Perfect Partners(49)
Author: Carly Phillips

She raised damp eyes to meet their expectant gaze. “But you have it. You always have. But…” Chelsie inhaled for courage.

“But what?” Her mother rolled her hand over, capturing Chelsie’s and holding on tight. “We’ve been through the worst. I think it’s time we heard all of it. Then we can finally be a family.”

Chelsie nodded and turned to her mother. Images of Griff and Alix assailed her. The very people who’d given her back her life. She owed it to them to come all the way back, even if Griff no longer wanted any part of her.

She bit the inside of her cheek before speaking. “You… you won’t be having any more grandchildren,” she said. In the minutes that ensued, Chelsie told her parents the same details she’d shared with Griff, and waited for the same painful end.

To her shock and relief, it never came. Her sister’s death had changed her parents—too late for Shannon, but just in time for Chelsie.

“Well, at least this wife will be the last woman he abuses.” Her father sat with clenched fists, his skin pale beneath the Florida tan.

Chelsie gnawed on the inside of her cheek. “I’ve been thinking about that. The system never works quite the way it should. The courts are overcrowded, and given Jeff’s propensity to charm and talk his way out of things, he might get off with a hefty fine and community service.”

“The man needs help,” her father muttered.

“Exactly. And I think I know a way to see he gets it.” For Chelsie, it was also a way to make amends for not acting in the past.

Even Griff couldn’t fault this idea, considering he, too, wanted assurance that her ex-husband would get the help he needed. Unfortunately, Griff would fight her involvement out of concern. He might not want her in his life, but she knew him well enough to know he’d protect her anyway. Which was why she had no intention of mentioning this particular idea until it was complete.

Her father leaned forward. “I’m listening.”

She smiled. He was. After a lifetime of drought, she had unconditional support at last.

Hours later, she knew she’d done the right thing and she’d explain that to her ex-partner when she got home. Since her father had excused himself, Chelsie now sat alone with her mother. She eased back in the family-room recliner.

“Remember, if he doesn’t want you, it’s his loss.” Her mother crossed the room and knelt down beside her.

Despite the painful words, Chelsie burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Ellen Russell asked.

“You’re talking to me like I’m a teenager and I’ve lost my first true love.”

Her mother reached out and touched her hair. “Haven’t you?”

“Haven’t I what?” Chelsie asked. She’d been brutally honest about everything in her life except her relationship with Griff. That particular loss was still too painful and fresh.

Her mother’s wise gaze met hers. “Lost your first true love?”

Chelsie opened and closed her mouth, unable to form an answer. Apparently a mother never lost her intuition, even after years of neglect.

“I lost your teenage years in a selfish fog, but I’m here now. And I know what I see.”

“What’s that?” Chelsie asked, too emotionally spent to get her anger up or argue.

“A heartbroken woman. And I know as sure as we’re sitting in this room, talking like mother and daughter, that your pain has nothing to do with your ex-husband and everything to do with Griff.”

She blinked back tears, but they fell anyway. Then Chelsie did the one thing she needed most. She cried in her mother’s arms.

* * *

The roar of airplanes sounded in the distance as Chelsie bid good-bye to her parents at the airport.

“We’ll be back at the end of the month,” her father promised, “apology in hand and knocking on that man’s door to see our granddaughter.”

Her father had referred to Griff as that man ever since her mother had informed him he’d turned Chelsie away. In her opinion, they were taking the parent routine too far, but they’d get past it. “I’m sure I can arrange visits. He’s not unreasonable, Dad. And given everything you put him through, an apology would help ease things between you.”

“I’ll do it, but after what he did to you…”

“That’s between us, and you owe him.” She leaned over and kissed her father’s weathered cheek.

“I know. But I still don’t like what went on between you two.”

“Like you said, Dad, it went on between us. Stay out of it.”

He turned towards his wife. “I’m good enough to talk to when it comes to dealing with her son-of-a-bitch ex-husband, but when it comes to…”

“The man she loves, it’s none of your business.”

Chelsie looked at her parents and laughed. Two people who had learned life’s lessons the harshest possible way, but still remained together. She wished Griff could see them now. Maybe he’d believe anything was possible.

She thought of his past and his pain and knew she was wishing for the impossible.

THIRTEEN

Griff turned onto the busy street. The modern office building he sought appeared on his left.

“Last chance to back out.” Ryan thumped his hand against the dashboard of the car.

The time had long passed to second-guess his decision. So much of his life and his future rode on this meeting. Griff turned the steering wheel, angling the car into the nearest parking spot in the underground lot. “No way in hell. You?” He glanced at Ryan.

“Nope.”

Griff had known the answer before he asked the question. Ryan had never deserted him in the past. He wouldn’t start now. The trust he placed in his friend had taught him a valuable lesson, one he intended to extend to Chelsie. Both people were loyal and cared for him. Griff only wished he’d heeded what was in front of him for so long.

They walked through the dark lot and into the building. A security guard greeted them at the front entrance. “Stevens and McLaughlin,” Griff said. “We have an appointment with one of the attorneys.”

The burly man in the gray suit nodded. “Sign in.”

Griff scrawled his name. Ryan did the same. “Fifth floor,” the guard said.

They stepped into the elevators. “So far, so good.”

Griff rolled his shoulders. “Take it easy, Ryan. The hard part’s yet to come.” Griff had no illusions about dealing with the man Chelsie had once called her husband. He hadn’t reached the top of his profession by letting other people have their way easily.