A Turn in the Road (Blossom Street #8)(16)

Ruth looked from one to the other. “You’d do that, son?”

“I’d need to make arrangements with the office and I might have to change the dates, but if this is important to you, Mom, I’d make it work.”

“Then you won’t need me,” Bethanne said, starting to withdraw her arm from Ruth’s.

Her mother-in-law held her tight. “Check that computer phone thing you always have with you,” Ruth said. “Tell me when you’d be free for two entire weeks to drive me all the way across the country.”

Grant took out his iPhone and scrolled down the screen. “Like I said, I’d need to make a few phone calls, rearrange some appointments…” he said slowly. “The second and third weeks of August would be manageable.”

“That’s too late,” Ruth told him. “The class reunion is June 17 and I’m going to be there.” She looked pointedly at Robin. “It doesn’t matter what scare tactics you use. I won’t let tales of renegade truckers and biker gangs intimidate me. Bethanne and I are leaving on schedule and nothing you say is going to change that.”

“Now, Mom, you can fly out for the reunion and we can drive back again in August,” Grant suggested. “That way—”

Ruth shook her head. “I heard all those promises from your father. Year after year he said we’d drive across the country, but something always interfered. It did with Richard and it will with you. No, Grant, my mind is made up.”

“And so is mine,” Bethanne added for emphasis.

“Then I say—” Grant turned to his sister with a shrug “—that we let them go.”

“Like either of them could stop us,” Ruth muttered.

Bethanne grinned and, leaning close, whispered, “Annie wants to join us.”

“Annie,” Ruth said aloud. “Why, that’s a wonderful idea!”

His daughter’s name instantly caught Grant’s attention. “What’s this about Annie?”

“She phoned last night and asked to come with us.”

Instead of objecting, as she’d half expected, Grant broke into a wide smile. “I agree with Mom. Bringing Annie with you is a good idea.”

This was an interesting development. Bethanne had assumed that once he learned Annie intended to accompany them, it would be all the excuse he needed to demand they fly.

Robin stared at her brother as though he’d taken leave of his senses. “I give up,” she said, grabbing her briefcase and her purse. “I can see I’m fighting a losing battle. I have a meeting, so I won’t waste any more time here.” She stalked toward the door.

“Robin,” Bethanne said, halting her progress.

“Yes?” she snapped, whirling around.

“You might want to wish your mother and me a good trip.”

But Robin just rolled her eyes and left the house, slamming the screen door on her way out.

As soon as his sister was gone, Grant started laughing. “Well, she was in rare form, wasn’t she?”

Bethanne hugged Ruth, who had begun to tremble. “Everything’s okay, Ruth. We’re going on the trip of a lifetime.”

Grant waited until they’d finished hugging before he spoke. “You didn’t mention this last night when we had dinner.” The comment was filled with accusation.

“Was there any reason I should?”

“You’re planning to drive across the country with my mother,” he said. “Didn’t you think Robin and I were entitled to know?”

This was a repeat of the conversation she’d had with Annie. “It was up to Ruth to mention it, not me,” she told him, unwilling to be chastised by her ex-husband.

Grant’s response was a raised eyebrow, but he didn’t say anything else.

“I was afraid Robin would make a fuss,” Ruth said. “I wish now I’d kept my mouth shut.”

Bethanne agreed it would’ve been preferable had Ruth waited until they were on the road, but that seemed a bit underhanded.

“If I can, I’d like to ask one thing of you,” Grant said, obviously deciding on a more conciliatory approach. “I’d feel better about the three of you being on the road if you’d call me at least once a day.”

“We could do that,” Ruth said, eager to make peace with her family.

“Will you?” Grant posed the question to Bethanne.

“I’m sure Ruth and Annie would be happy to keep in touch,” she said curtly, reluctant to add her name to the list. The idea of calling her ex-husband didn’t sit well with her, despite his unexpected support.

Grant held her look. “I won’t be able to relax if I don’t know that the three most important women in my life are safe.”

“We’ll check in,” Bethanne eventually promised.

“Thank you.”

Bethanne drove to the office a few minutes later, but for the rest of that day, she couldn’t get Grant out of her mind. She had to appreciate the fact that he hadn’t joined forces with his sister against them. His concern for Ruth, Annie and her seemed genuine. She’d given him a glimmer of hope that a reconciliation was possible; the idea didn’t seem as repugnant to her as it once had and that, she guessed, was a good sign.

At her desk, she made all the necessary arrangements to leave the office for a few weeks. She went home at five that afternoon, slightly depressed at the prospect of an empty house, and wondered what it would’ve been like if Grant had been there waiting for her with a glass of wine and a welcoming smile.