All the Wrong Reasons (24 page)

“Are you okay?” Dustin asked.

When I left the stall, I rinsed my mouth straight from the tap. “Yes.

“Why don’t you want to marry me?” he asked. “Why?”

Suspicion popped up again. “Why did you do all this?”

“Because I love you, Irelyn,” he insisted. “I wanted to do something special for you.”

“How did you find out that I like to come to Rusty’s? How did you know that I liked the band?”

He glanced at the jeweler’s box in his hand, shrugging. “Someone told me. And that someone helped me to arrange this party.”

Anger and fear commingled in my gut, making my stomach roll again. “Who?” I whispered. “Who helped you?”

“I’m not supposed to say,” he said.

“Who!” I screamed as I grabbed the lapel of his sports jacket. “Damn it, Dustin, tell me who!”

His eyes grew as his mouth opened wide. He took a step back but I didn’t release him. As I shook him, he grabbed my hands. “What does it matter?” he demanded, red splotches forming on his face. “It’s obvious you don’t want to marry me and I want to know why!”

“WHO HELPED YOU WITH THIS PARTY?!” I screamed as I jammed him against the wall. “WHO?!”

“Your grandfather,” he whispered.

I couldn’t breathe, my chest had seized. I coughed, gasping for air.

“Irelyn?” he asked, holding out a hand. I batted it away as I managed to suck in oxygen. I stormed out of the bathroom, pushing people out of my way, not even bothering to apologize. I stalked straight to the bar where my mother sat with Bailey, Morgan, and the guys.

“Mom,” I said as calmly as I could but my voice still wavered. I held out a terribly trembling hand, palm up. “I need your keys.”

“Irelyn! What’s the matter?” she asked.

I closed my eyes, drew a breath, and released it. “Just…give me the keys.”

“I, um, didn’t drive,” she said. “I came with Bailey”

“Here,” Bailey said, digging the keys out of her pants pocket and dropping them into my still trembling hand.

I nodded at her before slowly turning to Lucas. His face was etched with concern. “Irelyn, what is it?”

I swallowed. “Can you and the guys please get my mother and my cousin and my friends home safely?”

“Of course,” Lucas said, grabbing my arm. “Irelyn, where are you going?”

“I have something to take care of,” I said as hot anger scorched my chest. I ripped my arm out of his grasp and whirled away.

“Irelyn!” my mother called. I pretended not to notice.

It was time to take my life in my own hands.

Chapter 17

I tore through the streets, unmindful of traffic and cops, headed straight to my grandparents’ house. My insides were burning with so much anger that I could almost feel smoke coming out of my ears. I could not believe he had the gall to pull a stunt like this.

My phone rang constantly but I ignored it, suppressing the urge to roll down the window and throw the damn thing to the street. I didn’t want anyone questioning me or trying to talk me out of my task. No, I’d shoved too many things aside for too long and this time I was going to deal with it head on. He’d discouraged my mother from being with her true love but he wouldn’t do it to me.

As I flew down the dark roads, I wondered how he’d found out. I wondered if Amber was related to any of his friends. Or maybe there’d been someone at the New Year’s party. Perhaps someone at Rusty’s saw Lucas’s slight touches and guessed. At any rate, someone tipped my grandfather off and he took it upon himself to do something about it.

Well, I intended on doing something about it, too. I was his granddaughter, after all – maybe I’d inherited this from him.

I raced up the drive and slammed the car into park. I stormed to the front door and rang the bell. It was after eleven but I didn’t really care. If he was in bed then I’d wake him.

When no one answered, I rang the bell again and banged on the door for good measure. I rubbed my arms, hoping a little friction would warm them since I’d charged out of the bar without my coat.

The door opened and Marian, my grandparents’ only live-in housekeeper, gaped at me. “Miss Irelyn!”

Shoving past her, I stalked through the entry. “Where is he?” I demanded.

Marian scurried behind me, wringing her hands frantically. “Mr. and Mrs. Colby have retired for the evening.”

