CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Henry’s grandmother was quite the character. Most of her world views could be explained through the quirky captions on her brightly colored t-shirts. The neon yellow rhinestone-studded monstrosity she was wearing at the moment said “0 Days Without Sarcasm.”
“Bring over an extra shirt next time you visit and I’ll show you how to make it sparkle. It’s all about putting the rhinestones in the right spots,” Nanna explained.
From what Grace could see, the “right spots” appeared to be pretty much anywhere. She kept her white hair cropped short, and there were even more gem-studded craft projects covering the visor she pulled on to protect her from the sun. Given the woman’s personal fashion choices, Grace was surprised to see that she’d kept her Bedazzler away from the furniture. But the room itself was tasteful, although the items all looked like they’d been around several decades.
It was easy to see that the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree where Henry was concerned, because his Nanna was just as charming and engaging as he was. Grace’s apprehension melted away the moment Nanna insisted on dragging her into the backseat of the car with her so that she could entertain her with baby pictures and stories about Henry growing up. The scrapbook had more stickers in it than photos and she could tell that the woman had put a lot of effort into making it. It looked like a lot of fun, and Grace wondered if she’d show her how some day. Even the thought of making a gem-studded top sounded kind of interesting.
For a moment she felt a sharp prick of pain in her heart. Grace supposed it was remorse. But basically she was feeling sad about how much she’d missed out by not having a grandmother of her own to love on her and protect her when she’d been a child. She doubted she’d be remotely the same person if she’d had Nanna to champion for her. Would she have a closet full of skeletons if she’d been surrounded with such love from day one?
Grace had expected to be judged and instantly deemed unworthy by the older woman, but that couldn’t have been further removed from reality. What actually transpired was the stuff of dreams. Henry’s grandmother hadn’t looked at her like she was trash. Nanna never made any snide comments about her being cheaply dressed or unworthy of her grandson, although she was itching to add some sparkles to her ensemble.
“Call me Nanna, I insist,” Nanna said, pulling her in for a side hug at one point during the drive. And in that moment Grace decided that the day just might not be as horrible as she’d anticipated. Having already met his brother and grandmother, it was conceivable that the rest of Henry’s family would also be nice.
One of the things that impressed her the most was the fact that Nanna still lived on her own. She did everything but drive her old car, which she claimed was not for lack of a license, but because all the youngsters drove too fast nowadays. Her sprawling property included more than two dozen acres, all of which she tended to herself. Maybe people who lived in the country aged better because of all the fresh air. Whatever it was, she hoped she was half as spry as Nanna when she entered her twilight years.
***
When Henry pulled up to Parker’s house there were so many cars already lining the drive that it was difficult to locate an unoccupied parking space. There weren’t exactly lines to mark the spots; it was more of a first come first serve free-for-all. Henry offered to drop them off closer and then circle back to park but Nanna wouldn’t hear of it.
“You act like my legs have suddenly stopped working!” she huffed indignantly.
All Henry could do was grin and bear it as she lectured him about how much harder everything had been in her day. He finally found an open spot and it was easy to see why it was available given that he had to climb a rather steep embankment to pull into it. Four wheel drive was pretty much a non-negotiable feature when it came to rural areas like this.
He took turns holding first Grace’s and then Nanna’s arms so that they could step out of the car and down the short hill without stumbling. The moment Parker and Michelle’s place came into view she couldn’t help but whistle appreciatively. Her friend had definitely moved up in the world. She’d gone from a crappy rundown apartment to a mansion in the blink of an eye.
As for the home itself, it had been perfectly restored. It was a proud display of historic elegance. There was nothing quite like the regal white columns of a plantation style home; they made the whole edifice seem majestic. It was like being transported back in time. The mish mash people scattered across the lawn in their casual modern clothes seemed out of place. It was a rather jarring contrast and Grace had to blink a couple of times before her eyes could reconcile the two images.
There were so many people milling about that Grace began to grow anxious again. Meeting Henry’s grandmother had been wonderful, but wasn’t that enough for one day? She regretted having promised her foster sister she’d come. Thoughts of running flitted through her mind, but she couldn’t do that to her friend. She bet Michelle felt even jitterier than she did.
Nanna must have somehow sensed her mounting nerves, because she squeezed her hand and gave her a reassuring pat. That made her feel better, and a few of the butterflies in her stomach stopped flapping about and settled down. She tried to stand up taller and at least fake some of the confidence she was lacking, but she knew she wasn’t selling it.
As they made their way through the masses, Grace fidgeted with her dress and chewed on her lower lip. Forcing down her fear, she bravely moved forward, following Henry through the throng. Her cowardly impulses told her there was still time to run and hide, but she’d already promised Michelle that she’d stand by her and lend support, and she wasn’t about to let her down.
The food smelled incredible, but given the turbulent state of her stomach she doubted she’d be able to eat. Someone walked by with a big ear of corn on a stick, and there was so much butter on the thing that they left behind a trail of butter. Okay, maybe she wasn’t too nervous to eat, not if it was corn.
First thing’s first, she needed to do what she’d said she’d do and go lend her friend some good old fashioned moral support. Of course, when she’d said yes during their shopping excursion she hadn’t realized that there would be so many people there, or that all of Henry’s family would be in attendance. The moment she spotted Michelle’s dark hair she split off from Henry and made a beeline straight for her friend.
