Chapter One
“How many times do you want me to say I’m sorry?” Grant asked, staring out of his office window. “I can’t make an airline put another flight on. I justcan’t.”
He hated himself for forgetting all about Thanksgiving, but he’d been so buried under work lately that he’d been wearing the same shirt for three days. He wasn’t coping with anything.
“I’m not mad,” Julia said, sighing on the other end of the line. “Just disappointed. And it’s not me you need to apologize to.”
“I know,” Grant flopped down at his desk, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Do you think she’ll talk to me?”
“She’s dying to talk to you,” Julia said. She was trying to sound disapproving, but there was still fondness in her tone. Still warmth.
That was why it’d been so easy to love her. She was the most caring, patient person Grant had ever met. Even with him. Even though he was kind of a walking disaster sometimes.
“Are you gonnaletme talk to her?” Grant asked.
He knew Julia would never, ever take his child away to punish him, but he was on edge. He wanted to be as patient as she was, as composed and able to face anything without so much as blinking, but he didn’t have it in him.
Stress had left Grant going grey at forty-two, Julia could still have played a teenager on TV at the same age. Nothing ever seemed to touch her.
Not because she didn’t care. Because she had better coping skills than Grant could ever hope for.
“Of course. I’m just letting you squirm,” Julia said. “I’ll put her on.”
Grant breathed a sigh of relief, tapping his fingers against the dark wood of his desk, the leather of his chair creaking under him as he shifted his weight.
Explaining to Julia was one thing. She understood how the adult world worked.
Explaining to Hope…
“Daddy?”
“Hey, baby,” Grant said, a smile spreading across his face as he heard his daughter’s voice. As nervous as he was about how she was going to take the news, it was impossible not to be happy to talk to her.
Hope was the person Grant loved most in the entire world, which he figured was how it should be.
“Mom says you need to tell me something,” she said.
Grant wasn’t sure whether or not that was intended to help him, but it was good not to have to bring it up on his own or dance around it.
“I need to apologize to you,” Grant said. “I can’t make it to Thanksgiving this year. I’m sorry, I screwed up, and I will make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“Good apology,” Hope responded.
Despite his own disappointment, he found himself smiling again. Julia had been big on teaching Hope how to apologize, and how apologies were supposed to sound.
She’d taught Grant how to apologize, too. She’d put up with alotof his crap. More than he deserved.
“You’re not mad?” Grant asked, unsure how to react now that Hope didn’t seem upset.
“I wanted to see you,” Hope said, her voice tiny.
Sometimes, he forgot she was only twelve. Other times, it felt like yesterday that she’d been small enough to hold with one arm.
“I know, honey. Believe me, I wanted to see you, too,” Grant responded, tears stinging at his eyes. Hope was the person Grant loved most in the world, and he missed her so much.
The last eighteen months had been tough. Grant had been so used to living close by, to being able to see Hope every day.
He’d also been used to having people around him to remind him of things like Thanksgiving coming up, or to bring him a homemade lasagna when they got the feeling he hadn’t had time to eat properly for a while.
