Letting Go (13 page)

After her shower, wearing a velour jogging suit, she strode into the kitchen and stopped. Robin and BJ stood shoulder to shoulder cooking and it smelled good. Robin grinned over his shoulder and she had to return it. Her son looked happy, and on an obscure level that both pleased and disturbed her.

“Don’t worry Ms. Kelly, we’ll clean the kitchen. Spaghetti and meatballs are almost done. We put salads on the table.” She turned and spotted three tossed salads on her blue ceramic plates.

Surprised, she turned and headed for the table. Their low murmurs reached her. Instead of going to see something she wasn’t ready to see, she picked up a small cherry tomato and popped it into her mouth.

Someone knocked on the front door. She waited for BJ or Robin to open it. When neither emerged from the kitchen, she patted her lips with the napkin, and opened it herself. Expecting the tow truck driver, she was surprised to see BJ’s car being pulled away.

“Yes?” she said, looking at the tow truck turn the corner.

“I’m here for Blair,” the man snapped and then stared down at her.

Kelly stepped back in shock the moment she heard his voice. Had she conjured him up from her shower? No, she didn’t think so. She stepped forward, not allowing him inside. “Grant? What? What are you doing here?”

His face morphed from anger, to shock, to pleasure, and back to anger. “Robin? You said you had a daughter named Robin.”

“What? I never said that,” she hissed, leaning forward and looking back toward the kitchen. “Robin is my son. But what does that have to do with…” Her stomach dropped to her toes, her head wobbled. “No…don’t tell me. Blair, BJ?”

“Blair Jarod. Don’t act like you didn’t know. Maybe you knew all along, you got to me through him, or was it the other way around?”

Kelly jerked as if he slapped her. He didn’t make any sense. “What? How would I know Blair and BJ were the same? We didn’t discuss our kids.”

“Now I know why, you were ashamed –”

“Hold up, I wasn’t ashamed of anything.”

“No, then why? Why’d you stop taking my calls, stop returning my texts, stop seeing me?”

Her mouth opened and snapped shut. Damn, BJ and Grant, she’d never thought he had a gay son. Chances are he would’ve understood. “I…I thought…you wouldn’t understand.”

“You thought so little of me that I couldn’t understand something in your past? Your job?” He snorted and leaned forward. “After everything I’d shared with you, you didn’t trust me to be there for you. Nice going, doc.”

She saw the hurt and disillusionment in his gaze. Jessie had been right; she should’ve tried to explain. She’d been scared. “Things were happening, I couldn’t –”

“Unless this was a part of some plan. You knew my concerns over the election. What happened, you got enough dirt on me to tell your friends, got all the information you wanted? Found out my weaknesses, used me?”

“Used? What the hell are you talking about?” she hissed, confused. Were they discussing Robin and BJ or his campaign?

“All of it. This…” He waved his arm in front of her. You dropped me, remember. Without an explanation or a damn goodbye.”

“At the time I thought it was best –”

“You thought leaving me was best for….who? You? Why? Did you pass on all the information about me they needed? My opponent now knows I have a crypt filled with things about my dead career? Or my past drinking problems?”

“I don’t have time for this.”

He leaned close and lowered his voice. “Is that what they’ve been feeding the press? Why my numbers are dropping? My ex-lover been telling secrets I shared?”

. Grant saw red. He had opened his world and let her in. He shared things with her he hadn’t told anyone else, and she threw it all away as if he were unworthy of a simple explanation. She stood there so cool and beautiful as if she had no problems. As if his world weren’t falling apart. He couldn’t think. The need to lash out rode him hard.

“What?” Her surprised look didn’t fool him. Somehow she’d used his feelings for her to tear him apart.

“Don’t bother denying it. I don’t know how, but I will find out how you pulled all of this together so fast, but I know you were involved. You used your son to lure my son so I could lose the election.” Even as the words left his mouth, they made no sense, yet he couldn’t stop them. He needed her to react, to respond to his pain, to erase his confusion.

“You don’t need to lose the election; you’ve lost your mind.” She scoffed and turned away from him walking inside. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“Dad? What are you doing here?”

He looked over her shoulder at his son holding a plate of food. Robin, the same guy from the movies, stood next to him holding two plates. Cozy. She invited his son into her home, feeds him dinner, but never told him where she lived. He unclenched his fist and glared at her.

“I sent the text. I told you I was on my way.” He didn’t bother keeping the anger from his voice. “So this young man is Robin, the person you’ve been hanging out with. I thought Robin was a girl.”

“He’s not, as you can see,” Kelly said, swirled facing him.

“I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to my kid.”

“You mentioned my son.”

“Blair, who is this guy to you?” He needed to know. The ostrich position sucked, time to pull his head out of the sand and deal.

“My friend. I told you that.” He didn’t appreciate the defensive tone in Blair’s voice.

“Is he your boyfriend? Are you gay? Are you dating this guy?”

No one spoke.

He ignored Kelly’s frown and stared at his son. Red-faced, Blair placed the plate on the table and walked out the room. Robin set his plates on the table and followed Blair.

Grant didn’t know what to do. Based on the fierce look Kelly sent him, walking through her house to follow his son didn’t appear to be an option.

“You approve of this? Of them?” The question sounded more like an accusation.

“Look, I thought you knew.” She shook her head. “I know you’re shocked…”

“Answer the damn question,” he said in a low tone ignoring her comment. On a base level he did know, but she didn’t need to know that.

