Finding Grace: A Novel (30 page)

"Let go of me!" She dug her nails into his
hand.

He yelled in pain, cursing, but still he
would not release his hold. Her control snapped…and she exploded in
fear and rage.

"I said, let go!" Before she realized what
she was doing, her fingers balled. Her arm came back. Then her fist
landed into his jaw with all the strength she had. Spun aside by
the blow, he landed on his knees on the floor, holding his face in
pain.

She was in pain herself. It had been a long
time since she'd hit anyone, and her small fist was not prepared
for the impact. She stepped back, holding her throbbing hand and
wrist. It distracted her so that she hardly noticed when the front
door flew open.

Henry came rushing in. She glanced over at
him for a moment, watching as he took in what he was seeing. She
saw the change in his expression as he looked between her and
Charlie. At first, looking at the man kneeling on the floor, he
seemed angry and confused, probably wondering what in the world was
going on. Then he looked at her, and seeing how she was holding her
hand, obviously in pain, his eyes became soft with concern.

"I was on my way over here and heard the
yelling. Are you all right?"

She nodded, wincing from her injury. "I'm
fine.” Then she looked over at Charlie, who was rising to his feet,
still holding his jaw. "This is Charlie Hillard," she said. "He was
just leaving."

Henry’s expression changed
again, now full of curiosity and surprise. "Charlie Hillard? This
isn't
the
Charlie,
is it?" He gestured his head towards the other man.

She nodded again. "The only one, thank
heavens.”

Now on his feet, his face dark with a scowl,
Charlie took several steps toward Henry. "Who are you, walking in
here like you own the place?"

Henry took his own step forward. He was
taller, more confident…and he smirked, looking down at Charlie with
a sneer. "I’m no one for you to worry about.”

Though he wasn’t equal to Henry’s stature,
Charlie hardly seemed intimidated. He sneered, turning to Grace in
angry confusion.

“
Who the hell is this? And
why he is here strutting around like a Bantam Rooster?”

She sighed, wishing they would both go away
so she could tend to her aching hand. But she knew she couldn't
leave things as they were.

"If it's any of your business, Charlie…this
is Henry Shaw. He's my neighbor."

For a moment, the two men just stood and
examined one another. She wondered if they were about to throw
punches. But Charlie suddenly gave a snort, throwing a hand up as
if to wave Henry off like a buzzing insect.

"I don’t give a damn who he is.” He turned
to her, determination is his every feature. “You get your things
together right now, or I'll leave it all behind. Make up your mind.
Either way, you're coming home with me, like it or not."

Lord, the man was thickheaded. She wanted to
hit him again.

"Don’t you hear good? I'm not going anywhere
with you."

Henry stepped to her side with a confident
little smirk. "She's right. She's not going back."

Charlie looked his opponent up and down.
"Who the hell asked you about it? Mind your own business,
mister."

The smirk on Henry’s face
was oh-so-confident. "Oh, I
am
minding my business. Miss Grace
is
my business. Because
you see, I'm her boss."

Grace blinked for a moment,
unsure of what he had really just said. Her mouth opened slightly,
and then it closed again.
My
Boss
? She thought.
That's the strangest choice of a lie I've ever
heard.

Charlie seemed equally as stunned...and
completely skeptical. "What do you mean by boss? What kind of boss?
For what job?"

Now, Henry’s smirk was full and brazenly
arrogant. "That's none of your concern, now is it? I think it's
time for you to be on your way, Mr. Hillard."

Standing a little taller beside Henry, Grace
looked at Charlie with her head held high.

"Tell my folks that I’m happy where I am,
and that's all they need to know.”

Charlie must have realized his time there
was up. He moved towards the door…but at the threshold, he turned
to give them both a dark look. His voice was cold…deadly
serious.

“
This isn’t the end of
this.”

He stormed out, slamming the door behind
him.

Grace turned to Henry, her figure relaxing
with relief. She gave him a little smile. He gave her one in
return. Then she noticed how he was looking at her, his eyes full
of intense concern. She was about to say something…to assure him
she was quite well…when the pain from her injury suddenly came
back.

With a light touch he took her hand, lifting
it up to look at it. His fingers were warm…very gentle, and she
felt her breath quicken at the feeling of his fingertips. Her pulse
throbbed as he brushed his fingers softly over her hand and her
wrist, testing the extent of the damage, and she found she could
not pull her hand from his grasp. The pleasure of his touch was
much too intense. And his voice. It was like warm honey, rich and
smooth.

"You've bruised your knuckles. And you might
have a slight sprain in your wrist."

She found she could not respond, nor move a
muscle. It seemed he had cast a spell around her, making her
powerless. She felt weightless as he led her to the sofa, making
her sit down.

"Wait here, I'll be right back.”

She nodded, sitting there silently for
several moments, feeling as if she were floating on a cloud. It was
the same feeling she’d felt on that night when he had kissed her.
But now, it was different. There was no feeling of guilt. No sense
of shame, thinking that she was the force that might break apart a
relationship. There was only a sense of pure joy…a great warmth
that flowed through her entire frame.

A moment later he came back, holding a small
cloth bundle in his hand. She wasn’t sure what it was until he sat
down beside her and pressed it gently against her skin. The feeling
of the ice pack was sudden. She jumped slightly at its shock,
gritting her teeth. It also helped her to regain her senses, for
she could not ignore the numbing of her flesh as the cold pressed
against it.

"Thank you," she said to him, giving him a
grateful smile. He returned it with a slight upturn of the corner
of his mouth.

"You're welcome.” Then he chuckled. "Here I
was, thinking I had to rush in and rescue you again, like I did
before. But you manage to clock the bastard all by yourself. Gave
him a good one, too, from the way he was down on the floor when I
came in." He still grinned slightly, but then he forcibly dropped
the smile, trying to give her a look of disappointment. "Thank you
so much for stealing my thunder.”

