The Cliff

by Gucker, Christie A. C.

  “I have him. No worries. You go talk to your father. He needs to know.”

  I grabbed my breakfast sack and walked over to Jack. I couldn’t look him in the eyes. I didn’t want to do this. I was afraid to tell him everything. I needed Grant to be there with me. Jack grabbed his fishing stuff and put his arm around my shoulder as we walked back home. I turned and watched Grant as we walked away. He watched me back … until we could no longer see each other.

  When we reached the house, Jack opened the door and swung his arm out to show me the way in. Geez, it was like being a teenager all over again. Really, it was amazing how parents could make you revert to your childhood no matter what age you were. I looked up at him with watery eyes. I walked in and start to unpack everything.

  “Lanie, I’m pretty sure all that can wait. Now come sit down with me on the couch and tell me what the heck is going on around here.”

  “Dad. I just—it’s just—I can’t—I don’t know how to tell it all without you freaking out.”

  “Why don’t you just try me?”

  “I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

  Jack just shook his head, threw his hands up and motioned me to go. I grabbed my cell phone and ran to my bedroom bath. I dialed Chelsie.

  “Chelsie.”

  “Lanie, what the fuck happened out there today?”

  “Chelsie, I don’t have time to fill you in. I will later, promise. I need help. Jack wants the whole story. I don’t want to tell him about Dane yet. And I want Grant to be with me when we tell him about us. Is Grant back yet? Is he okay?”

  “He’s back. Jennifer is fawning all over him now, looking for broken bones, checking for a concussion, and cleaning up all his wounds. He’s shaken up. But all he can think about is you.”

  “Do you think he’d come over or should I bring Jack there? Is he up for it?”

  “Let me ask him. Hold on.” She covered the phone and I could hear the muffled conversation. Chelsie, then Grant, then Jennifer and then Grant again.

  “Despite Jennifer’s wanting him to rest, he’s coming to you. Now we need a girl chat later. Samantha and I will swing by. Sound good?”

  “Sure. I’ll see you then.”

  I flushed the toilet for believability purposes and then slowly headed back downstairs. But Jack was nowhere to be found. I went back to the kitchen and started to clean up again. I heard the front door open and ran for it.

  Once I saw Grant, I couldn’t help myself from jumping into his arms and kissing him. I ran my hand over his bruised eye and then focused on his jaw, running my lips softly against it where he took the hit that almost ended everything. My mind wandered back to when he had tended to my bruised jaw. What the hell had gone wrong with Dane? How could things have gotten so out of hand?

  “So, finally I catch the proverbial cat and mouse with their paws in the cookie jar,” I heard Jack say from behind me. Grant and I both jumped and then quickly separated.

  “What? Dad, that doesn’t even make sense.”

  “Sandwich cookies,” Grant said.

  “Shut up!” I said breathily at him, shaking my head. Maybe he did hit his head.

  We both turned back to Jack. He swung his arm out again, this time ushering us to the couch. We followed and planted ourselves next to each other, facing where he chose to sit.

  “So, you two want to tell me something?”

  Grant and I looked at each other and then back to Jack. We both went to speak at the same time and nothing came out. Not from either of us.

  “Okay. Want to try again? Do I need to ask questions and you two can just nod?”

  “No, Dad. It’s just, well—”

  “We’re together. Together, together,” Grant managed.

  “I see. ‘Together, together.’”

  “Dad, Grant and I, we’re in love. We’re in a relationship. We’re committed. I mean to each other.”

  “Jack, I love Lanie. I always …”

  “You always have. I know. I’m not blind. Nicole used to tell me this was going to happen. I’ve just been waiting to see if she was right. I guess she was. How serious is this ‘together, together?’”

  “Serious. Very serious,” I told him and then I grabbed Grant’s hand and brought it into my lap. Then I quickly moved it off my lap and just held his hand on the couch and gave a cheesy smile.

  “Jack, I want to give Lanie everything you’d want her to have. I promise I won’t ever hurt her. I love her. I want to be with her forever.”

  “I see. Lanie? How do you feel about this?”

  “Dad, I’m in love with him. I feel alive, and happy. Everything is just so amazing.”

  “Right, no need to tell me how great the sex is again, Lanie.”

  Grant’s eyes got wide and he just looked back and forth between Jack and I. I think I heard him choke on his own spit or something.

  “I wasn’t, but if you’d like to hear about it …”

  “No, no. I don’t need all the details again, thanks.”

  Now Grant had a nervous cheesy smile on his face. And that’s when it happened. We both got extremely …

  Chapter 29

  The Your-Dating-My-Little-Girl Speech

  … giddy and started giggling uncontrollably. It had to be the relief of not having to hide anymore.

  “Would either of you like to tell me what the hell has gotten into Dane? What was that up on the cliff? And why did Dylan call him a rapist?”

