Letting go of Grace (7 page)

“Oh, no? Well think about what you did, that you think I don’t know about, and that would be the thing I’m pissed about.”

“Way to be vague.”

“Really? This is coming from a man who answers the phone, to talk to his girlfriend, while lying in bed next to another woman.” I glare at him and see the surprise in his eyes.

“Yes, I know about Ava, I had the luxury of watching the two of you get off the plane.” I cross my arms and look out the window. The bastard doesn’t even have a rebuttal. I got him. If he wasn’t guilty he would have denied it right away. I see another Starbucks and he passes it.

“I would stop wasting my time. And yours. Nothing is going to change, Grant. I am done playing games.” I make sure to look at him pointedly as I chide him.

“It wasn’t what you think, Hannah.”

“How does the shit coming out of your mouth taste? Do you think I’m actually going to believe whatever you tell me? Even if you didn’t sleep with her, you kissed her and I watched you. I watched you hold her hand and laugh with her as if the two of you were dating. In that second it was over for me.”

“Hannah…”

“Save it, Grant. You can talk to me till you’re blue in the face. You’re a fucking liar.” He slows down and pulls into the next Starbucks. Thank God he got the hint. He isn’t one to fight for a woman. He has let me walk away before. I stay quiet as he places the order. When we pull out he starts to talk again.

“So I guess I fucked up and you ran right to Aiden.” His words are crass and sharp.

“Nope, Aiden knew what I was walking into. He tried to save your ass, but he was too late.”

“I think it was more of a set up.”

“How do you figure? So if I chose Aiden and he was doing something like this, you wouldn’t set him up?”

I watch as he muses over my question. Thinking of a lie, no doubt. What a fucking asshole.

“I chose you. I actually started to love you. I started to picture us together, kids and all.” I stop speaking so I don’t cry. He isn’t worth anymore tears. I take a few deep breathes to get myself together, but my heart is in my throat.

“Hannah, will you let me explain? I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”

“Bullshit! You care about no one but yourself and I see you for exactly what you really are.”

“And what is that?” he growls, his attitude in full force.

“A loser.”

“You are the biggest fucking failure I have ever met. You will never learn how to love, Grant.”

“Wow, is that what you really think?”

“Isn’t it true? Have you ever loved a woman before?”

“Yes, you, and if you would let me fucking talk, I would explain…” I don’t let him continue.

“And look at how you treated me. You cheated on me not even a few days into it. You’re too selfish to love another person.”

“Hannah, please.”

“I am done Grant, I don’t want to hear it.”

Not a word is spoken by either of us again. I got my point across. We pull up to the hospital and I get right out with the coffees in hand. I speed walk in and find Shane, Aiden and John still waiting.

“Anything?” They all shake their heads no.

“That was fast,” Shane jokes as he takes a coffee from the tray. I don’t say anything. Grant walks in after a few minutes, but doesn’t come over right away because he is on the phone. I sit between Aiden and Shane and glance over at Grant every now and then. We all stare at the door waiting for some news. Aiden leans back and puts his arm around me.

“You OK?”

“I’m fine,” I sigh as I make eye contact with him.

“What did he have to say?” Shane leans back and joins the conversation.

“Nothing, he denied it, then realized he was caught red-handed.”

I see Grant striding over to us with confidence and I stop talking.

“Someone wants to talk to you.” He hands me his phone and I state at him in confusion. He sticks out his hand further, pushing the phone to my chest. I look at it. “Ava” is written across the screen. I push “end” and hand it back to him.

“Wow, you call her to fix your mess? That’s low even by your standards, Grant.” I stare him down and feel protected by Aiden and Shane.

“Well you wouldn’t listen to me, so I thought you would listen to her.”

“I could give a fuck what she has to say. You fucked up, man up and own it. Get on with your life.” He looks directly at Aiden.

“Hannah will you just listen to me?” he pleads. I cross my arms over my chest and shake my head no at him. This pisses him off, and his eyes dart over back to Aiden.

“You set me up,” he growls.

“Whatever, Grant.” Aiden rubs his neck and puts his hand back down on his thigh. Shane jumps in next.

“How were we supposed to know you were with Ava? You didn’t tell me or Aiden.” He glances over at John.

“John did you know?” John doesn’t look at us. Grant stares furiously at John.

“Did you tell Aiden I was with Ava this week?”

“No.” Holy shit! John knew he was with Ava. I jump up.

“You knew he was with her?” John shakes his head, but I can tell he is lying.

“Wow… You guys are fucked up. Is it normal brother code to cover for each other when you cheat?” They all look down. Fuck. What else are they hiding? What have I gotten myself into?

“I find this all very interesting, John, that you would cover for a man who fucked your fiancée before you.” I know I shouldn’t have gone there, but I do.

“What? Who the fuck told you that?”

“Autumn. She had a few questions for me.” I look at him and they all shift in their chairs. I’m opening a can of worms here and I can’t take it back.

“Fuck you, Hannah, she never slept with Grant.” I think John is about to explode.

“No?” I look at Grant. Why can’t I stop?

“So you never slept with Autumn?” He doesn’t even look at me.

“You’re a fucking liar, Hannah.” John barks.