She laughed a little. But then, her own
expression sobered a bit as a lingering question surfaced.

"Why did you come over, anyway? And what did
you mean by saying you were my boss?”

He shook his head, waving
off her questions. "Don't worry about that now. I'm just glad
I
did
come, even
though you made me useless." The smile returned to his face. Then
he sighed. "I hate to leave good company. But I have to get to
work. Just keep the ice on your hand and the swelling will go down
before you know it. And have fun explaining it to your
brother."

She nodded, watching as he rose to his feet.
She felt a kind of disappointment in seeing him walk to the door,
and secretly she longed for him to stay. When he paused at the
threshold, turning to her, she felt a surge of happiness at the
sight. Maybe he would not go, after all.

"I'll see you at the club tomorrow morning,"
he said. "Noon sharp, if you please."

Her happiness turned to bald shock at his
statement. Surely he was still joking. He had to be.

"Noon?" she repeated, the pitch in her voice
slightly raising in question of what he was talking about.

"Please do not be late," he said. "I expect
my employees to be punctual." And without further words, he smiled
at her and walked out.

She sat there with her jaw slacked, utterly
astonished. By the time she came to her senses and hurried after
him, he was gone. And she was left alone, bewildered, and
completely unnerved about what she would do now.

* * * * *

“
I’ll kill him,” said Jack.
“I’ll hunt him down and stomp his guts out.”

Alice rolled her eyes in disgust at his
manly prowling, for that’s what it seemed to be as he stalked back
and forth across the living room. “You’re not going to do anything,
Jack.”

“
Well I need to do
something, and I think it involves a good ass kicking.”

Alice looked at Grace and smiled. “Looks
like that’s been taken care of.” She handed her a fresh wrapping of
ice. “You must have hit him pretty hard.”

Grace just shrugged, as her mind replayed
all that had happened in the last few hours.

Jack had not been pleased at all to come
home and find her with a sprained wrist. And when he found out what
had caused it, the explanation left him red-faced and ready to
kill. He wasn’t the least bit appeased to hear that she’d defended
herself, and quite well. He was furious about Charlie having been
in his home, in his own living room…and the fact that he was still
out there somewhere.

Jack and Alice were still angry with each
other, judging from the tone of their voices as they argued over
her. Jack snorted in contempt and gestured a hand at his
sister.

“
So you can take care of
yourself, can you?”

Grace said nothing, looking away. But in her
usual way, Alice had plenty to say to him and she didn’t mince
words. She turned on him with her green eyes full of fire.

“
Will you please shut up?
You play that tune so much the record is worn out! She socked him
in the face and he left. What the hell more do you
want?”

“
Woman, who are you telling
to shut up? I wear the pants in this family!”

“
Jesus H. Christ, if I hear
that one more time I’ll punch you in the mouth myself!”

Trying to be a peacemaker, Grace chimed in.
“He’s probably on his way home already.”

Jack turned on her fast. “And hell is just a
sauna! What the hell was Henry doing over here? What was he doing
the whole time Charlie was in the house? Was he just standing there
watching?”

“
They’re not all
Neanderthals like you!” Alice spat at him. “Your sister took care
of herself. She didn’t need Henry to beat the hell out of
anyone.”

“
It was the least he could
have done!”

“
Well if that’s made you
mad, you’ll love this!” Grace said. “Henry wants me to work for
him.”

Jack and Alice both looked at her, their
faces stunned. Then Jack turned on his wife. “This is all your
fault! You’re the one who encouraged her!”

“
Don’t blame me, you
horse’s ass!”

Grace watched the battle. It was almost
scary to watch a married couple fighting so badly…and yet, it was
fascinating in its own way. They were like two brawlers taking
shots at each other. She might have worried, if she didn’t know
that eventually, they would settle down and make up. It might have
been interesting to see how far they would take it before the
making up began, but she found she was too tired to stay any
longer. Her wrist was still tender as well. Without saying
anything, she made her way up to her room. Halfway up the stairs
she heard the front door slam, and she knew Jack had gone outside
again. Alice was in the living room, probably buried in a book or
one of her crossword puzzles. So she left them to sort out their
differences, heading into her room to nurse her hand and to think
about what a day it had been.

An hour or so went by as she lay on the bed,
book in hand, trying to calm herself with a bit of reading. From
downstairs she heard the sound of music coming on. It wasn’t so
strange. The radio or the record player was always on, especially
at night. But listening, she could swear it was Jack’s voice she
heard singing the song, and curious to know, she went to the door
and opened it so she could listen. It was indeed him. He’d never
been the most grand of singers, but he had a nice voice and it made
her smile to think of him now, trying to entertain his wife with a
love song. He really was a ham when it came to her…

Why do I do, just as you say
Why must I just, give you your way
Why do I sigh, why don't I try to forget
It must have been,
That something lovers call fate
Kept me saying: "I have to wait"

I saw them all,
Just couldn't fall 'til we met…
Grace walked out into the hall and
sat on the steps to listen. Last night she’d heard them fighting as
she sat there. Now she hoped to hear them making amends.

It had to be you, it had to
be you
I wandered around, and finally found
The somebody who
Could make me be true,
And could make me be blue
And even be glad, just to be
sad
Thinking of you…

She heard Alice say, “I’m not talking to
you, Jack-ass.” But in her voice, there was a hint of amusement.
And still he kept singing to her.

Some others I've seen,
Might never be mean

Might never be cross,
Or try to be boss
But they wouldn't do

For nobody else, gave me a
thrill
With all your faults, I Love you still
It had to be you, wonderful you
It had to be you.