Chapter 27
Grant’s jaw tightened as he followed the departure of both his wife and his son upstairs. The idea of Kyle back in Harrington House still made him uneasy. He was a wild card, and his behavior during Julia’s bout of amnesia had not only sent their relationship spiraling backward several steps but had made it clear that he wanted Julia for himself.
He felt the same way about her, and he couldn’t fault Kyle for falling for her, but he did blame him for undermining their relationship at every turn.
Her recovery was the only bright light in the mess of their current lives. His heart swelled with relief and hope. Her remembering their shared moments was more than a medical victory, but a rekindling of their connection, and a promise to a return of normalcy, whatever that was at this point.
He’d enjoyed working closely with Julia through their investigations in DG Industries. His lips curled into a smile as he remembered their sleuthing at DG’s headquarters, and the piecing together of the clues they’d found there.
They could recapture those moments as they continued to track down DG’s backers. He vowed to give her some time to rest and recover, then broach the subject.
He gave one final glance up the stairs, the smile faded from his lips as he spotted Lydia sashaying down the stairs as she glanced over her shoulder. “Was that Caleb with his luggage?”
“Kyle,” Grant grumbled. “And yes, it was.”
Lydia’s lips twisted into a devilish grin. “Moving him back into the house, Grant? Are you sure that’s wise? He is every bit as handsome as you, though a good deal younger.”
“Please don’t start with me, Lydia. I don’t want to hear it.”
“Don’t want to hear what? That your son and your wife are–”
“Doing nothing. He’s here to take care of her…medically. He is a doctor.”
“Oh, I’ll bet he’s taking good care of her. And what medical issue is the poor dear suffering from this time? She seems to be a walking accident.”
Grant heaved a sigh. “Nothing. It’s precautionary. She…fell and hit her head.”
“Again? She is accident-prone. How did that happen?”
“It doesn’t matter. The only thing that does is despite the fall, she got her memory back.”
“All of them?”
Grant strode to his office, a sanctuary of dark wood and leather, and crossed to the drink cart. The afternoon light filtering through the heavy curtains cast long shadows, mirroring the tension between him and Lydia. “Yep. All of them.”
“Really?” Lydia trailed inside behind him.
He poured himself a bourbon, taking a long sip of the amber-colored liquid. It finally tasted like a sweet celebration instead of a bitter salve for the wounds that had been inflicted on them since they’d married. “Yes, really, Lydia. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”
“Bad news?” she asked as he spun to face her. “More like convenient news.”
“Convenient?”
“Yes. Just when she pushed her luck a little too far with Junior, her memories come flooding back so she can worm her way back into your heart.”
Grant rolled his eyes at the statement. “That’s not true. Although, I know you were relishing Julia’s memory loss and the trouble it was creating. Which reminds me, when are you moving out?”
“Moving out? What do you mean?”
“I mean you’re overstaying your welcome here. Your antics while we were dealing with Julia’s medical problems weren’t appreciated. I’d really like you out by the end of the month.”
“End of the month? Grant! How could you do this to me?” Lydia’s features pinched as she feigned upset.
“Oh, stop,” Grant said as he strode to his desk and eased into his chair. “I’m certain you’ll find something suitable and enjoy life without all of us badgering you at meals.”
“I just can’t believe I’m being thrown out of my own house and asked to leave my own family behind.”
“This isn’t your house,” Grant said with a sigh. “It’s mine. And Julia’s. And Sierra’s.”
“And that bastard son of yours? He’s not being asked to move out.”
Grant sipped his drink again, his fingers tightening around his glass. Lydia’s behavior, expected and typical, still incensed him. “He’s here temporarily like you were supposed to be. You were never supposed to stay here permanently. You know that. I’m hardly asking for anything unreasonable.”
Lydia paced the room like a caged animal, her features sharp and angry. The afternoon sun cast a harsh light across her features, deepening the lines etched into her face. “And if I don’t find anything suitable before the month is out?”
“Move back into the hotel.”
