When Grant said things could happen fast, I knew he could move the process along faster than I’d been able to when Grandma passed away. But the speed at which his people take care of it is stunning.
By Monday, everything’s arranged and we’re ready to place Grandpa next to Grandma. The headstone, unfortunately, is going to take longer because an appropriate slab of marble has to be picked out—to match Grandma’s—and the text needs to be etched onto it. But I’m so grateful to have my grandparents together that it doesn’t really register as an issue, although Grant looks mildly annoyed with the delay.
A crew he hired has already dug a hole deep enough for the urn. I place it into the grave with care, and it takes no time before fresh dirt covers the glazed jar. It feels bittersweet and final, but part of me is glad he’s going to be with Grandma, like he’d want. He was without her for so long.
Unlike Grandma’s funeral, this time it’s just me and Grant. As I gaze at my grandparents’ graves, I try to smile. Grief is still in my heart. Regret, too, that we couldn’t have more time together. But I’m grateful to both of them. And I wish I could hug Grandpa for worrying about me until his last moment.
I reach over. My fingertips brush Grant’s, and I link my fingers through his.
“Thank you,” I say. “For this, and for making that promise to my grandfather. I’m sure it alleviated his worries.”
Grant squeezes my hand. “You’re welcome. But I would’ve done it even if Kenny hadn’t asked me to.”
I look up at him. My vision blurs, and he holds me. He softly hums “Por una Cabeza” in my ear, and my lungs seem to shudder as my heart swells with love and sorrow.
He doesn’t ask me to stop crying. All he does is hold me and let me hear the music from that moment—when all four of us were together and happy.
As Grant continues to hum the soulful strain, I look up at the cloudless sky. My tears continue to fall, taking the raw grief with them. I just know my grandparents are dancing in heaven, gazing at each other with love.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Aspen
“Do I look okay?” I ask for the hundredth time since four.
“You look perfect.” He pulls me close, running his hand from my shoulder down along my spine. It rests on my butt, and he squeezes. “Hot enough to make me want to rip that dress right off you.”
“No!” I pull away instantly, crossing my arms over my torso. He’s not going to rip this chartreuse Fendi dress! Josephine and I spent over two hours going over my options, and I’m not going to show up for dinner with his brothers and their wives in something less impressive. The Fendi is classy and elegant, with a fitted bodice and slightly loose asymmetric skirt. Josephine assured me it’s the one to wear to make a good impression.
And I desperately want to make a good impression on his brothers and two sisters-in-law.
“Hey, okay. I’m not going to do anything.” He raises both hands.
“You better not,” I say sternly, but continue to maintain my distance. I don’t trust his hands-raised gesture. He’s quicker than lightning when he wants to be, and he’s fooled me twice since I sort of moved in with him two Fridays ago.
Although we never talked about it in detail, he refused to let me return to my old apartment. I suspect he’s still a little traumatized about seeing me straddling the balcony railing. I’m not sure why, since it isn’t like my apartment is on the tenth floor. The worst injury I would’ve sustained might have been a broken ankle.
However, he still acts like I was playing hopscotch on a rickety bridge over molten lava. Probably a psychological thing. And when it comes to me, Grant seems to be more psycho than logical. He sent a crew to grab all my stuff from my apartment, leaving the furniture behind. I’m sure he’s going to have his lawyer deal with the property management. He’s already annoyed that there was no hot water and the carpet is so thin it might as well have not been there.
“Why don’t you check on the caterers?” I ask, inspecting my makeup again. Emmett and Amy know me already, but the others don’t. I was a little uncomfortable about seeing Emmett, especially knowing about the bet. But Grant’s explanation about what Emmett did when he forfeited the bet eased my nerves. Emmett wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t wish us the best.
Now I just have to convince the rest of his brothers and their wives that I’m cool. Just hearing about them from Grant in the last few days made my head spin at their impressive lives.
I’m really not that…grand. A college dropout, and not even working at the moment, to boot. Grant told me to take time off, take care of myself and think of what to do next.
“And you’re going to put up with Marjorie?” It was kind of a joke and kind of not. I know how much he dislikes her.
“Making sure you’re okay is more important.”
To be honest, taking a break is exactly what I need, because after that conversation, I realized I haven’t had any time off in…years. I was too busy running from one job to another, trying to make enough to pay the bills. Just having the time to get enough sleep and think things through without worrying about the next bill helps me clear my head.
“The caterers are fine,” Grant says. “I already checked.”
I turn to him. “I’m so nervous.” I wipe my clammy hands on a small towel. “What if your brothers don’t like me?”
“They’ll adore you,” he says.
“You’re biased.”
