Heart of the Hunter (80 page)

“Hey,” I said to them, “who lives in this house?”

The boy who looked like he was the oldest spoke up.

“We all do. There’s eight of us.”

I looked around at them and counted. They were all between the ages of about sixteen and eighteen.

“Are you all enrolled in school?”

“The local high school,” the oldest boy said.

“And you don’t want to be taken in by child services?”

“That would be a disaster,” the boy said. “I mean, foster homes would be one thing, but they don’t have foster homes for boys like us. We’d all go straight into the system. We’d be institutionalized. It would be the first step on a route that would end us all up in prison.”

“I know that route,” I said. “I almost travelled it myself. If it wasn’t for a very good man, I’d be in prison right now.”

The boys nodded.

“So, I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen,” I said. “You remember the lady that came by a while back in the car?”

“We remember her,” one of the boys said.

“It ain’t every day a white lady comes by here,” another said.

“Well,” I said, “this house belongs to her now. But she doesn’t want to kick you out.”

“She doesn’t?”

“She’s got a soft spot for boys on a rough road.”

“Lucky for us,” one of the boys said, and laughed.

The oldest one rose his hands. “Wait a minute. If she ain’t kicking us out, what is she doing?”

“That will be up to her, but I imagine she’ll want what’s best for you.”

“What’s best for us?”

“Yes. So as of now, you’re all good to stay here, as long as you stay enrolled in the high school, and maintain good enough grades to graduate.”

“That ain’t hard,” the oldest boy said.

“Good. I’ll make it your responsibility to make sure everyone’s taking school seriously. If anyone flunks out or gets in trouble, I’ll need to know.”

The boy shrugged.

“What’s your name?” I said to him.

“Arnold.”

“All right, Arnold. My name’s Grant. This is the deal.” I handed him a credit card. It was one of many I had, and the limit wasn’t especially high. I knew he couldn’t cause too much trouble with it if he let me down. “You hold onto this card. As well as making sure everyone’s in school, I want you to call the power company, the heat company, the internet company, the phone company, and even cable if you like.”

“You mean, we can get hooked up?”

“Yes. Hook everything up. If there are any problems, let me know.”

I wrote down my cell number on a piece of paper.

“You got a phone?” I asked.

“Yes, sir.”

I gave him my number.

“Thanks, Grant,” Arnold said.

“Don’t thank me,” I said. “Thank Lacey. She’s the one who’s responsible for all of this.”

“Will we be seeing her?”

“You’ll see her soon enough. And you better be nice to her. She’s a good woman, and if you do right by her, she’ll change your entire life. Her father did it for me, and now I live a life most men could only dream of.”

“Because you stayed in school?”

I smiled. “There’s more to it than that, but don’t worry. I’ll show you when the time comes. For now, stay in school. Later, I promise you I’ll teach you skills that you’ll be able to use to give yourselves good lives.”

“What kinds of skills?”

“It’s too early to tell you, but know this. If you listen to me, and if you listen to Lacey, you boys are going to do all right. I guarantee it. It’s not going to be easy, but we’ll make men out of you. Effective men, who know how to get what they want, and know what to do with it when they get it.”

The boys all nodded, as if they were hearing for the first time what they’d been waiting their entire lives to hear.

“So you’re saying, you’re going to look out for us?”

“Sounds good, don’t it?” I said.

“Too good,” Arnold said.

“Well, it won’t be a free ride, but I promise you this much. Lacey and I won’t ever ask you to do anything that won’t help you to become the men you want to become. So you think about it, and if it sounds good, you stick around in this house.”

They looked at each other. I knew they’d all take the offer. They didn’t have a lot of options.

“So when you said to hook up cable?” Arnold said.

“Everything,” I said. “Sports, movies, whatever you want. Just make sure you all don’t flunk out of school. If anyone’s failing, the rest of you help him out. If anyone flunks out of school, you’ll all pay for it.”

“All right,” Arnold said.

The rest of the boys seemed to be in agreement.

“Arnold, come over here with me,” I said.

He followed me out of the house, to the sidewalk. I wanted to speak to him privately.

