Page 29 of A Vintage of Regret
“I think Dad would understand if we requested one,” Riley added.
Her mother pointed her polished finger in Riley’s direction. “Maybe if you had been here—if you’d cared at all—you’d know more about your father. You would’ve also known he wasn’t well. He’d been tired. Complaining of chest pains. Your brother had been bugging him to go to the doctor, but he wouldn’t.”
“That’s not quite what?—”
“Your father was a stubborn old man,” her mom interrupted Grant.
“That doesn’t mean we don’t all deserve answers,” Riley said. The tears came fast, hot, and silent.
“I’ve had enough. Get out,” her mother said with more bite to her words than the day Riley left for Alaska. “This is my house, and I will not be disrespected. You’ve caused enough trouble, and you’ve only been back one day.” She sat down and snagged her wine. “Grant, Erin, please talk some sense into your little sister before it’s too late.”
Riley couldn’t form words. She couldn’t argue, nor did she have the strength to do so. She turned and walked out, blinkingback tears as she shut the front door behind her. The afternoon sun burned against her skin as she crossed the path to where she’d parked Bryson’s truck.
“Riley, wait up,” Grant called as he jogged in her direction. “I’m sorry about what Mom did back there.”
“That wasn’t about Dad. That was about her, and me, and the fact that I was so angry at her for betraying him all those years ago.” Riley leaned against the side of the pickup. “She’s never let it go that I chose to live with Dad.”
“And you’ve never forgiven her.” Grant eyes narrowed, slightly. “You’ve always come at the rest of us like we’re the grudge-holders. But you took off and barely looked back. Mom’s hurt, and it comes out sideways and all dramatic.”
Riley glanced toward the sky as a few big white puffy clouds waltzed across the sun, sending its rays cascading down toward earth like long legs moving with the music. “I know the three of us don’t have a great relationship, but at least we try. We always call on birthdays, holidays, and sometimes even send texts for no reason. Hell, you and I even saw each other a few times when you traveled overseas. I get that we have more problems than most families, but I do try with her, Grant. I really do. And I kept her secret.”
“You told the Boones.”
“Jesus, they already knew.”
“Not the point.” Grant riffled his fingers through his thick, curly hair. “Mom has always been jealous of Brea. You spent more time in that house as a kid than at home with her. She felt like you didn’t like her. I can’t say I didn’t have similar feelings. Always being pitted against a kid a couple of years younger.”
“You still have issues with Bryson.”
Grant lowered his chin. “He broke my sister’s heart. He’s the reason you took off to Alaska. He married someone who used to be your best friend. Why would I want to be kind to that man?”
When Grant put it in those terms, it was hard not to push past all the bullshit and accept his point of view on things. But he wasn’t working with all the information, and she wasn’t about to explain them. “I appreciate you having my back and sticking up for me with Mom.”
“She can be a lot.” He smiled. “However, I don’t agree with you regarding pushing an autopsy.”
“I don’t need your permission to call Doctor Gavin and ask him to do it.”
“No, I suppose you don’t. But I’m asking you not to make that call.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” he said.
“Outside of Dad’s weirdness with doctors, why don’t you want it, because you all but accused Bryson of having something to do with Dad’s death?”
Grant let out a long breath. “I had to put blame somewhere, and Bryson is an easy target for me.”
“So, you don’t hold him responsible?”
“Not like you’re making it sound. I just don’t like that Dad was out there doing hard labor sometimes.”
Her brother was a lot of things, but he did have a heart. “How did he look that morning? Mom keeps saying he was sick. She said you and Erin saw it, knew it. But neither of you are really jumping on that bandwagon.”
“Look, Dad appeared tired that morning. I’ve said that all along, and I’ve wanted him to go to a doctor for a checkup. He was getting up there in age. His hip bothered him sometimes. He didn’t move quite as fast anymore. He wasn’t a spring chicken.” Grant rubbed his chest. “Kelly wants me to go see a heart specialist. She’s been reading about this thing called a widow maker. Everyone thinks that’s what killed Grandpa, and if it’s what got Dad, she’s all freaked out about me.”
“Can’t hurt to see one.” It was impossible to miss the worry etched in the lines around her brother’s eyes. “But all the more reason to call the ME. I just don’t want this to be one more reason we don’t speak to each other.”
He reached out and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I honestly want to put the past behind us. And it’s not that I don’t want to know, it’s Mom. It’s a delicate balance. We both know how she can get, and I’m the one who has to manage that.”
