Chapter 26
CHAPTER 26
JULIA
J ulia stared up at the rooftop over thirty stories in the air above her and shivered. She’d nearly toppled over the edge less than an hour ago. Her stomach still hadn’t untied itself from the knot it’d been in when Grant had pulled her back.
“Are you cold, Julia?” Grant asked as he tugged his jacket off and slid it around her.
“A little, thanks.”
“Of course.” He rubbed her arm as the paramedics continued to clean the wounds she’d sustained.
“Really, I’m fine,” she told them.
“You really need to let professionals make those calls, Julia,” Kyle answered as he sidled up to them, checking the vitals they’d taken on her. “Not loving this heart rate. It’s a smidge high.”
“I’m sorry my heart rate was a little fast after Lydia nearly killed me.”
“Oh, please don’t say those words. It’s too soon,” Grant said with a huff.
“Sorry. But I’m alive thanks to you,” she said as she smiled up at him.
If it hadn’t been for his fast thinking, she may very well have pitched right over the side of the building. They would have been scraping her off the sidewalk inside of cleaning her scrapes and worrying about her fast heart rate.
“Still, we should keep an eye on this, Julia,” Kyle answered before he held up the flash drive. “And this.”
“I’ll take that,” Grant answered as he snatched it from his son’s fingers. “Thanks.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Oh, please, no. I don’t want to spend a night in the hospital.”
“Julia,” Kyle argued, “I’d rather have you there and safe than something happening to you.”
“I’m fine.”
“Her heart rate is a little lower now, doc. Those vitals are from right after we were on scene.”
“See?” she said, giving him a look with raised eyebrows. “I’m fine.”
“It’s still higher than normal, Julia. Can we get a constant heart monitor on her, please?”
Julia frowned at him, her lower lip jutting out as the paramedics worked to attach the monitor. She didn’t want to spend a night in the hospital. After everything that had unfolded, she wanted to stretch out in bed.
Her forehead pinched as she realized it would be the final night she’d spend in that bed. Her contract ended the next day, and with Lydia in custody, they’d done what they’d set out to do.
Kyle’s voice pulled her back to reality. “Yeah, it’s spiking again.”
“Because you’re making this big fuss.” The monitor beeped faster as she pleaded her case.
Kyle flicked his eyebrows up and glanced at her. “Look who’s getting upset.”
“Yes, I’m upset. You’re threatening me.”
“I’m hardly threatening you, Julia. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”
“So, do I. If there’s anything wrong, I want you checked out,” Grant said.
Her heart rate soared higher as she heaved a sigh. “You two picked the worst time to agree with each other.”
“Consider it progress,” Kyle said with a grin. “Now, get comfy, because you get to ride in the ambulance again.”
She let her head slump back between her shoulders. Before she could protest, Sierra raced from the hotel, pushing her way through the crowd with James behind her. “Julia? Julia!”
Sierra hurried to her side, throwing her arms around her neck and pulling Julia into a tight embrace. “Thank goodness you’re okay! Someone said my mother tried to throw you off the roof. And we were trapped inside the ballroom on lockdown. They wouldn’t let us out. I kept telling them you were my stepmother, and I had to get to you, but they were completely horrible about it.”
“It’s okay, Sierra. I’m fine.”
Sierra didn’t let go of her, and Julia rubbed her back.
“I’m okay.”
Sierra pulled back from her. “Yeah? Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“But she’s going to the hospital anyway. She’s got that high heart rate again,” Kyle answered.
Sierra plopped onto the gurney next to her. “What? Is something wrong?”
“No,” Julia said with a shake of her head. “Just precautionary.”
“Well, I’m going to go home and change and meet you there. And I’m staying with you all night, okay?”
“You don’t have to do that,” Julia said with a squeeze of her stepdaughter’s hand.
“I know. But I want to.” She rose from the gurney and kissed Julia’s cheek. “Daddy, I’ll see you at the hospital, okay?”
“Okay, baby,” he said before he kissed her forehead. “I’m going to stay with Julia.”
“Mr. Harrington?” a voice called as Sierra and James threaded through the crowd to seek their limo ride home. “Could I get a statement from you before you leave the scene?”
“Can we do that another time?”
“It’s fine,” Julia said. “I’m fine. And I’m not going anywhere except to the hospital, so go ahead. Get it over with.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ll stay with her,” Kyle said.
Grant’s eyes shifted between them. Julia gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m fine, go ahead.”
His eyes lingered on her for another moment before he took a few steps away with the officer.
“That was too close of a call, Julia,” Kyle said. “Again.”
She sucked in a breath, the frightening scene flashing through her mind again. “I know. I’m glad it’s over, though. Lydia is behind bars. It’s finally over.”
She stared into space as her mind processed the words. So was her marriage. Everything was over.
She tugged her eyes up to Kyle’s face and plastered on a smile. “Thank you for your help with all of this.”
