“You listen to me, Grant McDermott,” she said fiercely. She grabbed my chin in her hand and forced me to make eye contact with her. “You’ve never forced me to do anything. I love you. That doesn’t mean only when it’s easy or not complicated. It means all the time, no matter what. I’m standing right here, and I’m not leaving your side.”
“I almost fucking shot you!”
“But you didn’t! And you’re never, ever going to pick up a fucking gun like that again. Do you realize that if you had shot him…or me…you would never be the same?” Tears sprang to her eyes, but she refused to look away.
It was fucking horrible, watching her cry. I wanted to make it all go away, but I was the one who had caused her pain.
“How could I ever find the man that I love after that? I can’t lose you, Grant.”
Her words stole my breath away. There was nothing I could do or say to make up for the pain in her voice. My whole world was crumbling, and I’d almost completely obliterated it.
She swallowed hard and tried to regain control. “I think we should go talk to your uncle.”
“What? Why?”
“Because your dad mentioned that he had talked to Randy. Maybe he’ll have some answers for you.”
I shook my head. “There are no answers about my dad. He’s gone. And I don’t want him in my life.”
Ari pursed her lips in annoyance. “He went through an awful lot of trouble to find you and speak with you for him to disappear again. I think at least some of what he said sounded…genuine.”
“Wait…you actually believe the bullshit he was spouting?”
“Why would he spend so much time trying to find you otherwise? He had a chance to hurt you, Grant. He had the gun out of your hand, and what did he do?”
She stared at me, waiting for an answer.
An answer I didn’t want to deliver.
He’d disarmed me, taken the gun apart, and discarded it. He’d had no interest in it. I’d been so fucked up and worried about Ari that I hadn’t given my dad’s actions a second thought. He could have put a bullet in my head without missing a beat. My last thought would have been about Ari’s safety.
But he hadn’t.
I shook off the feeling of confusion that followed the realization. Just because he hadn’t taken the opportunity didn’t mean he didn’t want to hurt me in some other way, like taking the things I loved away from me.
“I don’t trust him.”
“And you don’t have to,” she said. “I know you’re hurting about this, and you have been for a while, but I was almost shot today because he showed up. I think, if anything, I deserve answers about your father. Don’t you think you owe me that much, Grant?”
How could I deny her anything after what had happened?
Her pleading hurricane-blue eyes fucking destroyed me.
Yes, Princess. I owe you everything.
We arrived at my uncle’s restaurant after a silent tense drive down the shore. By the time I hopped out of my truck, which Ari had forced me to let her drive, I felt totally fucked up. My body ached. My chest physically hurt. I had a splitting headache.
Rock-bottom was like a ton of bricks on my chest. No matter how hard I’d tried to push them off and breathe again, I was crushed further under the assault.
I followed numbly behind Ari into the restaurant. It was late, and they were closing up shop. The hostess didn’t know or recognize me, but I walked past her without a response to her questions anyway. Ari smiled politely and gave an explanation as I continued to the kitchen. I heard her patter of feet against the floor as she caught up to me.
“Are you ready?” she whispered, reaching out for my hand.
“These are your answers, Princess.”
She sighed and looked away. I knew she was irritated that I didn’t want to know more about my dad, but I was just happy he was gone. I wished it were a certainty that he’d never come back. However, I couldn’t trust that.
“Grant! Aribel! What a surprise!” Uncle Randy cried when he saw us in the doorway.
He came forward and wrapped Ari in a hug. When he turned to me to do the same, he saw the hard expression on my face and gave pause.
“What? What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Grant’s dad paid us a visit,” Ari said.
Randy sighed. “He actually showed up?”
“You knew about that?” I spat.
“Can we maybe go somewhere and talk?” Ari interrupted.
“Yeah. Yeah, sure. Let me leave someone else in charge of closing up. We can go out on the deck.”
Anger boiled in my fucking veins. Had my uncle known what was fucking happening and not told me? Could all this have been prevented if I’d just had all the information?
He ran around, finishing up some last-minute duties and instructing another manager to close down for the night. Then, he walked us out to the back deck and sat us down where Ari and I’d had our first date.
It was empty and dark on my beach. It called to me in that moment. I’d gone down there time and time again to think about what had happened the night my father had become a murderer. I’d drowned my sorrows into that beach long before I’d turned to booze and women and adrenaline rushes, long before Ari had entered my life and turned it into our beach.
“So, tell me what happened,” my uncle said.
Aribel glanced over at me, and when I didn’t say anything, she launched into the story as she had witnessed it. My uncle’s eyes widened as the story turned more and more fantastical.
“You shot a gun, Grant?” my uncle asked disapprovingly.
“I wasn’t going to wait for him to shoot first.”
“But he didn’t draw a gun,” Aribel said. “He actually dismantled your gun and tossed it when he had the chance. I don’t think he was there to hurt you at all.”
“My father doesn’t always work with physical pain.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to side with Aribel on this,” my uncle said.
“You know what he did to me!” I said, standing from my chair.
“Grant, sit down,” Ari said.
She tugged on my arm until I complied and then laced our fingers together for support.
“I know what happened that night. And I also know what happened the thirteen years after that with both you and your father. You only have one side of the story because you refused to learn anything else about what had happened.”