Inappropriate - Vi Keeland Page 0,39

was admitted, we’d found out Rose was four months pregnant. She’d been in the midst of a manic episode then, rambling on about all the plans she and the baby’s father had. Though as far as I knew, the mystery man who had gotten her pregnant had never shown his face even once to check on her since her admission. And something told me he never would.

Rose’s eyes acknowledged us as we walked in, but she didn’t move.

“Mom, how are you?”

Lily went to sit down on the bed. She brushed her mom’s hair back the same way I’d seen my mom do to my sisters a hundred times.

Rose mumbled something incoherent.

Lily leaned down and kissed her mother’s cheek. “Your hair is nice and soft. Did you wash it today?”

More incoherent babbling, yet Lily went on like they were having an actual conversation.

“Look, Grant’s with me.” She pointed to where I stood near the door, and her mom’s eyes followed along for a few seconds, but then Rose went right back to staring into space.

I wasn’t sure what kind of drugs they were giving her, but she was only slightly more alert than catatonic. Or maybe they weren’t giving her any. She was pregnant, after all.

Lily got up, went around to the other side of her bed, and climbed in behind her mom to snuggle her. “I missed you.”

I blinked a few times as the scene before me brought back a flash of a memory. About six months ago, Lily had been sad when her mom hadn’t called or shown up for their scheduled weekly visit again. After waiting all day on Sunday, Lily had climbed into bed and spent a few days there…lying in the fetal position. I’d thought she was just sulking and sad, and I had done my best to cheer her up—including spending hours snuggled in bed behind her, a lot like she was doing to her mother now.

That thought made me antsy. “I’m going to go for a walk—give you two some time alone.”

Lily nodded.

I grabbed my jacket and opened the door, but I glanced back over my shoulder one more time before leaving. A fucked-up feeling settled into my chest as I thought how much the two of them looked like Lily and me had a while back.

Except Lily just had a lot to deal with. She wasn’t sick like her mom.

Chapter 15

* * *

Ireland

I was so damn nervous.

Grant’s boat was only a twenty-minute drive from my apartment, but I wanted to pick up something to bring with me, so I’d left an hour early. The liquor store pit stop only ate up a few minutes, so I arrived at the marina almost a half-hour before I was supposed to. I gave my name to the attendant at the booth, and he pointed out one of Grant’s assigned spots. I could see down the long dock that led to where his boat was parked. There was a flurry of activity, people coming and going to their boats, and chairs set up where people sat on the dock and chatted with their neighbors.

It seemed like a friendly community, and it made me wonder why Grant didn’t bring dates down here. His boat was impressive, and the setting was definitely made for romance. I made a mental note to dig deeper into the no-dates-on-the-boat zone, and I pulled down the mirror to check my makeup. When I flicked it back up, I saw Grant outside on the back of his boat. He was dressed casually, in a pair of shorts with an untucked short-sleeve button up and sunglasses. When he hopped over the back transom, I saw he had no shoes on.

An older man walked over to talk to him, and it gave me the chance to observe him outside of a work setting. God, he was sexy. I’d always had a thing for a man in a well-fitted suit. The way they wore them gave off an air of power, but looking down the dock, I realized the suit had nothing to do with the air Grant Lexington gave off. He stood casually talking to the gentleman, yet there was something about the way he held himself—his feet planted wide, broad shoulders back, arms folded across his chest. The man oozed confidence even with bare feet. With some guys, a good suit made the man. Not Grant. He made the suit.

I watched for a few minutes more while he finished his conversation with the man. Then