Impulsion (Station 32 #1)(60)
It was becoming evident that this upcoming birthday party was going to be harder to avoid, that maybe their ‘growing apart’ excuse never had a chance to hold water.
Harley never knew her grandmother, obviously, but she knew of her, knew that her mother could not stand her, and she never met her either. Apparently, Harley’s mother had always wanted the three carat canary diamond that belonged to the late Mrs. Tatum.
When Harley’s grandmother died, the will gave it to Garrison, with the testimony that the jewel was to be given to a soul that would honor the Tatum bloodline. The will said ‘soul’ because Garrison was not married at the time and there was no way for anyone to know if he would even have children, or if they would be girls or boys.
Harley’s mother was apparently mortified when Garrison gave her a different ring when he proposed. He’d told her that the ring was meant to stay with his bloodline, and if his bloodline ended with him, the will his mother left clearly stated that the ring would go to her favorite charity—a soul that would honor the bloodline.
Every occasion, every time Garrison gave Claire a gift of a jewel, Harley saw that hope in her mother’s eyes that the ring would be there. It never was.
Claire even asked him when he was sick a few years ago to amend his will, to state the ring would go to Harley. He refused. Said unless a man came forward that he saw fit to carry on his bloodline, that ring would go to the charity his mother had selected decades before.
The whole ordeal was stupid in Harley’s mind. And when her mother put her on the spot, right in front of her father, and told her to tell him that she wanted that jewel, that legacy, Harley looked right at her father as he was lying in a hospital bed and said, “I trust my father to give that ring to someone who deserves it.” At the time, Harley was telling him two things: one, she needed him to survive; two, she needed his blessing, wanted it, when the time came.
Harley knew the only reason Collin’s mother and her mother were arguing about this right now was that Harley’s mother did not want that ring to be lost, given away. Knowing Silvia Grant, she thought it was more fitting for Harley to wear a ring from their family since Harley would be taking their name.
Collin took the time to laugh at Harley’s rare snide remark. “He gave me my grandmother’s ring. I think my mother thought if I already had this, it would head off your mother.”
“We are so screwed. There is no way out of this. We have to tell them.”
“And when we do, your mother is going to come unglued. She will stand in the way of everything that belongs to you.”
“I don’t give a damn about the money.”
“I know you don’t, but you care about your father, his legacy. Your mother doesn’t have the right to give you hell, but she will. We’re going to play this a different way. Make it my fault.”
“Why? None of this is your fault.”
“It’s not yours either. It’s different for me. If I make a ballsy move, it impresses my father. I know how to make that move, put you in the right, and end this fake love affair.”
“And how is that?”
“I’m going to give this ring to Quinn.”
“Um, yeah, that’s ballsy.” She smiled when she heard him laugh again. “You really love her?”
His tone grew serious, deep. “Everything that drew me to you, she has, only more so because she’s meant for me.”
“I’m happy for you, Collin,” Harley said quietly into the phone.
“I can wait a little while, think about how this will cross over, what we can say or do.”
“Don’t wait, Collin. If you know, don’t wait. Any moment can change your life forever. If you love her, you hang up with me and you pull her on that balcony and tell her that you do. Sweep her off her feet.”
“You know I’m still going to take care of you.”
“I need to take care of myself.”
“And you will, but first I’m going to find a way to end this and make it my fault. I know at this point no gossip or backlash from your mother would ever hurt you, but if we came out and said surprise, we were just kidding, never were a couple, someone, somewhere will attach the word scandal or say you can never take your family’s word—some twisted something, and I don’t care how much Garrison Tatum states he does not give a damn what people think, he doesn’t deserve to have lived the life he has only to die with a mark on his name. I’m going to make this right. It was my idea, and you know as well as I do the Grants are known for bold moves.”
“Your father is no spring chicken either. I don’t see why you think it’s okay to risk some kind of gossip about your family.”
“My father is one of four. I’m one of three. There are a lot of Grants, and Grants are known to be unpredictable up until the last moment. It’s almost a family mantra. I think the best bet is to still use this separation, time apart excuse, but say I fell for Quinn when we were apart…I was adding it up just before I called you. We have only been in the same state for nine days in the last ten months. We could easily tell them we broke up just before then and tell them we did not announce that because we thought we just needed a pause, but I fell for Quinn while we were apart. That way, no one will ever know we never were what they thought, and the break up will seem reasonable. If anything, those that do care to gossip will assume they were just not paying attention. It will end all of this in the cleanest way possible.”