Grace

“It looks perfect on you.”

Elisa lets out a gasp of awe as I walk out of the cubicle in the dressing room, a few rooms away from the function hall where my wedding is set to take place.

And as I stand in front of the mirror and gaze at my reflection, I have to agree.

The tiered white gown which hangs off my shoulders may not be made of chiffon or organza, and it may not have beads, pearls or crystals, but it’s well-made and it fits my curves like a glove.

I have to admit it’s one of my masterpieces.

I turn to Elisa. “Thank you. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.”

She shakes her head. “You did most of the work. I just pricked my fingers like always.”

She holds up her two bandaged fingers.

I grin. “I guess some things never change.”

Elisa smiles, then suddenly wraps her arms around me.

“Oh.”

“I really am happy for you,” she says. “You’re marrying the man of your dreams and more importantly, the man you love, the man who completes you and brings out the best in you, the one who makes your heart ache and flutter at the same time.”

She pulls away and wipes a tear.

“I’m sure there’s no better kind of happy in the world.”

I fall silent.

The man who completes me and brings out the best in me…

“Grace?” Elisa sniffles. “I’m sorry. Did I say too much? Weddings make me sappy.”

I shake my head. “No. You said just what I needed to hear.”

She gives me a confused look.

“Sorry, but can you leave me alone for a moment?” I ask her.

“Of course.” She squeezes my hand. “These are your last moments as a single woman. Your life is about to change. Take it in. Take it all in.”

I nod. “Thanks.”

“I’ll wait in the hall.”

She leaves the room and I look back at my reflection.

I see a bride in a wedding dress, yes. But do I see a happy woman? Do I see a woman in love?

I sit down as I go over Elisa’s words, which blend in with the other jumbled thoughts in my head.

I know I said yes to Michael. I know I’ve been telling myself I’m going to marry him and be happy with him. I’ve been trying to forget Travis.

But it’s no use.

Each time I’m with Michael, my thoughts wander. My ears just won’t listen to him, even though I was never bored with his scientific explanations and his compliments before. My eyes keep looking away. My hand just doesn’t seem to fit in his. And each time he kisses me, my lips just won’t kiss him back. Nor does my body respond in any other way. My heart won’t even flutter like Elisa said it’s supposed to.

I remember Michael, but it’s as if I don’t know him anymore.

Should I marry a man I don’t know, much less love?

I glance at the diamond ring on my finger.

I know I loved him before with all my heart and all my soul. I would have given him the world and made him mine.

But looking back, maybe I loved him because I needed to be in love, needed something to live for in such a dreary place. I needed someone because I had no one.

And I loved Michael because he was the first guy who was kind to me, who paid attention to me, who made me feel like I was worth something, that I was even special.

I loved Michael because he saved me.

I run my fingers over the pendant of my necklace and grip it as I close my eyes.

Travis saved me, too, in a more literal way. He saved my life and brought me to Hope Creek. But I didn’t love him because of that or because I was supposed to love him because he was my husband.

I fell in love with him because of who he was in spite of not knowing who I was.

Michael helped me survive. Travis taught me to live again.

I open my eyes and they stare back at me from the mirror, no longer lost or uncertain.

I know who I must choose.

I stand up and look around, searching for something to write on. I see a pen and the torn half of a piece of paper in a drawer and I write.

Michael,

Thank you for being my light in my darkest days, my anchor in stormy seas. You will always have a special spot in my heart, but I’m afraid that someone else owns it now. I’m sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you, but I must go to where my heart is, to where true joy and love wait for me—the same things I wish for you.

Grace

I fold the piece of paper so I can put it on the table, but it slips from my fingers as the door opens suddenly.

Who—?

“Hello, Grace.”

I turn around and see Belinda closing the door behind her.

“So, we meet again.”

My eyes grow wide. “B—Belinda?”

“So it’s true. You remember everything now.”

I step back as a foreboding creeps up my spine. “What do you want, Belinda?”

“Nothing new, actually. Just the same as before.” She pulls a gun from her purse and points it at me. “To get rid of you.”

My face grows pale as I stare at the gun. My breath catches.

I look into her eyes and see the scorching hatred there, the disgust that stabs me like a knife.

Michael told me his mother wasn’t coming to the wedding, that he had told her not to.

I should have known she would still come. I should have remembered that a predator is always more dangerous when cornered.

I should have known she wouldn’t stand for this wedding, that she still hated me.

