She’d married her second husband before Grady had even learned to walk. He’d been decent. And had given Grady and Ryder a sister, who had immediately steadied things. But when Grady was in high school, they divorced, and Haley moved with her dad to California. Husband number three wasn’t so bad, but by the time Bill Stellan came around, Grady had been nearly grown. So, the monstrosity of a house wasn’t exactlyhome.
Since he’d left for college, immediately after graduating from high school, right on schedule as expected, he visited as infrequently as possible. Somehow, he’d forgotten how pretentious they were. He’d grown up with Hattie, initially their au pair, and now the woman-of-all-trades, he supposed, but the rest of the staff were all new.
After staying at Black Op for as long as humanly possible, Grady hoped to hell he was late for dinner, but Hattie had waved at him on her way out and announced that he had half an hour to unwind before dinner. More, he was hoping to forget the woman who had broken his heart in less than half an hour’s time. He pulled a fresh pair of jeans from his underwhelming closet and changed out of his wet-butt jeans—thanks to his mystery woman—and into a dry pair. Not much to choose from, he snagged a fresh shirt as well. Thanks to the fire, he had about a week’s worth of clothes to his name, and would need to shop again when the season changed.
Why was he so messed up about a woman he hardly knew? Well, she was among many that he felt something for that was already spoken for. But there was something different about her.
Knock it off. You’re just in a self-pitying jag because your life sucks right now.
His mother would no doubt prefer he changed into nice slacks, and possibly a button-up, rather than the t-shirt and jeans. At some point, she’d figure out he didn’t care for her suggestions.
Burned out from the long day, he stretched out on the sage green couch, plopping feet up on the spruce green throw pillow. Why did he enjoy the act so much, knowing his mother would cringe if she caught him tarnishing the satin with his bare feet?Ha, he answered his own question. Speak of the devil. He heard a rapid knock at the door.
Impatient, as always, she didn’t wait for his response. Quick as a frog’s tongue, he pulled his feet from the pillow before he was caught. Not worth the argument while he was stuck under her roof.
Must be a clinic day; her unnatural platinum hair graced the tops of her shoulders and she was decked out in unwrinkled black slacks and a red silk top, impressive considering the ten-hour day and two-hour commute. She looked almost approachable on surgery days, her hair slicked back and face devoid of makeup, truly stunning without the fuss, but she didn’t seem to realize it. Those days were becoming fewer and farther between as she considered retirement.
“Grady, I am so disappointed in you.” She gracefully lowered herself onto the opposite end of the couch and smoothed her already-flawless hair.
“Sorry.” No idea what he’d done this time.
“Bill tells me you turned down Joseph Mathers’ divorce case, spent the afternoon on the ice, and then were off to your little beer hobby.” Yeah, that would disappoint her alright.
Grady ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more than its usual disarray. “It’s up to me which cases I take, which I refuse, and my reasons for making those decisions. You wouldn’t operate unless you were confident in all aspects of the approach and potential outcomes.”
She sighed, the creases in her forehead almost visible. Botox must be wearing off. “You’re a capable attorney. I know you would have handled his divorce authentically and successfully.”
Grady rose to his feet and made for the exit. After the day he’d had, he really wasn’t in the mood for another of her lectures. If one didn’t stand up to one’s own mother by the time he reached his thirtieth year, when would he? He hesitated in the doorway. “I certainly could have, but it’s my decision. I don’t know where you get your gossip, but it’s none of your business how I spend my day.”
The man had been caught cheating on his wife. With his business partner. In the middle of his office. With the door wide open. And he expected to walk away with everything.
This is the shit Grady didn’t want to take on when he studied law. Yet, it seemed to be the type of case that landed on his doorstep most often, thanks to his parents and their uppity friends. When they’d paid for him to go to law school, they must have envisioned all the power they could accumulate by having his expertise and influence. And he knew she had visions of politics in his future.
Environmental law might have been cool, but any tree-hugging wouldn’t have reflected well on Bill Stellan’s timber empire. Tax law might have been interesting, but there wouldn’t be exciting cases in this small town. He’d considered prosecution, but he also didn’t want to risk putting an innocent behind bars.
“Wait, Grady?” Without a stray hair or catch in her step, she moved like a fucking jaguar to catch him before he was out of sight.
In anticipation of a cherry-on-top addition to her disappointment, he raised an eyebrow and paused at the top of the stairs.
“Don’t forget our family dinner tonight. Ryder’s home and has brought his fiancée.”
“Engaged? When did that happen?”
“When I spoke with him last week and told him how wonderful it would be if I could announce his engagement at the gala. As luck would have it, he’d just proposed.”
Uh-huh. Rather coincidental timing. And now his brother had yet another leg up on him. Engaged, with perfect timing for Patricia to claim her latest mother-of-the-year prize and renewed bragging rights. After they’d both graduated and started working, with no anticipated milestones to tick off, she must have run out of boasts.
Grady was not looking forward to meeting the fiancée. Like all the others, she was likely as much a showpiece for Ryder’s career as Patricia’s children were for her social status. Ryder wouldn’t care, as long as she gave a decent blowjob.
Grady shook his head and tried to clear the image. He still was haunted by the memory of Ryder getting some from Grady’s ex-girlfriend in the stables. Having no interest in horses, Ryder had apparently made good use of the stables over the years for other mounting purposes. Neither had seemed to care that Grady had been due home from college at any moment.
