Falling Into Grace (15 page)

“Oh, Mrs. Grace, you hired new help?” She looks at me with a foul look, and I hate her even more.

“No, Carla, this is Hannah Redman,” Grant says. “She is my mother’s cardiovascular physician’s assistant.”

“Oh, so she is hired help,” Carla repeats again, crossing her arms over her chest. I make no attempt to greet her. Two can play at this game. I walk over to Mrs. Grace.

“Tori, why don’t we get up and go for a walk?” I hold out my hand, and she takes it. I help ease her out of her chair and lead her past the twit. I don’t even bother to look at her. Mrs. Grace leads us outside. We walk along the huge patio that sits overlooking the beach. Mrs. Grace breaks the silence first.

“I can’t stand that woman. She talks down to everyone. She feels since she came from a wealthy family, she deserves everything. She doesn’t love Grant, you know.” She looks over at me. “She just loves him for his money. She is a leech; she just wants everything his money can buy.”

“Well, maybe he loves her.” Why did I say that? He doesn’t love her; if he did, he wouldn’t have made moves on me. I try to stay positive for Mrs. Grace’s sake.

“Hannah, I’m his mother. I know when my son is happy. When I met you, I thought maybe, just maybe, he would meet you and break up with her. I thought you had something that would make him take a second look and realize she is not for him. He needs a strong woman like you. Someone to stand up to him and give him a run for his money.” She’s still looking at me intensely, but I keep looking ahead.
Oh crap, why did she say that
?

“Tori, I am flattered, I really am, but it would be unethical for that to happen.” I keep looking ahead, because I can’t look her in the eye when I lie to her. What should I tell her, that I’ve been kissing both of her sons, and Grant is not the one I’m interested in, but Aiden is?

“Hannah, between you and me, I don’t care about ethics. I want my sons to be happy, and you are the first girl I have met that I thought maybe, just maybe, this woman would make a great daughter in law.” We stop and take in the view in silence for a few seconds. I just want the breeze to take me away.

“I don’t need to be with one of your sons for that to happen.” I take her hand in mine.

“Let’s head in; it’s getting chilly out here.” She slips her hand onto my arm, and we head back into the house. “Do me a favor and kick her ass in game night.” Mrs. Grace laughs after she says this.

“She doesn’t stand a chance.”

Everyone looks up when we walk into the house laughing. Mrs. Grace gets back into her chair, and Addy has pulled her chair to sit next to her. I see Aiden has left a spot for me next to him on the couch. I sit next to him, soaking up his beautiful body.

“OK, everyone, tonight we are playing Taboo,” Addy tells everyone, then quickly gives us a rundown of the rules. Addy and Mrs. Grace go first. Addy reads the card and shows it to John. Mrs. Grace has to guess.

“OK, you did this once in Aruba and hated it.” Addy looks at her.

“Oh! Scuba diving,” Mrs. Grace yells.

“OK, next, when you drive, you touch your…when you change lanes.” She looks at Mrs. Grace.

“Directional?” Addy shakes her head.

“What’s another name?”

“Signal?” Mrs. Grace yells again, all excited.

“No, another name for it.”

She sits and thinks. “Blinker?”

“Yes. OK, next one.” Addy reads it, and her eyes strain as she thinks.

“All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put—”

Before Addy finishes, Mrs. Grace yells, “Humpty Dumpty.”

“Time!” John yells.

“We got three,” Mrs. Grace says, excited.

“Our turn.” John looks over at Autumn. “I’ll talk first,” he says, then picks up a card, looks at it, and hands it to Aiden. He lets me sneak a peek as well.

“You drive over this on the highway all the time and scream.” She looks at him, confused. “Someone runs over a squirrel, and leaves it, and it’s called…”

“Oh. Roadkill,” she smiles proudly.

“OK, you have this with breakfast every morning.”

“Egg whites?”

“No, uh, it’s round and small.”

They go back and forth for a while, but the timer goes off. He is mad at her because she couldn’t figure out the small and round thing was an
orange
. I start to get nervous; it’s our turn.

“I think you should talk first and let me guess,” Aiden says. I just nod and grab a card. I look at the card and then hand it to Shane.

“If it ain’t…don’t fix it.” I look into his eyes.

“Broke.” He is fast to say it. I grab another card. Shit! I’m going to have to sing this one.

“You’re a mean one, Mr.…” Again I’m lost in his eyes.

