Episode Twenty Four

Summer's Room

"How could they not tell me?" Jamie asked, pacing the floor.

Summer sat on her bed, watching her boyfriend's movement. "I don't know. Maybe they thought it was better you didn't know?"

"Better? How can it be better that I didn't know about my grandfather, uncles, and aunt?" Jamie asked, his voice tense and angry. "I should have been told. Dad should have told me. I shouldn't have found out because my Uncle Gee thought it would make me feel better! And how the hell was that suppose to make me feel better?! That my dad lied to me? That every time he insulted the Grant Family, called them slimey, underhanded, horrible, lying, cheating, he was insulting my own blood? He hates the Grants, Summer, always has. So he had to have hated me, right?"

"That is not true," Summer argued. "Jamie, you know he loved you!"

"God, Summer! Do you have any idea how miserable I kept making him? Did you know he left me with my Uncle Laurence for almost a month after my mom died? He didn't want me. And once Grandpa Ian died? Our summer fishing trips stopped. I wouldn't even TRY to tolerate David! Instead I threw tantrums and accused dad of not caring about me! I was rude, constantly. I ran away. I bullied him into letting me stay in that apartment. When I went home to talk to him that day, after the diner, he was crying, Summer. My dad never cries, but he was. And it was my fault. I made him miserable. He didn't deserve that! He always did his best to make sure I was safe, but I had to be an idiot and get myself raped and make him feel like he messed up! And... God, it was MY jeep, Summer! He was driving my jeep when he died. It's my fault."

Summer jumped up. "No it's not!" she said.

"Yes it is! It was my jeep! I could have pulled the spare tire out of the jeep and put it on Dad's car, but I was lazy and now my dad's dead!"

"And what would have happened if you'd done that, Jamie? The paper said there was something wrong with the brakes. You could have been killed! Do you think your dad would have preferred that?!"

Jamie shook his head. "It's not fair."

"No, it's not fair," Summer said, standing up an embracing Jamie. "It's okay," she whispered as he cried against her shoulder. "It'll be okay," she repeated.

"It's my fault," Jamie repeated. "I should have changed the tire for him."

"You had no way of knowing, Jamie. How could you know?"

"I should have. I should have known. The brakes were sluggish, Sum. When Jenny and I went to get gas the brakes were sluggish but I thought it was me, that I was tired."

"You didn't know," Summer repeated.

They didn't notice Janice, Laurence, and Gee standing in the doorway. The three adults backed out and quietly closed the door. "I'm not surprised he's here," Janice said. "Summer skipped school to be with him the day after the accident, he knows he can count on her."

"I am," Gee said. "It's rather surprising that a teenage girl would be so loyal and caring."

"Well, I've all ready noticed Summer's one in a million," Laurence said. "Jamie was in a rough patch emotionally a few months ago... actually ever since school started, but once he and Summer were officially going out he started coming out of it. I don't know what was wrong, but she's made it better. I'm glad she came to town."

"What's going on?" Matt asked as he walked up the stairs.

"Matt, honey, this is Mr. Valles, Jamie's uncle from Chicago," Janice said. "Jamie's in Summer's room, he..."

"Rebecca tried to steal Jamie's mom's jewelry and a watch of Mike's," Laurence explained. "And then she essentially kicked Jamie out of the garage apartment, so he came to talk to Summer."

"Uh-huh, and what else happened?" Matt asked. "I know Jamie pretty well, if he's upset enough to come over here instead of being rational and packing or talking to you two, it has to be major."

"I told him somehting about his mother's family I probably shouldn't have," Gee admitted.

"No, you shouldn't have, my dad should have a long time ago," Jamie said from Summer's doorway.

"Jamie..." Laurence started.

"Shut it," Jamie replied. He turned to Matt. "Can you give me a ride somewhere, Matt? There's someone I need to talk to."

Matt nodded. "Sure."

"Jamie, just wait and..." Laurence tried again.

"No. I'm going to talk to him tonight. I think I deserve some answers, don't you?" Jamie said as he walked down the stairs, followed by Summer and Matt.

At the door, Jamie stopped and gave Summer a kiss on the forehead. "Thank you, Sums, for talking to me."

"Anytime, Jamie," Summer replied.

"Let's go," Jamie said to Matt.

Matt's Car

"You wanna tell me what the deal is?" Matt asked as the got into the car.

Jamie sighed. 'The deal is my mom's father, who I have never met and I've never even been told the name of, lives right here in Heaven Falls. Has for a long time. I know him, I know my uncles and aunt, I've been in their home. And my dad never told me."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"So, I'm taking you to talk to your grandfather?"

"Yeah."

"Does he know you know?"

"Nope."

"Can you give me more than a one word sentence? And can you give me an address?"

Jamie chuckled slightly. "I think two words will sum it up perfectly."

"Oh?"

"Grant. Mansion."

Matt let out a low whistle. "You mean, you're a..."

"Grant, yeah."

"That..."

"Sucks."

"I was gonna say it's cool."

"What?" Jamie asked, surprised. "How is it cool that I'm a member of the family my other fmaily despises?"

"First off, man, the Grants have serious money, which means you won't have to worry about paying for college or anything. Second, maybe you can end the idiotic feud."

"I doubt it, it goes back to far. Over a hundred years of fighting can't be fixed by a sixteen year-old," Jamie said.

"You could try."

"Right now I just want to know why he never told me. Why none of them told me. It's possible Aaron didn't know, but the rest of them had to know. I wanna know if they didn't tell me because they were respecting my parents' wishes, or because I'm not good enough."

"Well, you're about to find out," Matt said as he turned into the long driveway up to the Grant Mansion.

"Joy," Jamie muttered.

"You want me to wait for you?"

"Nah," Jamie replied. "My beloved grandfather can foot the bill for a cab," he added with a snort.

Matt pulled the car up by the door are stopped. "If you do need a ride, just give me a call, all right?

Jamie nodded. "You got it," he said. "Thanks, Matt."

"No problem."

After Matt pulled away, Jamie took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. A moment later it opened to reveal the butler, Miles.

"Can I help you, Mister Bowen?" Miles asked, surprised to found Aaron's friend at the door in this weather.

"I need to speak to Mr. Grant."

Miles frowned. "Which one?"

"Daniel Sr," Jamie replied. "It's really important."

"Come in," Miles said. "Follow me, Mr. Grant is in his study."

Miles led Jamie through what seemed like half the house, until they finally stopped outside a door. Miles asked Jamie to wait a moment and went inside. After a moment Miles came back out. "Go on in," he said.

Jamie smiled slightly in thanks and went inside. Daniel Sr was sitting behind his desk, hastily pushing some papers off to one side. "Mr. Grant," Jamie said, not sure what else to say.

"What can I do for you, Jamie?" Daniel replied.

Jamie felt his temper rising at the calm response. "You can tell me why the hell you never told me you were my grandfather," he said.

End Of Episode Twenty Four