A Brother's Honor (Grangers) - By Brenda Jackson Page 0,1
same spiel he gave anyone who had the audacity to inquire. Briefly and thoroughly, with a not-so-smooth edge, he basically told her that he preferred working for the people instead of kissing asses for any amount of money. He really didn’t expect people to understand and didn’t really give a damn if they didn’t.
He took a sip of his drink and smiled inwardly. The woman was finally at a loss for words, and he understood her dilemma, honestly he did. She thought the same way his ex-wife did. Eve’s belief had been that the more money you had, the happier you were. All he had to say to that theory was bullshit.
It didn’t surprise him when his date suggested they end the evening. That was fine with him, since the last thing he wanted was to become involved with another woman who had the same mindset as his ex-wife.
An hour later, he was entering his condo, grateful the evening with Angela had ended and that his path wouldn’t cross hers anytime soon. He figured she was probably on the phone with Alan at that very moment, giving him a piece of her mind about setting her up on a blind date with a man who evidently hadn’t any plans of making anything of himself.
Jace pulled off his jacket and was about to take it to the closet and hang it up when his cell phone rang. He wondered if it was Alan calling him already. He checked caller ID and saw it wasn’t Alan but his grandfather. It had to be past midnight in Virginia, and he wondered why the old man was calling so late.
“Yes, Granddad?”
“Jace?”
He frowned. It was not his grandfather’s deep, authoritarian voice but that of a woman. A woman whose voice he recognized immediately as the family’s housekeeper’s. “Hannah?”
“Yes, it’s me. You need to come home immediately.”
His heart nearly stopped at the thought of returning there, a place he hadn’t thought of as his home for years. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“It’s your grandfather. He’s had a heart attack, and it doesn’t look good. It’s serious, Jace.”
Jace drew in a deep breath. His strong, robust grandfather? Heart attack? But he knew Hannah. She had been housekeeper to the Grangers for years. She wasn’t one for theatrics or drama. If she said it was serious, then it was. He rubbed his hand down his face. “All right, I’m on my way.”
“What about your father, Jace? Can you get word to him?”
“Yes, I’ll contact Warden Smallwood right away.”
“All right. I tried calling Caden, but I couldn’t leave a message. His voice mail box is full, and I have no idea how to reach Dalton. He changes phone numbers probably more than he changes his underwear,” she quipped.
Jace couldn’t help but smile. Hannah was still Hannah. “I’ll get ahold of them, don’t worry.” He pushed to the back of his mind the memory of the heated argument between him and his brothers when they were together last year.
“But I am worried, Jace.”
He knew she was and he could hear it in her voice. The usual no-nonsense tone was diluted with distress. Something that was uncommon for his grandfather’s unflappable housekeeper. “Okay, just take it easy. We don’t need you in the hospital, as well. Granddad’s at St. Francis Memorial, right?”
“Yes, on the Ava Granger wing.”
“Okay,” he said, trying not to think about the fact that his grandfather was in the part of the hospital that had been dedicated to Jace’s grandmother over twenty years ago. Jace could remember that day well, especially the ceremony. They’d all been there. His grandfather, his brothers, his father...and his mother.
He immediately pushed the thought of his parents from his mind. To think about his mother meant remembering how she had died and that the law had decided his father had been the one responsible for ending her life.
“Jace, it will be good seeing you again, although I wish the circumstances of your coming home were different.”
He wished the circumstances were different, too. “I’ll catch the next available flight out, Hannah. Hold down the fort until I get there.” He clicked off the phone and immediately called the airlines. He knew how to reach his brother Caden, but getting in touch with Dalton would be a challenge.
Moments later, after securing a flight, he went into the bedroom to pack.
Chapter Two
“Ladies and gentlemen, let’s give a round of applause for the man who has become one of the greatest saxophone players of all time, Caden Granger.”