Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Hunter
I thought I was past my dark, gray days, but I guess the universe has decided to prove me wrong.
I head toward my grandfather’s study, feeling like a robot. The joy that I felt just the week before—being here, being in this space—is gone.
I feel cold. I feel sad. I feel utterly empty inside. I still can’t believe that Gina lied to me. I can’t believe that I trusted her, that I’d given my heart to her, that I had felt something so real—and it hadn’t been.
I walk into the study and see my grandparents sitting there, looking old, gray, and decrepit for the first time. They look like life has sucked the sail out of their winds. And I’m sure I look the same.
“Thanks for joining us,” my grandmother says, standing and heading toward me to give me a hug, but I shake my head.
“Not right now, Grandma. I just—”
She nods and sits back down, and my grandfather looks at me, his face despondent—something I have never seen before. I take a seat and lean back.
“I just don’t even know what to say, to be honest.” I look at both of them. “I suppose we need to decide what is happening with Amethyst.”
“We’ve already made that decision,” my grandfather says slowly.
“Oh.” I look at my grandmother, and she nods.
“I’m so sorry that you found out about Amethyst like that. I want you to know that I do feel guilty. And yes, in all honesty, I knew they were together when I met him.”
“It was unfortunate,” my grandfather adds.
“Amethyst and I—we had young love. We had fun. And I may have told her things that young men do in the throes of passion. But when I met your grandmother, it was different.” He looks over at Enid, and she looks back at him.
There’s something there. Not just hate. But I don’t understand.
And I decide to tell them that. If I’m ever going to get the truth, this will be the moment.
“I don’t really understand what happened,” I say. “How… why… what?”
“What Amethyst likely didn’t tell you,” my grandfather says slowly, “is that we were young and in love, and we had liaisons with other people—sometimes together, sometimes on our own. We weren’t in a committed relationship.
Did she think that perhaps one day we would marry?
Perhaps. I don’t know. I was young, and my father came to me and said I had to grow up.
I had to make hard decisions. I had a family name.
I was a Waverly. I had to get married and have children.
I had to produce an heir. And I met Enid.
She was from the right family. She had royalty in her blood.
She came with a dowry, even though we didn’t need the money.
But she was of the class that my parents wanted. ”
“And I fell for your grandfather,” my grandma says lightly.
“He was handsome. He was fun. And I wanted to be the prettiest woman in the room. And Amethyst thought she was. There are times in life when we, as girls and boys, play games. And we want to win. I wanted to win your grandfather. And I did.” She looks sad at that admission.
“But I didn’t really win because I knew they still had their thing.
He told me she would always be in his life.
He told me they would always be friends.
And I didn’t care. Not really. Because I was going to become Mrs. Preston Waverly.
I was the one everyone wanted to be. I didn’t feel guilty then.
But do I feel guilty now? Yes. I’m not someone without emotion.
We did fall in love, though. We had children.
We had grandchildren. And we love you, Hunter.
We love you. We had our ups and downs in our marriage.
All marriages do. There were times I hated him.
There were times I loved him. But I will say this—I did not stay because of the money.
It was never about the money.” She looks over at my grandfather.
“There were things about him that were absolutely perfect for me. And there were things about me that were absolutely perfect for him. I told Amethyst to keep the necklace,” she adds quietly.
“Well, she already sold it,” my grandfather says. “And I gave her some more money. It was foolish of me to think that I could keep her in my life. That I could have her in my life.”
“It wasn’t just foolish, Granddad,” I say. “It was hurtful. She loved you. She was waiting around for you.”
“I know,” he says quietly. “I did that because she got me in a way that no one else ever had.”
“I don’t understand why you decided to get a ghostwriter to write a love story for the two of you,” I say. “A love story that wasn’t real. What was the point?”
“I think we wanted to erase the parts of our past that we weren’t proud of,” my grandmother says. “I think we wanted to rewrite history to make it something that it wasn’t.”
