Forever Too Far

We told each other everything. Yet he’d been dating my sister and never said a word.
         “Hey, bro.” His chipper voice greeted me.
         “I know about Nan,” was all I said.
         Grant let out a weary sigh.  “I was hoping I’d be able to tell you about it. I wanted to. I just... she didn’t want me to and then she had the accident. Then, well... it’s over. She’s made it very clear that she doesn’t want anything serious with me. I can’t deal with her sleeping around. It wasn’t just a booty call. I’d have never done that with Nan. You know that. I really liked her. Maybe I cared too much.”
         I sank down onto the chair beside me and stared out at the ocean. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
        “I wanted to. She begged me not to. I cared about her, Rush. I wanted it to work. I did what she asked. But I felt like shit lying to you about it.”
         He had cared about Nan? Wow.
         “Dean says you’re done with her now.”
         “She’s done with me. I can’t play her games.”
         I loved my sister but I also loved Grant. She’d break his heart. She wasn’t good for him. My dad was right. Grant needed someone that could love him. I wasn’t sure Nan could. Relief that he was ending it with her wasn’t because I didn’t want them together but because I hated to think of Nan doing to Grant what my mother did in her past to the men who loved her.  Grant deserved more than that.
         “She can’t make anyone happy until she finds a way to be happy. Right now she has so much resentment in her that she will make miserable anyone who gets too close. Don’t let her do that to you.”
         Grant was quiet for a minute. “She isn’t always a bitch. Part of me was falling in love with her for a moment. Then she ended that by reminding me how hard she would be to love.”
         “I love my sister. But you deserve more. Nan isn’t whole. Not really. She has too many issues.”
        “Thank you. I thought this conversation would go a lot differently. I didn’t expect you to be worried about me.”
         “You ’re my brother. I want what’s best for you too. I want you to have what I have. Go find that.”
         Grant let out a laugh that sounded like he didn’t think it was possible. “That’s a pretty high order to fill.”

 
    BLAIRE
     
         I stepped into the kitchen to see Dean Finlay frying bacon and whistling the tune to one of Slacker Demon’s number one hits. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. He turned his head and his gaze met mine. The look on his face wasn’t one I ever expected to see on a famous rock star. He reminded me of a father.
         “Good morning, sunshine. I’m making you and that grandbaby of mine some breakfast. I did have help but I’m afraid I told Rush something he didn’t know and shocked him a bit. He went outside to make a phone call. He’ll be back in a few minutes,” he said as he forked the bacon and laid each slice out on a paper towel lined plate. 
         I glanced past him to the win dows to see Rush talking on the phone intently. “What did you tell him?” I asked, wondering if I should go check on him.
         “Gra nt and Nan have had a thing for awhile now. Nan finally screwed things up for the last time and it’s over. Rush didn’t know about it.”
        My mouth dropped open as his words sank in. Grant and Nan? Really?
         “Shocked the hell outta me too. Didn’t think that boy was stupid. Guess he learned the hard way just ‘cause it’s pretty don’t mean it shines.”
         I looked back outside at Rush. He was standing up and slipping his phone into his pocket. I wondered if he’d called Nan or Grant.
         “Why don’t you go take a seat over at the table and let me fix you a plate? Do you like orange juice or milk or both? The baby probably needs a little of both.”
         I shifted my attention back to Dean as he stood there holding a plate with bacon eggs and a waffle on it. Had he just cooked all that for me?
         “Wow that looks delicious,” I replied.
         “It is. I make a killer breakfast. Now go sit down and let me feed you.”
         I bit my bottom lip to keep from grinning like an idiot and took a seat at the table. Rush opened the door and walked back inside just as his father placed a plate of food in front of me.
         “Don’t worry about your pretty little