“It’ll have to wait. My friend Hope is coming over. We have a date.”
His father raised his eyebrow. “A date? You’re seeing someone here in Savannah?”
“Yes.” He responded. “She’s one of the owners of Savannah House.”
His father’s complexion paled. “You can’t be serious?”
“Dad. When it comes to Hope I’m completely serious. Not one word in front of her about any of this. She doesn’t need to see us going back and forth.” He walked toward the door, opening it up with a feeling of anxiety bubbling around in his stomach. His relationship with his father had been strained for so long now. He didn’t want Hope to be exposed to any tension.
When he opened up the door, Hope’s lovely face served as an instant healing balm. Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with Hope. He almost chuckled at the irony in her name. This woman was giving him such a dose of hope and inspiring him to be a better man. He supposed part of his journey would be healing things with his father, but he wasn’t quite ready to do it. Especially not when his father had shown up on his doorstep spouting such negativity.
Hope was holding a beaming Ella in her arms. They were both a sight for sore eyes.
“Hey there, beauties,” Grayson said, his joy seeping into his tone. The feelings sweeping over him felt almost overwhelming. He felt protective towards both Hope and Ella. They were his ladies. Both of them. It was a little bit scary knowing he’d fallen head over heels for both of them. For so many years he’d been a playboy, never pausing for a moment to feel real emotions for a woman. The moment Hope had come into his life, Grayson’s heart had been forever altered. Love had come calling. And there was no escaping it. He was hooked.
“Do you have company? I saw the car outside,” Hope said, stepping inside his house. With her light blue shirt and jeans, she looked casual and comfy. Ella reached her arms out for him. Grayson happily took her off Hope’s hands and held her tightly against his chest. Honestly, other than kissing Hope, there was no better feeling in the world.
“Come on in and I’ll introduce you to my father.” Grayson tried to toss the words out casually, but he knew by the look on Hope’s face she could see his unease.
“Your father?” she whispered, brown eyes wide with alarm. He’d told Hope enough about his strained relationship with his father for her to realize him showing up at Grayson’s house might not be a happy occurrence.
“Yep,” he said, sending her a signal with his eyes that he wasn’t exactly happy about this unexpected visit.
Grayson led the way toward his living room, jiggling Ella in his arms in the way she enjoyed. The whole time she was talking and pulling at his jaw. His father jumped up from the love seat as soon as they walked into the room.
“Who is this little one?” he asked, reaching out to squeeze Ella’s fingers. She frowned at him, then curled up against Grayson’s chest.
“Her name is Ella. And this is her mother, Hope. She’s one of the owners of Savannah House,” Grayson explained. “Hope has been kind enough to show me around the resort and give me some insight into the Alexander family, especially Hattie.”
Tanner stuck out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Hope. You have a nice little lady here.”
“Thank you,” Hope murmured. She still seemed surprised by his father’s presence. “When did you arrive here in Savannah?”
“A few hours ago.” He glanced over at Grayson. “My son didn’t know I was coming.”
“It was quite a surprise!” Grayson said, trying to keep anger out of his voice. He didn’t want Hope to think he came from a family full of dysfunction, even though it was the truth. Grayson didn’t usually care what people thought one way or the other. But he cared a great deal about Hope’s opinion. It was amazing how someone could waltz in to your life and change everything. For Grayson, Hope was one of those people.
“I’ll come back later on.” His father’s voice rang out with certainty. “We need to talk, Grayson. It’s fairly urgent.”
Tanner looked over at Hope and nodded. “Nice to see my son is making good friends here in Savannah.”
“Please don’t leave on our account,” Hope said.
“No worries,” Tanner said with a grin. “Judging by the look on Grayson’s face, he’d much rather hang out with two lovely ladies than an old guy like myself.”
With a nod of his head and a slight smile he moved toward the door and exited the house. Grayson thought he would have felt relieved to see his father leaving, but once his father was gone, he felt a huge void. There was a slight aching in the region of his heart.
“What was that all about?” Hope asked, a frown marring her forehead.
Grayson shrugged, still a bit stunned by his father showing up on his doorstep. He’d radiated intensity. What did he want to talk to Grayson about? “I’m not quite sure. He just showed up out of the blue.”
“He didn’t call first?”
“I’ve been sort of dodging his calls,” he admitted. “We haven’t been on good terms for a while now.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to postpone our outing? Your Dad traveled all this way to see you and he seemed kind of intense. Do you have any idea of what he wants to talk about?”
“I think it has something to do with my being here in Savannah. He’s not cool with it, for some reason. It’s a little bit frustrating not to get his support.”