“I suppose that’s what makes our story unique, though,” my grandfather adds. “I suppose that in all the ugliness, there was a beautiful consequence. Love.”
“I don’t think Amethyst looks at it that way,” I say.
“She’ll be okay,” my grandfather replies. “She’s going to travel.”
“I hope not with Patrick. He’s a user.” I can hear the anger in my voice and clench my fists.
“She knows. And Patrick will not be seeing many women for a long time.” He looks pleased with himself.
“What do you mean?”
“It turns out, Amethyst was not the first lady he convinced to be involved in theft. He’s wanted in several places. The police have found him.” I stare at him in shock.
“And I believe he will likely be in jail for a long time once he is prosecuted.” He grins. “The DA owes me a few favors, so I think that will be soon as well.”
“Shit, grandad. How does Amethyst feel about this? This is so sudden.” I don’t know what to think and feel. I’m glad Patrick has been arrested, but I’ve never heard of something moving so quickly.
“Turns out we have a good private investigator.” My grandad looks down at his desk. “Plus, I knew Amethyst was seeing someone. I’ve been having him followed for the last couple of weeks.”
“Oh, wow, but wait, you said she’s going traveling? Who is she traveling with?”
“She’s actually going to be traveling with Captain Joe,” my grandmother says, her tone slightly peeved. “That’s another member gone from the writing group.”
“What? Captain Joe?” My jaw drops to the ground. I had no idea they were even friends.
“Turns out, he’s had a thing for her for years.” She laughs like she can barely believe it. “That was the only reason he was even in the book club. Which I should have known. His work wasn’t that great.”
“Oh, wow. I didn’t see that coming.” I rub my chin. “And she’s into him?
“Neither did I,” she says. “I thought he just loved the free meals and my stories. As to Amethyst, I suppose she just wants to be loved, like all of us.”
“We are paying for both of them to travel the world.” My grandfather adds. “They will see if they want to do that together, though I suppose Amethyst deserves love.”
“We all deserve true love.” Disappointment seeps from every fiber of my being.
I hate the fact that my heart feels like it has been yanked out of my body.
I hate the fact that breathing feels like a chore.
I just want to go back to the time when Gina and I had what I thought was a real and emotional connection.
I want to go back to the days when our banter was fun.
Her betrayal was the hardest thing I’d ever had to deal with.
You aren’t upset with us, are you, Hunter?” she asks gently, touching my knee. “You’ve had a lot going on these last couple of years, and I would hate to think that I had any part of you possibly regressing.”
“Grandma, Granddad… I love you. You’re my grandparents. This is your story. This is your life. I’m sorry it hurt Amethyst, but that’s between you. I’m not going to carry that burden. I’m glad to know the truth, though. And I’m glad I understand the dynamics a bit better.”
“And how are you feeling?” my grandfather asks carefully. “About Gina… and the paper?”
“I’m fine. I hope you don’t mind that I fired her. Obviously, I couldn’t allow her to stay here knowing she was undercover.”
“I liked her,” he says. “She was getting through the bullshit.”
“She knew something wasn’t right in your story.”
“I guess that means she’s a good reporter,” my grandmother says before catching herself. “Well, not that we wanted a good reporter in the house. You should speak to her, though. Maybe—”
“Nothing,” I interrupt. “She betrayed me, and I loved her. I loved her more than I ever thought I could love someone. I let my guard down. I told her about the year I thought I was dying. And how I thought I’d never feel again.
And she took my soul and turned it into a headline.
I was nothing more than an article. Four or five hundred words. ”
“But do you really believe that, Hunter?” my grandfather asks. “I saw the way she looked at you. I saw the way you looked at her.”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” I say. “Just because we see something doesn’t mean it’s real. Look at the two of you. I never would have guessed that your relationship had evolved out of absolute chaos. And I certainly never would have guessed Amethyst was the other woman.”
