“I want to do whatever will get this done.” We hadn’t even gotten out of Grady’s car yet, and already I was exhausted. The entire flight, I’d alternated between making mental checklists of everything I needed to do before leaving New York and worrying about Brook and the inn. Speaking of…. “Let’s get inside. I want to give Brook a call and see how the morning’s going.”
“Surprised it took you this long. I figured you’d already be texting back and forth with your lover boy,” Grady teased.
I flipped him off rather than give him more ammunition to use against me. The truth was, the only thing keeping me from contacting him sooner was I’d peeked at the checkout log before I left this morning and knew he had more important things to do than soothe my frayed nerves.
Grady and I loaded our arms with packing supplies and started the trek up two flights of stairs to my apartment. Funny how I climbed three sets every day at the inn, but the stairs here felt like they went on forever. I slumped against the wall while I dug out my keys, wishing there was a way to fast-forward to the end of this trip.
“Have you talked to your dad at all?” Grady asked as he assembled boxes and stacked them against the living room wall.
“Does it make me an asshole if I admit I haven’t talked to him since I left for North Carolina?”
“No. You were doing what he wanted you to do, both by seeing what was going on down there and by living your life. Finally.”
“But I’m all he has.” Hell, for all I knew, Dad was still in the dark about my grandfather trying to make amends for nearly three decades of shitty behavior. I’m not sure how I’d feel about that if I were in his shoes. What would it be like to know your father regretted decisions he’d made but there was no way to sit down and truly mend those fences? Because his father was dead. There’d be no time for goodbyes or I’m-sorrys. I didn’t want to be angry with a dead man, but I was. He should have talked to us instead of doing this.
“Hey, you still in there?” Grady asked, knocking the back of my head.
“Yeah, it’s just… the past few weeks have been a lot to take in, and I think it’s just now starting to hit me.”
The life I had now was nothing like the one I’d left behind in all the best ways. Now I needed to focus so I could get back to the life I hadn’t realized I wanted.
