Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
“What is she doing in my granddaughter’s house?” Harriet demanded.
“That’s none of your business,” he said. “Now, are you leaving, or do I have to throw you out?”
Ignoring his question, Harriet crossed her arms and stood her ground. “Why didn’t you tell me that Rose had started to talk?”
“Why would I tell you that?”
“Has she said anything about me?”
Grady took a moment to really look at Harriet. The woman was nervous. She had something on her mind, and everything inside him told him he needed to know what it was. “What could she possibly have to say about you, Harriet?”
A panicked look lit the older woman’s face. “I don’t know. I am her grandmother. I just wondered if she had said anything about the last conversations we had right after Tricia passed away.”
What in the hell was she talking about? His daughter had been four years old. “You haven’t seen Rose or tried to communicate with her in any way since then. No birthday presents, no cards, no phone calls… nothing. Why are you suddenly so interested in conversations that took place over two years ago?”
“Well, you have to know, Grady, I was in a lot of pain. I had just lost my only daughter, and looking back, I think I might have said something Rose misunderstood.”
She definitely had his attention now. What the hell had this witch done? “Just what is it you think she could have misunderstood?”
Harriet was now wringing her hands. “You have to understand, I was in mourning. I have a delicate constitution, and every time Rose came around, all she wanted to do was talk about Tricia.”
Oh yeah, a bad feeling was clawing hard at his chest. “What the hell did you say to my daughter?”
“I was only trying to make her understand. I told her that when she talked about her mother, it caused me so much pain. And that if it caused me pain, it probably caused you pain too. So I told her she should never mention Tricia’s name to either of us ever again. That, if Tricia was all she could talk about, it would be better not to talk at all.”
Holy. Fucking. Hell.
All the pieces fell into place. Rose hadn’t stopped talking because her mother had died. Rose stopped talking because Harriet told her that she would be hurting the only people she had left if she mentioned her mother’s name. Since her mother was all she wanted to talk about, she went silent.
It took everything he had not to do something that would land him in jail. But he’d forgotten he wasn’t the only one in the room with Harriet.
“You cow!” Sage yelled from behind him. “You absolute bitch! How could you say something like that to her? And how could you not tell Grady what you said? She hasn’t spoken for two years. In two years, you couldn’t find the time to tell him what you did so that he could get your granddaughter some help?”
But Grady was done.
He didn’t need to hear the woman’s useless explanations. He had plans for what was happening tonight, and they didn’t include having it out with Harriet Gulch. He needed to think through the repercussions of what Harriet had done. But right now, Harriet needed to go. He’d deal with her later.
“Get out,” he snarled, walking toward the woman.
Sage, on the other hand, had been putting two and two together. She stepped in front of Grady, going nose to nose with Harriet.
“You were afraid that if what you did to Rose got out, you’d be embarrassed by what a horrible thing you’d done. It wasn’t bad enough that you’ve let that sweet girl hurt for two years by taking away her very voice, was it! No! You were only at that school to do one thing, and that was to spread your vicious poison to Rose’s teachers. You don’t care about anyone except yourself, do you? You were perfectly content to let your own granddaughter continue to suffer just to save your own precious reputation. God, what sort of person does that?”
Harriet reared back her hand as if she could slap his babygirl. This lady was fucked in the head. Before Harriet could strike, Grady picked Sage up and set her down, holding her behind him, away from Harriet’s reach.
Sage was having none of it. She beat on his back, trying to get around him. “Get out of my way! She wants to fight? I’m ready. Just give me five minutes with her.”
As for Harriet, she’d wasted no time in beating a retreat as he lowered his arm and allowed Sage to get by him. They went to the window, but the only thing left when they got there was dust in the air as Harriet sped away from his house like a bat out of hell.