The Mind (The Reluctant Romantics #1.5) (11 page)

I sat for hours by his side, horrified for what Grant had to endure as his father drifted in and out on the morphine, a lot of his words incoherent. When he was finally peacefully asleep, I went to check on Grant, who was still out. I walked onto the back porch and looked around. Even though dusk had set, I could see dozens of tall pines in the back yard surrounded by scattered plane parts. I walked down, looking around at the various pieces of metal and stopped at the lone cockpit of a small plane. Aside from the pilot and copilot seat, there was only a foot of space before the plane ended. It was simply a small piece of the whole picture and I found it almost comical. Why in the world would anyone have so many worthless pieces of planes in their backyard?

“Hi, baby.” I jumped a little as Grant approached. “Sorry, it was either warn you I was coming and scare you a little or scare the shit out of you a lot.”

I giggled as I grabbed the hand he offered. “What is with the graveyard?”

“We were going to build planes together. That was our dream,” he said as he lifted me into the copilot seat. I looked around with unease as he took his seat on the other side and let out a deep breath.

“A family business and all that, but he started drinking after my mother left us. It took a few years for him to bottom out. One of us had to be a grown up. I hated him for it. I really did. I lost so much respect for him. Now I feel guilty for the words I said. He was just drinking through the divorce. You know, my mother broke him,” he said with contempt. “She did. She broke him. And even when he eased up on the bottle, I refused to listen to him. I wouldn’t let him back in. I was thirteen and I’d decided he wasn’t worth it. I left to live with my mom and I think it broke him even more.”

I stayed quiet as he told me about his regret. I was sure he knew he wasn’t to blame for his father’s mistakes or the fact that he was a rebellious teenager.

“I think in a way we killed who he was.” He exhaled harshly, and I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Stop it. You can’t do this. You can’t go there. Whatever you did years ago pales in comparison to the last few years.”

“You’re right. I know your right.”

“Don’t start piling on the guilt. I’m sure he had his own to contend with. In the end, you love each other. In the end, he knows and feels that love from you, though it was always there.”

“I love you, do you know that?”

I nodded as the blow hit me—the good kind of blow—with a force so strong that it knocked the breath out of you and made you want to live in that moment forever. He leaned in to kiss me and I melted into it. When he pulled away, he gave a chuckle.

“Where to, Doctor?”

“You pick. I don’t care where we go.”

“And why not?”

“Because I’ll be with you.” He stopped his fidgeting with the knobs and looked at me with reverence. “I’ll take that compliment, baby.”

“Good, I hoped you would.”

“God, this is so much better with you here.” I gave him a grin as the cabin got darker, the night sky coming out to play.

“Grant, I think I want to add pilot to my list of career goals,” I said, looking around, slightly excited. “I can so do this.”

He turned to grin at me as I grabbed the wheel and started screwing with knobs, having absolutely no idea what their functions were.

“Well, first of all, you just dumped half of your fuel,” he said with a chuckle.

“Shit.”

“And you’ll need at least sixty to seventy spare hours.”

“Double shit,” I said with a sigh.

“We will get you there. Fuck, I’ll have to work overtime to keep you satisfied. A surgeon and a pilot...What’s next...president?”

“Maybe,” I countered with a snicker. “You think they’ll mind if I use a rap song for my campaign?”

“You’d definitely be original.”

I looked around, still screwing with the gadgets, and excited about the thought of tooling around in a plane with Grant.

And for a few moments, we dreamed of the day we would build a small airstrip on his land.

“We could fly to Mexico for the weekend,” Grant murmured, toying with switches that would never work.

“Mmmm...margaritas and ocean waves.” We sat with the wind howling at our backs for over an hour, both of us getting excited about the future, stealing glances at each other’s happiness. It was absolutely perfect.

The first night we agreed to take shifts at his father’s bedside since the hospice nurse only stayed a certain amount of hours per day. Grant refused to wake me up, and when I woke myself, I knew it was late. I scolded him as I led him back to bed. “You aren’t doing him a damn bit of good looking like shit.”

“Uh oh,” he said sleepily, “bitchy in the morning, are we?” I smacked him hard on his perfect ass as he gave me a sleepy grin before face-planting on his bed.

The next day I cooked a huge breakfast at lunchtime, knowing Grant would wake any minute. When he joined me in the kitchen, he gave pause in the doorway. “So you are going to be a rich surgeon/pilot, you have the legs and ass of a supermodel, and you cook? No wonder I’m your bitch.”

I burst out laughing as he piled pancakes on his plate. “Good morning to you, too.”

“God, I needed that sleep.” He pulled me onto his lap and kissed me soundly. “You tired?”

“A little but not enough to pass out.”

“Then let me feed you.” And he did, taking a large chunk of fluffy pancake and gently putting it into my mouth. I moaned in appreciation as he licked a bit of syrup off of my lip.

“So fucking sexy,” he murmured.

“Your dad is in earshot!” I protested.

“He probably thinks you’re sexy, too.”

“I do,” I heard in a weak voice that managed to carry across the house.

“Pipe down, you old perv. She’s definitely too good for you.”

I slapped Grant’s hands away as he groped me as much as possible then made my way to Davis.

“How are we doing in here?” I asked as I stared at his full plate of pancakes.

“I just can’t do it,” he wheezed at me. “Please don’t tell him.”

