He stumbled downstairs, fuming mad. He let Margot outside and gulped in the cool night air.
"What the hell," he muttered as Margot sniffed the air, then he started heading down the path to the ocean, the dog picking her way through the sand behind him.
There was a figure standing at the water's edge.
"Grant, you're not supposed to be out here."
His cousin turned to look at him. He seemed eerily calm.
"I'm not going to cast myself in the water to drown," he said.
"Are you okay?"
"It was just the buildup to Memorial Day, I guess. I knew it was going to be terrible. I've been so stressed lately. And now here it is." He gestured to the stars. "I feel like they're mocking me."
"We brought you some dinner."
"I'm not hungry."
"You should eat," Carter said, feeling uncomfortable. Gus came bounding back over to Grant from the crabs he had been chasing and scratched around Grant's feet in the sand.
"You know," Grant said, "I was really jealous of you when I first came here. Walter adores you; you were clearly his favorite. I was jealous of your life, the ease at which things happened for you."
"It's not easy. I'm pretty useless," Carter mumbled.
"Who told you that?"
"Allie. Well," he amended, "not in so many words. But she had to work for everything she has, and someone just handed my life to me. You had to work for everything too. People respect that. Allie respects that. She wants someone like you, not like me."
"Is that why she's not here now?" Grant asked.
Carter nodded unhappily.
"I thought your father might have driven her off."
"I think that was also part of it," Carter said.
"I don't think she doesn't want you. It's hard when you're in survival mode. You don't feel human. You feel like a rodent, looking for the next safe spot to sleep and whatever bit of food or money you can scrounge up."
"But now she has a job and somewhere to live."
"It takes a while for that feeling ofeverything is about to crash down around meto leave you. We're handing out job offers in a couple months. Once she has an offer and a solid career path, she'll probably feel better. Just don't ignore her. Contrary to popular belief, it's actually really hard to find a girl who is always in your corner. I was very lucky with Kate. I think you can be lucky with Allie."
49
Allie
It was hard to be in the city in summer, Allie thought. Her apartment didn't have air conditioning; it didn't even have a ceiling fan.
Then there was Carter. He was acting different, more responsible, more like a gentleman, she thought. He was proactive about working on their special internship project as well as the other work from their department that they were assigned. He took her out for lunch and insisted on paying, and he insisted on walking her to the Olive and Twist after work.
"I really like being around you when you're like this," she finally told Carter after several weeks of model behavior from him.
He grinned and kissed her outside of the bar.
"I'll see you tomorrow," he said. "Have fun at work! Don't sleep with your customers!"
She laughed and waved him off.
