on the beach all night talking. They skipped on a day of activities, chartered a boat out of town, and cruised around the island. Dad proposed to her a month before the summer was over.”
“Your dad was all heart,” Belle murmured. “Living in the moment. Jumping even if you don’t know what’s at the bottom.” She bumped my shoulder. “You get that from him.”
I cracked a smile. “You think so?”
“Yes. You’re the kind of guys that pries the level-headed, shy, practical girl out of her shell and gets her marking off the things she didn’t know was on her bucket list.”
“That’s pretty much how Mom puts it,” I said, laughing.
“Your grandfather must have loved him.”
“Mom walked through the door with my dad on her arm and she saw a side of the colonel that no one had ever seen. The real him. The only good thing about that day is she got the strength to break from him. She packed up her stuff that night and moved in with my dad.”
Belle squeezed my hand. “It couldn’t have been easy.”
“It wasn’t. He called the police and told them my dad kidnapped her.”
“What?” she cried.
“I wish I was shitting you. It didn’t work because she was eighteen, but the colonel didn’t fall at the first hurdle. That bastard did everything to get her back. Cut her off. Refused to pay for MIT. Kept her from Grandma. Fired the chef that served him for over twenty years and told Mom she’d get her job back if she came home.”
“The hell. What is wrong with that man? He’s a—”
“Monster.”
“Yes,” she said. “Of course you want to get her away from him.”
Our clasped hands shook. “Mom stood up to everything he threw at her to build her own life. Then we lost Dad and it flattened her. Grandma talked Mom into buying the beach house and taking a break till she got back on her feet. She moved in too and, for a while, it was okay with just the three of us. We had good times even though I thought those were over.
“They were,” I spat. “I just had to give it more time.”
Belle stroked my arm, comforting me. “Ask or distract?”
“Ask.”
“What happened, Nathan?”
I shut my eyes, seeing the moment that knocked over the first domino. “Grandma was feeling tired. Run-down. She went to the doctor for a checkup and walked out with a cancer diagnosis. After that, her vacation from the colonel was over. He had her brought home and Mom had to choose between following or never seeing her dying mother again.
“We moved into the mansion and that was that. The colonel kept Mom trapped in her grief, and when the first signs of her Alzheimer’s appeared, he had her declared mentally incompetent. Her medical care, the money Dad left her and her son transferred to him. Her only next of kin that wasn’t twelve.”
“Did he do the same to you? Hours at the piano? Math until the calculator bled?”
“Nah. Why put that much effort into someone who won’t amount to anything?”
“He said that to you?”
“Yep.”
Belle cursed. “Forget waiting. Hire a hitman and take him out now.”
“I’d need money for that too,” I said, chuckling. “The colonel keeps me on a strict stipend. He trades time with my mom for money to pay admission fees. If I don’t want to wear rags, I have to go home to the closet he stocked. Getting around means using his car and chauffeur. I’ve got the life of a wealthy heir without the money.”
“Which is what you need to make the case you’re the best person to care for your mother.” I watched the pieces click into place. “You’re going to marry someone you don’t love to rescue you both from that man.”
“I don’t have a choice.”
“You do have a choice,” she said, “and you choose your mom anyway. Damn it, Nathan! This is why I can’t stand you.”
I reeled back. “What’d I do now?”
“You flip between raging jackass and caring person so fast it makes my head spin around like a poltergeist.”
“Uhh. Sorry?”
“You should be sorry.” She dropped her head on my shoulder, further compounding my confusion. “Anyone in mind for the future Mrs. Nathan Prince?”
“Mom says it should be you.”
“Me? She remembers me?”
“Wild, right? You didn’t meet in person but you left an impression. She likes you.”
“She does?” Belle sounded genuinely happy. “I like her too. Just from what you told me about her, she’s got to be one of the bravest women