“I’m not,” I said, beginning to cry.
He wiped a tear from my face before drawing me close. “She loves you,” he murmured.
“I know, but it’s just weird. She’s holding Teddy and I’m wondering if she held me that same way, with the same look of awe on her face.”
“I’m sure she did. She just didn’t know how to handle opinionated little you. That threw her, I bet.”
I half-laughed and half-cried. “I wasn’t opinionated.”
He laughed harder. “Yes, you are, and I love that about you.”
“Grant.” A boy’s voice interrupted our conversation.
When I saw who it was, I felt my face relax. Grant’s brothers, Alex and Andrew, came around the corner. They’d become a fixture in our lives. When they had a break from college, they would get on a plane to come and see us, which made my husband extremely happy.
“You have visitors,” the other twin said.
Then I did laugh as they always seemed to finish each other’s thoughts and sentences.
There were a lot of people at our house, so it wasn’t exactly surprising. Still, Grant threaded his fingers through mine as we went to find out who our mystery guests were.
They weren’t hard to spot when practically every woman in proximity was drooling.
When we reached Liam and the two men with him, I had a hard time not noticing how incredibly hot they were. In fact, I glanced around for Stacy, wondering if she’d seen.
Grant clapped Liam on the back. It was good to see him and looking happy. So much had happened. His misadventures in New York read like folklore. The kind of thing you told at gatherings. But it wasn’t my story to tell, so I kept my mouth shut, leaving him to share.
Then Grant held out a hand to one of the men. “Connor.”
I recognized the name. He was one of Grant’s uncle’s sons. They shook and then Grant was saying, “Kalen, what brings the two of you here?”
It was Kalen who held out a thick envelope. “Sorry to intrude. We didn’t know—” He waved a hand around at the setup in the yard.
“No, it’s okay. You’re family. Now what’s this about?” Grant asked, taking the envelope and holding it up.
“Fixing an injustice. Grandfather didn’t write your dad out of his will completely. Not exactly. He left you your dad’s share. Unfortunately, our dad pretended not to know where you were. When Liam showed up, it all came out. It’s taken some time and legal maneuvers, but it’s all yours. I did take the liberty of investing it for you while we worked it out. It’s quite a bit more than the original amount.”
Grant shakily opened the envelope and scanned it. Then he held it up for me to see. I didn’t read, but my eyes trained on the amount boldly listed and I about peed my pants. My husband was a very rich man, even more than my father had been before the economic downturn.
“Take a seat, everyone,” the coordinator said.
“We should go,” Connor said.
“No, stay,” Grant said, waving toward some open chairs.
Liam left too after giving me a welcome peck on the cheek.
When we were alone, I said, “What are you going to do with that money?”
Grant shrugged. “Give some to Dad if he’ll take it. And invest with your father if he’ll let me.”
He’d gotten his job back with the airline and had earned his captain’s stripes.
“Will you still fly?”
He nodded and said, “Always.”
But then he was ushered to the front to stand by his father before the “Wedding March” began to play. Gracie tossed flowers everywhere as I snapped photo after photo. Then Natalie appeared and my heart warmed, happy that Grant’s dad was finally with the love of his life like my dad was with my mom.It was the next day before everyone left that turned out to be the most exciting day for me, not including my wedding or birth of my children. But it ranked up there.
Our family and friends reconvened at the airpark early that morning.
Grant squeezed my hand. “You can do it.”
He led me to the awaiting Cessna and helped me inside. Behind the wheel, I checked all the gauges and spoke into the headset for clearance, which Ted had hired someone else to do.
“You can do it, baby,” Grant encouraged again.
With butterflies bursting from my belly, as they always did when he called me baby, I began the acceleration down the runway. It hadn’t been a goal of mine to fly, but when Grant started teaching his brothers, I’d gotten curious.
So much had changed from my first meeting of the arrogant pilot. He’d become my savior in so many ways since that first day. Most importantly, he taught me love and that it meant that two people never gave up on each other.
As the plane lifted off the ground under my power, I felt completely free and happy. With my two kids—I found myself placing a hand over my belly—and maybe another, along with my arrogant savior, I could conquer all, especially with his unconditional love.