Chapter Six
Six
“You know we’re only letting you con us into re-watching Top Gun: Maverick for the eleventy-billionth time because of your nomination, right?”
Grier had forced her family to rewatch the movie every time it was her turn for Friday Night Film ritual, and they were probably closing in on Delta’s hyperbolic count.
“Pilots are hot. And Phoenix is my dream wife. What’s a girl to do but pine longingly for her heartthrob?” Grier fanned herself dramatically before collapsing onto Delta in a soggy heap—Lake, her rescue mutt, piling on top of them.
“You have got to get a girlfriend,” Delta groaned, rolling her eyes. “Or better taste in films. This one’s tired—put it to bed. Then maybe you can find a real woman to take to bed! That Captain Maes was hot…”
Grier shot upright, decidedly ignoring the comment about the captain. She fanned her fingers across her chest and gasped in mock horror. “Me? What about you? When are you going to leave us, lover in tow, abandoning film night for a new life of romance and betrayal?”
Delta deadpanned a look of incredulity at her aunt, “I’m eleven.”
“Exactly!” Grier retorted, pushing herself out of the chair and mussing Delta’s hair as she grasped the coveted afghan—crocheted by her grandmother, Delta’s great-grandmother—even after she’d gone blind.
She swiftly tugged on the blanket, wrapping herself like a burrito, and fell onto the couch, giggling in the triumph of her theft.
“You’re incorrigible,” Delta sighed, shifting across Lake, comforting her beloved pup against the sudden chill.
“Where in the hell did you learn to talk like such an adult?” Grier semi-yelled, her words muffled by her blanket cocoon.
“I read. You should try it sometime. Might broaden your palate.
Maybe then we’d get a new movie around here,” Delta retorted.
Grier freed herself from the blanket. “A, stop being an adult— you have your entire adulthood to be an adult. And B, don’t pretend you don’t think pilots are hot. Because they are.”
Delta grabbed an alternate blanket from the back of her chair and tucked it around herself and Lake.
“I’ve already agreed with you. But seeing as you have yet to make good on anything with the real- life captain we met this week, your evidence in support of such a case is lacking.
” Her rebuttal was dripping with sarcasm.
“Okay, Sassy Spice. Change my mind.”
“You know I’m eleven, right? As in, born in the teens? As in, your Spice Girls reference is wasted on me.”
Grier smirked. “I think you just refuted your own evidence, my friend.”
“Ladies,” came a voice from the staircase. Grant, Grier’s brother and Delta’s father, descended with a tray of snacks—including the family’s sacred staple—root beer floats. He gave them both the mock stern look of a man who knew his efforts at order were futile.
“She took my blanket again, Dad,” Delta tattled immediately.
“New rule,” Grant announced, setting the tray on the battered ottoman in front of the old, over-loved sectional.
He lowered himself onto the cushion beside Grier, barely suppressing a grin as both she and Delta swiveled their necks and locked onto him like a laser sighter, knowing full well the rule would be immediately overruled.
“The blanket goes to the weekly film picker. She or he should be afforded the most comfort during the film of their choice.”
Grier met Delta’s eyes, understanding igniting between them— unspoken, instantaneous.
Two throw pillows hurled at Grant in perfect synchrony. “Think again, big brother!”
“No way, Dad! If she’s going to force us to watch this crap on repeat, I should at least get dibs on the best blanket!”
Grant deployed his most charming grin. “Listen here, girls.” His eyes sparkled with mock authority. “I am the man of this house, and my rule—”
Grier and Delta cut off the remainder of his bluffed bravado. Grier jabbed a finger down her throat with exaggerated gagging noises while Delta accompanied her with groans of exasperation.
Grant chuckled, leaned back against the cushions, and laced his hands behind his head. “Glad to know where I stand in this house.” Still smiling seconds later, he added, “Don’t ever change, Delta.”
Pride swelled in Grier’s chest. Grant’s dedication to raising a strong, independent and self-secure young woman after Nora’s death was his first priority.
He challenged Delta to think critically, challenging the patriarchal norms surrounding Delta by holding space for conversations about gender, sexuality, religion, and politics—never forcing ideas, but never dodging topics either.
The results were evident in the girl’s unflinching confidence, her refusal to shrink from topics most families hurriedly whispered through or ignored entirely.
Nora had been Grier’s best friend since the first day of chiropractic school—inseparable from that moment on.
When Grier introduced her to Grant, their connection had been palpable and instant, just as undeniable.
They married before graduation, asking Grier not to stand with either of them but to stand between them, officiating their vows and uniting their families joyfully through an abundance of love.
Nora was pregnant before they graduated.
Nora’s death had been swift and merciless—the illness claiming her mere months after diagnosis.
Still, she wasted away while her seven-year-old daughter flourished around her.
Her final request of Grier had been simple and devastating: help raise her daughter.
Grier accepted the request with determination, moving into Grant and Nora’s house two days before Nora succumbed.
Nora had been adamant that Delta grow up with full autonomy over her body and mind, and neither Grant nor Grier would ever risk tarnishing that legacy.
Even at eleven, Delta was already formidable—whip smart, sass seeping from her pores, and a veneer sheltering her sensitive heart, most of which was reserved for rescue animals.
Rarely a week passed without some sort of stray finding a temporary shelter in their home, only to be kindly released into the wild as soon as it was well.
“Pass me a float, please,” Grier stage-whispered as she pressed play on the remote. “Let me revel in my reward—for an award I have not yet actually won.” She felt the heat of two sets of eyes glaring at her.
“They’d be fools to not select you,” Grant offered gently, sliding into his familiar supportive role as the big brother.
“Even I know that,” Delta chimed in, in a rare moment of earnest endorsement for her aunt.