Yes, some things never change.

“Put the gun down, Belinda,” I whisper.

She steps forward. “How dare you tell me what to do? No one tells me what to do.”

I put my hands up. “Don’t do this. I promise that if you put the gun down, I’ll leave Michael alone.”

“And you think I believe you? Well, I don’t need you to leave Michael alone anyway. I’ll be erasing his memories so he won’t even remember you.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “You’d do that to your own son?”

“I’d rather my son lose some memories than lose him.”

My jaw clenches, but I take a deep breath.

“If Michael won’t remember me anyway, why kill me?”

Belinda shrugs. “I just want to make sure he never falls in love with you again.”

I nod. Poor Belinda. She’s that scared of me.

“And because I always finish things I start. You escaped me the first time. You won’t be so lucky this time.”

Just then, the door behind Belinda opens.

She steps aside just as Michael comes in.

My eyes grow wide. “Michael?”

“What do you mean she escaped the first time, Mom?” Michael asks her.

She looks at him but keeps her gun pointed at me. “What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Because I was supposed to drink that drug you prepared for me? Because I was supposed to lose consciousness and then wake up without my memories of Grace?”

Belinda’s jaw drops in shock. “How—?”

Michael holds up a small, triangle-shaped device between his fingers.

“You’ve been very naughty, Mom.”

Belinda’s eyebrows bunch up in anger. “You were spying on me, your own mother?”

“You were going to have my memories wiped out,” Michael points out. “Your own son.”

Belinda moves closer to me. “You. You did this. You turned my son against me.”

“You did that on your own when you talked me into agreeing to that procedure and ordered your men to throw me away,” I tell her.

She puts her finger to the trigger. “How dare—”

Michael stands in front of me.

Belinda lowers the gun for a moment, then raises it again. “Fine. I’ll just shoot you and then her. You already hate me anyway. You might as well be dead.”

My eyebrows go up. Unbelievable. Is Belinda out of her mind?

She looks like it. Her arms are shaking and her eyes are restless. A bead of sweat trickles down her face.

“And you think Dad will let you get away with that?” Michael asks her.

“Your father doesn’t care.”

“He does. About me, and about the law,” Michael tells her.

“There’s no law.”

“There are a few laws, one of which is that you must never harm a woman with child.”

My heart stops. A woman with child? Is he… talking about me?

Belinda lowers her gun. “What do you mean?”

“Grace is pregnant,” Michael announces.

I glance at my belly. I am? No wonder I noticed that my hips and my waist were a little larger when I was taking my measurements for the dress. I thought it was just all the good, fresh food I had at Hope Creek.

No.

Now that Michael’s said it, it all makes sense—the dizziness, the nausea, the fatigue, the belching.

I place a hand over my belly as joy floods my chest.

I’m pregnant.

But wait. Michael and I haven’t had sex, which means…

Just then, Travis jumps into the room and knocks Belinda to the floor. The gun falls from her hand and he picks it up.

My heart stops. Travis? Here?

Belinda’s eyes grow even wider than before. “Travis? I thought you were…”

“Dead? I might as well have been.”

She shakes her head. “You’re alive.”

“And you haven’t changed,” Travis says as he tosses the gun away. “You’re still selfish and you still think you’re better than everyone else. Well, you’re definitely not better than the woman I love.”

My heart skips a beat at the words.

Belinda looks puzzled. “Woman you love?”

Travis glances at me and I smile.

Belinda glances at me as well. “I don’t understand.”

“When you threw Grace out of the city, Travis found her,” Michael informs her. “Some trick of fate, isn’t it?”

Belinda looks at Travis. “You…”

“You’re the one who threw Grace out?” Travis steps forward and shakes his head. “I’m ashamed of you, Mom.”

Belinda pales. I suddenly feel sorry for her.

“You’ve lost, Mom,” Michael tells her as he steps forward. “So just give up. We’ll never let you hurt Grace again.”

For a moment, she doesn’t move. Then she drops to the floor and starts sobbing.

Michael steps out of the room and calls the guards. Travis runs to me and throws his arms around me.

“Are you alright?” he asks.

I nod and smile at him. I want to tell him I’m more than alright, that I’m pregnant with his child, our child. I want to tell him I’m glad he came back. I want to tell him I love him and that I’m choosing him.

But I don’t get to say any of those things because a wave of dizziness comes over me again. My stomach turns, and the last thing I remember is throwing up before I pass out.