CHAPTER 90: GRAYSON

Grayson returns alone to Hawthorne House and goes to the damaged tree house, the place he and Jameson wrecked after Emily died. Xander is already waiting there because Grayson’s brief emergency message gave few details, and Nash soon arrives with grocery bags. Grayson says he does not want to talk about what happened in Phoenix, and his brothers accept that for the moment.

The next morning, Jameson arrives after his England trip, and the brothers turn the reunion into a chaotic round of Drink or Dare. Jameson reveals only the broadest version of his adventure: he met his father, won a castle, and saved a duchess. The dares become increasingly ridiculous, giving Grayson a rare release from the pressure and shame he has carried since leaving Phoenix.

Once the tension in Grayson eases, Jameson dares him to admit he is not okay. Grayson tries to avoid answering, but Nash blocks him from drinking the penalty mixture instead. With Xander and Nash making the tree house feel safe, Grayson finally says that his sisters will probably never speak to him again and that he is either terrible at losing people or exceptionally practiced at it.

Nash reassures Grayson that he has not lost his brothers, then shares his own past fear that he was too broken to build anything lasting with someone like Libby. Nash insists that Grayson knows how to love and points to the brothers themselves as proof. Xander adds that a broken heart can heal stronger, like a fractured bone.

Grayson recalls Tobias Hawthorne’s old warning that love is all-consuming, eternal, and only once, but Nash rejects that lesson. Nash identifies Grayson’s deeper fear as not just romantic heartbreak but the terror of letting in family or anyone else, only to be abandoned; because of that fear, Nash says, Grayson leaves first. Grayson protests that he left Phoenix because Gigi rejected him and Savannah will once she learns the truth, then admits he cannot explain or apologize without putting Avery at risk. Jameson’s response is to suggest that Grayson should talk to Avery.