He turned before Hannah could say anything else, weaving through the crowd toward the exit.
He almost made it.
"Grant! Wait!"
Carol Monroe caught up with him near the door, David trailing behind her.
"Sweetheart, are you sure you're okay? You look upset."
"I'm fine, Carol. Just tired."
"Riley texted me. She feels terrible about missing this."
Grant's jaw tightened. "I'm sure she does."
"She said work got away from her. That her boss kept piling things on."
"Yeah. That seems to happen a lot."
Carol's eyes were sad. "Don't be too hard on her. I know my daughter. She wouldn't have missed this if she'd had any choice."
But that was the thing, wasn't it? Riley had made a choice. Maybe not consciously. Maybe not intentionally. But when her boss had asked her to stay, Riley had said yes.
Just like she always did.
"I really need to go," Grant said. "Early day tomorrow."
Carol looked like she wanted to say more, but David put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head slightly.
"Drive safe," David said.
Grant nodded and pushed through the doors into the cold night air.
The drive home was too quiet. Grant turned on the radio, but everything sounded wrong, so he shut it off and drove in silence.
His phone buzzed again. And again. Text messages, probably. Maybe another call.
Grant didn't check.
By the time he pulled into the farm driveway, it was almost seven and his dad was probably reading.
Grant sat in his truck for a long moment, hands gripping the steering wheel, trying to steady his breathing.
He'd known this would happen. Deep down, he'd known. Riley's job would always pull her away. Would always take priority. Would always be the thing that mattered more than promises or commitments or him.
He'd just been stupid enough to hope it would be different this time.
Grant climbed out of the truck and headed inside.
Thomas was in the living room, newspaper in his lap, reading glasses perched on his nose. He looked up when Grant walked in.
"How was the pageant?"
"Fine. Kids did great."
"Riley make it?"
"No."
