Jaylee, a woman he met in rehab, has been a driving force in his recovery. They've both been clean for years and now that they're parents, they've devoted their lives to taking care of their boys and our grandfather. Simon's goal now is a teaching degree. I know he'll make it happen.
"There's no reason to pity you," I point out with a grin and a scratch to the five o'clock shadow that's settled over my jaw. "The beard you're trying to grow is pitiful but we can't all be me."
"The picture, boys." Our grandfather shoves a square, black and white photograph in the space between us. "This is Caroline."
I gaze down at the picture, my eyes locked on the young girl with the dark hair and big smile.
"Hey, this Caroline person looks just like Brynn." Simon taps his index finger on the edge of the image. "How do you know Caroline, Gramps?"
"We played together when we were kids." He runs his hand over Cameron's back. "She'd come here with her mother and we'd go in the garden. We shared our first kiss back there, if you can call it that. It wasn't more than a quick peck."
None of this makes sense to me. I've never once heard Julian mention a woman named Caroline.
"Your mom and Caroline's mom were friends?" I question.
"No." Gramps hangs his head. "Her mother worked for mine. Caroline's mom was our housekeeper. She told me she always wanted to live in this house and I told her we were like family so she should move right in. I didn't understand that's not how it worked with the help."
I lace my fingers behind my neck and take a deep breath. I need answers and there's only one person who can give them to me since Brynn has gone silent. I type out a text to Julian and then press send.
I need you to tell me who Caroline is. I'm looking at a picture of her from when she was a kid. She looks just like Brynn.
"Soon after this picture was taken your great grandmother fired her mother and I never saw Caroline again. I tried to find her after your grandmother died, but I couldn't track her down."
I drop my gaze back to my phone when it chimes, my heart hammering in my chest as I read Julian's text.
A picture? Of Caroline? Where are you? What the hell is going on?
I don't have time to get into the long version of this twisted tale. I want a short and sweet answer so I can understand why Brynn is so torn up.
Who is Caroline?
I send it off as my grandfather starts off on a tangent about when he was a kid. His words all blend together as I stare at my phone.
Our grandmother. Jane's mother. She died a couple of years ago. I barely knew her.
"Would you look at this?" Gramps waves the picture in the air again, this time the back is visible. "Caroline drew a little something for me here. I forgot all about that."
I snatch the picture from his hand and stare at the faded pencil drawing. It's a heart with one word written inside of it. Family.
It's an exact match to the tattoo on Brynn's elbow.
Another text message pops up on my phone from Julian.
She was Brynn's whole world. I don't think she's ever gotten over her death. It broke her. She hasn't been the same since.
There's only one place Brynn runs to when she's broken. I know where and as I take off down the long corridor toward the front door of the brownstone, I yell back at my family that I love them. I do, but not as much as I love my beautiful Brynn.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Brynn
I swing openthe rooftop door to find him there. I knew the second I heard the soft raps at the door that it would be Smith. I'd come straight to the top of the world from the brownstone.
"You've been crying." He reaches for my face with both hands and cups it. "Jesus, Brynn. This is all fucked up."
It is. When I knocked at the door of the brownstone, I fully expected Smith to answer. I was shocked when a tall woman with a long blond braid greeted me. She knew Smith she said, but he didn't live there. He lives in Brooklyn she told me before she pulled me into the house and introduced me to his family.
I met his brother, his nephews and finally, I met, Gramps, his handsome grandfather.