“Your grandmother is the only woman I’ve ever truly loved.” He sighs. “She’s accepted me for all my faults. And I’ve accepted her for all of hers. Sometimes love is messy. Sometimes it’s complicated. And sometimes other people get tangled in it.”
“That’s not cool,” I say.
“You’re right,” he replies quietly. “That was never my intention.”
I stare at him but say nothing. The truth is, this had gone on for decades.
He had to have seen that Amethyst was hurting.
But it’s not my place to judge him.
“I think I’m going to go to the garden,” I say. “And I’ve been thinking about it…. I’m going to head back to the city in the next couple of weeks.
“I feel better now. I’m ready to get back to work. I’m ready to be the face of the company again. And I’m ready to make some big changes.”
“Big changes?” my grandma asks. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, for centuries, the Waverlys have stood for something. But I don’t think it’s been the right something.
I want to change that. I want history to look at our family kindly.
I want us to be known as a family that cares about others.
Not just ourselves.” My grandfather stares at me with surprise but says nothing.
“I think each generation gets a little better, right, Granddad?”
He nods slowly.
“And I want to be the generation that turns things around. You two wanted to write a book to change the narrative. To make us look better. Well, I actually want to do better. I don’t want to write a book based on a false narrative. I want to write one based on truth. And I have to be that change.”
“But what about Gina?” my grandma asks softly. “What about your broken heart?”
I give her a wry smile. “I guess we don’t all get love.
She’ll get her headline, and I’ll get my life back.
And maybe that’s what I was put on this earth for.
” My heart breaks at the thought. Because more than anything, I wish Gina were part of that future with me.
I think of her smile. The way she listens.
The way she laughs. I know I will never find someone like her again.
“Can I say one thing?” my grandfather asks as I head to the door.
“Sure.”
“If you love her, Hunter… truly love her… give her a chance to talk. Give her a chance to explain.”
I shake my head.
“I hoped that by having you come here today, by telling you our story, you would understand something. Love is not a straight path from A to B.”
“Why are you pushing this?” I ask. “I thought you, of all people, would be upset about deception.”
“I wasn’t deceived,” he says. “You don’t think I knew she was a reporter?” He laughs. “I met her through her grandfather.”
“You play golf with him.”
“He talks about her every single time we play. I know all about her. He even asked if I’d consider buying the Whisper Cove Guardian. She’s worried about losing her job. That’s how she got this job.”
“Wait… what? You knew?”
“Hunter, I may be retired, but I’m still sharp.”
“But why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it didn’t matter. She was never going to write that story about you. You met the girl. She’s as honest and sweet as they come.”
“She admitted to me she was here to write a story about me.”
“But I knew she would never betray you. I saw how the two of you looked at each other. She was never going to write that story.”
“But she lied. She could have told me.”
“Hunter,” he says gently, “has there never been a time in your life when you’ve done something you regretted?
“You need to decide whether a life without her is a life you want. Is this lie greater than the love you feel for her? Do you love her?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think she loves you?”
“Stop,” my grandmother says softly. “Before you found out… did you think she loved you?”
“Yes,” I admit quietly.
“Then look inside your heart. Not at your anger. At the truth.”
I leave the study. Outside, I watch birds fly across the sky. I stand there thinking about everything my grandparents said. Thinking about Gina.
Beautiful, brilliant Gina. I pull out my phone. Twenty-five messages.
All from her. I apologize. I love you. Please talk to me.
She hasn’t come back here to see me.
She’s respecting my boundaries.
And somehow that makes me respect her even more. I decide to go see her at the newspaper office. For one last conversation.
Because something my grandfather said stayed with me. She’s afraid of losing her job. I need to speak to this Holly. This editor in chief.
I need to make sure Gina keeps her job. Because even if we aren’t together, she deserves to follow her dreams.
And if someone is going to write a story about me, I’d rather it be her than anyone else.
It would hurt.
The betrayal would hurt more than anything.
But if her career means that much to her…
I want her to succeed.
Because I love her.
Even if that life doesn’t include me.