“Fine,” I seethed. “I’ll wake them!”

“No, Miss Irelyn,” Marian protested. “You mustn’t.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” I screeched.

“That is enough!” my grandfather ordered as he appeared on the top of the stairs. “Irelyn, I’ll not have you treat my employees disrespectfully.” He descended the stairs slowly, his hands tucked neatly into his elaborate dressing robe.

“But you’d have me treated that way?” I asked, anger taking hold of my body. “Your own flesh and blood?”

“Follow me,” he said as he strolled to the den. I followed, my fists clenched at my sides.

Opening the door, he pointed at a chair. “I’ll stand, thanks,” I said as the anger continued to swirl inside me like a tornado ready to wreak havoc.

“First of all,” he said, his cool voice on the edge of rage. “You’ll not storm into my home demanding things of me or my employees. If you’d like to discuss something with me, you’ll call and make an appointment.”

“An appointment?” I asked as a disbelieving laugh escaped my lips. “You want me to make an appointment?”

“Yes,” he said simply as his eyes hardened.

“I’m your granddaughter – not someone looking for a job! I’m not making a damned appointment!” My body trembled with barely controlled rage. I longed to lash out and I wasn’t too particular if it was with my tongue or my fists. If I didn’t do something soon, I didn’t know what would happen.

“Watch your vulgar language,” he said, narrowing his eyes. He strode to the mantle to fetch a cigar. Once he lit it, he sank to his favorite chair as if I were there for a friendly chat and a cup of tea. “Perhaps you think it is acceptable to speak that way with your…friends, but I will not tolerate it in my home.”

“What did you do?” I asked, my voice low. “What did you do?”

He blew a puff of smoke in the air and glanced absently at the end of his cigar. “I did what was necessary,” he said with nonchalance.

“What was necessary?” I repeated, my voice rising with each word. “What the hell was necessary about that whole fiasco? Why do you think you need to step into my life?”

“Because,” he said, his back stiffening. “I lost two daughters to that sort of…lifestyle. I’ll not lose a granddaughter.”

“You’re out of your mind,” I raved.

“No, Irelyn, you are. What were you thinking – getting mixed up with those sorts of people? Did you think you could be like your mother? Is that your greatest aspiration?”

“What do you mean ‘those sorts of people’?”

Rising to his feet, he crossed the room to stand in front of the cold fireplace. “Those…lowlifes that frequent that bar,” he said. I lifted a brow, waiting for him to continue. “They’ll never be anything but trash. They’re the types that depend on others – expect handouts.”

“And I don’t depend on you?” I asked. “You don’t hand me money every month? Am I a lowlife?”

He snorted which shocked me. “That is different.”

“How?” I challenged. “How am I different?”

“You come from better family.”

I laughed and dropped to the sofa, clutching my stomach. “And how would you know? No one even knows who my father is!”

He whirled around, his face red with anger, and the cigar shook as he jabbed his finger at me. “That is exactly what I am trying to prevent! I don’t want you to end up with a bastard child like your mother and your aunt!”

“And you think that I would be that irresponsible?”

“You’ve already shown me how irresponsible you are,” he said as he took slow, measured steps toward me. “Do you not go to that bar every weekend and leave with that guitar player? Do you not spend the night with him?”

I was flabbergasted even though I knew he knew. I just thought he’d dance around the subject and not say it outright. “How do you know?” I whispered.

A queer smile encompassed his lips after he took a puff off his cigar. “Oh, I know things, Irelyn. I know a lot of things.”

“Maybe it’s none of your business,” I snapped.

“When it comes to my granddaughter and my money, I make it my business,” he said. “You forget that I know people and I have people watching over you.”

I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t know that you actually had friends in low places.” I smiled at my own little joke, though the situation certainly wasn’t funny.

“Don’t get smart, Irelyn,” he warned.

