Blossom Street Brides (Blossom Street #10)(95)

Grant shook his head in disbelief. “It’s always about the money. I’m surprised you haven’t figured that out before now.”

“For some that might be the case,” Max agreed, resisting adding anything more.

Grant crossed his arms. “I suppose you’re making this gallant sacrifice for Bethanne’s sake.”

“Yes.” And for Annie and Andrew and Courtney and Bethanne’s first grandchild, but Max felt it was better not to mention his reasons.

“You love her that much?” Grant asked, as if even now he found the move unbelievable. Drastic, even.

“More, and because I love Bethanne, I love her children, too.”

“My children,” Grant said forcefully.

“Your children,” Max agreed. “You’re their father. Nothing’s going to change that, and I wouldn’t want it to. When Bethanne and I decided to marry, I fully intended to love her children.”

“Right noble of you,” Grant muttered sarcastically. “So you’re moving to Seattle.”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“It’ll take a few months, I suspect. Rooster and I talked about it quite a bit before he left.”

“Rooster left? Another business trip?”

“In a manner of speaking.” Max wasn’t going to let Grant sidetrack him with questions about his partner.

“In other words, you’re going to be around Seattle on a permanent basis?”

“Yes.” That was sure to upset Grant.

The other man went silent for several seconds. “Your being here could get downright uncomfortable for you,” Grant suggested. The last few words hung in the air between them like a wire walker suspended above Niagara Falls.

“What are you suggesting?” Max asked, confronting Grant head-on. He didn’t like the sound of this threat.

“I’m saying such a move might mean trouble for you in the future,” Grant murmured. “I have Annie on my side, and we both know how miserable Bethanne is without her daughter. Annie’s a bit of a drain on me, but she serves her purpose. I could change things and coax her to reunite with her mother.”

This situation with her daughter had torn Bethanne apart. Grant knew it and used Annie against his ex-wife for his own selfish purposes.

“Spell out exactly what you mean,” Max demanded.

Grant laughed as though Max’s anger amused him. “I have the power to make you and my ex miserable.”

“And you’d use Annie to do it?”

“Without a qualm, but,” he said, and raised his index finger, “I have a solution.”

Max brought his hands together and clenched them into tight fists. The hairs on the back of his head stood up, and even before Grant spoke, Max knew he wasn’t going to like what the other man had to say.

“A solution?” he repeated.

“Yes.” Grant relaxed in the chair, looking smug and confident. “Like I said, I could convince Annie to make amends with her mother or I could make sure Bethanne paid the price for dumping me when she did.”

Grant seemed to conveniently forget that he was the one who’d walked out on their family. He’d been involved in an affair long before he’d divorced his wife.

“Is there a but in this as well?” Max asked. “You know, but something could change your mind?”

Grant shrugged. “This hasn’t been a great year for real estate,” he commented.

Max had heard the market was picking up. That didn’t appear to be the case with Grant, however. Bethanne had told him this was the third or fourth brokerage firm her ex-husband had been with since their divorce.

“Finances are tight for me at the moment,” Grant admitted. “It’s a temporary situation that should be rectified soon, but at the moment I’m low on funds.”

Outraged, Max bolted to his feet. “You want me to pay you to persuade Annie to mend fences with her mother?”

Again, Grant’s answer came in the form of a nonchalant shrug.

“That’s blackmail.”

“Call it what you will, but I’d prefer to think of it as a business proposition. I do something for you and you do something for me. You know what I mean. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”

Max was so angry he was afraid he was about to do something he would later regret.

“I’m sure we could come to amicable terms.”

“I don’t think so,” Max said between gritted teeth.

Grant sighed as though disappointed. “It’s a pity.” He glanced at his watch. “I can’t imagine what’s taking Annie so long, but you can bet when she arrives you won’t get a warm welcome.”

“Actually, Dad, I’m here,” Annie said, stepping out from the hallway and into the living room.

“Sweetheart,” Grant said, and rose to hug his daughter. “I was just telling Max—”

“I heard what you had to say to Max,” she said, and glared at her father. She braced her hands against her hips, and her face was red with anger. “I’m a bit of a drain, am I? You want to hurt Mom? And this conversation with Max isn’t the only one I heard. I came back while you were on the phone with Monica.”

Grant’s eyes rounded with surprise before he recovered. “Honey, you only heard one side of the conversation—”