by Marin Thomas
“And are you?”
“Yes. I have it all planned. But I haven’t told Andy.”
Ross shook his head. “You mean he knows nothing?”
“Not yet. Since Carson’s letter inviting us here, I’ve been making preparations. But nothing can happen until I have a talk with my son. I believe I know how he feels deep inside, but I’ve got to find the right time to get the truth out of him.”
“If he’s amenable, what’s your plan?”
“When we leave the ranch, we’ll fly to Galveston, Texas.”
Galveston? Ross’s mind reeled. That’s where he had his own beach pad, but he hadn’t used it in years. He paid a company to keep it cleaned and allowed needy college students to live there. It was an hour and a half away from his family’s home in Houston.
“Why Galveston?”
“My hairdresser’s daughter Nila lives there and has her own shop. When she visits her mother, who married an easterner, she comes to work with her and gives me a special manicure and pedicure. Over the years we’ve become good friends. She has a daughter Andy’s age and they’re friends, too.
“She’s put me in touch with the owner of a small bookstore who’s retiring and isn’t going through a Realtor. I’ve always wanted to own one. Books are my fetish. I’m hoping to find an investor to go into business with me. I have some savings to keep Andy and me going for a while.”
A while? Good grief!
“I’ve done my research and have written up a business plan that includes running a coffee bar with it.”
“That’s very enterprising of you. A coffee bar is an excellent idea.” But she would need an investor with a hefty sum, or she’d never get the loan in the first place. A lot of small bookstores were going out of business.
“There’s a suitable apartment complex nearby that Nila has checked out for me. I’m planning to fly there and look everything over. There’s only one problem. It is just an idea, and if it doesn’t work out, we’ll do something else. But the truth is, Andy and I can’t live with his grandparents any longer. They’re swallowing us alive. I don’t intend to cut them out of our lives. I’d never do that, but we need our own space now.”
“And Andy feels the same?”
“Maybe I’m wrong, but I believe he wants his freedom as much as I do. Though I can’t imagine it, if Andy can’t bring himself to leave his grandparents, even if it means he has to go away to that school, then we’ll fly back to Maine when our trip is over.”
Ross was so amazed by what he was hearing, he could hardly think. “Of course. It’s not my place to offer an opinion.”
“You have every right after the way my father-in-law spoke to you.”
* * *
KIT WAS EMBARRASSED because she was about to lose it in front of this incredible man. “Since Winn’s death ten months ago, they’ve exerted total power over my son. With systematic precision, they’ve been taking him away from me piece by piece.”
“How could they do that?”
“Because my husband and I married in a private ceremony in Rhode Island without his family while he was on leave from the military. He’d said it was the way he wanted it. My grandmother had died with only $3,000 in the bank. I was alone, too naive for words. Once we’d gone on a short honeymoon, he took me to his parents’ mansion to meet them.
“They would have gotten a judge to annul our marriage, but by then I was pregnant. Since I was carrying a Wentworth, that changed everything. Tragically, our marriage disintegrated. We ended up living with them against my wishes. I’ve never been able to leave since.”
Ross studied her with enigmatic dark eyes, not saying anything.
“They’ve run my life and Andy’s day after day for years, turning him into a Wentworth robot. With Winn gone so much on deployments, the grandparents took over raising him as if I scarcely existed. I wanted to leave years ago, but I was married with no means of support. Winn forbade me to get a job. Andy has no idea my love for his father died early in our marriage.”
Good grief. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It was a very unhappy time. They never forgave Winn for marrying me. That’s why he insisted we live with them as his way of making it up to them. As for me, I’m the one they despised for luring their son into a marriage they found intolerable.
“The more Winn bent over backwards to make amends and placate his parents, the more the gulf between the two of us widened. I’m sure he had other women, but I can’t prove it. And though I grieve over his death and grieve for Andy’s sake, that world nearly destroyed me. It’ll destroy Andy if I don’t get us away from them.”
He rubbed the back of his neck in a seemingly unconscious gesture. “What about Winn’s siblings? Is Andy close to them?”
“Not really. Andy’s male cousins are older and have little to do with him. Unfortunately, Charles and Florence dote on him to the point that I feel there’s something intrinsically wrong with them. They’re sick to cling to Andy as they do.
“I love my son so much, I can’t say our marriage was a mistake, but divorce was out of the question because Winn would have gone to court to win custody of Andy if I’d left him, and he would have won. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“Do you have no one you can turn to closer to home?”
“Except for Nila and her husband, there’s no one else I trust. You heard about that school they’re sending him to. I told Winn how I felt about him being sent away from home, but he couldn’t stand up to Charles about that or moving us out of the mansion. Only one man in a million could do it. Winn didn’t have what it took.
