“No. It’s my prize.” He kisses my forehead. “Now behave and let me show you the rest of the house.”
He leads me up the floating stairs with the elegant handrails. I run my hand along the thin, smooth surface.
“The original stairs didn’t have a rail,” he explains.
I shudder, imagining walking up and down without any safety measure. “Nobody fell off?”
“Not that I know of. But Mom had one installed because her lawyer said she was inviting a lawsuit.”
I can see that, especially when somebody sees Grant’s mom as a means to score some easy money.
I look down from the indoor balcony. If you hate heights, you’d hate this place. The floor is clear glass reinforced with cables. The doors to the bedrooms are ornate, with different pink seashells at eye level.
“So this is one of the guest bedrooms.” He opens the door, and we stick our heads inside…
…to see an empty bedframe.
I blink. Grant makes a vaguely confused noise. “Weird. The house should be fully furnished. Maybe Mom’s getting a new mattress for this room.”
We go to the next room, and then the next. No beds. Except for the master bedroom suite—I presume this, since it’s locked—which we obviously can’t take, since it’s his mother’s. Even if Grant had a key to the room, I would totally decline after having heard about her temper. I’m pretty sure sleeping in her bed would be an infraction.
But now what?
Finally, on the opposite side of the house from the master suite, we find a gorgeously appointed ocean-view bedroom. Thankfully, it does have a bed—and sheets! At the foot of the bed is a pearl-gray velvet bench with a burgundy crocodile leather bag sitting on it. The bag looks brand new.
“Is that your mom’s bag? Is this room also reserved for her?” She has two kitchens. It’s possible she has two bedrooms and just forgot to lock this one.
“Not really,” Grant says, looking at the bag thoughtfully.
Okay, maybe it belongs to his aunt or something, but this room most definitely isn’t for guests in that case…
Or is it? I pull my lips in as another thought crosses my mind. Does this mean there’s only one bed for us in the entire house? The living room doesn’t have a couch. Just two armchairs.
Grant frowns. “You know what? Let me see what’s going on real quick.”
Chapter Fourteen
Grant
I pull out my phone and text the property manager as I walk out of the bedroom. I have a feeling whatever I hear is going to be annoying or embarrassing. Probably both. Mom didn’t get rid of all those beds for me.
–Me: What’s up with the house? Mom doing a renovation or something?
—–Carmen: Not that I know of. Why?
–Me: Every guest bedroom except for one is missing a bed.
–Carmen: Oh. She asked to have the mattresses removed while you were there.
What the hell? I start to type,Why would she do that?then delete the question. How the hell would Carmen know? She’s just following instructions, and Mom doesn’t explain herself to the people who work for her.
–Carmen: If you want to discuss the timing of the mattress delivery, she’s probably still up, because I spoke with her just moments ago.
Carmen’s too innocent if she thinks this is just a coincidence, or Mom did it so Aspen and I could have new beds. But she’s right about contacting Mom to get some answers. I text her thanks and type up my question for Mom.
–Me: What’s up with the beds?
Three dots appear, then vanish. I count to five, but nothing.Oh no, you don’t.
