My thoughts are all jumbled up, but the one thing that’s constant is Grace’s face. I see her laughing and when she’s serious. I see the love in her eyes when she looks at me. How could she have loved me and kept such an important thing from me? Why would she? I could have easily helped her get out of debt. All it would have taken was a check that would not make even the slightest dent in my finances.
A memory comes to me. That word debt. Someone else used it as an excuse. A heaviness comes over me. My ex. That was her excuse for selling me out to the tabloids. I shake away those memories.
It’s different with Grace. She’s an artist who is soon going to be very big.
“Pride.”
I come back to the present when I realize that Sebastian is talking.
“Plus, what would she have accomplished by telling you?” he says. “What she needed was a way to get out of debt.”
“I would have helped her out,” I snap.
“She doesn’t know that,” Sebastian says. “There was only one way for her to clear her debt.”
I shake my head violently when I see where Sebastian is going with this. “No, not Grace. I trust her.” My tone is not as firm as I’d like it to be.
“Who knew about your father?” Sebastian continues. When I don’t respond, he continues speaking. “I think Grace is awesome too, and I trusted her, but the fact that she didn’t tell you about her debts has raised the red flag for me. That says a lot.”
We talk for a few more minutes, but I realize that we’re going around in circles. I say goodbye and go in search of Adrian. I’d planned to drive back home in the evening, but I have to leave sooner. I desperately need to see and talk to Grace.
Adrian is in the living room watching the news. The footage of us riding our horses fills the screen. When he sees me, he mutes the TV.
“They’re vultures,” he says.
“That they are.” I’m not concerned about the news on TV. I don’t care if the whole world knows that Adrian Martin is my biological father. All I care about is Grace. My whole body is tense, and I feel as if my entire life is on the verge of falling apart.
“It’s not that bad that they know I’m your father, is it?” Adrian says, searching my face.
I sit down opposite him. “Not at all. I’m proud that you’re my father.”
His face creases into a smile. “I’m proud too that you’re my son.” He grows serious. “So, if it’s not that, what is it?”
I tell him everything that Sebastian told me. I’m normally a private guy, but Adrian has a solidity in him that makes me trust him implicitly. He is the one person who doesn’t need anything from me except friendship.
He has had a successful career, and he’s still living his best life. I’m grateful to have him in my life, especially now when I need someone not involved to unload on. He listens without speaking until I’m finished.
“It’s a shame what this career of ours does to us and to the people we love and trust,” he says.
I nod. “Just this morning, if you’d have asked me how much I trust Grace, I would have said a hundred percent. Now, I’m not so sure. I don’t even know what to think anymore.”
“What has changed?” he says.
“The information about her debt. Why didn’t she tell me about it? That doesn’t make sense. If you’re in a serious relationship with someone, you tell them such things.”
“You’re assuming a lot of things,” he says.
“Like what?” I ask.
“Number one, you don’t know whether it’s true, and number two, people are different. It’s possible she wasn’t comfortable sharing that information with you.”
“It’s also possible that she sold that story to the tabloids?” I say.
Adrian. “That is also possible. The only way to resolve this is to talk to her.”
I nod grimly. That is one conversation that I’m not looking forward to, but if Grace and I are to have a future, we have to talk about it.
***
I’m sweating buckets as I get out of the car. I was pleasantly surprised to see there were no paparazzi outside my gate. They are probably still milling around Adrian’s home.
I take a deep breath and enter the house. As I shut the door, Grace appears from the other end of the foyer. Her face is drawn and pale.
“Hey,” she says.
“Hi.” My tone is cold, but it’s a conscious decision, not a defensive one. I try to imagine Grace accepting a check from a tabloid magazine. Pain rumbles through my chest.
“Our secrets are out,” Grace says. “I’m sorry they found out about your father.”
“Yes. I spoke to Sebastian,” I tell her, carefully watching her face for a reaction. “He told me about your debts.”