Chapter Twenty-Four
Grant
Mom’s accusatory gaze pierced right through my soul.
“It’s not a joke,” I finally spoke. “Kiyah and I started dating during my freshman year of college, and we’ve been married for the past seven years.”
She shook her head furiously and bounded from the couch, stalking towards the bar in the corner of the office.
“Dear, it’s—”
“Jon, I don’t give a damn what time it is.
I just found out that our children have been leading a double life and lying to us for a decade.
I’m having a drink or two before I lose my fucking mind,” she proclaimed.
Her hands violently shook as she poured herself a glass of bourbon.
She slammed the bottle onto the cart, gulped some of the contents down, and whirled around to confront us.
“How long have you known about this, Jon?”
“Since the night of the rehearsal dinner,” he confessed.
“How did you find out?”
“The how isn’t necessary, dear.”
“How did you find out?” she asked. Her tone was a little firmer than before, leaving no room for bullshit.
“I overheard a conversation between them and nearly witnessed an intimate act. Grant confessed to me when I called him out, and I didn’t want to tell you until after the wedding because you were already stressed about it, and I wasn’t sure how you’d react.”
Mom nodded and polished off the remainder of her drink.
“Who else knows?” No one spoke. “Hello? I’m not speaking to myself here.”
“Uncle Ant and Ms. Simone,” Kiyah confessed.
“And Kieran,” I added.
“How did Anthony and Simone find out?” Mom asked.
“They bumped into us in Austin, and we kinda confessed,” Kiyah replied.
The room fell silent again, and all eyes remained on Mom as we waited for her to process and suffer a subsequent meltdown.
“So, what now? I hope you don’t think I’m giving you two my blessing.”
Kiyah’s breath caught in her throat. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it softly.
“Kierra, you shouldn’t be so harsh,” Dad claimed.
“Fuck that, Jonathan. This relationship is dysfunctional as hell, and you can’t change my mind. No one in a happy, loving relationship hides it from their family for a decade.”
Kiyah began to sob.
“Mom, chill out,” I warned, snatching some tissues off Dad’s desk.
“Don’t you tell me to fucking chill out! You’re probably the reason why Kiyah’s been AWOL for seven years!” she shrieked.
“Okay, let’s just take a breath,” Dad said, trying to play referee.
“Kierra, I know this is all new information for you, and it’s confusing, and you’re just trying to make sense out of it all—trust me, I’ve been there.
But we can’t lose our heads. What’s done is done, and we need to be supportive,” he said, trying to reason with her.
Mom chuckled humorously and placed her hands on her hips.
“You know what being supportive has gotten us, Jon? Two secretly married siblings, 1/2 of an abusive lesbian couple, a son who sticks his dick in everything that moves, and a man-child son who pinches pennies tighter than Ebeneezer Scrooge. I don’t know if our support is worth shit.
This is fucking weird, Jon, and you know it! ”
“Let’s go, Kiyah,” I whispered, pulling her out of her seat.
“No, Grant. Please stay. Your mother is still processing,” Dad said, trying to come to her defense. Truthfully, there was nothing to defend. She was entitled to her feelings, but I wouldn’t stick around and get shitted on.
I dragged Kiyah out of the office with Dad still begging us to stay and talk it out.
“Yo, what’s with all the shouting?” Casey asked, entering the house as we were leaving.
“Kiyah and I have been married for seven years, and Mom’s not taking it well. Have a good day, Case,” I announced, leaving him dumbfounded in the middle of the foyer.
Kiyah was still crying when I helped her into the passenger seat and buckled her in. I’d barely buckled myself in when there was a knock on my window. Mom stood there with a deep scowl on her face and that stupid cat tucked under her arm. Her muffled voice came through the glass.
“Roll down the window, Maxwell.” I cracked it an inch.
“All the way down.” I complied and waited for a tongue-lashing.
She cleared her throat before saying, “Listen… there is nothing you two can do to make me stop loving you, but it’s gonna take me a hot minute to wrap my head around this.
” She leaned down to get a good look at Kiyah.
“Look at me, Ki.” I glanced at Kiyah, who had given our mother her full attention.
“Kiyah… I spent many sleepless nights throughout the years wondering if my daughter was dead or alive and if I’d ever see her again.
I don’t know what went down between you and Grant, and honestly, I don’t think I want to know, but that shit was cruel.
