Chapter twenty Scottie
Chapter twenty
Scottie
“This is where you wanted to take me on our date?” I stare up at the house that I haven’t been to since the summer after high school, wondering what the hell is going through this man’s mind.
Grady took me to a steakhouse a few towns over for dinner, and then he drove us back to Carrington Cove, but wouldn’t tell me where he was taking me. And now that we’re sitting outside of Grady’s high school buddy Derek’s house, I’m beginning to question this man’s sanity.
Grady laughs as he gets out of the truck and rounds the front to my side to help me out. “Just trust me.”
“When I’m worried about a trespassing charge, that’s hard to do. I mean, if I get the cops called on me, my son will never let me live it down. You do remember our recent run-in with the law, don’t you, Grady?”
He takes my hand and guides me across the street to the front lawn. “We’re not going to get arrested. I’ve already cleared it with Derek’s parents. They know we’re here, but they’re in Florida visiting friends.” He taps his temple. “If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m a planner, Scottie.”
I can only shake my head as Grady lifts the latch on the house’s side gate, leading me into the backyard. And suddenly, a wave of memories from the night I was last here comes rushing back to me.
Grady points to the side of the yard with a smirk on his lips. “You might not recall, but that’s where you did a keg stand.”
“Are you trying to remind me of how crazy I was back in the day? Because I’m aware.”
He chuckles. “No, but that was the moment I realized you were unlike any other girl I’d ever met, and I knew I was really going to fucking miss you when you left.”
My heart begins to pound. “Oh.”
“Come on.”
He leads me back out front and over to the tree where we sat that night, and as soon as my eyes see the tire swing still hanging from the thick branch, I turn to face him. “Are we here to remind me of when I puked all over the grass right here because of that keg stand?”
He throws his head back and laughs. “No, but I’ll never forget that because you were always so concerned about me getting sick and you puked pretty violently that night.”
“Karma has a way of catching up to you, Grady. Don’t forget that.”
He leads me over to the swing. “Wanna hop on?”
I stare down at my belly that feels like it’s getting larger by the minute. “Not sure I can fit.”
“Yeah, you can. I’ll help you.”
With Grady steadying me, I thread my legs through the tire, and he begins to push me gently, rocking me back and forth.
I wait a few moments before I ask, “Why are we here, Grady?”
“Nostalgia. Memories. Feelings,” he says cryptically. “That night could have changed our lives if I had just acted on what I wanted back then, Scottie.”
Silence stretches between us as I think back to the night we were here last. “Do you remember what we talked about that night?” I finally ask.
“Every word of it.”
“What’s the part that stands out the most?” I whisper as Grady pulls the tire to a stop and comes around to face me.
“You asked me if I was ready for what comes next,” he says, his eyes locked on mine.
And suddenly it feels hard to breathe. “Okay…”
“Come here.” He helps me out of the tire swing and then pulls me into his chest, or as close as we can get since my belly is making that harder to accomplish. Cupping my jaw, he says, “I think it’s time that I tell you what I want—what I see coming next for us.”
I swallow down the lump in my throat. “Oh…”
“Scottie,” he starts, but my phone rings in my pocket, interrupting the moment.
Glancing down at it, I’m worried when I see my mom’s name on the screen. “Uh…”
Grady nods. “It’s okay. Answer it.”
“I’m sorry. She knows I’m out with you, so it’s weird that she’s calling,” I explain as I swipe across the screen.
“Hello?”
“Scottie,” my mother says, urgency in her tone.
“What’s wrong, Mom? Is Chase all right?”
“You need to come home.”
“Mom, you’re scaring me.”
“It’s Andrew, sweetie,” she says as I feel my stomach drop. “He’s here.”
***
By the time Grady pulls into my driveway, the tension between us is so palpable that you could cut it with a knife.
Part of me is eager to hear what he had to say and upset that we were interrupted, but the other part of me is terrified, dreading what brought Andrew all the way to Carrington Cove.
Deep down, though, I think I know exactly why he’s here.
Just when things started to feel like they were moving in the right direction, the past had to come back and remind me of my poor choices. Seems like this is a battle I’ll never win.
When Grady helps me down from the truck and Andrew sees my stomach, he starts laughing. “Jesus Christ, Scottie. You moved this far just to be unmarried and pregnant again? Seems like some things don’t ever fucking change, huh?”