“But what no one counted on was his getting killed in Afghanistan. His parents expect me to go on being his faithful, grieving widow who devotes her life to charitable causes. But it’s no life, not for me or Andy.” There was a finality in her tone. Ross believed her.
He shifted his weight. “My reply to your father-in-law didn’t reassure him. What’s to stop him from flying here to check up on you?”
“Absolutely nothing.” She ground her teeth together. “So that means I’m going to have that talk with Andy when he wakes up in the morning. He’s the key to everything. If he wants to continue living with his grandparents, then I’ll phone them and tell them we’ll be flying back to Maine after our trip.
“But if my son wants a new life with me, then we’ll fly to Texas at the end of the week. After we get there, I’ll let my in-laws know where we are. In either case, this cabin will be available for more of your regular guests and you won’t have to be involved.” Her voice held a tremor.
Ross sucked in his breath. “But I am involved!”
“I’m so sorry he threatened you. It isn’t fair, not when you’ve done everything for us. Be assured I’ll take care of the situation from here on out.” She walked to the door and opened it.
His legs felt like lead as he moved toward her. “Are you going to be all right tonight?”
“Of course. I’m glad you told me about the phone call. Talking to you has helped more than you know. Thank you for putting up with me and Andy. You’ve been a saint. God bless you and your partners for your goodness. Good night, Ross.”
“Good luck with Andy.”
Once back in the truck, he took off for the ranch house. After hearing about her plans, he felt so chewed up inside, he didn’t know where to go with all his emotions.
Carson was just pulling away from the parking area in the Jeep, but when he saw Ross he braked and waited for him to catch up. “Hey, buddy—you look like a bull stomped on you.”
“You could say that. I went a few rounds on the phone with Charles Wentworth earlier this evening.”
Carson squinted at him. “What’s going on?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“The hell I don’t.”
“You’re sure? If you need to talk, Tracy would understand.”
“I know she would. You’re a lucky man. See you in the morning.”
* * *
AFTER HER PHONE call to Nila, who was behind Kit a hundred percent and waiting for her and Andy to come to Texas, she went to bed. But she slept poorly, and her eyes popped open at six-thirty, anxious for Andy to wake up.
She lay on her side in the twin bed and watched him while he slept. He moved around a lot. One of his pillows had fallen on the floor, and part of his leg poked out from beneath the quilt.
His cowboy boots and socks lay on the carpet at the side of his bed where he’d taken everything off before collapsing under the covers. Yesterday had been a big day. Her dear, dear son. This morning would be their moment of truth.
She’d been rehearsing what she would say to him, but her stomach was in knots and nothing sounded right. Kit was about to ask him if he would like to leave the only home he’d ever known and trust her to make a new one for them. It terrified her to think what his answer might be.
Was it asking too much? Had she waited too long? Could he handle moving away from his grandparents and the home where his father had lived? Last night Ross had wished her good luck before he’d driven away. His comment had caused her a lot of tossing and turning because he knew she would need it.
Nila had encouraged her to open up her heart to Andy and hold nothing back, then wait for him to respond. Kit’s grandmother would have given her the same counsel.
She heard his sheets rustle. Then, finally, she heard, “Mom?”
This was it. “Good morning, honey.”
He raised himself up on one elbow. “How come you’re still in bed?”
She’d always been an early riser, so she could understand his surprise. “I was waiting for you to wake up so we could talk.”
Andy sat all the way up, leaning back against the headboard. “What about?” As usual, he sounded worried.
Kit’s heart beat so fast it clogged up her throat. “About us.”
“What do you mean?”
It was difficult to swallow. “Every day of your life I’ve told you how much I love you, that you’re the most precious thing to me in my life. Now I’m going to ask you a question, and it’s vitally important you tell me the truth. Do you love me? I mean really love me?” She couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard him say it to her.
There was a long drawn-out silence. She had to wait ages before he said yes, without looking at her. He’d been closed up for so long, she feared he’d lost the capacity to share. Thank heaven for that admission, even if he couldn’t say the words.
“I’m so happy you said that. Now I need you to be honest with me about another question I have. You know how I feel about you going away to boarding school. It will mean you and I won’t get to see each other more than twice a month, if that. But the point is, how do you really feel about it?”
His gaze shot to hers. Those gray eyes went dark with emotion.
“Forget that your father wanted you to go there, honey. Forget that your grandmother and grandfather are insisting you go. Forget that your cousins Thomas and Jeremy went there. I want to know what you want. Whatever you tell me, I promise it will be our secret.”
At first she wondered if he’d even heard her because he sat there so still. Then slowly he got out of bed in his camouflage pajamas and crept over to the window. She watched him looking at the Grand Teton for a long time before his shoulders started to shake.
“I...don’t want to leave you, but Grandfather says I have to.”
Thank heaven!
“No, you don’t!”
Andy spun around with a shocked look on his tear-stained face. “I don’t?”
“Come here, darling.”
