Nic's Devotion: An Endless Series: Book One (54 page)

     “Shaw, you don’t…” I began to protest, but the door
closed on my words.

     “It’s okay. I’ve got a few errands to run anyway.” She
yelled through the door.

     Nic led me through my bedroom door and closed it behind
us. He then spent the next thirty minutes locating that something he forgot
earlier, and then I spent an extra twenty minutes rewarding him for finding it.

∞                   
∞                    ∞

     Nic and I were waiting in the lawyer’s reception room
an hour and a half later. My legs were bouncing crazily in anxiety. Nic set his
hand on one knee and squeezed.

     “It’s going to be fine.” He whispered soothingly in my
ear.

     I nodded and chuckled nervously. “My head knows, but my
nerves are getting their messages from somewhere else.”

     Nic’s hand moved up my bare leg to slip a finger up my
shorts rubbing against the skin of my inner thigh. “I could have you bouncing for
a completely different reason than anxiety.” He breathed in my ear.

     I froze at the first intimate contact. My hand slapped
down on his stopping his movements and my eyes stared at the secretary in
completely different apprehension. We were the only ones in the room sitting
off to the side and she was typing not paying attention to us which made me
breathe a little easier.

     “Stop it.” I admonished under my breath. My face had to
be tomato red it was burning so hot.

     Nic chuckled squeezing my leg. I jumped. The door to
the back offices suddenly opened causing me to jump even more. Nic released my
leg to grip my hand.

     The man who came through the door was older, in his
sixties at least, and almost all gray. He scanned the room and smiled when his
gaze lit on us…a smile was a good thing. Walking toward us held out his hand in
greeting, and Nic and I stood to meet him.

     “Miss Harper. I’m Aaron Millington. I’m so pleased you
could come so quickly.” He took my hand in a firm but gently shake. The man
gave a smile of acknowledgement in Nic’s direction holding out his hand to him.
“Aaron Millington.”

     Nic took his hand. “Nic Stanford.”

     Mr. Millington nodded but returned his attention back
to me straightaway. His disinterest in Nic made me think that this had
absolutely nothing to do with him at all. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I
needed to get a hold of you so why don’t we go back to my office and I can
explain. This is an extremely personal matter so would you like Mr. Stanford to
stay here or to go with you?”

     “I would like him to go with.” I answered with no
hesitation. 

     Mr. Millington nodded and smiled again. “Follow me
then.” He moved ahead of us and we followed him through the door and down a
short hallway to a small office. He went into the room holding the door for us
and then closing it behind us.

     “Take a seat, please.” He gestured to the two chairs in
front of his desk.

     Mr. Millington sat down at his desk and shuffled some
papers in front of him before looking back up. His smile appeared more sober
now. “Miss Harper, I’m not sure if you are aware of this, but your grandfather,
Samuel Harper died two weeks ago.”

     I gasped at the news. My mother had only mentioned them
twice since the attack. Once, soon after I’d returned home I’d asked after them
and my mother had stated they hadn’t wanted anything to do with either of us.
The second time when she’d kicked me out she’d complained about them not
helping her because of me.

     Nic’s posture went slightly rigid next to me, but he
remained silent allowing me to process the news. I knew he wasn’t going to
interfere unless I broke down. At the moment I was just shocked. It had been so
many years since I’d seen either of my grandparents that I hardly felt like I
knew them anymore. However, they were still my grandparents, family, and it was
distressing that I hadn’t been able to see him again, fix things between us,
before he died.  

     “No, I didn’t know. How did he die?” I asked softly.

     “Cancer of the liver. He’d had it and fought it for a
while.” Mr. Millington stated gently. 

     “What about my grandmother, how is she?”

     Mr. Millington frowned. “I’m afraid your grandmother
died a year ago of a heart attack. She’d had two before this last one and her
heart just couldn’t handle the third.”

     The hits just kept coming. Tears gathered in my eyes.
Both of them were gone without any closure or mending of our relationship. A
multitude of emotions swamped me; disappointment, sorrow, hurt, and some anger.
I wished things could have been different between us. I knew they had to have
been hurting for their son, as I had been hurting for my father. We could have
helped each other.

     Mr. Millington set a tissue box in front of me. Nic
snatched one and placed it in my hand as he moved his chair closer and wrapped
an arm around my waist. I breathed deeply getting control of myself as I used
the tissue to wipe up the tears that fell silently.

     Mr. Millington shuffled through his papers again
clearing his throat. “The reason I got a hold of you is because you are the
sole beneficiary of Mr. Harper’s will.”

     I gasped again. “That can’t be. He hated me.” Nic’s
hand rubbed my back soothingly.

     Mr. Millington looked uncomfortable. “Well, I can’t say
anything to that. I merely officiated his paperwork. There is an enclosed
letter that is addressed to you that might explain why he did what he did. I
would recommend that you read it at home in case it becomes too emotional for
you.” He said looking even more uneasy.

     I nodded. I definitely didn’t want to be breaking down
more than I already was in this man’s office. He seemed nice enough, but
neither of us would be comfortable with it.

     He stared down at the papers in his hand. “Most of Mr. Harper’s
assets have all been liquefied into cash. His home and car are now in your
name. You will need to decide what you want to do with them. There is no
mortgage or car payment. The liquid assets come to three hundred and
twenty-three thousand and change.” He pushed a paper across the table which Nic
picked up to read. My heart was thumping madly in continuing shock. “The house
was appraised at two hundred and fifty-five thousand, and the 2011 Ford Fusion
blue books at around five thousand. There is some jewelry and some keepsakes
that your grandfather wanted you to have. They are in a lock box at the bank
cited there near the bottom.” Mr. Millington pointed to the paper that Nic was
holding.