Lydia’s features twisted, and her fingers curled into fists. The calculating glint in Lydia’s eyes was unmistakable. It hinted at something more than familiar discord, something darker. It was a silent alarm, subtle yet insistent, that a storm was coming. “I cannot believe you, Grant Harrington! You are a horrible man. And soon, you’re going to lose everything dear to you. Including your precious Julia!”
She spun on a heel and stormed from the office. He couldn’t help but sense an unspoken threat in her parting words.
Grant leaned back against the chair’s supple leather with another sip of his bourbon. His ex-wife was a storm that could ruin anyone’s day. Her threats, laced with venom, were a harbinger of bad things to come. But with Julia’s recent recovery, no one could rain on his parade.
“Something wrong with Lydia?” Kyle asked from the doorway, his expression a mix of skepticism and annoyance.
“Isn’t there always?” Grant flicked his gaze to his son again. “Everything okay with Julia? You didn’t leave her alone, did you?”
“Just for a minute. She asked for the cookies she never got at my place.”
Grant shook his head with a soft smile. “That woman and her junk food.” The smile faded and he set his glass down. “Oh, unless that was just a distraction to get you out of the room so she could do something she shouldn’t.”
Kyle waved a cell phone in the air. “I took her phone. I know she has the computer, but I don’t plan on being gone that long. I thought you might like to know she seems fine.”
Grant arched an eyebrow at his son’s latest coup with the phone. He’d done the same thing. Maybe Julia was right and they had more in common than he realized. “That’s good. Hopefully, that holds.”
“I’m going to keep a close eye on her. Don’t worry, we had a discussion about what happened, and she seems fine with that, too.”
“Julia is more forgiving than she ought to be,” Grant said.
Kyle pressed his lips together at the words, his jaw tensing.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that to come across as confrontational.”
Kyle heaved a sigh as he leaned against the door jamb. “I guess I had it coming.”
“No, you didn’t,” Grant said as he rose and crossed to pour himself another drink. “I know we have our issues, but I’d like to put them aside for Julia’s sake. She’s had a rough couple of days.”
“I appreciate that,” Kyle said. “Julia’s wellbeing is my first priority.”
Grant’s jaw clenched as he considered his second priority: winning his wife over. “Mine, too. And I really don’t think she needs the added stress of us arguing constantly.”
“No, not with the other threats still looming which I’m sure she will be onto the moment we let her.”
Grant’s eyes narrowed as he twisted to face his son. He’d been spending a good bit of time investigating DG Industries, and he’d even provided them with a few clues that had led to information. Useless information, so far, but still information.
He hated that Julia had been investigating with Kyle’s help, but now he began to wonder if Kyle had some involvement. Kyle had come to town looking to destroy him. He’d been in contact with the people who had grabbed Julia and Sierra.
Then he’d miraculously rescued them, worming his way into Julia’s empathetic heart and allowing her to provide him direct access to them. Had he manipulated her? Was he the driving force behind DG Industries?
“Yes, I’m sure she will be. And what do you think she’s going to find?”
Kyle shrugged. “I don’t know. Who did she think was behind it when she called you that night?”
“What was she working on then? You discussed it with her, didn’t you?”
“She was using Christopher Metcalfe to find more information. She didn’t trust him, and thought he’d lead us to something.”
Grant’s fingers tightened around his glass as Kyle referred to them as “us.” “Christopher Metcalfe. She didn’t like him from the time he was here for a dinner party with Sierra.”
“I can look into him if you’d like.”
“No,” Grant said with a slice of his hand through the air. “The last thing we need is you getting arrested again. Mitch says he can get the charges against you dismissed as long as you stay out of trouble.”
“But–”
“No,” Grant said, his voice gaining his usual air of authority. “The last thing we need is you calling Julia in the middle of the night from jail again. And you will. Julia said you’re terrible at this stuff.”
He heaved a sigh. “I’m not terrible at it.”
“Apparently, you are, Kyle. You got caught once already. And according to Julia, you would have gotten caught the night you went together if it wasn’t for her stake out skills. Which I still don’t know how she got.”
“Her sister’s a cop,” Kyle answered, “but beyond that, all she ever says about her past is ‘it’s complicated.’”
