I don’t want to add to that.”
“Good grief.” Grandpa tilted his head back and pinched the bridge of his nose so he could stare at the ceiling. “You are unbelievable.”
“It’s a serious question.” I refused to back down. “I don’t want to cost him more than I already have.”
Grandpa’s eyes were incredulous when they traveled back to mine. “You cannot be serious.”
“Why wouldn’t I be serious?”
“Because ... it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. What is it you think you’ve taken from Hunter?”
I thought back to what he’d said about being broken-hearted after our breakup. “More than you’re capable of understanding.”
“Oh, I’m capable of understanding quite a bit,” Grandpa countered. “I’m not an idiot. You and Hunter aren’t so complex that nobody can figure you out. You’re actually an open book.”
“Oh, really?” I rolled my eyes. My grandfather wasn’t known for being particularly observant about things that didn’t involve him. “And what do you see when you look at us?”
“Two people who will never get over one another.” He was matter-of-fact ... and full of himself. “I don’t know that I believe in love at first sight. I never did. Lust is another thing ... as long as you’re over eighteen, which you and Hunter weren’t when this all started.” He sent me a pointed look.
“Everybody was afraid when you were a kid that you would throw your life away and never experience anything if you stayed with him,” he continued. “Now, the opposite is true. You went out into the world but you weren’t happy. I’m starting to believe you need him to be happy.”
I was shocked. “I don’t believe a woman needs a man to be happy.”
“I don’t either. I might’ve twenty years or so ago, but I know better now. This isn’t about a woman needing a man. This is about you needing Hunter.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“I’d already come to the conclusion that he needed you years ago,” Grandpa offered. “I tried to reach out to him, offer him the family he so desperately craved, but he didn’t want to be around us without you. That’s when I knew you were the key.”
Tears pricked the backs of my eyes. “He’s with Monica.”
Grandpa rolled his eyes. “Don’t kid yourself, Stormy. That relationship is already over. Heck, he let it continue longer than he should have simply because he wanted a way to keep you at arm’s length. I think he realizes that was a wasted effort. Monica will be gone by the end of the day — if she doesn’t break up with him first because she sees the writing on the wall.”
“She’s still his girlfriend,” I persisted, refusing to give in to hope.
Grandpa clucked his tongue and shook his head. “Do you want to know what your problem is?”
“Not really.”
He barreled forward as if I hadn’t said anything. “Your problem is that you have to experience every wrong emotion before you can embrace the right one. You’ve always been that way. You weren’t a kid who could learn the easy way. It always had to be hard.”
I shook my head. I had to get him off this subject. “I need to talk about Roy Axe,” I started, earning a glare. “You can be as angry as you want, but Hunter is convinced that whoever tried to get into the apartment last night is tied to Roy’s death. We need to figure out who did this.”
“Why do you think I would know anything about Roy?”
“You used to be friends. Somewhere along the way you had a falling out. I want to know what it was about.”
“He was an ass.”
“That seems to be the general consensus,” I agreed. “That didn’t stop you from being friends with him years ago. I remember you two hanging out.”
“We weren’t friends.”
I waited, folding my arms over my chest. I refused to let him escape from this conversation again.
“I guess the most you could say is we were friendly,” Grandpa continued. “We golfed together for a time. We had coffee together. Heck, he still had coffee here every morning even though everybody hated him.”
“You’re avoiding the question,” I pressed. “That’s not like you. The more you sidestep this, the more I think you have something to hide.”
He glared. “I didn’t kill him.”
“I know you didn’t.” That was mostly true. “That’s not who you are. You’re far more likely to annoy him to death. That doesn’t change the fact that you’ve been avoiding Hunter. I want to know why.”
“I haven’t been avoiding