Chapter 3: The Wrong Train

Grant took the envelope but didn’t even glance at the law firm’s name on the front. He just folded it once and shoved it into his coat pocket.

Tessa tried to move closer to me again, but he reached out and pulled her back to his side.

“Don’t take your bad mood out on Tessa,” he said, frowning at me. “She’s worked hard enough for our future.”

Heat flooded my face.

Our future.

Standing right in front of me, he couldn’t even be bothered to pretend I was included in that “our.”

“Grant, don’t say that.”

Tessa gave him a soft little swat on the arm, then turned her usual gentle smile on me.

“Claire, no matter where we go, we’ll always be family. Once we’re all settled, everything will go back to normal.”

Grant caught her wrist, his voice softening. “Hey, I’m defending you. Why are you scolding me?”

His tone was as tender as it used to be with me.

But as he spoke, his gaze remained fixed on my face, as if he were waiting for me to get jealous, to lose control—to burst into tears and make a scene.

I only tightened my grip on my suitcase handle.

“I’m not here to see you off.”

The smile on Grant’s face faded.

“I’m taking a train, too.”

He let go of Tessa and turned to me with a frown.

“So you’re really that eager to get to Iowa?”

It didn’t sound like a question. It sounded like an accusation, like I was deliberately trying to steal the spotlight from their grand departure.

I opened my mouth to say no, but he cut me off with a weary sigh.

“Fine. You win.”

He spoke with condescending generosity. “Once you’re settled in Iowa, I’ll call you. Learn Dad’s medication schedule and his appointments first. I’ll send you the shopping list later.”

It was as if the papers I’d handed him weren’t a legal notice ending our relationship, but a temporary pass he’d granted after I’d sulked long enough.

As if that phone call was some kind of reward.

My eyes stung, but suddenly, I no longer wanted to explain a single thing.

He had never listened to me. Not before, and certainly not now.

“Grant, don’t be so harsh,” Tessa said in a token protest, even as she looped her arm through his. “It’s hard enough for Claire, going to a new place all by herself.”

Grant let out a cold laugh.

“She’s the one insisting on making a scene. I don’t owe her anything more.”

The station announcement echoed through the hall.

Boarding had begun for the train to Boston.

Grant checked his watch, took the carry-on from Tessa, and started pulling her toward the gate.

Tessa turned back and waved.

“Claire, text us when you get there!”

Grant didn’t even slow down. He just tossed back, “Keep up. Don’t miss your bus.”

I stood where I was and watched them disappear into the crowd, side by side.

He still believed I would follow the spreadsheet. That I would go to Iowa, move into the room he’d chosen, take care of his father, and wait for the occasional phone call from him.

The last trace of reluctance in me vanished.

I didn’t follow them.

I pulled my suitcase behind me and turned in the opposite direction.

On the departures board, another train was flashing.

Destination: Philadelphia.