“You’re welcome, Julia. I would do anything to help you.”
She pouted at him. “Including put me in the hospital. Is there really no way out of that?”
“I’d rather have you monitored continuously,” he answered as a shadow crossed in front of them.
She shifted her gaze to find Luke eyeing her, his features pinched. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, her stomach twisting again. “Yes, I’m fine.”
Kyle arched an eyebrow as he glanced at her heart rate monitor.
“Stop it,” she said before he could comment. “Can you give us a minute?”
“I’m not comfortable with–”
“Kyle, please.”
Kyle’s jaw tightened as he shifted his gaze between the two of them before he finally nodded. “Fine. Just a few minutes, though. And don’t get her too excited. Her heart rate is still too elevated.”
Luke followed Kyle’s departure before he took a few steps closer to Julia. “Is that true? Is there something wrong?”
Julia shook her head. “He just worries too much. This happened a few times before. And after a good night’s sleep, I’m always fine. I just wish I was going to get that good night’s sleep in a real bed, not a hospital bed.”
“Maybe that’s for the best, though. You’ve been through a lot…not just tonight.”
The ordeal in Maine months ago had been a frightening close call, too. Her mind stretched back to it and the events leading up to it. She gazed into his dark eyes, knowing they needed to talk. They both needed closure.
When she’d walked away from Maine, they hadn’t spoken about it. Instead, he’d shown up on her doorstep months later, a changed man, a man vying for her heart.
As much as she wanted to avoid it, they needed to have a conversation about that. She sucked in a deep breath as she pressed her lips together. “We need to talk.”
He let his gaze fall to the ground. “I don’t like that look or that tone.”
“I’m sorry,” she answered with a shrug of one shoulder.
“The last time I heard it, you left me in that dock in Harbor Cove. You walked out of my life, and when you walked back in, you were married to another man.”
“I’m sorry about how that happened, Luke, I really am. That was…unfair.”
“It’s in the past, Julia.”
She stared at him as she forced the next words through her lips. “So are we, Luke.”
He puckered his lips, refusing to meet her gaze. “I don’t feel that way, Julia.”
She heaved a sigh, her forehead pinching. “I know. I’m sorry. But we just…don’t work.”
“That’s not true,” he said, finally looking at her as he shook his head.
“It is.”
“It’s not,” he insisted. “Julia, we worked for a really long time until you left.”
“I left for a reason, Luke. I left because if I stayed, we both would have ended up unhappy. Me for staying there and never trying to make my life bigger than what it was, and you once you realized I was unhappy.”
“You love Harbor Cove. You love the sea, you love the town, you love your family. Why would you be unhappy?”
“Because, Luke, I’m not…” She desperately tried to formulate her thoughts into words. When she’d left Maine behind again, she’d known she likely wouldn’t return to her life there again. An entirely new world had opened up to her in New Orleans, and she’d built real connections. They had been life-changing. “I’m not the same person I was when I left. I’ve changed. I’ve grown.”
“So, have I. That’s what you wanted isn’t it?”
She lowered her gaze to her lap. “No, Luke. I never wanted you to change. But that doesn’t mean we fit together. There’s a reason we never got married, a reason we never committed to each other.”
He heaved a sigh. “And that’s it? That’s the final word?”
She glanced up at him, tilting her head. “Come on, Luke. Answer honestly. Are you happy? Are you happy with your new life?”
He chewed his lower lip as he flicked his gaze into the night sky.
“Or are you dying to get back to Harbor Cove? To do what you do best? Running your tour boat and your restaurant?”
His shoulders slumped, and she shifted to catch his eye. “I loved my life in Harbor Cove. I…”
“Then you should go back to it. You shouldn’t have to change. Don’t you see that that’s the reason we don’t fit?”
Luke heaved a sigh as he took a few steps closer to her, his hand reaching to caress her cheek. “I don’t see why we can’t have both. We’ve both changed. But we’re still the same people who fell in love years ago.”
“I can’t, Luke. I’m sorry.” She grabbed his hand in hers. “A part of me will always love you, but we don’t fit.”
He heaved a sigh as he bobbed his head. “A part of me will always love you, too. I…I hope you find your happy.”
She smiled up at him, tears glistening in her eyes. “You too.”
He leaned forward to kiss her cheek. “Take care, Julia.”
“Goodbye, Luke.”
His hand lingered on hers for another moment before he finally let her go, disappearing into the crowd surrounding them. She licked her lips as she blew out a long sigh, blinking away the tears she didn’t want to explain to Kyle.
She fussed with Grant’s jacket around her shoulders as she breathed a shaky breath.
“Hey, you okay?” Kyle asked as he returned and checked her heart rate again.
“Yeah, I’m good.” She plastered on a smile as they prepared her for transport to the hospital.
The flurry of activity that descended upon her as she arrived allowed her mind to focus on something else. Before she knew it, she was rolled into a room to be monitored for the night.
