Chapter Three
Grace looked around the bedroom one last time. She was adult enough to admit that trashing a bedroom was juvenile, but she still didn’t feel guilty. This was the room she’d shared with Tad, the one she’s spent months decorating, scouring stores for just the right bedding and lamps and decorations.
Now it was just the room of a man who’d betrayed her. That seems to be a pattern for you, girl. As much as she hated that inner voice, it had a point. Grace had loved two men in her life, and both of them had betrayed her.
Her phone rang, and she snatched it from her back pocket. “Hey, Mama,” she answered.
“Are you still planning on leaving today?”
“I am. We’re just about to get in the car. We should be there by dark.”
“Well, be careful, honey.”
“I will, Mama.”
“Okay… Gracie, honey, are you sure this is the right thing to do?”
“He cheated on me, mama. With my best friend.”
“And you can’t get past that?”
“Would you want me to? Would daddy?”
“No, your daddy would tell you the same thing I did, sugar. Pack your stuff and come home. Oh, did I tell you that Beau moved back to town?”
“No, you didn’t mention that.”
“Yes. The family moved the entire company to Legacy. John Luke quit or retired from the FBI—not sure which, and he’s now living at the ranch, running it. Logan James got married—again. I think this is number four or five, but anyway, he moved up to Colorado where his uncle on his daddy’s side lives. Beau is pretty much in charge of the family fortune and from what I hear, he’s one sharp businessman, but also a fair one. You can’t find anyone who works for Legacy and is unhappy.”
“Well, I know his mama and daddy are proud of him.”
“His daddy divorced his mama. Beau was telling me about that last night at dinner.”
“Dinner? You had dinner with Beau? Why?”
“Well, because he asked and because unlike you, I forgave him a long time ago. He’s a nice man, Grace. And good Lord, is he a looker! Whew! If I was thirty years younger, I tell you what.”
“Mama!”
“What? Just ‘cause there’s snow on the roof doesn’t mean there’s not still fire in the furnace.”
Grace couldn’t help but laugh. Ida Storm Summerfield was not a woman to hold back. If she had something to say, she said it. She was what she was. There wasn’t a fake bone in her body.
It dawned on Grace that once upon a time, she was that way. Why had she allowed herself to change and become so shallow?
“Well, isn’t Beau married?” she asked to change the subject.
“No. He said he just never fell in love again after the two of you split up. Grace, I tell you, my Spidey senses were tingling like crazy when he talked about old times. I asked him if he wanted a second chance with you and he said he didn’t expect he’d ever get the opportunity for that so there wasn’t much point in wasting time talking or wishing for something you can’t have.”
Grace sat down on the bed, stunned by what she’d heard. Beau Legacy still carried a torch for her? How was that possible? He was the one who had screwed things up when he cheated on her.
“Well, I guess that’s flattering, and goodness knows my ego could use some stroking right about now, but that’s water under the bridge. I have to go, mama so we can get on the road. See you tonight. I love you.”
“Call me along the way.”
“I will. ‘Bye.”
Grace took one more look around and left the bedroom. “Y’all ready to hit the road?” She shouted as she walked downstairs.
“I ready, Mama.” Five-year-old Theo appeared at the foot of the stairs. He wore his Batman backpack and had his Transformers lunchbox in one hand. His pillow with the Avengers pillowcase was crammed under his arm, and he had his iPad in the other hand. Paws, the family Maine Coon cat, stood beside him.
“Well, let’s get you in the car, punkin.” She smiled and kissed the top of his head. “Where’s your sister?”
“She say she not going.” Theo pushed his glasses up his nose. “She be so mean.”
Grace bit back irritation. She was trying very hard to be understanding. Sherri was eight and had a dozen best friends she didn’t want to leave. She also was “daddy’s girl” and was not taking the impending split well at all.
“Okay, into the car.” Grace herded Theo and Paws outside and got them situated into the SUV. “Now do not move,” she said and headed back into the house. “Sherri! Sherri? Where are you?”
She found her daughter sitting in the breakfast nook, staring out at the backyard.
“Does grandma have a pool?” Sherri asked.
“No, honey, but there’s a lake real close by.”
“Ugh. There are icky things in lakes.”
“Not necessarily bad things. I swam there the whole time I was growing up, and nothing ever hurt me. You don’t know. You might like it.”
“I won’t ever like it.” Sherri stood and faced her mother. “I don’t wanna go, Mama. I wanna stay here with Daddy. Please, just let me stay.”
Grace knelt down in front of Sherri. “I’m sorry baby, but you can’t. You know Daddy is at work most of the time. He wouldn’t be here to take care of you, and you’re too little to be by yourself. Besides, I’d miss you so much I wouldn’t be able to do anything but cry if you weren’t with me.”
“I don’t want you to cry, Mama.” Sherri threw her arms around Grace’s neck and started sobbing. “Why do we have to move, mommy? Do you not love Daddy no more?”
“It’s not that, sweetie. It’s just…” Grace didn’t know how to explain. She didn’t want to toss Tad under the bus and make him into a villain to his children, but neither did she want to lie and make him out to be some great caring dad, because that was a lie as well.
He cared, but his love was superficial. He loved his kids to be cute and smart, talented and quiet. He liked to show them off like he did his car or his boat and then put them away. Spending time with them was, to him, family dinner on Sunday or the occasional movie he’d watch with them.
She marveled at how much the kids adored him and wondered if it was because he was so out of reach. Getting to spend time with their dad was rare, and so it meant more.
“Mommy and daddy just need to time apart, sweetie. And besides, Grandma needs us to come stay with her for a while. You know she’s been so lonely since my daddy died. We can keep her company and make her smile again.”
“I want Gran to smile.” Sherri pulled back and wiped at one eye. “I don’t want her to be sad.”
“Then let’s go make her happy, okay?” Grace smiled and hugged Sherri.
“Okay, Mommy.”
That hurdle overcome, they gathered up the things Sherri was taking in the car with her, called Brick, the family dog and headed outside. Five minutes later, Grace pulled Tad’s Lincoln Navigator out of the driveway, laden down with every item of clothing she and the kids owned, a Maine Coon cat that weighed forty-five pounds and a Rottweiler who tipped the scales at over one hundred pounds.
She looked in the rearview mirror as she drove away. It was the end of a big chapter in her life. She wondered what came next.