Chapter 3
DARWYNN
I paced back and forth until the afternoon came, and after another trip to the general store and cooking myself an early dinner, I was finally ready to walk over to Caspian’s house and knock on his door.
My heart was hammering against my chest as I walked along the gravel path that led to his house. The small home sat at the edge of the water, and the peeling paint and uneven porch gave it a kind of charm. It looked like the kind of place someone went to escape the world.
Clearly, Caspian King had succeeded in that.
I stood on the porch for a moment, staring at the door. My nerves threatened to talk me out of this, but I shook them off and knocked. Three sharp knocks, louder than I intended.
It was quiet at first, and I wondered if he’d even heard me. He must’ve. I basically hammered my knuckles against the door.
Heavy footsteps grew closer, followed by the creak of the door.
Caspian appeared in front of me, his frame filling the doorway. He was broad-shouldered and tall, his gray hair pushed back and tucked behind his ears. His brown eyes landed on me with suspicion, narrowing slightly as he crossed his strong arms over his chest.
How old was he again?
60?
For that age, he was still in incredible shape.
Muscular.
Handsome.
“Who are you?”
he asked roughly, his tone making it clear that whatever I said next had better be good.
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to meet his gaze.
Jesus Christ…Caspian King—Grandpa—is fucking handsome.
“My name is Darwynn,”
I said slowly, almost as if I wasn’t sure.
“Darwynn,”
he repeated, his voice flat. “That’s supposed to mean something to me?”
I hesitated. “Not yet. But I hoped you’d give me a few minutes to explain.”
His eyes moved over me, taking in my jeans and jacket and the faint nervousness I was trying to hide. “Let me guess,”
he said, his tone dripping with skepticism. “You’re one of Theresa’s nieces wanting an autograph. I told her not to tell anyone about me being here.”
I bit the inside of my cheek and linked my fingers behind my back. “Uh, no, I’m not related to Theresa.”
But to you, actually.
“Then why are you here?”
His voice was demanding, his gaze intense.
“I…”
My lips were pressed into a thin line as I weighed my options. Telling the truth or lying. I had played that game about five times in the past two days. “I’m Darwynn King. Your granddaughter.”
His facial expression changed instantly. Almost as if he had a realization.
His eyes wandered all over my face, then he shook his head. “I thought Julie had a son,”
he muttered.
“Why would you think that?”
His eyes narrowed. “Your name.”
“What about it?”
“It’s not exactly a girl’s name.”
He kept studying me, and I started to feel uncomfortable. “I heard about Julie having a kid, but I presumed she had a baby boy named Darw—”
His eyes narrowed again. “How is your name spelled?”
Does it matter?
To him, I guess.
“D-A-R-W-Y-N-N.”
“That’s a fucking obnoxious spelling,”
he muttered.
Tell me about it.
“Mom’s pretty creative. You can call me Wynnie, though.”
“Hm.”
His eyes didn’t leave my face. “And you’re strange looking, too.”
I raised a brow. “Excuse you?”
He scoffed as if I had been the one saying something rude about his appearance, and he waved a hand before turning back around to head inside. “Take off your shoes.”
“You just called me ugly!”
My feelings were slightly hurt.
“I did not call you ugly. Close the door on your way in.”
I stepped inside hesitantly, shutting the door behind me as Caspian’s deep voice ordered. The house was dimly lit, the curtains mostly drawn, but the faint smell of coffee and woodsmoke gave the place an oddly homey vibe. The furniture was mismatched and well-worn, and books and papers were scattered on nearly every surface.
It looked as if he kept busy.
Not in a way I thought he would.
Caspian didn’t wait for me to catch up to him. He stopped into the living room and dropped into the sagging armchair, gesturing vaguely toward the couch. “Sit. Talk. Whatever this is, make it quick.”
I sat down on the edge of the couch, my nerves still buzzing. Caspian’s sharp eyes were fixed on me, waiting, but his posture was casual, almost lazy, like he didn’t want to give me the satisfaction of knowing he cared at all about why I was there.
“You sure are strange looking.”
Again?
Damn, Grandpa.
“How so?”
I asked, not allowing myself to critique how I looked.
He studied me again, his eyes narrowing for a split second. He lifted his hand, waving it at me. “The eyes…”
“Heterochromia,”
I explained.
“I know what heterochromia is.”
“Then why are you acting like you’ve seen it for the first time?”
I challenged.
He didn’t react to that. He kept on studying me. “And the freckles. Strange pattern,”
he stated.
Because my freckles were only scattered on the right side of my face. The side on which my brown eye was.
“I’m aware.”
“Beautiful.”
My jaw dropped, and his eyes widened.
He didn’t mean to say that out loud.
But after the initial shock, it made me feel some type of way.
“Thank you.”
He cleared his throat and adjusted his posture. “So,”
he said, his tone flat. “What’s this about? Why are you here now?”
The emphasis was on now.
I took a breath. “I wanted to meet you. Mom…she never talked about you much. Well, when she did talk about you, it was only negative. I barely know anything about you except your name and a bit about your career.”