“Grinch.” He smiles at me. He is good at this. Two for two. I grab another card.

“When you drink a Slurpee really fast, you get this.”

He cuts me off. “Brain freeze.” We work well together. I grab another card and see we are almost out of time. I look at the card and smile at him.

“What’s your last name?”

He looks at me confused, then says, “Grace.” I smile. Four for four, we are winning, and I see the last bit of sand run through the hourglass.

“You guys got easy ones,” John says in protest.

“You’re just jealous we kicked your butt,” Aiden says to John. He squeezes my knee. It’s Shane and Annie’s turn. I tune everyone out and enjoy my small victory with Aiden. His large hand lingers on my knee, and I don’t push him away. I can feel Grant’s eyes on me, but
I make sure not to look in his direction. Shane’s yelling pulls me out of my thoughts.

“How could you not have gotten that?” Shane shrills.

Annie rolls her eyes and shrugs her shoulders. It’s Grant and Carla’s turn. Carla is talking first. I feel my phone vibrating, and take it out of my back pocket.

It’s Richard’s house. I stand up.

“I’m sorry, I have to take this,” I say, apologizing. Mrs. Grace nods and I walk into the kitchen.

“Hey,” I answer the phone.

“Mommy, I miss you.” It’s Ella and I feel homesick. I miss them so much.

“Hey, lovey, I miss you too. Are you having fun with Nana and Grandpa?”

“Yes, Nana let me put on makeup, and we did our hair.” She sounds like she is pumped with sugar.

“That sounds like so much fun.” I smile. I can just imagine her angelic face.

“OK, Mommy, I’m going to put Hunter on. I love you.” I can hear her kiss the phone. I can feel tears come to my eyes. I miss them so much.

“I love you too, baby.” I don’t think she heard me because I hear Hunter right away.

“Hey, Mommy, I miss you.” My sweet Hunter.

“I miss you more, baby. Are you having fun?”

“Yeah, me and Grandpa just came back from the park. It was fun. When are you coming home?” Oh, the dreaded question. I knew I shouldn’t have left. This makes my heart sink.

“Oh, sweetheart, I will be home on Sunday afternoon. I can’t wait to come home and hug and kiss you.” I try to cheer him up. I hear Richard tell him to say good-bye.

“I love you, Mommy.”

“I love you more, baby. We can have a date in your dreams tonight, OK?”

“Me, you, and Daddy?”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way. I love you, Hunter.” The tears are in my eyes now. I take a deep breath and try to hold them back.

“Bye, Mommy.” He sounds happier. Richard comes on the phone and assures me everything is fine. I let him know everything is going smoothly here as well. I hang up the phone and lean against the counter for a minute, just to get myself together. I hear cheering in the other room, as I head back in.

“Just in time. It’s our turn. John and Autumn are ahead of us by three. We have to beat them,” Aiden informs me. He has this great big grin on his face. He licks his bottom lip and pulls out a card.

“It’s a Madonna song. Like a…” he starts to sing.

“Virgin.” He grabs the next card.

“You probably feel this way being away from Ella and Hunter.” I look at him, a little surprised he remembered my kids’ names.

“Homesick?” I say with a sad face. He smiles and touches my hand.

“Yes.”

“OK, you sit on these. They are outside of the hospital, and people sit on them. I talked to you while you sat on one.”

“Bench.” He grabs the next card; if we can get this, we will beat John and Autumn.

“You are one hot…”

I give him a puzzled look.

“Your kids call you Mommy, or…”

“Oh, mama.” I laugh. Does he think I am a hot mama? I see we still have a little time left. He grabs a card and laughs. He passes it to John, and John laughs. John grabs Aiden’s shoulder.

“You have to act this one out.” Aiden looks at the timer and then at me. I’m not sure what he is doing, but he is getting closer to me. He leans in and kisses my cheek. I feel myself get red, because his whole family is watching his every move.

“Kiss,” I whisper, looking him straight in his blue-oasis eyes.

“Time,” John yells. “I would have gone for the lips,” he teases Aiden. I just roll my eyes and laugh. I would have died if he went for the lips.

I sit and study the family once again. Aiden shifts on the couch so our arms are touching. I half listen to Shane and Annie while thinking about Aiden’s soft kiss. Shane and Annie got two, but we are still the winners.