With the events earlier in the night, she found herself nodding off quickly. By the following morning, her heart rate had returned to normal, and she was released in the early afternoon.
When she stepped inside Harrington House this time, though, everything felt different. The contract tying her and Grant together ended today. It had been a long two years, but they’d done it.
“How about a drink?” Grant asked as she froze in the foyer.
“Uh, sure,” she said as he guided her to his study.
Her steps seemed slow and plodding. She assumed they’d take care of whatever business they had to. She prepared herself for what was about to happen as he poured her a brandy and a bourbon for himself.
“To us,” he said as he handed it off to her.
She smiled at him without a word before she took a sip. “We did it.”
“Yes, we did. Lydia is in jail. The board is no longer looking to oust me. Sierra is happy. We did it.”
Silence stretched between them for longer than she preferred. “Just in time, too,” she said.
“Oh, right, yes. The contract. Uh, about that…”
She held her breath as she waited for him to say…anything.
“We should celebrate. Uh, go to the cabin for the weekend.”
She hesitated, unsure what he was doing. She didn’t feel like celebrating.
“Uh, the thing is…with everything going on the payment processing is delayed. It won’t be through until Monday, so, this is the perfect opportunity to take some time to celebrate. And then when we get back, everything will be settled.”
“Right,” she answered, her forehead crinkling. She didn’t want to go to the cabin for the weekend. She didn’t think she could stand it.
“I think we deserve it. And you could write. Uninterrupted. And this time, James and Sierra won’t surprise us.”
She smiled at him again as the memory of their first experience at the cabin flitted through her mind.
“What do you say?” He grinned at her, his excitement obvious. With his freedom on the horizon, she imagined he was on cloud nine.
He wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She forced a bigger smile onto her face and agreed. “Sure.”
“Perfect. It’ll be a great trip.”
She couldn’t blame him for being excited. He’d finally won his freedom. Not just from her, but from DG Industries.
He swallowed the rest of his bourbon and set the glass on his desk. “We’ll leave tomorrow morning.”
“Okay,” she said.
“And now, I hate to do this, but I need to run to the office. I’ve got the paperwork to sign with Victor for the–”
“Yeah, of course. For the Solaris project. You closed the deal.”
“I did,” he said, his grin still beaming from his face. “With everything that happened last night, we never got the chance to talk about it, but I closed it. And thanks to your quick thinking, I still have those plans.”
“I’m really glad,” she said, her grin coming easier than it had before.
His eyes lingered on her for another moment before he finally looked away. “Well, we can talk about all of our wins this weekend.”
“I’ll walk you out,” she said as she set down her glass.
He strode from the office toward the door with her trailing behind. He twisted to face her, the grin still lingering on his features. “See you later.”
“Goodbye, Grant,” she said with a fleeting smile as he stepped out the door.
She blew out a long breath as she climbed the stairs, her footsteps as heavy as her heart. She didn’t want to go to the cabin, didn’t want to spend the weekend saying goodbye. She hated long goodbyes.
After everything they’d been through, she couldn’t handle celebrating their wins before they parted ways. It was too much.
She pushed into her bedroom, swallowing hard as she scanned the space. Her heart ached, but this wasn’t time for her to second guess.
She dug her suitcase out of the closet and found the few things she’d come to Harrington House with, stuffing them inside.
With her things packed, she went into her office and sat down at her desk. No, not her desk, her mind corrected, Grant’s desk.
Her eyes fell onto their wedding photo. It seemed like a cruel joke now. She forced her eyes away from it, digging four sheets of paper from the drawer and grabbing her pen.
She penned four separate notes, folding them and scrawling each person’s name on the front. She rose, her eyes falling on her packed suitcase as she resisted her decision. The thought of spending a weekend at the cabin, only to say goodbye, tore at her heart. It wasn’t just the farewell to Grant, which would be hard enough, but to an entire chapter of her life. A clean break now would be less painful for both of them.
She left the first on Sierra’s pillow and the second on Kyle’s nightstand before she dragged her suitcase downstairs, left one on the foyer table for Worthington, then slipped into Grant’s office.
As she set his note on his desk, she blew out a long, shaky breath. From her trembling hands, she tugged the rings she wore and set them next to the note. Her former family flitted through her mind as she stared down at them, the afternoon light catching the diamond and making it sparkle. Sierra had been like a daughter to her. Kyle had grown into an unexpected ally. And Grant…their relationship was a tapestry of complex emotions, but she’d miss him.
Dragging her suitcase behind her, she felt each click of the wheels as they echoed across the marble floor, each one a pang to her heart. Her hand lingered on the doorknob, cool and unyielding. With one final glance over her shoulder, she stepped through the door, closing it gently behind her.
With the bright sunshine on her, a contrast to her sullen mood, she left Harrington House behind for the last time.