Chapter 13 #2
He strode to the restaurant as the driver popped out from behind the wheel. The din of the restaurant enveloped him as he stepped inside, scanning the place for Julia. He didn’t find her anywhere. Were they not coming here?
A waitress buzzed by him with a tray filled to the brim. “Oh, hi, are you looking for Julia?”
“Yes,” he said, surprised the woman remembered him. Then again, he was the most hated man in Harbor Cove. Everyone probably knew him.
“She’s out back with Luke.” The girl nodded toward a door in the back. “Just go out through there.”
“Thanks,” he said before he skirted the tables, intent on finding her. He pushed through the door at the back, the cool evening air smacking his face, but not as hard as the image in front of him.
Julia and Luke stood near a sailboat. With glassy eyes, she stared up at Luke. He held her cheek in his hand, closing the gap between them as he spoke her name.
The scene twisted his stomach into a knot. “Julia?”
She snapped her eyes toward him, her surprise obvious. “Grant!”
What was going on between them? Julia seemed upset, but was that because she desperately wanted to be with him or was overwhelmed by what was happening?
“Everything okay here?” Grant asked.
She swiped at a tear that had fallen to her cheek as she nodded. “Yes.” She faced Luke. “I need to go.”
She hurried down the dock to meet him. “Hi. I didn’t realize you were coming.”
Grant narrowed his eyes at Luke before he flicked his gaze back to her and took her hand. “I wanted to give you some time with your sister, but I didn’t want you to think we didn’t miss you at dinner.”
She sniffled, seeming desperate to hide the fact that she’d been near tears as she led him to the parking lot. “Oh, I hope you had a nice dinner.”
“Well, we missed you. Are you okay?”
She sucked in a breath as she plastered on a smile that never reached her eyes and nodded. “Yes. I’m fine. Are you heading back to the house or does Sierra still have more planned?”
“Oh, uh, Kyle and Sierra are both back at the house. I just figured I’d stop by and see how your night was going.”
She stared at him for a moment, her brows knitting before she nodded. “Right. Umm, well, I was just going to head back.”
“I have the car,” he said motioning to the driver.
“Oh, I have mine, so I’ll just–”
“I’ll go with you.” He told the driver to head back home.
“All right,” she said with a nod as she led him to her car.
“So,” he said as he climbed inside, “do you hate the Porsche?” The rough, utilitarian nature of the vehicle, completely different from what he’d bought her, made him wonder how well he actually knew his wife.
She offered him a chuckle as she fired the engine. “No, why would I?”
Grant patted the sturdy, utilitarian vehicle’s dash. “This is a little…different.”
“Grant, I couldn’t drive that Porsche here. It’d never make it through the snow.”
“Oh, right.”
“So, umm,” he said as he shifted in the firm seat, “how was the dinner?”
“Oh, it was good. Very fun.”
He wanted to pry more. He wanted to know what was going on with Luke when he arrived.
“You could have come, you know?”
“Ah, I wanted to give you some time with Alicia. And also, she hates me, so I didn’t want to make the situation uncomfortable.”
“She doesn’t hate you,” Julia claimed.
“Really? Someone ought to tell her that.”
Julia shifted her gaze to him as the Jeep’s engine ratcheted higher to climb the hill. “Ally can be…difficult. It’s because she’s the big sister. Especially since our parents died, she feels like it’s all on her to protect me.”
“Right. Well, it’s nice that your sister is very protective of you. I just wish she didn’t feel like she had to protect you from me.”
“I’m sorry,” she said as the house came into sight.
“Well, I’m glad you got to spend some time with her.”
She pulled into the driveway with the other car nowhere in sight.
“Did we lose the driver?” Grant asked as they slid out of the car.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know about the shortcut on Bucks Road,” she said as she strode to the house.
“Do you want a drink?”
“Oh, no, I’m still swimming from all those Marina Mists,” she said.
The mention of the special drink soured the little bit of progress he’d felt they made during the drive home.
“I’m just going to head upstairs. See you tomorrow.”
“Right,” he said, his disappointment ramping up as she climbed the stairs away from him. “Julia.”
“Yeah?” She twisted to face him.
“Are you sure everything’s okay?”
That haunted look flashed through her eyes before she plastered on that fake smile again. “Yes.”
She did her best to widen the smile that looked like a lie to him.
“Okay, good night, Julia.”
“Good night.”
He shuffled into the living room, pouring himself another bourbon.
She’d lied to him. Something had been going on between Luke and her when he’d arrived.
Something that had brought tears to her eyes.
She’d brushed it off. Was it too painful for her to talk about?
Or was it because she wasn’t ready to admit to him that Luke still held her heart?
What had Kyle said yesterday? She’d never gotten over him and had left Harbor Cove because of it.
He downed another drink and poured a double. “No, a piece of her would always love him,” he murmured to himself.
But did her heart belong to him?
He recalled their shared laughter as they watched a movie together, a stark contrast to the silence of the house now. The memory, once a source of warmth and encouragement for their relationship, now twisted like a knife in his gut.
The door opened, and the driver wandered inside, setting the key on the table before he wandered to his quarters.
Grant settled in the armchair, his eyes on the moonlit trees outside. Why had he gone to the restaurant? The image of his wife with another man was now burned into his memory.
Another question shoved its way to the front of his mind. What would have happened if he hadn’t shown up when he did?
The idea sent him back to the bottle of bourbon for another double.
He’d never faced a situation like this before.
More than one of his wives had sought the company of another man.
He’d been furious, of course. But the fury had only driven him to call Mitchell Caldwell and have divorce papers drawn up.
He’d had no interest in competing with whoever they’d invited into their bed. He hadn’t cared that much.
Julia was different.
The mere sight of her with Luke gutted him. And her refusal to confide in him made it worse. She’d been honest and open with him so many times before, but this time, she shut him out completely.
He polished off another drink, pouring another. Was Kyle right? Should he do something? But what?
Could he discredit the man? Set him up to look like he was with another woman? It might break her heart…but it would ruin her relationship with Luke.
He swallowed another glassful of liquor as he considered it. Maybe a simple confrontation with the man would do it. And he knew just where to find him.
He poured one last drink and downed it before he left the living room behind and grabbed the key for the car.
The cool night air revived him a little after the multiple drinks. He slid behind the wheel of the car, rehearsing the speech he’d give the man.
“Leave Julia alone. She’s my wife.”
He imagined the man scoffing at him as he told him Julia loved him.
“You can’t give her what I can,” he mumbled as he navigated down the road, swerving the wheel on a curve.
As he hit a straight piece of the road, red and blue lights flared behind him.
“Oh, great,” he grumbled as the siren wailed.
His shoulder slumped as he pulled to the side. The police vehicle rolled to a stop, lights still revolving on top.
He sincerely hoped he could talk himself out of this or that he hadn’t had enough bourbon to put him over the legal limit.
However, he wondered about that in this town.
The officer strode to his window slowly, each calculated footstep heightening Grant’s anxiety.
The officer’s bright flashlight, more like an interrogator’s beam, bore into the car’s interior.
He held a hand up against it, squinting until he recognized Ethan.
His heart sank as he spotted his brother-in-law.
The man shook his head, clicking his tongue as he stepped back and waved his hand. “Step out of the car, please.”
“Is that necessary?”
“I said step out.”
Ethan stepped back as Grant let his head smack against the headrest behind him. This was the last thing he needed. And possibly the final nail in his coffin with Julia.