  And that knocked the giddy right out of our yap. We both went stone cold.

  “Jack, I plan to tell you everything, but I need to have a conversation with Dane first. Man to … man. I hope you can respect that and trust Lanie and I on this.”

  “Well, if you think that’s the best way, then I guess that works for me. I trust you both.”

  “Dad. Are you? Do we? Do we have your blessing? Are you happy we’re together?”

  “Lanie, I couldn’t think of another man that would be a better match for you. I’m very happy. I already consider Grant a son. I think this is great news. Grant, good luck to you there.” And he nodded his head toward me.

  “Oh my God, I’m so happy to hear you say that!” And I lunged across the couch to hug him. Grant quickly stood up and shook his hand.

  “Thank you, Jack. This means so much to me, to us.”

  “This calls for a celebration. How about Grant and his parents join us for dinner tonight, Lanie? Would that be okay with you? Grant, you feel up to it?”

  “I would be honored to have dinner with you both. My mom can keep an eye on me if she comes. I’ll call them right now.” Grant was all smiles. So was I. Finally, everything was out in the open. Well, almost everything. We still had to deal with the repercussions of what happened on the cliff with Dane, as well as telling my dad what happened between he and I. Grant left the room to call his parents and Jack and I were alone again.

  “So, Lanie, this is what you want? This thing with Grant, it makes you happy?”

  “Oh, yes. I never realized how perfect we were together. I mean, we’ve always been so connected, but it’s so much more now. I am so happy.”

  “And you love him? And he loves you?”

  “Yes. We’re deeply in love. Dad, I mean, this is forever for me.”

  “Lanie, you guys just started this relationship and things happen, you know. I don’t want you to …”

  “No. Dad, this is forever. I know that,” I interrupted.

  “Let’s not get all excited about this now. I’m sure you’re not jumping into getting married and all.”

  “Not tomorrow, but not years from now either. If he asked me, I’d say yes. In fact, if he asked me to fly away to an exotic island to get married next week, I’d be packing right now.”

  “That serious, huh?”

  “That serious. Yeah.”

  Grant came back into the room and Jack and I both clammed up. I knew I was grinning ear to ear. I had a terrible poker face and Grant smiled the second he s
aw me. He knew I had spoken further with my dad.

  “My parents were extremely thrilled that Jack knows about us. In fact, my mom couldn’t stop rambling, so I’m sure we’ll all be listening to her throughout dinner.”

  “Oh that’s great. Dinner is going to be so much fun.”

  I heard the front door open and Samantha pranced in with Chelsie right behind her.

  “Grant and Lanie kissing in a tree …” Samantha giggled.

  “Great. Now we’re back in grade school. So, Lanie, can Samantha and I have that girl chat we spoke about earlier?” Chelsie said.

  “Sure, let’s go out on the terrace.”

  “Actually, would you mind if I took your dad out there to talk for a while? I’m sure he has some things he’d like to discuss with me, just the two of us,” Grant said.

  I looked at him nervously and he gave me a reassuring smile. I nodded and grabbed Samantha’s hand and started to pull her up to my room. Chelsie followed. We got to my room and we all jumped on the bed.

  “What the fuck happened today? Dane almost killed Grant. First he rapes you and then this. We need to get him some serious help and I mean now. And if no one does, I’m calling the police before someone else gets hurt or killed.” Chelsie was pissed.

  The part of me that remembered the old Dane still tried to find a way to rationalize everything that had happened. But the part of me that almost lost Grant was in total agreement with Chelsie.

  “This is terrible. All of it,” Samantha said. “Dylan was so angry today. I had to plead with him not to go push Dane off the cliff.”

  “I wonder what Jeff and Haley had to say to him. Maybe we can have Jennifer call Haley to get the low down?”

  “That’s a great idea. Samantha, go call her.” Samantha made a pouty face and headed into the bathroom so she could hear and Jennifer couldn’t hear us.

  “He wasn’t like this until Lori came along. Dane would never hurt a fly, especially Grant or I. I just don’t know what’s gotten into him. It’s like he’s lost all sense of reality.”

  “Can I talk to him?”

  I laughed out loud. “I’ll call you in when the cops don’t work out. You’re my secret weapon.”

  Chelsie smiled and we both just looked down at the bed, caught in our own thoughts.

  “You know. He kind of wasn’t the same after Callie left him. I mean, he became obsessed with work and sealing the deal. And he wouldn’t even date. He kind of got a bit cocky after that, too,” I said.

  “True. It did seem to start back then.”

  “But he really changed after he found out she was engaged.”

  “That’s right. Do you think he’s drinking or doing drugs or something?”

  “I’d smell the alcohol on him. Not sure about the drugs, but he doesn’t ever seem to be strung out.”

  “Well, we know he has drugs.”

  “But we don’t know if he’s doing them.”

