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And the Heart is Brave
Chapter 28
Nathan Grant stood in his father's room at the Queen of Hearts hotel, his expression grim. "I think it's time you got going," he told his father in no uncertain terms. He'd come to find him, come to find his father after he learned from Elizabeth that he'd tried to get to Allie. And that was the one thing Nathan could not tolerate. So he stood now in Silas Grant's hotel room, telling him it was time for him to go.
"Why? Why do I have to leave just because you say so?" Silas Grant challenged in return. "Just because you're a Mountie you think you can act all high and mighty?"
"High and mighty?" Nathan asked incredulous. "You think that's what being a Mountie is about?" he asked. Maybe he shouldn't have expected anything else. That anyone else would be proud to have a son that was a Mountie, but not his father. His father only derided what he thought was an attempt to act superior. "Why did you come here anyway?" Nathan asked. Surely there was nothing here for his father.
"Where else was I going to go?" Silas Grant asked bitterly. "I've got no money, no work, no house...where else was I going to go?"
"No money..." Nathan trailed off, eyeing his father. Then how was he paying for this hotel room? "But why come here? There were thousands of other places to go. Why here?" Nathan persisted. His father must have known that Nathan wanted nothing to do with him, so why even come here? But then something niggled in Nathan's mind about the "high and mighty" dig his father had made. And why had his father made such a point of telling everyone who he was and that he'd been in prison? It was almost as if...as if...
"You came here to hurt me, didn't you?" he said, with the sudden realization. "To damage my reputation in this town. That's it, isn't it?" Nathan said now with certainty. That a man who'd spent a lifetime hurting other people would not suddenly stop, especially not the son he'd hurt more than anyone else.
"I came here to see what you'd made of yourself," Silas Grant brushed off his son's observation, one that hit too close to home with its accuracy. "And what I see is that you're still soft and weak. Just like you always were," he said with derision.
Nathan inhaled. "That is your opinion, but it is wrong," he countered. This, this was the father he knew. Using his words to deride, to harm. "And I'm not a child anymore. Your words, and your fists can't hurt me anymore," he told his father. "So it's time to leave," he said flatly.
"Where am I to go?" his father shot back. "I have no money!" he almost yelled the words. He had no money and no means to get any, not since the law had curtailed his one money-making venue and he knew it would be a lifetime in jail if he tried that route again.
Nathan sighed deeply, now knowing there was one way to get his father to leave. "Fifty dollars. Fifty dollars a month," Nathan said. "It's enough to live on. I'll send it to you every month, but you stay away from Hope Valley. If I ever see or hear from you again, the money stops," he laid out the offer. He knew too, that he would have to pay Lucas for his father's hotel bill, that he wouldn't let his father stiff Lucas for that either.
Silas Grant eyed his son, knowing his offer was the best he was going to get. Slowly he began to nod. Seeing his father's acceptance of his offer, Nathan made one more final stipulation.
"And if you ever come near Allie again, if you get within a mile of her, I will kill you," the words were cold, said with emphasis on the last four words, each syllable a staccato, his gaze fierce and unwavering and Silas Grant, about to scoff at the threat, suddenly felt a chill go down his spine. This was no idle threat his son had made. Thinking better of deriding his son now, he delivered one final nod, before Nathan spun on a heal and turned from the room.
It was a few hours later that Nathan stood watching from a distance as his father boarded the stagecoach. He stood leaning against a pillar, just as he had on his arrival, only now instead of his stomach held tightly in a knot he felt nothing but relief.
Relief as he watched the coach pull out of Hope Valley and his father with it.