“I won’t,” I said as I tossed the contents into the trash can next to his bed and pulled the bag out, sealing it. “Our secret.”

“Thank you, darlin’.”

I walked out of the room as fast as my feet would take me because I knew what was coming and I couldn’t bare it.

****
*

Hours later, I was at Davis’s bedside as Grant ran some much-needed errands. We’d been working on a game of checkers for the better part of an hour as Davis faded in and out, growing weaker by the second.

“You love him, don’t you?” It was barely a whisper, and though it took me by surprise, I gave him an honest answer.

“Yes, I do. With every single inch of me, I do. I love him very much.”

“That’s good news,” he said weakly, trying in vain to come up with the strength to speak. I adjusted his pillow behind him. “He told me he’d found the woman he’d been looking for. The only time he smiles lately is when we talk about you.” His faced creased deeply with his attempt at a smile, and for a brief moment I saw a glimpse of Grant as an older man.

I took the seat next to him and leaned into his line of vision. “I’ve found my forever guy in him. He’s amazing and warm and funny and caring and means everything to me. You did a fantastic job with him. I’ll take good care of him, I promise.”

“You already do.” I turned to see Grant in the doorway, eyes wide and filled with emotion. He cleared his throat, smiling at us both. “I see you two have become well acquainted.”

“Sure have, she’s kicking my ass on the board but she’s been sweet about it.” He smiled at his son and I saw a wave of pain hit him. I stuck the needle into his drip and waited for him to nod a yes to me as I squeezed a small dose of morphine in. I quickly cornered his bed and sat with him, holding his hand until I saw a small sign of relief on his pained face. I watched him slip off to sleep and felt Grant’s hands on my shoulder.

“You look just like him, Grant.”

”I know.”

“He’s a handsome man.”

“So am I.” I grinned up at him and could see a smile on his lips that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He pulled the covers up over his sleeping father and I saw his face crumble in recognition that it wouldn’t be long. Even I could physically feel his father slipping away. I stood up and turned to him, wrapping my arms around him, trying to soothe him with my words.

“You are so amazing, Grant. He’s lucky to have you as a son. You have taken excellent care of him. There really is nothing more you could do. Please know he loves you and he knows you love him. I can tell you are the light of his life.”

Without replying, he took my hand and led me to the back porch, which had an incredible mountain view on a clear day like today. I turned my eyes towards Grant just as he buried his head in his hands for a moment and then looked up at me with hopeful eyes.

“Do you really love me or were you just saying that, you know...to make him feel better?”

“Of course I love you, Grant. I’m
crazy
in love with you, can’t you tell?”

His eyes were swimming as he gently took my mouth. I cried into his lips, my confession making me tear up. I pulled back and gave him my heart with my next confession.

“I love you, Grant. You really are all I’ve ever wanted. I will build the house with you and I want it all. You made me want more, you
are
the more.”

He pulled me to him tightly, his lips meshing with mine as he held them there for a sweet and blissful eternity. When he pulled away, his emotions were etched on every feature. “This whole time I was worried you thought I was truly crazy, and for a heartbeat I thought you were just as nuts for going along with it, but it’s so real. I mean, I felt it, I wanted to believe it, but now that I know for sure . . .” He pulled back and showcased his dimple. “I won’t ever fuck this up, Rose. I won’t ever give you a reason to want to walk away. I’ll love you the way you deserve to be loved, always. That’s my promise.”

“I know.”

“Marry me,” he whispered softly.

“Yes.”

It was that simple and yet so completely satisfying. I didn’t need a quartet or diamond ring. I didn’t want rehearsed words and I knew his proposal wasn’t premeditated. Like everything else with us, it was on our time and perfect. We both stood in shock as we gazed at each other and then burst out laughing as we embraced.

“Holy shit.”

“We are crazy.”

“But we’re the good kind of crazy. The kind that makes normal couples seem boring. You won’t regret this,” he said before he kissed me so deeply I melted into him, my body molding perfectly with his. When we broke again, we both laughed hysterically, our intention in sync as he led the way back to his father so we could give him the news. When Grant paused at the doorframe I ran into his back with a thud.

“Dad? Dad!” Grant raced to his father’s side as I moved frantically to the other, pushing a large dose of morphine into the needle. He buried his face in his father’s chest and I saw Davis gasp again. He reached for Grant’s hand and I saw my love completely crumble as he said his last words to his father. “You were the best dad a guy could ask for. I love you, Dad. I love you. I will see you again.” I administered the larger dose of morphine as he slipped away, thanking me with his eyes. Davis moved into half-sleep and then passed away peacefully. Grant cried like a man who had just lost everything. I stood behind him, sobbing quietly and watched the man I love go through the most horrible loss of his life.

We stayed with Davis until the medics arrived. When they wheeled his father away, I followed Grant into his bedroom. We lay side-by-side on his bed holding hands, him crying for his father, and me crying for them both. I woke up hours later, not realizing I had dozed off, only to find Grant wide awake, still lying with me. He pulled me tighter to him when he noticed me stir.

“I’m so glad you’re here. God, I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t,” he whispered, his voice shaking as he lay next to me, staring at the ceiling.

“You’re only twenty-nine, Grant, and you lost them both way too soon. I can’t imagine how much it hurts. I love you. You will always have me. I swear on everything, you will always have me.”