Chapter Seventeen
REED FOUND WHAT he was looking for in the attic Sunday morning and took a moment to gaze out the window at Grace’s car in the driveway. Their lives had fallen seamlessly into sync. They’d played Frisbee at the park last night, and then they’d walked into town, where they’d run into Sable and Amber, who were on their way into the pizzeria, and they’d joined them for dinner. Grace had laughed so much with her sisters, she seemed like a different person from the woman he’d seen standing with them at the party that first night. After coming home, they’d thrown a blanket down in the backyard and stargazed, kissing and talking until they were both too tired to think, and then they’d finally gone upstairs to bed. His house had felt like something was missing for all these months, and now he knew exactly what it was. Grace. They’d loved this house all those years ago, and just like he’d never forgotten her, he’d only buried those memories. They were as much a part of him as the blood that ran through his veins.
He went to the window on the opposite side of the room and looked out at the creek, thinking about the walk they’d taken earlier that morning, reminiscing about the past and dreaming about the future. They’d come home and showered together, and then they’d gone out to the veranda, where he’d worked on his plans for the theater and Grace had taken notes on scripts. He went there now and stood in the doorway, watching her. She looked relaxed in her cutoffs and T-shirt, writing in a notebook. It was the perfect start to a beautiful, sunny day, and Reed wanted more. More sexy nights and loving mornings, more of Grace relaxing and coming into her own. More days to hold her hand and more nights to fall even more madly, passionately in love.
Hiding his surprise behind his back, he joined her on the couch and tucked her beneath his arm. She tipped her face up with a sweet smile and set her notebook in her lap.
“I love writing here.” She dug her hand into a bag of M&M’s and popped a few into her mouth.
“Did you find a good script?”
“No. I stopped looking a while ago. When we were at the park playing Frisbee last night, I had an idea for a story. I thought I’d take some notes so I didn’t forget it, and look how much I’ve written.” She turned her notebook toward him and began flipping pages.
“That’s one benefit of playing Frisbee over going jogging.”
“I had more fun last night than I’ve had in a long time. It’s inspirational. This story has already taken on a life of its own, which proves that I really do need to get outside more often. Clearly, sunshine and Reed equals inspiration.” She sat up and snuggled closer.
“We spent so much time outdoors when we were younger, I can’t imagine you living your life any other way. I think that’s why the gym comment seemed strange to me. And I’ve got just the thing to help you get inspired to go outside when you’re in the city. Give me your shirt.”
She laughed. “You think sex will help me remember to go outside more?”
He shook his head as he lifted the hem of her shirt. “Close your eyes, and keep them closed.”
He took off her shirt, slipped his high school football jersey over her head, and guided her hands into the sleeves. “Okay, babe. Open your eyes.”
She glanced down and squealed. “Your jersey!” She threw her arms around him. “I’m wearing this today, and I don’t care what we do or where we go. In fact, this might just have to be my Sunday outfit from now on. Can I keep it?”
“Of course, babe. It’s yours.”
“I can’t believe it’s mine after all these years.”
“Just like me.” His lips descended slowly upon hers, and he felt her smiling into the kiss.
“I have a great idea!”
“You’re going to put on your cheerleading outfit and let me go for a touchdown?”
She laughed and straddled his lap. “That wasn’t my idea, but…I bet my mom has that outfit in a box somewhere.”
“Have I told you lately how great your mother is?” He kissed her smiling lips.
“If we’re going to do the long-distance relationship thing, then let’s agree not to work on Sundays like my parents do. They’ve never worked on Sundays. I mean, they take care of the animals, but they don’t do any real work. It’s always been a family day for us.”
“I love that idea, but I thought you had to work some weekends with your productions.”
“I do, but that’s usually just at the beginning. Once the production is underway, I’m on to the next for selection and prep, but Sundays aren’t mandatory. That’s just been how my life has evolved, I guess.” She ran her finger along his jaw and said, “I’ve never had a reason not to work on Sundays, but now I do, and I don’t want to miss out on days like this.”
“That sounds perfect to me. There’s not a property in the world that I’d rather work on than spend time with you.”
“Speaking of properties, do you think we can see the inside of the theater before I go back? I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“Sure. I want to show it to you. I’ll make arrangements with Meggie Tipster, my real estate agent.”
“You’re working with Megaphone Meggie?” Her smile got even brighter. “I cheered with her. She could cheer louder than anyone on the team. I haven’t seen her in so long. Is she still as tiny as a waif?”
He shook his head. “I wouldn’t call her tiny. I mean, she’s got a nice figure, but she’s not waiflike, and she’s still as loud as a megaphone. She’s been great, really on top of things.”