“You’d better watch how you speak to her,” Grady interjects, standing in front of me, shielding me from one of the biggest mistakes of my life.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“The man you’ll have to answer to if you don’t show Scottie some respect.”
“Respect?” Andrew laughs. “Funny. You know, I could have shown up with the cops since Scottie chose to move out of state without fucking telling me, but I didn’t. How’s that for respect?”
I stand next to Grady now, finding my resolve to face the consequences of my actions and the man who doesn’t deserve my fear or sympathy. “What I find funny is you deciding to show up now, after all this time.”
“My job is demanding, Scottie. You fucking know that.”
I roll my eyes. “Yes, it always was more important than anything else, Andrew, including your family.”
“Which I think is reason enough for you to leave,” Grady chimes in.
“I have every legal right to be here. My wife and kid live here, and...”
“Ex-wife,” Grady corrects him sharply, “and a son you haven’t seen in over a year.”
Andrew takes a step closer to Grady, even though Grady towers over him by several inches.
God, I don’t know what I ever saw in Andrew.
And as my blood boils in my veins, I wish for a way to get him to leave our lives for good. Sadly, when you have a child with someone, you’re connected to them forever.
Andrew puffs out his chest. “I don’t know who you think you are, but—”
Cutting him off, Grady lowers his voice, but it doesn’t make him sound any less threatening. “I’m the man who’s having a baby with your ex-wife, the man who gets to love and protect her now, and the man who gets to show your son what it means to actually be a man of his word.”
Oh my God. “Grady…”
Andrew fires back. “Well, she broke the law by taking my son out of state without informing me.”
Grady starts to laugh. “You know, that’s rich coming from you, Andrew Warner.
” Andrew’s eyes narrow but Grady doesn’t miss a beat.
“You see, I knew this time was coming. When Scottie told me why she decided to move back here, I knew you’d come back around at some point, trying to exercise your perceived power.
Men like you always do.” Grady moves to his truck, swings open the door, and retrieves a manila envelope.
Slamming the door shut, he strides back over to us and thrusts the envelope to my ex.
“I wanted to make sure you knew the stakes before you started making threats.”
I watch anxiously, my pulse hammering in my ears, as Andrew takes the envelope. I can’t deny that I am also a little curious about what’s inside.
What the hell has Grady been up to?
“You think you can threaten me?” Andrew snarls as he pops the metal clasp and pulls a thick stack of papers from the envelope. His eyes dart back and forth over the words, and as he flips through the pages, his skin goes white.
“You sure you want to get the cops involved, or a judge, for that matter?” Grady asks, folding his arms over his chest, watching as my ex seemingly accepts his fate.
“Where did you get this?” Andrew is seething.
“I have friends, important ones, who know how to track down the right information when necessary,” Grady replies coolly, nodding toward the stack of papers. “Now, if you’ll take out that last packet, you’ll find a petition for voluntary termination of parental rights.”
My stomach drops and the ground seems to sway beneath me. I steady myself on Grady’s arm before my knees buckle underneath me.
Grady had legal paperwork prepared so Andrew can’t fight me.
If I was on the fence about how I feel about this man before, this settles it.
“I don’t have to sign shit,” Andrew snaps.
Grady takes a step toward him. “You don’t have to, but if you want to push this, I’ll take immense pride in airing your dirty laundry in court. I also have friends in the press, which would do wonders for your legal career, wouldn’t it, Warner?”
Andrew’s face contorts with anger. “You mother fucker!” He lunges forward, but Grady’s quicker, stepping between Andrew and me. He extends his arm, closing his hand around Andrew’s throat before he can get any closer.
“Don’t think I won’t snap just because Scottie is here. Technically, you’re trespassing on her property, so we’re within our rights to defend ourselves. But I don’t think that’s what either of us wants, is it?” I clasp my hands over my mouth as Andrew struggles to breathe. “Do you need a pen?”
Andrew bobs his head up and down as Grady releases him and pulls a pen from his pocket, shoving it into his chest. “Here.”
Wheezing, my ex-husband scribbles his name across the pages that fell to the ground, and for the first time in months, I feel like I can breathe.
“Smart choice.” Grady takes the papers from Andrew and puts them back in the envelope. “Now, I suggest you get the fuck out of town. Forget you ever knew this woman and her son, and remember that someone is always watching, Andrew. Always.”
Andrew dips his eyes up and down my body before he grates out, “You know what? Keep her. Her and that kid are the greatest mistake I’ve ever made.”