  We stopped and looked at each other. There was too much. There was not enough. We were lost on what the hell was wrong with Dane. We quickly turned our heads when Samantha came back in the room.

  “Well?” we said in unison.

  “I got nothing. Jennifer had nothing to say. End of subject.”

  We all just sat there quietly for a long time.

  “Grant needs to talk to him,” Chelsie said.

  “No. You saw what happened last time. Dane could have—he could have killed him. No. We don’t know what he’s capable of anymore.”

  “What if it was with all of us? You know, like an intervention?”

  “I can’t. I’d just be ashamed or something. Everyone would hear. Grant would hear.”

  “Honey, we all know what happened. And none of us fault you at all,” Chelsie said in the sweetest voice. She only used that voice when she really meant what she was saying.

  “Yeah, Lanie, you have nothing to be ashamed of. He does.” Samantha put her hand on my shoulder. “He won’t do anything with all of us there.”

  “He did this afternoon.”

  “Lanie, I’m not defending him, but he might not have meant to knock Grant over the edge. That part could have been an accident.” Samantha really hated conflict.

  “I don’t know. Let me talk to Grant about it. Okay?” I said.

  “We’ll all talk to our significant others. We’ll make it a group decision. Everyone in or we don’t do it.” Chelsie put her hand on mine.

  “Agreed.” Samantha put hers on top of Chelsie’s.

  “Okay. But I have a backup plan.”

  “Spill.”

  I explained my other plan in a sketchy outline. I knew it was a last resort, but it would be a good one if I could actually pull it off. Samantha actually clapped. Chelsie was less sure, but thought it was worth a shot. I would need some time alone to make some calls.

  When we were finished, we all headed back downstairs. The girls headed out and I went to the terrace to find Grant and Jack. They were standing by the far wall. They each had a beer in their hand and my dad was actually doing all the talking. In fact, he was doing a lot of talking. Grant just shook his head and would open his mouth to say something, but Jack would just keep on talking. Grant looked like he should be taking notes. I had to rescue him.

  “So Dad, are you trying to talk him out of being with me? You can’t tell him awful childhood stories about me. He knows them all already. And he’s in all the embarrassing photos, too.” I punched my dad in the arm as I said it.

  He cleared his throat, said, ‘Yep,” and just walked away. I looked at Grant and we both broke into laughter.

  “What the hell was that all about?”

  “The your-dating-my-little-girl speech.” He laughed again. He looked at me, smiled, and grabbed a strand of my hair. He twirled it with his fingers.

  I was immediately drawn to him and grabbed his shirt and pinned him up against the terrace wall and hungrily kissed his lips until I’d had my fill. We kissed for a long time; a very long time. I only stopped to come up for air.

  “Sorry.”

  And his hands were around my face pulling me into another hungry kiss. He spun me around and pinned me to the wall and kissed until he had his fill. It was so hard to pull away and put an end to this ‘conversation’ we were having, but we had some things I needed to talk to him about.

  I told him all about the intervention and he thought it was a solid plan. I kept my backup plan between the girls and myself. We had all agreed. It was only to be used as a last resort.

  “So what’s your plan for the rest of the day, Love?”

  “Staying with you. What was your plan?”

  “I was thinking of heading back home for a while. Maybe rest for a bit. Care to join me?”

  “I’d love to.” I was tired. Emotionally drained, I guess. I took his hand and we headed over to his place. We stopped to chat with Jennifer, so she could check Grant again for a concussion. Then we headed up to his room.

  I sat down on the bed and watched him remove his shoes. Then he began to remove his shirt. Oh yes. I loved to see that. Then he began to unbuckle his pants. I felt a ripple go through my body. I watched as he slowly let his pants drop, revealing every single sexy inch of his skin. I bit my lower lip at the sight and held it there while I waited for the briefs to come off. That’s right, Baby, take everything off for me. I was enjoying my own little strip tease. Everything about his man set me on fire. I was slightly disappointed when my show stopped and he lay down on the bed. I sat there for a minute so I didn’t attack him and rip his briefs off and then slowly lay down next to him.

  I felt his arms snake around me and pull me close. I reached over to him and put my arms around his neck and pulled his lips to mine. I felt him groan into the kiss and I pushed my entire body against his.

  “You’re going to nap in all your clothes?”

  “Someone was rude and only undressed himself,” I purred.

  “Please forgive me. It was very unthoughtful of me. Let me make
amends.”

  He proceeded to unbutton my shirt, button by button, taking the time to tease every ounce of new flesh he uncovered. I was already straining not to move things along quicker. He removed my bra and took the time to fondle each breast and give them each a soft kiss. He unbuttoned my pants and slid them down, his tongue trailing just inches behind them. I squirmed under his touch. Every nerve was reacting. He looked up at me when he got to my panties. His eyes were heavy and he gave me the hottest smirk. I was immediately ready for anything he had for me. He pulled my panties off and slid next to me again.