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“If this is the time I’m meant to go, I want to go. It’s the universe’s way.”
“But no. Grandpa—I can’t. I can’t imagine living without you.”
“Well, you’re going to have to, sweetheart. I’m an old man. You had to expect this to happen one day.”
“Of course, Grandpa …but in the future. Not now.”
“I’m sorry. It looks like it may be now.”
I feel a strong hand on my shoulder. When I look up, I see that it’s Dean. I grab his hand and squeeze it.
But then I remember that he also kept the secret from me. So, I stand up and confront him. “I thought we were done with you keeping things from me?”
“But this…this wasn’t my business to share. If you were going to hear about it, I wanted you to hear it from him. At least, that was my plan.”
“Speaking of plans,” Anna suddenly returns and barges in to say. “What about this agreement I found on your briefcase?”
She hands it to me, and I see that it’s already been signed by Dean. The only missing signatures are for the construction company’s representatives.
“What is this?”
“It was from before I agreed to call everything off.”
“Well, then why is it dated today?”
“I—” He seems to be lost for words, so I just storm away and slam my bedroom door shut. My head is spinning, and I try to center it by cradling it in my hands.
***
Fortunately, Dean kept his distance from me for the remainder of the night, but when I woke up, I saw him asleep on the couch.
Strands of his salt-and-pepper hair are adorably strewn across his face. Dylan is snuggled under several blankets on the floor.
“I hope it’s okay that we stayed the night,” Coral says. I hadn’t yet seen that she was already in the kitchen. I made some coffee.”
“Perfect. Thanks.”
“So, Dean told me about your fight last night. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really.”
She raises her eyebrows and cocks her head to the side.
“Fine. I’m just so confused. Do you think he was lying about ditching the condos thing?”
Coral raises her cup to her mouth and blows on the hot beverage in it. “It was my understanding that he decided to find another project to invest his money and time in.”
“Really?”
“And other than that document that Anna so sneakily found and produced last night, I don’t have any evidence that he went back on that.”
“Okay, so what do you make of the contract?”
“I think he signed it earlier that day. And I found it in pieces on the table this morning.” She points to a nearby pile.
“Oh. Wait a minute… where’s Anna?”
“Dean asked her to leave. So, she slept in her car.”