“Your mother has never been the sentimental type,”
Caspian muttered, reaching for a mug on the side table. He took a long sip, his eyes never leaving me. “What’s Julie got to do with this, anyway? She send you here?”
“No,”
I said quietly. “She doesn’t know I’m here. And we kinda had an argument before I decided to go on a road trip, so I don’t think she would actually care.”
She’d just be angry at me.
I thought I caught a flicker of something in his eyes for a moment. Disappointment, maybe. But it disappeared as quickly as it came. “Huh, figures.”
He leaned back in his chair, setting the mug down. “So, what? You just decided to track me down for kicks? How’d you do that? Nobody really knows I’m here. That’s why I like it.”
I shook my head. “It’s not like that at all. I was on a road trip, and two nights ago, I was ready to return home. Burlington, Vermont, is my home.”
“I was born there,”
he told me.
“I know. Saw it on Google.”
I pursed my lips.
He didn’t say another word, waiting for me to continue my story of how I ended up here.
“I was eating dinner at Lakeside Lodge—”
“In Sault Ste. Marie?”
“Yes. And I was talking to the waitress when you came up in the conversation. You came up because there were pictures of famous people on the wall. She said one actor didn’t want his picture on that wall. She told me it was you, and I lied about knowing you, hoping to have her tell me where you lived. She believed me that I didn’t know you—technically, I don’t—and, so, she told me you lived here. Hidden from the world. All alone.”
“I’m not alone.”
I liked to believe that, but he seemed pretty damn lonely to me.
“So, you’ve seen me now. Happy? Will you leave now?”
I couldn’t hide a grin.
He was charming, in a way.
“Happy that I finally got to meet you? Yes. Will I leave? No. I booked a tiny house by the camping area for two weeks.”
He sucked in a deep breath. I watched as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and rubbing his hands together. “Right.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“No.”
I raised a brow. “Theresa was right. You’re kind of an asshole.”
“Did she say that?”
I shrugged. “Maybe not with those exact words, but hers intended the same.”
A sigh left him, and he looked at me with furrowed brows. “What do you want to know, kid?”
“I would like to understand why…”
I trailed off, unsure how to phrase it without setting him off. Anything could trigger him, it seemed. “Why things ended up the way they did.”
His jaw tightened, and he let out a low laugh, though no humor existed. “Kid, you’re gonna have to be more specific than that. What things?”
He wasn’t making this easy, but I hadn’t expected him to. “Why did you and Mom stop talking? What was the real reason?”
Caspian’s expression darkened, and he looked away. His gaze shifted to the window. “That’s between me and Julie. It’s got nothing to do with you.”
Not directly. But it did shape Mom and, therefore, my relationship with her.
I was the one studying him now. His gaze was locked on the window.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to discuss it now. But…maybe someday?”
I asked, my voice filled with hope.
He didn’t respond, his fingers tapping on the chair's armrest. The silence stretched, and I wasn’t sure if he was ignoring me or just thinking about how to tell me to leave.
“I grew up wondering about you, then I stopped when I got older because you were never around,”
I said, filling the void. “Mom never really gave me answers. She’d just brush it off like it didn’t matter. Then, I stopped asking because I knew she wouldn’t give me an answer that would satisfy me. I’m glad I’m here now, though. I'm glad I finally got to meet you because I hope you’re the only family member I have left who will treat me with respect and love.”
I didn’t have a shitty childhood or anything. I just never had someone I could be close to. No family I could truly rely on. Even Mom wasn’t the kind of mother who would assure me I was loved. She did love me, of that I was sure, but she never told me.
Now, I didn’t want Caspian to give me everything I missed out on regarding love and affection. Frankly, that would be fucking weird since he was basically just a stranger.
But I still had hope that I could build a relationship with him, have him around, and maybe even try to get him and Mom back together.
I smiled gently when his eyes snapped to mine, his gaze sharp. “You think getting to know me will give you some big revelation about yourself? That’s not how this works, kid.”
“I don’t expect you to fix anything,”
I said quickly. “I just…I want to get to know my grandfather.”
Caspian shook his head and rubbed his hands over his face. “And what if I told you to fuck off right now and leave me the fuck alone?”
I shrugged. A sharp feeling stung my heart. “I’d respectfully keep my distance, but I wouldn’t leave because I already paid for the tiny house for the next two weeks.”
He laughed dryly, running his hands through his surprisingly full hair. “Stubborn. Just like Julie.”
I didn’t know if that was a compliment or an insult, but I let it slide.
There was silence again. He stared at me like he was trying to decide if I was worth the trouble. Just like Theresa had.
But for some reason, Theresa was scarier.
Finally, he shrugged. “You want to get to know me? Fine. But don’t expect much. I’m not who I used to be. I’m just a grumpy old man who likes his solitude.”
“I’ll take my chances,”
I said with a small smile.
Caspian scoffed, shaking his head. “We’ll see how long you last around me.”