Silence filled the house. Gracie tore off a foot of aluminum foil and wrapped the untouched plate of food she'd left out for Rich, setting it in the fridge. She couldn't force him to eat.

She wasn't his mother. If he wanted to skip dinner, more power to him.

She left the kitchen, peeking into the living room. Rich wasn't upstairs or downstairs. Maybe he'd left the house.

After Wayne and Chuck gave Rich the instructions on how to earn enough money to leave St. John's yesterday, she'd stayed in her room, only coming out to fix a quick dinner of chicken strips and fries. At the time, the guest bedroom door remained shut. Now it was open.

As much as she wanted to say she didn't care if he left after he exited her bed to drink secretly—after stealing from Vavoom's—she cared.

She walked down the hallway to the door leading to the garage and found the locks undone. He hadn't left.

Opening the door, she searched the garage and for a few seconds thought the room was empty and planned to go call Wayne. Then, she found Rich sitting in her car.

The doors closed.

The windows up.

His head rested on the headrest.

His eyes closed.

Her next breath escaped her, and she concentrated on listening over her rapid heartbeat to tell if the car engine ran or not. He'd shut himself off from the world.

She inhaled swiftly in relief at the silence in the garage and stepped down onto the concrete and approached the passenger side of the car. Lifting the door handle, she slid into the seat and closed herself in with Rich.

If he was aware of her company, he never moved a muscle or spoke. She understood solitude, but she hoped her recovery time after the abduction wasn't as ungrateful. He needed to see and accept all the help Notus gave him since his return.

While she had a hard time understanding the biker's treatment toward him—and she couldn't since she hadn't grown up with Rich, she believed the club wanted the best for him.

"I put your dinner in the fridge. If you get hungry later, you can microwave it." She looked at him when she got no response.

He probably wanted a drink.

She looked out the windshield of the car at the garage wall. Getting drunk and forgetting she had sex with Rich sounded good to her.

It wasn't the right time to be around him. She wouldn't enable him when it was obvious he had a problem. Owning a bar, she'd had plenty of opportunities to witness alcoholics. Men who came every day and had to be cut off and sent home. It wasn't her place to judge them, and they paid for a service.

Rich had no money. No way to leave St. John's. Reuniting with Notus aside, Rich needed to gain control over his drinking to move forward with his life if nothing else.

"Do you need some Tylenol?" She looked around the car, wondering if Rich realized she had a full tank of gas and in her little car, it would get him far away from St. John's if he decided to steal her vehicle. "I could go to the store and buy you some 7-up if you're feeling sick to your stomach."

"Stop doing shit for me." He kept his eyes closed. "I don't want or need anything from you."

She glared. Over being shocked by his behavior, she pushed past being hurt to anger. "That's an asshole comment after you had sex with me. Notus is doing all this because they love you and care if you live or die."

She opened the door feeling better about bringing the fact that they had sex out in the open instead of never speaking about it again and stepped out of the vehicle.

"Gracie?"

She ducked her head into the car and looked at him. "What?"

"I know they care." His intense gaze, more painfilled than angry, wounded her. "I've never doubted that."

Misplaced hope filled her over his admission. She swallowed, quietly closed the door, and left the garage. He hadn't mentioned anything about having sex with her and yet he acknowledged his connection to the Notus members.

If she hadn't gotten to know Wayne, Chuck, Thad, Glen over the last four years, she'd be jealous. But, Rich had made a step in the right direction.

In her room, she took out her phone and texted Wayne.

––––––––

Then, she texted her sister.

Her phone beeped two seconds later.

Many people had addictions. She plopped down on the bed. Drugs, eating, gambling, relationships, and even exercise. There was a fine line between healthy and unhealthy.

Her phone beeped. Gracie rolled over to her stomach and propped herself on her elbows. Another text arrived.

She laughed silently. Wayne's texts were always short and ninety percent of the time, she had no idea what he'd typed. His dyslexia made her decipher the simplest words.

She tossed the phone beside her and propped her chin on her crossed arms. Every town had an Alcoholic Anonymous meeting. Maybe the best way to help Rich was to let him talk or listen to what others with drinking problems have gone through.

As soon as the idea came to her, she pushed it away. He didn't even want to be here or talk to the other Notus members. She assumed he wouldn't be willing to talk to a third party.

Another idea hit her. She grabbed her phone and pushed off the bed, calling Wayne. He answered on the second ring.

"Yeah?"

She stepped around the bed, far away from the door. "Rich needs everyone around him."

"We are around him."

"No, I mean, he needs to see everyone acting normal, not just here to interrogate him. You're giving him space and all he's doing is using that time to gather and strengthen his will to keep his distance from you. Don't give him time to think about leaving. Tomorrow's Sunday, I'll host a party here." She paced the room. "No drinking, but it'll be fun. It'll be fun despite him not wanting to join the fun."

"You're not making sense."

"Just tell everyone to come to my house tomorrow afternoon, that way you'll be home early enough it won't be hard to get up for work on Monday." The more she talked, the more excited she became. "Tell Clara, I'll call her in the morning. We'll have Vavoom's provide all the food, and I'll call the other women. Oh, and I want Mr. and Mrs. B here."

"Jesus," mumbled Wayne. "This is a mistake."

"Please, do this for me." She inhaled deeply, never having used her status as his wife's sister to get her way with Wayne before. She refused to feel guilty. Someone needed to keep Rich from leaving. "I'll handle everything and make sure Rich doesn't say anything rude or to hurt Thad's parents. This will be good for everyone."

"Gracie..."

"Okay, talk to you tomorrow. Bye." She disconnected the call before Wayne could tell her there was no way in hell he was going to have Notus come over for an afternoon party to play nice with Rich.

That wasn't the purpose of having everyone around Rich. She wanted to show him what he could have if he stayed in St. John's. She knew from experience that when you couldn't see past the pain, humiliation, and depression, love won.