed that he was proud of me, but even at that, I wasn’t so sure he meant it. The truth was, I was always closer to my uncle Henry than I was to my father. He was so much more laid-back and didn’t put on airs for anyone just because he came from money. I didn’t become close with my father until I’d gotten hurt, and he was in my face twenty-four seven. Again, I wasn’t sure if that was over the guilt he was feeling over how he’d treated me or over the fact I almost died. I knew I wasn’t the model son either, I was stubborn and did a lot of things just to piss him off, but I had grown up a lot, thanks in part to my injury and then my mother’s cancer scare.

I crossed the main street and chuckled to myself when I reached the narrow, steep steps that led down to the river, wondering how many lawsuits the town had faced with the drunks coming out of the many bars that lined River Street. Somehow, I didn’t think their warning sign they had posted warning people of historic steps was enough to heed someone fueled by alcohol. I looked out on the river as a huge cargo ship passed by and was reminded of my time spent here as a kid. My grandfather and I would sit on a bench, eating ice cream, candy, and everything else my mother wouldn’t allow me to have in excessive increments and watch the boats passing by, never worrying about the time or where we had to be. We were just in the moment. He’d tell me stories about when he was younger, and I’d listen intently and ask questions. He was a wealth of knowledge and my best friend when I was a little boy. Every time I looked on this river, I was reminded of him and how much I missed him, and those days gone by when I was able to live in the present and not worry about the future. He would always say youth is like a precious gem. You don’t know how valuable it is until it’s gone. He was right. So much had changed from those years gone by. I was a totally different person than that six-year-old boy, sitting on the bench covered in chocolate ice cream, and I’d be lying if I said I was happy with the person I had now become.

Rose had already made some friends when I walked into the bar and found her laughing with the older couple sitting next to her. “Alex!” she exclaimed when she spotted me.

I stopped dead in my tracks and just took in her expression for one brief second. Her smile was so sincere, so beautiful, I got caught up in it, never recalling anyone looking as genuinely happy to see me as she did at that moment. I shook it off as feeling sentimental over all the old memories this place conjured up in me, telling myself her smile was no different than all the others I’d seen her display.

“Hey,” I greeted as I approached her.

“Alex, this is Ralph and Karen…they’re from New York City too!”

“Oh, hey, how are you?” I extended my hand to each of them.

“You sound more like a local,” the older man said as he tightly gripped my hand.

“Yeah, I was born and raised here. I moved to Manhattan a few years ago.”

“Why would you ever want to leave here? This place is so beautiful,” the woman replied.

I looked at Rose for a moment and she too anxiously awaited my reply. “I don’t know,” I whispered.

Rose pulled in her bottom lip and gave me a sympathetic smile as if she were reading my thoughts without me even saying a word. “Hey, can you get my friend here a beer?” she shouted to the bartender, breaking up the somewhat awkward moment.

Her friend? I couldn’t believe after the shitty way I’d treated her when we’d first met, she now considered me a friend. Not only did she have a big heart and explosive personality, but she was also forgiving. God, I was so wrong about her. I took a seat next to her and joined in the conversation, wondering how I’d gotten to this point, sitting next to a girl I’d told myself to hate because I thought she was like someone else, but now a girl I was finding myself wanting to be with more and more with each passing day.