My Reason to Live

Chapter 14

"Thank you so much for dinner," I say to Bernie.

We've just arrived back at Thirlwall Hall, and we are standing in the ginormous hallway.

"You don't have to thank me. The pleasure was all mine, Perrie."

"You fancy a nightcap, Grandpa?" Jade asks Bernie.

"No, I'm going to head to bed. But you two youngsters go ahead."

"You up for a drink, Pez?" Jade turns to me.

I'm feeling a little wiped out after all that food and wine. The seven courses were small, but I'm stuffed.

I still find myself saying yes to Jade though, because I'm not ready for the night to be over just yet.

"Good night, Perrie." Bernie kisses me on the cheek.

"Good night," I say.

She hugs Jade. "Night, Jade."

"Night, Grandpa."

We both watch Bernie head for the sweeping staircase.

"Oh, and the good brandy's in the decanter in the drawing room," he calls over his shoulder to us.

Jade chuckles, and then she takes ahold of my hand and tugs on it, leading me across the hall, heading for the drawing room.

"The good brandy? Or something else?" Jade asks, walking over to the drink cabinet.

"It'd be rude not to have the good brandy." I smile.

Jade gets two brandy glasses out and then pours in the brandy from the decanter. She carries them over to me and hands me mine.

"Cheers." She holds her glass up to mine.

"Cheers." I clink my glass against hers and then take a drink.

It is good brandy but strong.

"That has some kick to it." I blow out a whistling breath.

"Yeah, I guess I'm kind of used to it."

"Seasoned drinker?" I jest.

"Nah, brandy is just Grandpa's answer to everything. Fall over and scrape your knee? Glass of brandy. Girlfriend dumps you? Glass of brandy."

"He gave you brandy when you were young?" I'm guessing she meant young from the scraped knee comment.

She laughs. "Only a toddy."

"He did have you flying planes when you were barely out of diapers, so I shouldn't be surprised at the hard liquor."

"I told you that he was a little unconventional." She grins.

"But it works for him. He's a wonderful man. He loves you a lot."

"I love him a lot, too."

Hearing her say that about her grandpa sets off an ache deep inside my heart. The one that reminds me that I used to have that. I used to have people who loved me in that way.

And now, I don't.

Jade clears her throat. "I'm sorry that my grandpa asked about your parents at dinner, Pez. I should've thought ahead and told him it was a no-go area."

"It's fine."

And it was. It could have been a lot worse. But I handled it better than I had before.

That's because of Jade. Because she was there beside me. Her strength gave me the strength to talk about them.

A bunch of framed photographs on a table over by the window catches my eye. Leaving Jade, I walk over to them. I put my glass on the table by the pictures and start looking at them.