Page 38 of Cold Case Discovery

But never Grant.

Grant, who most people would never guess wasmarriedto his wife, because he and Dahlia were so private they almost never engaged in evenhand holdingin front of people. Grant, who’d takeneonsto propose to Dahlia, if compared to Mary, Anna and Palmer’s quick jumps into commitment. Who’d had a wedding so small, it had only been immediate family because they hadn’t wanted an audience.

“What?” was all Jack managed.

But Grant didn’t relent.Grant. The man who’d returned from war and kept every last effect of that to himself. No matter how obvious they’d been.

“I can repeat myself if you really need me to, but I think you know what I asked.” He calmly stacked papers together.

“Who are you, and what have you done with my brother?” Grant, who was closest in age to Jack, who’d been his kind of right-hand man in keeping everything together that first year. Because he’d been the only one old enough to also drive. He’d helped with school runs and sports practices. If it hadn’t been for Grant, who’d beensixteen, Jack would have fumbled the whole thing.

Grant’s mouth curved ever so slightly. “It’s a simple question, Jack. I know a lot about all the things a person tells themself that doesn’t serve them. We’d hate to think you have to keep yourself some isolated paragon for the rest of us.”

Jack wanted to be touched that Grant was concerned about him, but... “‘We’?”

Grant’s expression wentalmostsheepish. “It’s been a topic of conversation.”

“Withwho?”

“Well, I think it started with Carlyle, then it kind of spread from there. Not everyone believed it at first. Dahlia was an early believer though, and it’s hard to argue with her. She observes things. Cash and Walker weren’t so easily swayed, but recently...” Grant shrugged. “I think the lone holdout on that score is Palmer. He’s convinced you’dnevercross a line at work.”

Jack wasn’t sure what was worse: all the people who thought it was true or the fact Palmer was wrong about him.

“So you guys have been sitting around debating whether or not I have a relationship with Chloe?”

“You do know your family, right? And Carlyle? She brings it up every chance she gets. She’s determined to be right. She is, isn’t she?”

“Are you going to take my answer back to the collective?” Jack returned, a little bitterly even to his own ears.

“I don’t have to. I can keep a secret.” He shrugged as if it was that simple. And Jack wasn’t sure if it was just who Grant was or because they were the closest that Grant was probably the only one he’d believe that from.

“I just didn’t want you laboring under the assumption you weren’t allowed to have a life too. Taking care of everyone has been your life for so long. I’m sure it’s hard to realize we’re all grown up and let that go. But we are. And we’re all here. We’re all good.”

“It isn’t that,” Jack managed, though it wasn’t so fully off the mark, he realized. “Maybe it was a little in the beginning, but... Working together complicates things. For Chloe.”

“Life is complicated. You can’t protect everyone, Jack.”

He was a little tired of that getting thrown in his face at every turn, but... “I can try.”

Grant shook his head, but he didn’t argue. “Look, asking you about Chloe isn’t the only thing I wanted to talk to you alone about.”

“You want to probe deeper into my sex life for the past decade?”

Grant pulled a face, as Jack had hoped. He hadn’t learnednothingfrom being Anna’s older brother.

“No,” Grant said stoutly. “We’re not really telling everyone yet, but I figured you should be the first to know.”

“Know what?” Maybe he should have seen it coming. Grant wasn’t the first, but Jack was really taken off guard by Grant’s next words.

“Dahlia’s pregnant.”

It shouldn’t be a shock. Kids were going to follow marriage more often than not, but maybe Jack thought Grant would feel a little like he did. Like he’d already raised a family.

But Grant’s mouth was curved, as wide as Grant ever smiled. Happy. Grant Hudson, war hero, married and starting a family.

Jack really didn’t know how to absorb it, but what he tried to do in these kinds of moments was think back to their father. What would he have done?

But in this case, Jack didn’t know. Because his father had never had the chance to parentadults. The idea of being a grandfather had probably never been one he’d entertained for too long, too busy getting his six kids grown first.

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