“Really? So you never slept with Annie either? Do you all use the denial approach?” Shane looks hurt by this and I didn’t want to drag him into it. I feel horrible hurting Shane, but my anger towards John wins. John gets up and walks away.

“I see, John, just walk away.” He turns and in 2 seconds gets in my face.

“I don’t know who the fuck you think you are but get the fuck out of here.” He raises his hand and Aiden and Grant grab him.

“You can dish it, John, but you sure as hell can’t take it.” I can sense another person’s presence and they do too because we all turn around.

“Hannah Winterfield?” I walk over to the doctor and they follow.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Mrs. Grace has requested to see you.” I step forward.

“She isn’t family,” John interjects. I can feel the venom coming off his tongue.

“She is the one Mrs. Grace has asked to see. Hannah, please follow me.” I gaze back helplessly at Aiden and follow the doctor. She was transferred up to ICU and it doesn’t surprise me it was done so fast with her last name and all.

“How is she?”

“Weak. She goes in and out.”

“I just wanted to let you know something in private.” He nods at me and I follow him into a lounge.

“She found out tonight that her husband who died at sea twenty-eight years ago,” I begin but stop and hesitate to tell him any further information. I decide to share anyways.

“His body was just found on her property. I think it set her off.”

“Oh.”

“This is in strict confidence, so please don’t say a word to her or to anyone else.”

“No, of course, I would never.” We step back into the hallway and I follow him to her room. He gives me a nod as I take Victoria’s hand “Victoria, I’m here,” I whisper.

I WATCH AS SHE SLEEPS
, her chest rising and falling at a slow pace. I immediately gaze at her monitors. She is stable. I sit quietly, feeling uneasy, like if at any minute she will crash again. I stare at her for over an hour before she wakes up. I sit up waiting for her to look over at me.

“Hannah.” I stand up so she can see me better.

“Tori, how are you feeling?” I can see it in her eyes as they start to tear up.

“Sweetie, you need to stay calm.” She shakes her head.

“I-I thought I was done this time,” she chokes out.

“No, I wasn’t going to let that happen.”

“Thank you.”

“Tori, please, I was just happy I was there and could help.” I watch her and the tears keep flowing. I feel a lump well up in my throat. I get a tissue and dab it at her eyes to take her tears away. I then hand her another tissue. She takes it and weakly holds my hand again.

“How are my boys taking it?”

“They are concerned about you.”

“After all this time, they put him right there in front of me.” I don’t like the way she says this. I stand straight up and she looks at me.

“I never thought...” She stops and I think I’m reading into this, and I don’t like what I’m thinking.

“Tori,” I look at her and her eyes say it all. My eyes go wide.

“You knew, didn’t you?” She nods her head yes and closes her eyes as tears continue streaming down her face. I let go of her hand and she brings her hand to her trembling lips. I walk out. I walk all the way down the long hallway and out of the hospital, walking right past the four Grace men. I have to get out of here. I have to get away from their fucked, up twisted lives.

When I get outside, it’s pitch-black out. It is some time in the middle of the night and I have no idea where I’m going or how I’m going to get there.

“Hannah,” I turn and see Aiden.

“What is going on? Is she OK?” I can’t speak, so I just nod yes.

“What are you doing?” he asks through a yawn. He looks exhausted. I turn placing my back to him. He quietly walks up behind me and wraps his arms around me. He kisses my neck gently as he hugs me.

“Aiden, I have to go home.”

“Take my car. I’ll meet you there in a little while.”

“No. My home.” I turn and watch as his eyes search mine.

“Why are you running from me? I thought you took care of what you needed to with Grant?”

“I’m not running. I just need to get home.” I can see I’ve hurt him by saying this. I should stay and be with him, but I can’t do this anymore. They have too many dark secrets and I can’t be part of it. I already know too much, and I wish I didn’t.

“Stay with me. I’ll take you back to my house. Get some sleep, then you can take a car and drive home or I’ll fly you home tomorrow.” I consider his offer then shake my head.

“No stay here. I’ll find my way home.”

“No, if you leave then I’ll leave.”

“Aiden it’s your mother, stay with her.”

“What did she say to you?” He pulls me closer and leans down so we are almost nose to nose. I feel like I’m caught.

“Nothing. She slept the majority of the time and just thanked me for being there.” He searches my face and I pray he finds nothing.

“There has to be more or you wouldn’t leave, Hannah. What aren’t you telling me?” What do I tell him? I already feel horrible that I laid all their cards out on the table before I went up to see Tori. Do I hurt them more? I’ve done enough damage tonight. She kept this secret from them for twenty-eight years; there must be a reason behind it.

“Nothing Aiden.” I bring my hands to his face and look him in the eyes.

“You’ve had a rough night, and I’m sorry for everything that has happened.” I hug him and he hugs me back.

“I don’t want you to leave.” His words are simple, but they are like daggers going through my heart.

“I have to.”

“I’m not Grant, don’t run.” I pull away at his plea.

“I know you’re not Grant, and I’m not running.” I can hear the annoyance in my voice.

“I’ll take you home.” He pulls away and I give up. If he wants to take me home, he can take me home. We walk back in to get his ticket from Grant and the doctor is standing there. He sees me and walks over to me.

“She wants to see you again.”