It was on the tip of my tongue to retort with some sarcastic comment about why was he sending me to college if he didn’t want me to get smart – but I held it in. Now was not the time to be childish. “What did you hope to accomplish with this party?” I finally asked, keeping my voice low so he couldn’t hear the tremor.

“It was an experiment,” he said with a slight smirk. “To gauge how far you’d gotten yourself into trouble. I wanted to see if you were seriously considering giving up Dustin Summerlin to pursue some sordid affair with the musician.” He returned to the mantle and crossed his left ankle over his right. “And it looks to me like that’s exactly what you had in mind.”

“What difference does it make to you?” I asked. “Neither of them has interfered with my college education and it’s not like I am going to run off like my mother did.”

“Oh, it makes all the difference,” he said as the fire from his cigar glinted in his eyes. “It makes a world of difference.”

“How do you figure?” I asked as the anger evaporated into a rain cloud of dread.

“I figure,” he said, pausing to give me a reproachful glance, “that you are about to end your relationship with Dustin – or at least continue your shameful affair behind his back. I’ll not tolerate it. I’ll not have my granddaughter traipsing around with a man like that. You’ll date only men of stature and proper heritage.”

It was my turn to snort. “I’m not a horse – you can’t breed me and hope to produce a winner.”

“Don’t be so insolent, Irelyn. That is not my intention.”

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. “And you cannot tell me who I’ll marry. That’s my decision.”

“Perhaps you’re right,” he said with an uncharacteristic shrug. “I cannot tell you who to marry – you are a legal adult after all.” He returned to his chair and that dread cloud grew, threatening a downpour. I knew Grandfather would not give up so easily. “But I can control something else.”

The first drops of dread sprinkled my insides as I scrambled to batten down the hatches in light of the upcoming storm. “Like what?” I asked hoarsely.

“Like your monthly allowance,” he said and again I snorted. Money was not a concern. I was certainly able to get a job. “And, your college education.”

My heart stilled. Would he really not help me with my tuition? Was he that cold-blooded? I’d wanted to go to Dunne-Browling for as long as I could remember – they had an excellent English program and was one of the top schools in the country. Was he threatening to rip that out from under my feet?

“You wouldn’t dare,” I challenged, narrowing my eyes.

“Oh, but I would,” he said with a smug smile. “I’ll not pay for your education while you continue to give your body to that …man.”

I sucked back the tears and swallowed hard. I inhaled deeply and lifted my chin. “So, if I continue to see Lucas, you’ll stop paying my tuition? Right?”

“That is exactly right,” he said. “I’d rather you continue seeing Dustin and I’d like you to actually consider his marriage proposal.”

“This can’t be happening,” I whispered. “You can’t force me to marry him!”

“I’m not forcing you, Irelyn,” he said, his voice a tad softer. “If you do not wish to marry Dustin, I’ll not force you. But I will have a hand in who you date and I will approve of anyone that you wish to marry.”

I shook my head slowly, trying to disperse the dread cloud and clear my mind. I needed to think – to figure a way out of this. I needed to decide what to do. Did I give up the love of my life for a college education? Did I give up an excellent educational opportunity for a man? How could I decide? And why the hell should I have to?

“This is not fair,” I mumbled like a petulant child. “Not at all.”

“And it’s not fair that you’ve been carrying on the way you have while in a relationship with an upstanding young man. It’s not fair that my granddaughter, who I’ve had high hopes for, is turning out like her mother! Life is not fair, Irelyn, and it is about time you figure that out.”

I quickly whisked away a tear that had escaped my eye. I wouldn’t break down here – not in front of him. I would be strong and finish what I’d started. Then I’d run home, tuck my tail between my legs, and have a good cry.

“So, if I don’t marry Dustin, I don’t get to go to Dunne-Browling,” I whispered as a lump of misery collected in the pit of my stomach and snowballed as it climbed my throat.

“No, and I think I mentioned that I’ll not force you to marry Dustin Summerlin. If you don’t wish to marry him, then don’t. But I’ll not allow you to date men that are beneath you – and that includes Lucas Newton.”