     Nic was no longer looking at the paper though, he was
watching me carefully. I knew he was wondering how I was taking all this in.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure myself. Mr. Millington’s long winded discourse had
at least allowed me to compose my emotions, so I was able to sign my name and
supply my bank information to all pertinent paperwork during the next five
minutes. After everything was signed Nic hustled me out of there as I clutched
copies of everything to my chest in addition to the letter my grandfather had
written me.

     In the truck I sat there quietly staring down at the
letter in my hand, but in the distance I heard Nic talking on the phone. It
sounded like he was speaking to John about me not coming in for work. That
sounded about right; I wasn’t going to be any good to anybody today.

     The truck stopped and I looked up in apathy to see that
we were back at my apartment. Nic was already opening my door guiding me gently
out. He steered me up the stairs to my apartment unlocking it with the key I’d
given him to keep. I absently noted him waving Shaw away as he led us down the
hall to my bedroom. Closing the door behind us Nic scooped me up and sat down
in my oversized bean bag chair cradling me in his lap.

     We sat there silently; his chin on my head and my head
on his chest staring at the letter in my lap.

     “It’s probably not bad, right? I mean…he wouldn’t give
everything to me and then write something terrible.” I finally mused out loud.

     “Probably.” Nic agreed stroking my ear softly.

     I went silent for another two minutes. “I’m afraid to
open it.” I confessed feeling cowardly.

     “I understand that. You could always wait, but then it
will just nag at the back of your mind driving you crazy until you do. You can
have me read it and I could give you the gist of it, but again, you’re going to
want to know what it really says.”

     Everything Nic said was spot on. I needed to know what
it said. Taking a deep breath I opened the envelope.       

         
My
Dearest Granddaughter;

              The
first thing I want to tell you is I love you. I always have. I never blamed you
for what my son tried to do. He was at blame. Your grandmother and I were
completely unaware of your father’s predilection for young girls, but that does
not make us feel any less at fault for what happened to you. Your grandmother
fell apart after finding out what happened and suffered a mild heart attack.
She loved you but she was weak in spirit and strength after everything. She
could not face you afterwards thinking that she should have known what her own
son was like. I tried to convince her that you would need our love and support
after what you went through, but my persistence made her more upset which in
turn caused her to have a second heart attack. I loved your grandmother with
all my heart and had to concede to her wishes after that afraid of losing her.

     After your
grandmother passed away I thought I would finally be able to contact you, but I
found out soon after that I had cancer of the liver. I did not want to come to
you with something so dire hanging over my head and you possibly thinking you
had to take care of me, so I worked through every treatment I could hoping I
could come to you free of illness. Regrettably, I was not able to prevail over
it and I grieve deeply at not seeing you one last time before my death.
However, I do not regret saving you from having to deal with my illness.

     I was able
to see the interview you did concerning my son’s attack on you. You have turned
into a loving and compassionate person and from listening to your interview I
was also able to forgive my son. I believe if your grandmother would have seen
it she would have been incredibly strengthened by it as well.

     I went on
the internet and saw the young man you are in a relationship with and in
addition observed the scene where you profess your love and kiss if front of
the entire stadium. It lightened this old man’s heart to see such young
unhindered love. Tell him that if he isn’t totally devoted to you I will come
back to haunt him.

     My last
prayer for you my sweet child is that you have a happy and joy filled life.
Don’t let anything stop you from claiming everything you deserve.

                                                                                     
           With all my love and devotion,

                                                                                                        
Your grandfather,

                                                                                         
                    Samuel Harper.

    
I
was crying so hard by the end of the letter I could barely see through my
tears. All these years I’d thought they’d both blamed me for what happened,
that they hated me. Instead, my grandmother had taken the blame essentially
becoming heart sick over it, and my grandfather…he’d written that he’d wanted
to be with me, but couldn’t because of how weak my grandmother had become. Then
when given a chance to come to me after her death he’d become sick himself.

     I didn’t blame him for choosing his wife over me. He
loved her and she was sick. I knew that it had to have been a difficult
decision for him. I wished he would have given me the choice of being by his
side at the end of his life though. Thinking that he’d had to go through that
all by himself the same as I had to go through my issues alone was
heartbreaking. We could have been there for each other.

     But then I couldn’t help thinking that if he had made a
different decision would I have been here to meet Nic? Would my path have gone
in a different direction leading me away from him? This only made me cry
harder, and it gave me a deeper understanding of what my grandfather might have
gone through.

     Nic cuddled me closer and silently comforted me through
my downpour of tears, perceiving that I needed to release them. After a while
they started to dwindle to a slow dribble. I held the letter up for him knowing
that he was probably dying to read it and I wanted him to.

     A minute later he let out a deep sigh and enfolded me
even closer. “Oh baby. That’s just…not even right. I don’t know how else to
express it. All three of you could have done so much for the other, healed the
hurts that festered inside each one of you. You could have been out of your mom’s
influence and received the love and support you needed. Your grandfather had a
hard choice there and I’m not sure he made the right one.”

     “That’s exactly what I was thinking, about it being a
hard choice for him, but I think he did make the right one.” I sniffed and
another tissue was offered out to me.

     “You think he should have chosen your grandmother over
you?” Nic said sounding indignant on my behalf.

     “He loved her, she was his wife. She’d had two heart
attacks already and he didn’t want to lose her. If he would have chosen me and
she’d had another attack, dying, both of us would have been burdened with guilt
and that wouldn’t have done anything good for our relationship.”