“No, I'm originally from New Hampshire. Most of my family lives there.”
“Visited there once, and I couldn't wait to leave.”
Funny, Duncan said the same thing about California.
“What can I get for you?” the bartender asked when it was their turn.
“A margarita with extra salt on the glass.” Grant put the menu he'd never looked at on the bar. “And whatever he's having,” he gestured toward Duncan.
“Thanks.”
Maybe Grant was trying to be friendly. After all, they’d be spending a fair amount of time together over the next few days. Duncan doubted it though, not after last night. But for now, he'd let things play out and then go from there.
After giving the bartender his order, Duncan focused his attention on Grant. “You should think about visiting New Hampshire again. You might have just been in the wrong area.”
“No, I've spent enough time in New England to know it's not for me. Tory surprised me when she told me she was moving there. It's not right for her either, at least not in the long term. The same goes for her new position. She'll get bored working for a regional magazine.”
“People change. Tory seems very happy in Boston.”
Tory's ex had known her for years, so Grant might know her better than Duncan. But at least in this area, he didn't think so.
Grant signed the receipt, charging the drinks to his room, and picked up his margarita. “I've known Tory my entire life. Living and working in Boston is just a phase. It wouldn't be the first one she's had.”
He made Tory sound like a ditzy college student instead of a thirty-four-year-old professional.
“In another four to six months, she'll be ready to leave it all behind, including any new friends, and move back to California and either go back to working at the winery or for Trident.”
Duncan sipped his drink as they walked around a pool and back onto the beach and considered the most polite way to tell Grant he thought he was full of shit. “You might be right, but I don't see her doing that.”
“Benjamin and Shannon want her to be closer to them. Sometimes Tory rebels, but in the end, she always does what her parents want.”
Yeah, that didn't sound at all like the Tory he'd gotten to know.
“That's initially how we got together earlier this year. Both our parents want to join the two families.”
The last thing he wanted to hear about was Grant and Tory's relationship. “Then why isn't she here with you this week?” he asked before he thought better of it.
If Grant's goal was to make him jealous, he'd failed. Instead, he was annoying the hell out of him.
“Tory likes control, or at least the illusion that she's in control. Things between us got serious fast, and when she learned I planned to propose, she felt she was no longer in the driver's seat. Everything she's done since then has been her way of regaining control.”
He disagreed. Tory liked to have a plan. The notebooks full of questions, so they knew as much about each other as possible, were a perfect example of that. But he wouldn't call her a control freak.
“But she knows as well as I do that it's just a matter of time before we're together. As I said, it's what our families and I want.”
He'd met a lot of condescending jerks, but Mr. Ken Doll here beat them all. “What about Tory? Doesn't she get a say in any of this?”
“Deep down, it's what she wants too.”
Even if theirs were a platonic relationship, similar to his and Alec's, Grant’s comment would bother him.
“Tory told me she's not interested in being with you. Regardless of what you or her family want, you can't force her.”
“There's something you need to know about Tory, Duncan. She'll use anyone to get the outcome she wants. Right now, she wants to have some fun and make me jealous. When she gets tired of you and life in Boston, she'll move back to California, and we'll pick up where we left off this summer.”
He'd dealt with his share of people who'd use a person to get what they wanted and then split once they got it. He'd even dated some woman like that. But Tory didn't fit into that category.
“Listen, I'm telling you this as a friend. Don't get too invested in your relationship, because it won't last.”