“Thank God! I thought you’d abandoned me,” Michelle exclaimed, gripping her tight in a spontaneous hug. “Parker’s family is going to arrive any minute, and I was seriously going to lose my shit if I had to face MAFIA MIA alone. I’m fucking terrified of that woman.”
“Well I don’t want to ruin this beautiful moment, but I sure as heck don’t think dirty words like that should be spilling out of such a pretty mouth,” drawled a feminine voice; it was loaded with equal amounts of southern charm and righteous indignation.
Mia Abrams had a lovely heart-shaped face with sharp brown eyes and hair to match. If Grace hadn’t already known that Parker was in his thirties, she never would have believed that his mother was in her sixties. The woman had aged well, although there was no way that she didn’t dye her hair, because she’d probably have hair as white as Nanna’s if she was going for the au naturale look. Of course, the fact that Mia still looked gorgeous wasn’t really important at the moment, because her best friend looked like her head was about to explode.
Michelle turned around and scrunched her eyes up tight, as though hoping that the image before her would suddenly disappear. When that failed to work she fluttered her eyelashes wildly and sent up pathetic prayers for the ground to open up and swallow her whole. But that didn’t happen either. Desperate to dispel the mounting tension, Michelle did the only thing she could think of, which unfortunately was throwing her best friend under the bus.
“Mia, it’s so nice to see you. It’s been too long! Where are my manners? Let me introduce you to my foster sister, Grace. She’s the drug addict who stole our rent money to score her next hit. If I hadn’t been looking for her in the worst part of town I wouldn’t have witnessed the tiger shifters committing murder, and I never would have spent all my money on a bus ticket here. So I guess you could say that she’s the reason your son and I found each other . . .” Michelle was rambling like nobody’s business, and all of her attention was on Mia, so she failed to see what a horrible mistake she’d made with her terrible choice of words. She would have been better off stranding her friend naked at the edge of a public diving board, because that would have been far less traumatic for her.
Grace didn’t make a sound, but in her head she was screaming “NO” on an endless loop. Her deepest darkest secret had just been thoroughly exposed. She looked up and caught Henry’s gaze, and there was no denying the look of revulsion as it crossed his face. So much for hoping that it wouldn’t matter to him. So much for believing that what they’d had would be strong enough to weather her stormy past. That was the moment where all her dreams died.
A sob rose up in her throat but she choked it down as she turned and ran towards the path that wended its way through the woods to Henry’s cabin. He’d pointed it out to her the night before, and she’d had no idea she’d be using it so soon.
Why? Why? Why?
All of this was so unfair, not that she should be surprised given how the whole of her life was a giant shit storm.
So stupid.
People who reach for the sky just have that much farther to fall when it all comes crumbling down. She’d thought that someday she might be able to share her sordid past with him, but now she could see what a fool she had been. How moronic was she to have believed that any man could ever overlook her past addiction?
And that was just the tip of the iceberg so far as her tragic tale went. There was no denying that she’d been a drug addict, but she’d used that as a vice to escape the pain that had been inflicted on her. The things that had been done to her body, well they were just plain evil. It didn’t matter that she was grown up now, she was still being victimized by her past. She was damaged goods, and as such she should have known better than to believe that a man like Henry could ever love her.
She stumbled and fell, crying when a sharp rock tore into her bare knee, but she didn’t slow her pace. She stubbornly forced herself back up to her feet and kept moving. There was no turning back now. The house was empty, but she had no guarantee of how long it would remain so. Better to leave of her own volition than to be kicked out.
Grace ran to the kitchen and grabbed a wad of empty grocery bags. Her clothes were the only thing she owned and she wasn’t about to leave them behind. She may have had her pride, but she wasn’t stupid. She would have to start over alone, but she wasn’t going to do so with nothing more than the clothes on her back. If things got really bad she could probably sell some of the pricier items at a second hand shop.
She didn’t notice the little drops of her blood that followed gravity’s pressing descent to the floor, nor did she observe the smudge of crimson that her messy hand left on the door knob. She hadn’t a clue as to where she was running. She had zero plans for the future. Her purse and ID were stranded back at her old apartment, yet she refused to take so much as a penny from Henry. She couldn’t steal from him, not if she wanted to maintain the pathetic shreds of her dignity.
Stress had her hands shaking as she rushed to cram her belongings into the plastic bags. She simply had to clear out before he returned to bodily remove her. He’d already broken her heart with a single look, but if he told her to leave, or worse, called her trash, it would simply end her. There was only so much a person could endure before they shut down completely.
Her heart felt heavy inside of her chest. She would be utterly lost without the spark of joy that he’d brought into her life, but at least she would have some solitude and dignity wherever she wound up. She needed to crawl under a rock somewhere where she could lick her wounds and regroup, or better yet die in peace.
With her mind made up, she lifted the lamp and reached for the little baggie that held her private stash of pills. She still didn’t know what the little green ones were, but odds were good that if she took them all at once she’d get lucky and overdose. The best part was how if she didn’t live to see morning, she wouldn’t have to come up with a fix-all solution for her life. She was ready to check out and see if the afterlife would afford her the serenity that life on earth never had.
The sound of a throat clearing echoed behind her, and she was so startled that she almost dropped her precious pills. She quickly stuffed the bag down her bra and then whirled around to face Henry one last time . . . but it wasn’t him staring her down.