It’s asshole and bitch face’s turn. Grant picks up the card and half laughs; he hands it to Shane, who laughs even harder. Annie takes the card and smiles. She hands the card to me, and I hold it out to Aiden. It says gold digger. I want to laugh, but I contain myself. Everyone laughs and passes it around. When Mrs. Grace gets it, she comments about how appropriate it is. Grant scowls at her.

“OK, Carla, the first word is a material a ring or necklace would be made of.” He looks at her.

“Platinum?”

“No.”

“White gold.”

“Close, drop the white.”

“Gold?”

“Yes. The second word is…OK, when you plant flowers you need to…a hole.”

Any normal person would get that, but princess can’t grasp the concept.

“Grant, you know I don’t garden. We have people who do that.” She smiles at him and pats his knee. She is so stupid. What the hell does he see in her?

“Sweetheart, think about it,” he says callously; she rolls her eyes at him.

“Gold marigolds?” she says. We all look at her.

“I thought it was a flower. Isn’t there a flower called marigolds?”

“No, the first word is gold. I’m trying to get you to guess the second word.” His impatience is starting to show, and he looks over at the timer as the last few grains of sand pass through. John yells time.
Grant walks into the kitchen as Aiden jumps up and picks me up, throwing me over his shoulder.

“We won.” I feel embarrassed, and as I look back, I notice Mrs. Grace and Addy are smiling in their chairs.

“Put me down. I’m not a toy,” I tell him. He walks into the kitchen, slides me down his body, and sits me on the counter.

“It would be fun if you were my toy,” he whispers in my ear. His breath warms my body. His hands are still on my thighs. I can feel myself turn crimson. I smile at him, but don’t say a thing. I would love to be his toy. Grant is at the fridge, and he is looking right at me. I ignore him. I slide off the countertop, letting my body slide against Aiden’s. He smiles at me, but I walk away. I hear Carla getting loud in the living room.

“What was the word? Why won’t anyone tell me?” She is standing up, looking at Mrs. Grace, who seems to be flat-out ignoring her.

“Tori, you must be tired. Do you want help getting to bed?” I ask as I walk over to her.

“You, you saw the word. What was it?” The bitch is pointing her finger in my face.

“I have a name you can call me by,” I say nicely.

“I’m not interested in getting to know the help. Answer my question.” She takes a step closer to me. Are you fucking kidding me? Who the hell does she think she is? That’s why Grant likes her. They are both arrogant assholes.
Birds of a feather stick together
pops into my head, and I almost laugh. I walk around to ease Mrs. Grace out of her chair. Carla keeps talking and annoying everyone. When I start to help Mrs. Grace up, Carla stands in front of me again.

“I’m talking to you. Don’t ignore me,” she says, waving her finger again.

“The word was
gold digger
, I believe,” I say, and Mrs. Grace starts to laugh. Carla raises her hand at me, but Grant comes in fast and grabs her hand.

“What the hell are you doing?” he firmly asks her. She flinches like he is going to hit her.

“This bitch just called me a gold digger,” she says, starting to cry. Oh, she is good at playing the victim.

“I did not call you a gold digger. I told you the word was gold digger.” I roll my eyes and look at Grant. I’m not sure what he is thinking, but I shouldn’t care. He looks at me, then at Carla.

“We are leaving. Get your things. Hannah, I want to speak with you in the other room.”

“Grant, I’m getting your mother to bed. We can discuss this tomorrow,” I say, looking at him with a dark expression. I’m not intimidated by him in the least. I turn around and put my hands out for Mrs. Grace to take.

“Addy, take Mother to bed.” I have no time to protest, because he is dragging me out of the room by my arm.

I hear Carla yell, “Fire her!” as we walk away. I shake him off as he pulls me inside a door I never noticed before. He turns on the light, and I see it’s an office. A huge sailboat sits on the mantle of the fireplace. By the fireplace are two brown leather chairs. The room is warm. I can imagine the boys as kids in here on a cold winter’s night, all around the fire. I get shaken out of this thought when Grant slams the door behind us. I turn around, ready to battle him, but he grabs me, spinning me around and pushing me against the door. His body is against mine, and his breathing is fast.

“I have never met anyone who has made me feel this way. You are so fucking complicated and stubborn.” He starts to smile. “And sexy and smart. You are a challenge, Hannah.”

We are nose to nose. Shit, I can’t do this. I shake my head.

“Carla looks like a lovely woman,” I say sarcastically. I put my hands on his chest to get space between us, and try to give him the nastiest look I can muster.