He ran over to her. She pulled him into her arms, and they lay on the bed, hugging so hard it almost knocked the breath out of her. Kit rocked him for a long time while he sobbed. Her heart broke to think he’d been carrying around this pain for so long.
“H-how can you stop him from making me go?” His voice faltered.
Her son understood too much. His question answered a lot of hers and gave her the backbone she needed. “Because you’re my son. Now that your dad is gone, I don’t want to live with your grandparents any longer. I love them, but I want us to find a place of our own and make our own decisions from now on.”
He sat up. “Where?”
Her heart thumped so hard, she was certain he could hear it. “A place where I believe we could be happy.”
For a minute there’d been a light in those wet eyes, but it suddenly dimmed. “He won’t let us go.” Just then he sounded so adult. Five little words. They told her Andy understood the kind of power his controlling grandfather wielded, and that he hated it. That was all she needed to know.
“He has to, honey. You’re not his son. Your father was wrong to make us live with your grandparents. It was never what I wanted. We should have had our own home, but he insisted.”
“Why?”
Oh, Andy. What to tell you without ruining your image of him.
“I think because he was the only son, he felt he had to stay with them. It’s a shame they didn’t encourage him to get out on his own the way your aunts did with their husbands. Instead your grandparents clung to him. But now that he’s gone, you and I need to have our own home and live the way we want to live. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes,” he said in a solemn tone. “I love them, but I don’t want to live with them all the time.”
That was all she needed to know. “Then we won’t. I’ve been planning this for a long time.”
“You have?”
She nodded. “After you were born, I told your father I wanted to move out of the mansion and get our own place, but he said he couldn’t do that to your grandparents.”
“He was afraid of Grandfather.”
Kit moaned inwardly. “Yes, honey. Charles can be a scary person when he wants his own way. But you’re not afraid of him. I heard you on the phone with him yesterday. You told him you didn’t want to leave the ranch yet. It’s not his decision to make for us.
“Your grandparents have been wonderful. They’ve done everything for us, but now it’s time for me to take care of us. I’ve saved some money.”
“Really?” He sounded so happy, she couldn’t believe it.
“It’s not a lot, but it’s enough to give us a start while I find us a place to live and get a job.”
“What kind?”
“You know how much I love books. I’m hoping to buy a small bookstore and run it. There’s one for sale in Galveston, Texas, where Nila lives. She has become a very good friend to me and I know how much you like her and Kim. There’s an apartment close by where we could live.”
“You mean we’ll move to Texas?” He didn’t sound thrilled about that.
“When we leave the ranch, we’ll fly down and take a look. I already have our airline tickets. If we don’t like the situation, then we’ll put our heads together and decide where we want to go and what we want to do. If we like it, then your grandparents can come and visit when they want. I want you to be happy with this decision, otherwise we won’t do it.”
“But we won’t go back to Grandfather’s—”
“No, darling. That’s over.”
“Promise?”
That said it all. “Promise. But there’s just one problem.”
“What?”
“Your grandfather phoned Ross yesterday.”
“He did?”
“Yes. He said he didn’t lik
e us being gone for so long and told Ross to send us home right away.”
Andy gave a carefree laugh. “Ross wouldn’t do that. He’s not afraid of anything.”
Nope. Andy had already sized up their host and knew exactly how amazing he was. “No. He told Charles that the decision to stay or leave was entirely up to you and me.”
“I bet Grandfather’s mad at him.”
“I’m sure he is. It means your grandfather might fly here on his private jet before our vacation is over.”
“Ross will protect us. He’s nice, Mom.”
“I agree.” Andy had never applied that adjective to anyone he knew, especially not his stuffed shirt uncles who were too caught up in their own self-importance by marrying into the Wentworth family to show much attention to Andy. They jumped when Charles said jump. Poor Andy. After living with his iron-willed grandfather, Andy could see Ross was like the difference between night and day. The three of them had been together 24/7 since they’d arrived here.
“He’s so cool. I wish he weren’t sick.”
“It’s not the kind of sick that has put him and his partners to bed. It’s more of a condition, honey. But you have to admire them for not letting it get in the way of living their lives. Now, let’s get dressed and hurry to the ranch house for breakfast. I’m starving.”
“Me, too.” He jumped off the bed. “I’m glad Ross will be here if Grandfather comes.”
“Honey—” she said in exasperation, “Ross has nothing to do with this. I’ll deal with your grandfather and tell him you and I have other plans. He can’t make us do anything. I’ll tell him that when we’re settled, we’ll let them know. Hopefully when he and Florence see that we mean it, they’ll understand and we’ll all get along better.”
“Does Ross know we’re going to Texas?”
Ross again. She remembered Andy’s reaction to Carson’s letter they’d received in July. They’re a bunch of lame marines. I hate them. There’d been an enormous change in her son’s attitude since then.