I hope you get the therapy that you desperately need.
” Her gaze shifted to me. “Both of you.”
“I will, Mom,” Kiyah whispered.
“Good. You two haven’t been emotionally, physically, or sexually abusing each other, right?”
“Absolutely not,” I spat, slightly offended.
“I won’t apologize for asking, but I needed to make sure. Are you sticking around, Kiyah?”
“I am, for good this time.”
Mom smiled softly.
“That’s great. Swing by the house on Friday night for dinner. Y’all take care.”
We watched Mom enter the house and close the door behind her.
“Well, that went better than I thought it would,” I muttered.
“I didn’t expect her to go off like that,” Kiyah said, heavily sighing as she sank into the leather seat.
“Neither did I, but the worst part is over.”
Kiyah snorted. “Wait until Grandma finds out. The news might put her in the grave.”
Kiyah
I collapsed on the couch with an oppressive groan and wished I had a bottle of wine to chase away all the nervous energy I felt after a long day of confessions. Grant and I decided to tag-team our siblings. He took Casey, Ronan, and Kieran, and I took Daisy and Nori.
The questions wouldn’t stop rolling in, and my ears ached from the honeymooning couple’s screeching and squawking.
They were flabbergasted, and Daisy was appalled that she hadn’t caught on sooner, considering we were roommates in college.
Nori claimed she had a feeling the whole time, but she didn’t want to make false accusations and cause drama.
The words “Nori” and “no drama” can’t be utilized in the same sentence.
I was grateful when the gate agent completed last call for boarding. I wouldn’t have been able to get my sisters off the phone otherwise.
Grant was still on the phone with the brothers when I left the couch to find something to distract myself.
A good book might help.
I entered Grant’s office and wasn’t surprised to find it in pristine condition.
His undiagnosed OCD wouldn’t allow him to have the keyboard shifted slightly out of place.
I booted up his computer and didn’t hesitate to snoop through everyone’s cases, making notes and next-step suggestions in the case notes.
“Find anything good?”
I looked up and found him leaning against the doorjamb.
“How often are you auditing cases?”
“We have a Round Table once a week for complicated cases, and I complete quarterly audits.”
I hissed through my teeth, earning a brow raise from him.
“I don’t want to be that person, but you need to complete audits every six weeks.
I’ve found 14 cases that require some legwork and a few phone calls to close among the four of you.
I don’t want to sound like Dad, but this is unacceptable.
You have clients who are waiting for payouts to pay their bills.
Clients on the books mean Baker Personal Injury and Law isn’t getting paid. ”
“Who’s dropping the ball?”
“You are.”
“That’s a lie. Who’s not keeping up?”
“Casey is in the lead.”
“I’m surprised. I thought you would’ve said Kieran.”
“Don’t do your buddy like that. Kieran is on top of his shit.”
“Good to hear. From now on, you’ll be responsible for case audits in conjunction with your receptionist duties.”
“I can’t wait to send passive-aggressive emails to the team,” I sang as I logged off the computer.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he remarked.
“How did your talk with the bros go?”
“There was a lot of yelling and speaking over each other, along with too many questions to keep up with. Kieran reiterated several times throughout the call that I was the worst big brother ever and I’d be blocked for the next forty-eight hours.”
I snorted.
Like Grant gives a fuck.
“Casey couldn’t stop whistling the tune to “Sweet Home Alabama,” and Ronan said you’re an asshole because you turned him down years ago and said it was because he felt like a brother to you. You never told me he asked you out.”
I shrugged. “What would that have accomplished?”
“Nothing, I guess. How did your talk with the sisters go?”
“I’m not blocked,” I answered.
“Fair enough. Are you done here?”
“I am.”
“Good. We need to have that talk. I deserve to know why you left me.”
This will go one of two ways: Grant will forgive me for being an idiot, or I’ll find myself divorced and back at our parents’.
* * *
We sat together on the porch swing, and Grant remained silent, staring at me with imploring green eyes, begging me to make this right as I gathered the courage to be honest after all these years.
Ripping the band-aid off always seems like the way to go.
“I had a miscarriage while on my trip.”
I paused and waited for Grant to digest what I’d revealed. I peeked at him a few times and was slightly unnerved by his lack of reaction. I swallowed around the lump that had formed in my throat and forced myself to continue.