Protecting Her(33)

“No,” she says bluntly. “We can’t. So just stop talking about it.”

“Shelby, tell me—”

“Rachel, I mean it.” There’s anger in her voice and her body is tense. “You don’t know the whole story, so just stay out of it.”

I keep quiet for the rest of the drive. I don’t know why she won’t tell me her reason for not dating Logan. I know she still loves him, so why does she refuse to be with him?

When we’re almost at her apartment, she says, “I’m sorry for yelling at you.”

“I just wish you’d tell me what’s going on.”

“Nothing’s going on. Just forget it.” She gets her keys from her purse.

I park in front of her building. “Call me tomorrow, okay?”

She nods, then waves toward the back seat. “Bye, Garret.”

I check the rearview mirror and see him in his car seat, looking content. He loves riding in the car.

We arrive back at the house just after six. Pearce is in the kitchen, going through the mail. I kiss him quick, then hand him Garret. “You watch him while I finish dinner.”

“How was your day, Garret?” Pearce asks in a serious tone. “Did you get much work done?”

I laugh. “If you count lying around and eating all day, work, then yes, he got a lot done.”

“Good boy.” He kisses his cheek. “So what did Shelby say?”

I take the carrots and potatoes out, which I already prepped. “She wouldn’t tell me much about the guy she was with, but I asked her about Logan and she started crying. She said she hasn’t talked to him in weeks.”

“He stopped calling her?”

“No. She just won’t answer the phone. But she said she wants to be with him, so I don’t get it. She said it’s complicated, whatever that means.” I open the oven door to check the roast. “You should talk to Logan. Have lunch with him next week.”

“We already have a lunch scheduled for Monday, but I’m not asking him about Shelby. The two of them need to work this out themselves.”

I check the clock. “I have to hurry. Can you go up and change Garret?”

“Of course.” Pearce comes over and kisses me. “Thank you for making dinner. I’m sure my parents won’t appreciate it, but I do.”

I kiss him back. “I just hope they like it.”

The rest of the hour I race around, trying to get everything ready, including myself, and right at six fifty-nine, the doorbell rings.

Pearce greets them at the door as I’m hurrying down the stairs.

“Hi.” I give Eleanor a distant shoulder hug, which is all she’ll tolerate. I simply smile at Holton since I know he wouldn’t tolerate any type of hug. “Welcome.”

They smile and nod. They both look very serious, even more so than normal. Maybe they were arguing on the way over.

“How is our grandson?” Eleanor asks Pearce, who’s holding Garret.

Pearce hands him to her. “You can ask him yourself. We’ve been working on his conversation skills.”

“Pearce has long conversations with Garret,” I explain. “He tells him all the business news.”

“Good,” Holton says. “He’ll be running the company someday so he needs to be educated in business at any early age.”

I bite the inside of my cheek so I don’t say what I want to say, which is that my son will pick whatever career he’d like. He’s not going to be forced to run Kensington Chemical. I’m so glad Pearce isn’t working there anymore. Even if his father wasn’t his boss, Pearce still wouldn’t like working there. He has no interest in chemical manufacturing.

“Would you like a tour of the house?” I ask Holton since he’s never been here.

“No. I don’t need one.” He coughs and then keeps coughing.

“Would you like some water?” I ask him.

“Scotch and water.”

“I’ll get it,” Pearce says. “Mother, would you like the same?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

I’m not used to this drinks-before-dinner ritual, but Pearce’s family does it every night. And then they always have wine with dinner. If I drank that much, I’d be drunk.

While they have their drinks in the living room, I put Garret to bed. We have dinner at seven-thirty. Both Holton and Eleanor are quiet during dinner and I’m worried they don’t like the food.