As he waited, a car pulled up by the platform. He turned around, squinting in the glare of the headlights, and heard the sound of a window opening.
“Come back home!” Kate shouted.
Walter looked on, concerned, from the driver’s seat.
“Get in the car!” Jack shouted from the back seat. The rain was pouring down now, and Grant blinked away the water.
Kate stepped out of the car and was immediately soaked, but she gamely climbed up on the platform with him.
“If you leave, I’m coming with you,” she said. She only had on a light jacket, and her hair was drenched.
“No,” he said. “You love your job, and your family is here.”
“I meant what I said,” she told him, reaching up to rest a hand on his cheek. “I’m sorry I pushed you away. Just don’t leave, not like this. You can’t leave Gus. You can’t leave me.” She gave him a pleading smile. “You said you loved me. I didn’t say it back, but I love you. We don’t have to move in together or anything crazy, but at least give us a shot.”
Grant looked away from her and twisted his watch on his wrist.
“You have your lucky watch back,” she said with a grin, her teeth chattering. “That has to be a good sign, right? You can always take the train tomorrow or the next day, if it doesn’t work out.”
The bandage on her arm was getting soaked through her jacket. He could see the outline in the light of the street lamps. A horn blared, and the train pulled up. He picked up his bag and concentrated on the large machine that was going to take him away from his problems.
The conductor stepped out and asked them, “You two riding with me or what?”
Grant shook his head. “I am. She’s not. She doesn’t have a ticket.”
Kate grabbed him, saying, “Grant, don’t leave. You don’t have to do this.”
“You’re going to leave her?” the conductor asked. “You need to rethink your choices.”
Grant thought about Kate, about the life he wanted them to have. Then he thought about the reality of what had happened by the canal. His father honked the horn, and Gus barked out of the window.
“Hurry up,” Jack called. “Stop being so dramatic and get in the car.”
“Sounds like no one wants you on this train,” the conductor said, stepping back in.
“I’m coming.”
“No, you aren’t,” the conductor replied, blowing his whistle. “We’re on a schedule. We don’t have time for this.”
And the train chugged away. Grant watched it go then took Kate by the arm and led her to the car. He helped her in then climbed in the back seat. His uncle threw an arm around him.
“Look who the cat dragged in,” Margaret crowed when they walked, dripping, into the parlor of the Holbrook estate. She sniffed and said, “You smell like a wet dog.”
Stefan smiled at Grant and said, “Welcome home, Mr. Holbrook.”
Chapter 65
Kate
She had tried to talk to Grant the day after he missed the train. She couldn’t tell if it was his choice or if he had just let things happen.
He looked unhappy in the days following.
“I need to work some things out,” he said to her when she tried to confront him. He had one of the pamphlets that the fire department had given him about veterans and mental health. “I think I’m going to talk to a therapist.”
“That sounds like a wise decision,” she replied.
It was all she could do to leave him alone the next few weeks. She wasn’t looking for some declaration of love. She only wanted a text or even to see him. All she wanted was some acknowledgement from him that she existed.