The sound of car doors caught their attention.
“Expecting company?” Grace asked as they pushed to their feet.
“No,” he said as they went inside and headed downstairs. He pulled open the front door as Nana, Hellie, Janie, and Janie’s guide dog stepped from the car. A second later, two younger girls climbed out of the backseat. Nana wore a pair of big, dark sunglasses. She squared her shoulders and looked at the others, as if she were the leader of the pack. Hellie smoothed her dark tunic over her hips. Her colorful skirt swept around her legs as she and Nana led the others determinedly toward the porch.
“What the heck are they doing here?” Grace descended the porch steps while simultaneously tying the hem of his jersey into a knot at her hip.
“There you are,” Nana said, and glanced at Hellie. “I told you they were busy making out.”
Reed chuckled.
“We were not making out,” Grace said sharply. “How did you even know where I was?”
She looked so damn cute in his jersey, he wanted to…Why not? He pulled his phone from his pocket and snapped a picture of her.
“After movie night at the Majestic?” Nana waved her hand dismissively. “As if you’d be anywhere else?” She ducked into the car again.
One of the younger girls, a redhead, said, “Sorry to interrupt. We tried to call.”
“It’s okay,” Grace said. “Reed, this is Lauryn.”
The girl smiled sheepishly.
“And this is Phoenix.” Grace motioned to the other young girl, who waved.
“Nice to meet you both.”
“If Grace had answered her phone, we wouldn’t have had to interrupt your lovefest.” Nana handed Reed a bag. “We brought breakfast since everyone knows you don’t have a functioning kitchen.”
“How does everyone know that?”
“Never mind how,” Nana said with a sigh. “Just say thank you.”
“Thank you.” He peeked into the bag at the Tupperware containers. “Did you cook us breakfast?”
“We baked as we worked,” Lauryn said. “Nana and Hellie taught me and Phoenix how to make corn bread and cinnamon rolls.”
“Kids these days are so busy with phones and Facebook, they don’t learn the basic skills of life,” Hellie said.
“The reason we’re here is that we’re just so excited, we couldn’t wait to tell Grace our news,” Janie explained.
“News?” Grace turned to Reed and said, “Sorry.”
Amused by the whole scene, he said, “It’s all good. And now we have breakfast.”
“We finished our script!” Phoenix blurted out.
Hellie handed Grace a folder. “It turned out even better than we hoped.”
Grace opened the folder and scanned the contents. “You finished the entire script? You must have worked all day and through the night.”
“Yes, ma’am. We practically had ourselves a slumber party. Worked right up until midnight and started at the crack of dawn again this morning. Now we’re here, and we’re going to make our masterpiece into a play.” Nana lifted her chin and said, “And you’re going to produce it.”
Grace smiled, studying the script. Without taking her eyes from the papers, she said, “Uh-huh. Sure. This is really good, you guys.”
“I tried not to sex it up too much,” Janie said, “despite Nana’s prompting.”
Nana threw her hands up in the air. “What is it with you kids and your hang-ups about your bodies? Sex is as much a part of love as compromise and that squirrelly feeling in the pit of your stomach. It all goes hand in hand. And, Janie, I saw you and Boyd smooching at the ice cream shop the other night. You can’t tell me you don’t love to touch that man.”
Lauryn giggled.
“Yes, but I wouldn’t want to be up onstage doing it,” Janie said.
Nana mumbled something Reed couldn’t hear, and then she said, “Let’s get down to business. Grace, can you produce this for us?”
Grace’s brows knitted. “Well, I’m leaving in less than two weeks, but that gives us time to go through the script and tweak it. Maybe we can think about doing it as a community play when I come back over the holidays. Do you have friends in mind for the cast? And what about a venue? Do you want to do it in one of your backyards or something? We’ll need sets and props, and—”
“The holidays?” Nana shook her head. “Oh no, that will not do. We’re ready to do it now, and this is not a play for a yard.”
“This story is worthy of a bigger venue. A huge audience,” Hellie said. “And it’s not a winter play. It’s a summer story. It really must take place in the summer, regardless of where we do it.”
“What about next summer? Will the Majestic be done by then?” Grace asked Reed.
“It’s a huge project,” he said. “A year might be enough, but it’s hard to say until we’re inside.”
“But that’s such a long time. We don’t want to wait a year,” Phoenix said. “Can’t we do it before you leave, Grace?”
Grace’s expression softened, and she closed the folder. “I wish we could, but productions take time. Even elementary schoolers have several weeks to prepare. The cast has to be chosen, and they have to memorize their lines. You know that can’t happen overnight. And if you want to try to hold it someplace…” Her eyes lit up. “Like the Jerichos’ barn?” Her voice escalated with excitement. “Or maybe the No Limitz community center? I could ask Haylie. They have a great auditorium. Or the high school auditorium? Brindle might be able to pull some strings.”