“Hmm.” Grant glanced into his glass, making a mental note to ask her about it and see if she’d tell him anything different.
A pounding of heels made his stomach clench as he wondered if Lydia was returning for round two.
“Hello? Move out of the way, Kyle, I need to talk to Daddy!” Sierra shouted.
The tension between his shoulders eased as he heard his daughter’s voice.
“You’d better get Julia those cookies before she decides to take matters into her own hands.”
“I will,” Kyle said. “Sierra, always a pleasure.”
“Shut up, Kyle,” she said as she skirted around him into the office and closed the door behind her.
“Well, you don’t seem happy despite the latest turn of events,” Grant said as he collapsed into his chair.
“I’m thrilled. Sooooo thrilled. Julia is home, she remembers me–and you–and now we get Kyle back in the house.”
“That’s temporary.”
“Uh-huh, right. I’ll bet Julia mysteriously continues to have health issues that keep Kyle here monitoring her. Did he pay that doctor? I’m going to look into this.” She paced the floor back and forth in front of his desk.
“Sierra, relax. Julia’s back and she remembers all of us. That’s the important thing.”
“Is it?” She whipped to face him. “Now that Julia has almost died, is that enough for you to do what you need to do to make sure she stays here?”
Grant sucked in a breath at the words. “I intend to, Sierra, but we need to let Julia settle back in. A lot’s happened.”
“Yeah! Like Kyle cozying up to her every chance he gets. Daddy! Please stop putting this off.”
“Sierra, I’m handling it, but it’s not that simple.”
“Make it that simple. I don’t care if you have to pay her for the rest of her life to stay here. I want Julia here.” She stamped a foot on the floor, her voice pleading. “Daddy! It’s not just about you. You need to step up for all of us.”
“I do, too, Sierra. You know that. And I will make sure that happens. When the time is right, and I know we’ll get the win.”
Sierra heaved a sigh. “Fine. Just make sure she doesn’t leave. And please get rid of Mom. She’s such a pain.”
“Believe me, I know,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “I’ve already asked her to leave by the end of the month.”
Sierra grinned at him. “Yay, thank you, Daddy!”
She skirted around the desk and kissed his cheek. “I’m so happy we’re a family again.”
“So am I, Sierra. So am I.”
“I gotta run. Tell Julia we’ll go shopping soon.”
“I will,” he said as his daughter raced out the door, darting past Worthington.
He crossed to the office and stepped inside. “Mr. Harrington, anything I can get for you?”
He lifted his glass in the air. “No, I’m doing just fine.”
“Pleased to have Mrs. Harrington home again?”
“And very pleased that she does not just remember our arguments.” Grant’s lips curled again as he sipped his drink. “Have a drink, Worthington. Help me celebrate.”
“I don’t mind if I do, sir,” Worthington said as he crossed to the drink cart and poured himself a brandy. “I feel quite happy to have the household back to normal.”
“So do I, Worthington,” he said as he kicked his feet up on the desk. “So do I.”
Worthington settled into a chair across from Grant. “I imagine Mrs. Harrington is quite pleased, too.”
“I’m sure. I plan to check on her in a little bit. She’s badgering Kyle for–”
“Cookies, sir, yes, I passed them along to Dr. Carter already.”
Grant chuckled. “Yes.” He let his head thud softly against the chair’s high back. “You know, Worthington, for the first time in a long while, I think things may actually work out.”
“That’s more like it, sir. You were rather uncertain before, but I’m pleased to see a better outlook now.”
Grant smiled at him as he raised his glass. “It’s much better, Worthington. Much, much better.”
Grant sipped his bourbon, letting the liquid dance across his tongue. He had nearly another year with his wife. And plenty of time to convince her to stay longer. With any luck, this would be the turning point in his life.
He leaned back in his chair, gazing out the window, lost in thought. The road ahead for the Harrington family was fraught with challenges, but for the first time in a long while, he felt a flicker of hope. A hope that could mend the frayed edges of their delicate tapestry and emerge stronger, together.