I pause in front of my parents-in-law’s front door, unsure what I’m even doing. I pace back and forth for a few minutes, undecided. I’d been at home, waiting for Raya to come back from Sierra’s bachelorette party, when it occurred to me that I’m probably not the only one waiting for her. I couldn’t stop thinking about how distraught Bob must be after what he had to tell Raya, and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to check up on him. Now that I’m here, I’m second guessing my decision to show up uninvited. Just as I’ve made up my mind to leave, the front door opens, and Raya’s mom appears, a long fluffy robe wrapped all around her.
“Lex?” she says, surprised. “You set off all those fancy alarm systems you installed a few months ago, sweetheart. What are you doing here?”
Before I can even say anything at all, she steps aside with a sweet smile on her face. I follow her into the house, oddly nervous. I’ve never been here before without Raya, and I’m not sure why I thought it was a good idea to drop by without notice today. “Raya is at my sister’s bachelorette party tonight,” I explain.
“I know,” she says, smiling at me as she leads me through the house, until we reach the garage at the back of the house. Right. Of course she knew. Raya speaks to her parents every day, after all.
“He’s been hiding in there every evening since we told Raya the news, silently counting down the days until she comes home again, all the while pretending to be okay. She’s called him countless times, but I don’t think he’ll be okay until she comes back home. In the meantime, he’ll be glad to see you.”
I nod, my heart heavy. Raya and I requested to spend this weekend at the Windsor Estate shortly after Sierra’s wedding date was set, because we both knew my sister would do something outrageous for her bachelorette. We couldn’t have known what would happen in the days prior to it. “She almost didn’t go,” I tell Raya’s mom, and she nods, a sweet understanding smile on her face.
“I’m glad she did,” she says. “And I’m glad you’re here. Go on in. I’ll bring you both some tea in a bit.”
I nod as she pats my arm reassuringly before walking away, leaving me standing in front of the door. I take a deep breath before knocking. When no response comes, I walk in, only to freeze at the sight of a car Bob Lewis can’t possibly own.
He rolls from underneath the car and sits up, clearly expecting his wife. His brows rise, and he looks back at the car before rising to his feet. “Lex, my boy. What brings you here? I didn’t think you two would come home this weekend.”
I shake my head, barely able to take my eyes off the original Windsor Motors car behind him. The same one I spent years looking for and nearly gave up on. This is the car my grandfather designed and built for my grandmother. He even named it after her, and only three WM Annie’s were ever built and sold. What is she doing here? I’ve been looking for her for years.
“It’s just me today,” I murmur, dragging my gaze back to my father-in-law. His expression falls, and he nods as he reaches for a torque wrench. He throws it my way, and I catch it easily, my hand wrapping around the tool. “Come help me with this, then. My favorite car won’t start.”
My heart pounds in my chest as I take in the immaculate state of the car. “How do you have this? I have the one that used to belong to my father, and my grandmother has the other. I knew there was a third, but I’ve never been able to track it down.” My grandfather once told me he gave the third to his protégé, and he promised me he’d introduce me to him someday. Grandpa told me I’d love him as much as he did, that he reminded him of my dad.
Bob smiles and runs his hand over the hood of the car gently. “Your grandfather gave it to me,” he says, “right along with the investment funds to start Lewis Motors.” I stare in shock, and Bob smiles. “I learned everything I knew from your grandfather, but he knew I wasn’t happy working for Windsor Motors. I didn’t want to build cars for the rich — I wanted to build cars people like me could afford, that they’d love. Your grandfather understood my vision and planned to expand Windsor Motors, until one day, he learned I’d always dreamt of building my own company. Instead of competing with me, he gave me his blessing and told me to go make him proud. That’s the kind of man your grandfather was, you know?”
He glances back at the car, his smile bittersweet. “Truthfully, I know what’s wrong with it, and I could fix it in ten minutes. I just like tinkering with it, because it’s…” Bob runs a hand through his hair and sighs.
I run a hand through my hair, understanding dawning. “It’s what my grandfather always did when he needed to think. He’d take a car apart and put it back together.”
Bob Lewis is the protégé my grandfather used to talk about. How could I have missed that? It didn’t flag in Bob’s background check either, and the only way that could’ve happened is if Silas Sinclair hid it from me, likely at my grandmother’s request.
“I feel like I keep saying this, but this, too, wasn’t something I kept from you purposely,” Bob says. “I just didn’t want you to feel like I was using my connection to your grandfather to get close to you. Your grandmother and I agreed that minimal involvement would be best for you. There was already so much pressure on you both to make your marriage work, and we didn’t want you to feel like we were using your affection toward your late grandfather against you. He wouldn’t have wanted that, would never have allowed it. He loved you more than anything.”
I glance at the torque wrench in my hand. “Raya and me… Grandpa was the one who arranged our marriage?”
I lost him to a heart attack shortly after I was abducted, and I know the stress I put him under when I went missing was a contributing factor, no matter what the doctors might say. One of the reasons I’ve been so scared to love Raya is because I didn’t think I deserved to. I felt like I had to atone for my sins, only to now find out that doing so directly contradicts my grandfather’s wishes. I bury a hand in my hair, my mind reeling.
Bob smiles. “Your grandfather always joked that he and I would become family one day, that he’d make it happen. I took Raya with me to visit him one day, and you were at his office with him. You were trying to put together a wooden car, and you let Raya help you. That was when your grandfather started to joke that she’d become a Windsor someday, that he’d steal her away for his youngest grandson.” He sighs and turns back toward his WM Annie. “I was surprised when your grandmother visited me last year, and honestly, if it had been anyone but her, I’d never even have considered it, never would’ve even told my wife about the offer. Your grandmother kept an eye on my company throughout the years, like your grandfather used to, and the moment she realized we were in trouble, she offered a helping hand.”
“But it came with a price tag.”
He nods as he moves to the car’s engine, and I join him, leaning over it. This car is an even better condition than my own model, and it’s clear he treated it with reverence. “I wasn’t sure I made the right decision until a couple of days ago, when you held my daughter as she fell apart, and I realized how much you love her, how much she relies on you. I didn’t think an arranged marriage could work, but it did, and as always, your grandfather was right. He always had a penchant for being right, didn’t he? Drove your grandmother nuts.”
I smile and nod, my attention entirely on my father-in-law as he tells me stories about the past and lets me help him check each component in his clearly beloved car. I came here to console him, but instead, he handed me the last few remaining puzzle pieces I needed, consoling me instead. It’s almost like receiving permission from beyond, telling me that it’s okay to love my wife, that this time, things are going to be okay.
I just hope my intuition doesn’t fail me this time.
I hope I’m not misreading the signs.