Grier heard their words, but was hesitant to accept them.
She looked at each of them in turn, and forced a cool detachment into her voice.
“It’s a long shot. I’m up against four other highly qualified physicians.
I won’t belittle my accomplishments in patient care, but in the eyes of the board, there are superior providers that would warrant their praise. ”
“You don’t know that,” Grant countered, squeezing her hand with steady warmth. “And even if you don’t win, you’re still our favorite doctor.”
“Fine,” Grier sighed. “Just remind me to clap when they call someone else’s name—”
A fistful of popcorn pelted her square in the chest before she could finish.
After the credits rolled, Grant carried a drowsy Delta upstairs. By the time he padded back down, Grier had most of the mess tidied and was folding the blankets when he joined her in amicable silence. Then, almost too softly to catch, he said, “I’m a little jealous, you know.”
Grier stilled, brows pulling tight as she glanced at him.
“The helicopter flights you went on this week… they were hosted by Parrish Aerial, right? That Edith Parrish is kinda hot. If I’d gone on the flight, maybe I could’ve flashed some charm, woo her with my playful wit!
We could’ve flown off into the sunset!” His grin was wide, but Grier knew the sorrow it shielded.
“Big brother—are you trying to steal my shot at a hot pilot wife?” Grier chuckled, playing along. “You’ve already stolen one of my women—don’t think I won’t fight you for the next one!” She raised her fists and bounced on her toes like a boxer.
Grant held his hands up in mock surrender, softly chortling. “In all seriousness, though—you’ve given her an opportunity so many little girls never get.”
“What?” Grier scrunched her brows. “Anyone can take a helicopter tour these days.”
Grant shook his head. “The ride thrilled her. But the pilots inspired her. They showed her that little girls can touch the sky—literally. And that’s an experience I can’t give her with a tour.” He kept tidying as he spoke, then froze mid-motion, straightening as his thoughts pulled him elsewhere.
Grier crossed the room and set a hand on his shoulder. “You’re an amazing dad, Grant.” She smiled as he turned to look at her.
“I don’t want to fail her,” he whispered. “Sometimes it feels like the world is set against us.”
Grier wasn’t sure if he meant Nora or Delta, but it didn’t matter.
“You are not failing, Grant. Delta is a force of nature, and Nora would be proud of you both. I see it every day in the things Delta does and says. You’re raising a daughter who honors her mother’s legacy while forging her own path—because you taught her the skills and gave her the support to do it. ”
Her fingers drifted to the necklace at her throat, absently rolling the pendant between them. When she noticed Grant smiling at her, she frowned.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.
He knew the story of the pendant. Before Nora’s death, he had often been the third-wheel to their friendship.
In a relationship that could have created gobs of jealousy and warranted years of therapy, the three of them had created their own landscape of love.
“You know she’d want you to be happy too, right?”
“I am happy,” Grier shot back, more defensively than she intended. She loathed it when people assumed she wasn’t happy. She was. Sure, she wanted things—but she wasn’t unhappy.
“I know you’re happy,” Grant said gently. “But we both know you can’t stay here forever. We’re settled, now. We’ve got a good rhythm, and Delta’s thriving.”
Grier snapped her head toward him so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash. Was he kicking her out? “What are you talking about? Are you trying to get rid of me?” Her voice pitched with anxiety.
“Absolutely not,” Grant placated. “I’m offering you an out. You’re welcome here as long as you want. I want you here. Delta wants you here. Honestly… I think you want to be here, too…” his words trailed off.
“There’s a but,” Grier said, narrowing her eyes at him dubiously.
“But,” he admitted, “I don’t want you to lose sight of your independence.
You used to want a family, and I worry that you’re letting Delta and I sublet that space your heart, where your own wife and kids should live.
I don’t want either of us to look back in twenty years and be regretful—or resentful—that you didn’t get everything you dreamed about.
” He looked embarrassed, but also resolute.
A dozen crude retorts rose to Grier’s tongue, but something stopped her. She inhaled deeply, organizing her thoughts. For months now, she’d felt an itch—a subtle, restless hum she couldn’t ignore anymore. She was happy. But she wanted more, and it was time to own that.
“Where is this coming from?” she asked, already certain she knew the answer.
Grant didn’t bother camouflaging his intel. “Delta may have mentioned a certain tall, dark, and tattooed captain who seemed to capture your eye—and loosen your tongue—on your recent helicopter tour.” Now he was grinning, and it wasn’t sheepish.
Grier rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Not you, too…”
Grant laughed. “No, not me, too. I don’t want to force you into anything you’re not ready for. But I do want you to be happy—and you’ve got to start somewhere. And we all know you have a thing for pilots!”
He wasn’t wrong. She did want the chance to find love, maybe even build a family of her own.
She wasn’t one to deliberately prevent the risk of heartbreak, but she certainly wasn’t relishing the idea of putting herself out there.
She knew there was value in the connections along the way—but no one actually enjoyed the breakups.
And if she was being completely honest with herself, she knew she was scared. Nora’s death changed her—changed the way she loved. She was terrified of making herself vulnerable again, terrified of losing another woman she couldn’t live without.
“I appreciate your directness,” she said, meeting her brother’s gaze.
“You’re right. I do want those things, and I’ve probably let my comfort here with you and Delta dull my drive to find them.
I’ll make an effort to date again. But I’m not going to force it—I want it to feel organic.
And it’s pretty obvious at this point that nothing will come of whatever that helicopter tour was…
” She let her words fade, then added more firmly, “That being said, I’ll move out when I’m ready— with or without the lure of a partner.
For now, I’m comfortable here. Is that okay? ”
Grant leaned to envelop her in his arms. “You’re welcome here as long as you need. I just want you to be happy, Grier. As happy as I was. You deserve that.”