Page 263 of Mountain Grump
You gave me your word that you’d keep an eye on her. And I need you to keep your word. Because even if you didn’t know it at the time, it was a promise to a dying man. And since I’m dead now, you can’t take it back.
My throat feels tight as I swallow.
Itwasn’tjust a thing people say. It was more than that.
And Uncle Jack wrote Ethan to remind him.
So, Ethan Grant, Park Ranger, Overall Grump, I need you to promise me one more thing.
That you will keep an eye on Matilda.
That you will keep her safe.
And for the next three months, starting tomorrow, when you fly to Vegas, I need you to do whatever she asks of you. No matter how… unconventional.
The sparkly string around my heart starts to loosen.
Ethan received this letter the day before we got married. The same day I got mine.
Ethan knew something was going to happen.
He… he agreed so easily. He…
My eyes trace over the next sentence.
And if you do this, if you play along with my plan for three months, then $250,000 will be deposited into your bank account. My lawyers already have the instructions. So, as long as there’s no bad news, three months from now, you’ll be a little bit richer.
If there is bad news, you’ll get nothing.
And I’ll haunt you for the rest of your grumpy life.
All my love, Jack
The string dulls as it unravels, releasing all the broken parts of me back into my chest.
A drip lands on the page.
Then a second.
And when I blink,
more tears fall.
Money.
It’s all been about money.
Cold seeps through the floor into my knees.
Ethan got this letter from Uncle Jack, offering him a quarter of a million dollars to…play along.
The cold spreads down to my toes and up my thighs.
Ethan got this letter before I ever set foot on his plane.
He got this before I met with the lawyer. Before the wedding ceremony.
He went along with all of it because he was getting paid.