“I know this is a lot of responsibility to put on you, but you look like you can handle it.”

He nodded.

“I’ll get a cleaner, a plumber and an electrician to come over and check things out. We’re going to make this a nice home for you guys. I’ll also get some furniture and other stuff organized. In the meantime, you help these boys get their schoolwork together, and keep the house clean. Do you hear me? When Lacey gets here, if this place is a mess, she ain’t going to be happy.”

“I hear you, Grant.”

“And go to the grocery store. Get some groceries. Fill the refrigerator. Healthy stuff. Milk, fruit, cereal, snacks. Use the credit card.”

“Yes, sir,” he said.

“Lacey will be here soon. You have this place looking good for when she arrives.”

Chapter 43

Grant

A
FTER SORTING OUT THE BOYS
at the house, I made a phone call to Jackson. I always knew I could count on him for anything.

“Grant, what is it?”

“Jackson, I need your help with a few things.”

“Anything you want, brother.”

“I’m planning something. An event.”

“What sort of event?”

“You’ll be able to guess. Will you help me with it?”

“Of course.”

“Do you have a pen?”

“What do I need a pen for?”

“To take down a list.”

“There’s a list?”

“Yeah, there’s a list.”

Jackson went to get a pen. “All right, I’m ready.”

“First thing, you know the flower market in San Francisco?”

“The big one by the port?”

“Yes, I need someone to go there and order ten thousand red roses.”

“Ten thousand?”

“Yes. Or more if they have them.”

“For when?”

“For tomorrow.”

“That soon?”

“Yes. Did you write it down?”

“I did, but will they have that many available?”

“I hope so. The second thing I need is also at the flower market. There’s a cake shop there, and they make cakes using rose water.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m not sure, but the cakes are delicious.”

“Okay.”

“So I need the biggest wedding cake they can make. Literally the most beautiful, extravagant cake they can possibly make.”

“A wedding cake?”

“Yes. For tomorrow too.”

“You’re getting married?”

“You can’t tell anyone about this, Jackson. Especially not Faith.”

“Why not?”

“Because I didn’t tell Lacey yet.”

Jackson started laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“Don’t you think this is a little out of the blue?”

“It’s not out of the blue at all. I’ve been waiting half my life to marry Lacey.”

“But she doesn’t know that.”

“She’ll find out in plenty of time.”

“Grant, I’ve got to tell you this as your friend. I mean, I’m all for surprising the woman you love. I think it’s lovely. But you really ought to consider proposing to Lacey before springing a wedding on her. She’s strong willed. You know how she gets when she feels like you’re making decisions for her.”

“I don’t care,” I said. “I’ve got to make that woman mine, and if I don’t do it soon, I’m going to explode. Pretty much everything I do with her ends up going all wrong, so I figure I’m better off just arranging everything the way she likes it and hoping for the best.”

“Hoping for the best?”

“Are you going to help me with this or not?” I asked.

“Sorry. You’re right. This way is more romantic, I guess. A complete shock.”

“Don’t be sarcastic.”

“Just keep going. What else do you need?”

“Okay, so we’ve got the flowers and the cake. The next thing I need are white doves.”

“Doves?”

“Yes, doves. You know the kind? The romantic ones that fly out of a box at a wedding.”

“I’ve seen the movies.”

“So get as many of them as possible.”

“For tomorrow?”

“Yes, for tomorrow. Everything’s for tomorrow. The next thing I need is live music. Like a band or something.”

“Which band?”

“Ask Faith. She’ll know.”

“I thought you didn’t want Faith to know about this?”

“Just ask her in a subtle way. Find out what music Lacey would like. And then book them for tomorrow night.”

“This is a long list, Grant.”

“It’s almost done.”

“So what’s left?”

“Faith has to go pick out a wedding dress for Lacey.”

“Grant. You haven’t thought this through. First of all, there’s no way Faith’s not going to know what’s going on if you ask her to do that. Second of all, women like to pick out their own wedding dress. They agonize over it. It’s a huge decision.”

