Her CEO Stalker and Her Second Chance Mate (Adelaide) novel Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Briar

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I don’t know what possessed me to unload on my grandmother, it was cryptic and void of

details, but something told me she, of all people, would understand. I felt she did; deep down

in my being, I knew her to be a kindred soul. Walking down the trail with the older woman

beside me felt serene, peaceful. I was under no delusion my time would come to eventually

face all of this. First, I needed to find answers, but tonight was not that night. We entered an

open space, the fire lit, and burning brightly. Both men were catching their breath as they

looked from the wide open sky above to acknowledge us.

My grandmother cupped Henry’s cheeks and kissed him sweetly, and I couldn’t help but grin

at the sight. They each then plopped down into a pair of Adirondack chairs, a sight you

expected to see at the beach, as they gazed up at the glittering stars. Carter found my hand

and tugged me to a bench, the only other place to sit at and I obliged.

“Those are life goals,” he said, as he cast his arm over the back of the bench and pulled me

close as his gazed eyed my grandparents, a soft happy grin on his face. I nodded in agreement,

that kind of love seemed like something out of a fairytale to me. I relaxed into Carter’s

strength, taking it for my own. All of my internal wars seemed to melt away as I looked up at

the millions of stars glittering above us. I was a long way off of ever submitting to love again.

Maybe, just maybe, one day I’d get there. I inhaled Carter’s scent and he relaxed as my head

hit his shoulder. I was so incredibly tired already. How would I ever make it out on the other

side? Surviving was exhausting.

A few hours later we made it back to my grandparents house and she passed us some leftovers

to take home.

“Thank you, Martha, dinner was lovely and so was the view.”

“Call me, Nanny, you’re the only grandchild I’ve got, it would mean a lot to me.” Martha

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Chapter 47

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“Alright, Nanny, as you wish.”

“I expect you both back next week!” she hollered at us.

“Yes, ma’am,” Carter assured, as he helped me in his truck. I rolled down the window as Carter

walked around to the driver’s side.

“Hey, Carter?”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“You take care of her now,” she ordered.

“That I will. Always, I promise,” he said.

I waved at Martha, or rather, Nanny, puzzled at the interaction of words between her and

Carter. Was there something I was missing?

When Carter pulled back onto the road. He asked, “What did you think of your grandparents?”

“They seem like nice people, I like them, but they don’t have any family pictures in their

house. Walking through the cabin, it’s as if Jake and my daddy never existed. I’m probably just

being crazy.”

Carter was quiet for a long moment, “You’re not crazy Briar, but sometimes people hold onto

things because it’s too hard to let go and other times facing the memories, day after day, is

too much, so you carefully box them up and put them away til you can, or you need, to see

them again.”

“You sound like you know this from experience. I suppose I get it. When Mama died, I almost

quit school to try to keep her house. Had I known she had left me a sizable nest egg, I would

have contacted the lawyer long ago. I didn’t want to face another disappointment. I didn’t

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Chapter 47

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want to grieve anymore. so I took the handful of memories I could fit in my car, and I left. I

lived in that car for six months before I got promoted from intern to his assistant. I was

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