“The community center!” Lauryn clapped her hands. “That’s a great idea. They have lots of room.”
“I like the barn,” Janie said. “The story revolves around a small town. What’s more small town than a barn?”
“I like the barn, too. But, Lauryn, if you’re set on the community center, we can consider that,” Hellie said.
“No. I think Janie’s right. The barn is even better,” Lauryn said.
“That’s set, then,” Nana said. “I’ll talk to Nancy Jericho, and my granddaughter Lindsay can throw together a party in a heartbeat!”
“A party? You’re getting way ahead of yourselves,” Grace said. “There’s costumes, seating…” Her brows knitted again. “Morgyn might be able to help with costumes.”
“And my knitting club gals can pitch in.” Hellie withdrew a phone from the pocket of her skirt and began typing a text.
“The high school drama club would probably help with sets.” Lauryn whipped out her phone and began texting, too.
Grace paced. “This is exciting on so many levels! You guys are from very different generations, and you were able to come together and create something wonderful. Or at least it seems like it will be wonderful. I haven’t had time to read all of it, obviously. I think the community would be excited to see this play, but we still can’t pull it together that quickly. There are things we can do to get started. We can come up with a list of what we need to accomplish, and when I come back in a few weeks, we’ll see where we are.”
“A few weeks?” Nana’s gaze moved between Grace and Reed. “Do not tell me that you’re going to go a few weeks before seeing Reed again. Oh no, missy. That won’t do any more than waiting a few weeks to do the play will.”
“I still need to read the script, Nana. I’m sure it’s good, and I want to give life to your play because you have all worked so hard on it, but some things can’t be rushed. Why don’t we have breakfast and work through a timeline?” Grace suggested. “Once we have a breakdown of who’s doing what for the prep, we’ll have a better idea of how long it will take to reach out to the right people. Productions cost money, so we might need to reach out to local businesses about sponsoring the event, or putting ads in the program, like they do in the schools for fundraising. I think Brindle would be willing to help with that, too. And my mom spent years on the PTA. I bet she’d love to pitch in.”
Reed could practically see the gears turning in Grace’s mind as she mentally ticked off ideas. He loved seeing her so enthusiastic.
“We need music,” Phoenix said. “Do you think there’s any chance Sable would be willing to help out?”
“I’ll call her.” Grace pulled her phone from her pocket, and then, as if a breeze had swept the wind from her sails, she lowered her phone and turned her back toward the others, speaking quietly to Reed. “I just realized we agreed not to work on Sundays, and here I am…working. Sable’s right,” she said just above a whisper. “I don’t know how to draw a line between relaxing and working. I’ll tell them we’ll do it tomorrow.”
He took her face between his hands and said, “Baby, are you having fun thinking about this project? Because you sure seem excited.”
“Well, yes, but we just said we’d take Sundays off, and I’m leaving in two weeks.”
Reed was aware of the others listening to their every word despite Grace’s hushed tone. But it wasn’t just the girls waiting with bated breath. His girl was waiting, too, looking at him like she was ready to walk away from the dance she’d waited a lifetime to attend.
“I don’t want you to think I’m a workaholic.” Her brows wrinkled, and then she added, “But I’m pretty sure Sable’s right. I have some of those traits.”
“Some?” Nana said. “Your mama says you work twenty-four-seven.”
There was a collective, “Shh,” from the others, and Grace’s expression became even more strained.
Reed wanted to kiss that worry away, but since that wasn’t an option at the moment, he said, “When you fall for a passionate woman, you have to know her passion touches all aspects of her life.” He felt the tension around her begin to dissipate. “It’s not work if we’re doing it together, and I’m sure you’ll need someone to help pull together sets.” He felt himself grinning. “I have tools, and some people think I’m pretty talented with my hands.”
“Really? You won’t mind?”
“Absolutely. Let’s do this, Gracie. It’ll be fun to see you in action.”
Cheers rang out, and in the next second, the ladies were hugging one another—and Reed—and making plans as they headed inside the house.
As he led Janie and her pup into the dining room, she said, “Thank you for sharing Grace with us today. I promise we won’t always barge in like this.”
He took in Grace’s smile as she opened her laptop, chatting excitedly about casting and production calendars. This was something else his house—their house—had been missing from the day he’d bought it. He could create beauty, but insurmountable love and friendships could only come from the heart.
Their house was becoming a home.
“You’re welcome anytime, Janie. It’s not barging in when our door is always open.”