Her back straightened. “I don’t have to answer a damn thing. This is my house. You don’t come here telling me what to do. Get the hell off my property.”

He raked his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry…I was out of line.” He closed his eyes and then opened them. “I didn’t know…I suspected. But I didn’t know for certain until I came here tonight. How long… how long have you known?” Anger simmered beneath his skin over the fact he still missed her while she had moved on without a backward glance.

“I found out during spring break.”

“Is that why you stopped –”

She walked off without answering.

Blair headed toward him, his book sack thrown over his shoulder. He passed Grant in silence and left the house. A sliver of unease slid down his back at the look of hatred on his son’s face. Had he pushed too far this time?

Chapter 12

Returning to the front office Kelly rubbed her forehead to relieve tension. Her boss came in this morning, held a staff meeting, and shocked everyone with his resignation. The school board gave her the position based on his recommendation. She had to pull someone into her VP slot fast to prepare for the end of year testing and what seemed like a thousand other things that needed her attention.

After dropping that bomb, he’d sat down with her in a private meeting and explained he’d been battling Type 2 diabetes for years and it progressed to a point he couldn’t work any longer. He’d been afraid they would bypass her for the promotion, so he’d waited until she completed her Doctorate and made everyone call her by that title in preparation for her stepping into his slot. The manner in which she handled the school during his absence had been the tipping point in her favor with the school board. His faith and confidence in her abilities humbled her.

She’d refuse the job offer from PalmRight if it ever came through. The man held her position through a debilitating sickness. She couldn’t throw his sacrifice into his face. In a few days the paperwork would be done, and she’d be the first female principal in the school’s long history. Instead of excitement, anxiety raced through her and not because of the new position.

Grant Whittaker.

The man remained a fixture in the forefront of her thoughts. She couldn’t shake what happened the other night and her role in everything. His hurtful accusations stung, and she had rehearsed them again and again in her mind until the sun rose. He’d cared for her, shared parts of himself and while his comments stung, she understood his pain. Arnold’s betrayal had cut to the bone causing her to retreat at the first sign of emotional conflict. At the very least, she should’ve broken things off instead of disappearing. She knew better.

“I’m headed back to the front office now. Have him wait in the reception area.” Kelly held the radio in her hand as she checked the halls. There was no activity, not that she expected any. All students, and most teachers, were in classrooms. Still, she searched to make sure nothing slipped past her. Last week, she had caught a boy and girl in the gym making out when they should’ve been in class.

The moment she walked into administration, she saw him. Her heart flipped and her nipples pebbled. She pulled her jacket tight and strode forward, drinking in his familiar features. He gazed at her with a touch of apprehension that she picked up through his sunglasses. Good. That equalized things a bit. They’d both handled things badly. The receptionist and two others hovered near the computer.

“Mr. Whittaker?” she said, heading in his direction. Four pairs of eyes tracked her movements. Their gazes clashed. The night he picked up BJ remained imprinted on her mind. She’d comforted her distraught son.

“He never told his dad about me. His dad doesn’t know he’s gay,” Robin said in a low tone tinged with disbelief. “But he found out somehow. BJ’s not sure what’s going to happen. His dad played pro ball for a while, they come from money, and his grandparents would freak if they had any idea.”

Kinda like yours would do, she thought but remained silent.

“Should we break it off?” Uncertainty layered his question.

“I don’t know. You have to wait and see what happens.”

“You’re right. We just have to wait and see.”

The pain in his voice had cut her to the core. She’d wrapped her arms around him. He clung tight and cried. His chest heaved as he gasped to breathe while sobbing. Tears filled her eyes as she stroked his head to calm and soothe him. Her baby had it bad, it didn’t matter who or why, he was in pain. It cut deep that she couldn’t fix this for him.

He stood and removed his sunglasses. “Yes. Sorry to bother you at work.” He glanced at the women who stared. She glanced in their direction. Instead of being embarrassed, they smiled. Sheila, the receptionist, gave her a thumb up.

“No problem. Come this way, please.” She pointed to the hall and then walked in front of him. A few steps later she opened the door to the principal’s office, which she’d been using the past three weeks. He closed the door behind him and stood there, looking around the room.

“Why did you come to my job? Do you think I am undermining your campaign using the school? Or perhaps the opposition is using this office for covert operations.” She couched the ridiculous comment as a question and reminder of his behavior the other night.

He flinched. “I deserve that. I’m sorry.” He ran his hand through his hair and she had a flashback of that same hand on her thigh, and then her breast. The images ran on auto-pilot, flipping one after the other. She dropped her gaze to the stack of papers on the desk to clear her vision.

“Classes are over in thirty-five minutes. I need to be in the halls. What can I do for you, Mr. Whittaker?” She owed him an apology, which she would give afterward. Before that, she wanted to hear his thoughts on everything. She took a seat behind her desk and glanced at the clock.

“I apologize again for the other night. I… I handled things badly. My son… um.” He cleared his throat and looked at her. “My son says you understand. That you accept your son and haven’t asked him to be someone he’s not. He… he said a lot of things and then nothing at all. He shut me out.”

She stared at him. The first time she saw Grant she warned herself this man would be trouble. Why else would she want to wrap him in her arms, kiss him and tell him everything would be fine? His obvious misery tugged on her heart. The other night he had acted as if he couldn’t stand the sight of her, yet he stood in her office. He hadn’t given up on them, and neither had she. A load lifted from her shoulders. She breathed easier, prepared to help him.