“Just tell her I need her to do it. I’m going to marry Lacey, and God help me, I’m going to surprise her with this. If she doesn’t like it, she can just refuse to go through with it.”

“Grant, this is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of. I mean, I’ve heard of shotgun weddings, but usually the bride is in on the plans.”

“Well, Lacey’s too mad at me to make any sort of plans with me at the moment.”

“Mad at you?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I interfered in her relationship with Rob.”

“Rob. Holy shit. Grant. I just remembered. Lacey’s engaged to that guy.”

“That’s over.”

“Over? Are you sure?”

“Yes, because I’m the one who ended it.”

“Oh shit, Grant. No wonder she’s mad at you. If she was upset about that, how’s she going to react when she finds out you’ve arranged an entire wedding for her without even consulting her?”

I hung up the phone, and immediately started to panic. What the hell had I just done? Lacey was going to hate this. There was no way she’d go along with it. A wedding? Tomorrow? That she didn’t know about? She was already fuming mad at me, and this was a thousand times worse than what I’d done with Rob.

Chapter 44

Grant

I
WAS AT THE REALTOR’S OFFICE
later that afternoon, finalizing the transaction on the house which I’d forced her to rush, when my phone rang.

“Hello?” I said.

“Grant, this is Faith.”

“Faith, it’s lovely to hear from you, sweetheart.”

“Cut the crap, Grant. What the hell are you doing?”

“I’m surprising Lacey.”

“By throwing her a wedding?”

“I’m going to propose to her first.”

“You are?”

“Yes. Don’t worry. I have a plan.”

“I hope you do.”

“I do.”

“Because if you don’t know what you’re doing, this could be a disaster. Lacey’s a strong-willed woman. She doesn’t like to feel controlled. And I love her more than I love any other woman on earth. So you better not screw this up and hurt her.”

“I won’t screw it up, Faith.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line before Faith finally said, “All right, so Jackson tells me I need to find her a wedding dress, today.”

“Yes. Do you have any ideas?”

“I actually happen to know what wedding dress Lacey wants already.”

“You do? You’ve already talked about it?”

“Of course we’ve talked about it. Lacey’s been wanting a wedding for years, and until very recently, she even thought she was going to have one, with Rob.”

“That’s all off, now.”

“So I hear.”

“So do you think you’ll be able to go pick up the dress?”

“Grant, it’s not that simple. These wedding dresses are in high demand. And they take months to order.”

“Who’s the designer?”

“Her name is Packham, and she’s here in the city.”

“So go to her store and get a dress.”

“No can do. I already called. She said it would be impossible to get a dress on this short a notice.”

“Did you tell her we’d pay extra.”

“She doesn’t care, Grant. She’s world famous. She’s made dresses for Hollywood stars, and the Princess of England.”

“Where’s her store?”

“You’re going to go there?”

“I have to get this dress, Faith. You help Jackson with the flowers.”

I finished the paperwork on the house and then drove straight to the Packham boutique across town. I drove so fast I was lucky I didn’t get pulled over.

I double parked outside the boutique, which was on a trendy little street overlooking the bay, and knocked on the door. An elegant woman with a British accent buzzed me in.

“This is a matter of life and death,” I said.

“Excuse me, sir?”

“I don’t know how I can put this without making myself sound crazy,” I said, “but I really need your help.”

The lady looked me over. I must have looked crazy already bursting in, covered in tattoos, stubble, and a leather biker jacket.

“You’re lucky you’re my type,” she said, her eyes sparkling, her voice sounding regally British. “What is it you want from me?”

“When I was a kid, a man saved my life. He took me into his home, brought me up, taught me a trade.”

“That was very nice of him,” the lady said.

“Yes, and he died a few years ago.”

“How sad.”

“I grew up with his daughter. We’ve been breaking each other’s balls for seventeen years. We fight about everything. Right now we’re fighting over something.”

“Sounds awful.”

“It’s not. It’s the exact opposite. She’s sublime. And I can’t risk losing her.”

“So tell her how you feel.”

“I’m going to. Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes, and then I’m going to propose.”

“Delightful.”

“And then I’m going to give her the absolute wedding of her dreams.”