From This Moment (35 page)

This is the start of their story which will conclude in New Beginning, a full length novel due out September 2013.

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When We Meet

~~ Grace ~~

Lying in this hospital bed with one hell of a headache makes me want to scream.  How could I have been so stupid as to believe my brother, Tom.  Everything out of his mouth for the past twelve months has probably been a lie.  He’d told me he’d met a woman and that was his explanation for his regular trips out of town, and now he’s dead – shot while trying to kidnap Rona.

Wiping the tears from my cheeks, I try to control my emotions.
   No matter what he’s done, I can’t help being upset at his death.  He was my brother first.

My head has started to throb again.
  Nick, a so called friend of Tom’s had pushed me down while I was trying to run out of the house.  I’d fallen and banged my head on the fire place; waking in the hospital.

My life couldn’t have got any worse.
  I’m a twenty-five year old relief school teacher at the elementary school close to my home.  I’m temporarily out of work, I have no boyfriend and now I have no family.  Reaching for a tissue from the table to the side of my bed, I wipe my eyes again and blow my nose just as the door opens.

Oh my, I really think I’ve hit my head a lot hard than anyone thinks.
  Walking into my room is a god!  He’s tall, with broad shoulders, blonde hair, blue eyes and a smile which puts erotic thoughts into my head.

“Grace Landon?” the god asks.

Coughing to try and hide my embarrassment, I croak, “Yes.”

Hell, his smile should be illegal
.  “I’m Josh Mitchell from the Drug Enforcement Agency.  Is it okay for us to have a chat?”

Stay forever
.

“Yes, that’s fine.
  I’m not exactly going anywhere.”

He takes a seat to the side of the bed and just looks at me.
  Not saying anything he continues to watch me, making me want to squirm.

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Pulling himself together he sits up in his chair and tak
es out a small notebook.  “Grace, I need to ask you about the attack.”

Reaching for my cup of water, I take a sip before making eye contact with him.
  “What do you want to know?”

“I want to know what Nick Lucas was looking for.”

“He kept asking me about a notebook of Tom’s.  I have no idea where it is or what it contains.  I just know he seemed desperate to find it.  I had no idea what Tom was up to until Daniel told me last night.  How could I be so blind?”  I wipe my eyes again.  I’m finding it difficult to accept that my brother is no longer here and that he died a criminal.  It breaks my heart really.

“Grace, I believe you.
  We need to try and find what it is Nick was looking for; that is providing he didn’t find it after he attacked you.”

“He didn’t really attack me.”
  Josh frowns.  “I went to run out of the house, he tried to stop me by grabbing my arm.  He didn’t have a proper hold, I lost my balance and fell, hitting my head on the fireplace.  Then I woke up here.”

“When Nick first arrived did he mention any names, places, anything that might help us to locate him?”

“No.  He didn’t talk to me, just demanded to know where the notebook was.  I had no idea what he was talking about.”  I feel completely drained now, after talking briefly about the frightening experience in my home.

“I can see you’re tired Grace, so one last question for now, okay?”
  I look at him, “Did Tom ever mention where he was going when he left town?”

Sighing, “No.
  He just said he’d met someone and was going spending time with her.  I asked him on a couple of occasions where he was going, but he avoided the question.  I gave up eventually.”

Josh stands and walk’s closer to the bed, “So soft,” he states, wrapping a lock of my hair around his finger.
  God, how can I be all hot and bothered when I’m in the hospital with a hell of a concussion.

Hearing someone at the door, he coughs and stands back, seeming reluctant to let go of my hair.
  I look up and collide with his eyes.  I can’t look away.

“Grace?”
  Finding it so difficult to look away, I finally move my eyes to see Anna standing in the doorway.

“Anna!
  Come in.  This is Josh Mitchell.  He’s with the DEA.”  Anna walks further into the the">
room and shakes hands with him.

“We’ve already met.
  Hi Josh.”  Anna looks as hot and bothered as I feel.  He obviously has an effect on women.  I need to stay well clear.

Anna turns back to me, “Grace, how are you doing?” she asks, as Josh starts moving towards the door.

“I’ll leave you both to it.  Take care Grace.”  He opens the door, then he turns back and gives me one hell of a look.  Making me tingle.

Closing the door as he exits, Anna looks back at me, no doubt noticing the blush I can’t hide.
  “Grace Landon, what on earth have you done to that guy?  He couldn’t take his eyes from you.”

“I could use a fan over here.
  Wow!”  I laugh to try and hide my embarrassment.  Never in my twenty-five years has anyone looked at me the way Josh just did.  I’m still hot and bothered.

“
You didn’t answer my question Grace.  How are you doing?”

“I’m feeling a lot better, thanks.
  My headache is dim now compared to when I woke up in here.  I guess I just feel overwhelmed with everything I have to deal with as soon as I get out of here.”

“Please try not to worry.
  You have friends Grace, who want to help you.”  I frown, as I’m not known for letting someone else do things for me.   “On this occasion you have to ask for help and don’t tell me you can handle it on your own.  You’ve been through a lot and even though Tom was up to no good in the end, he was still your brother.  I’m here to help and I’m not budging until you ask me to do something for you.  Beth has asked me to tell you that she’s free to help as well.  Both of us have a spare room so you can stay with one of us if you can’t face going home.”  Running out of steam, Anna takes the seat Josh vacated.

I start to laugh.
  There is nothing else for it.  Listening to ‘bossy’ Anna and watching her facial expressions has really cheered me up and started to pull me out of the slump I was falling into.  First with sexy Josh Mitchell and now with Anna.

Wiping my tears away for an entirely different reason as before, I look at Anna, who’s trying her best not to laugh with me.
  “Okay Anna, you win.  What do you want to do to help?  I have a list, so take your pick.”

“Well now that you’ve agreed, I suppose I need to admit to you that Beth, Justin and Mack are at your house cleaning up the mess.”
  I open my mouth to speak; Anna holds her hand up to stop me.  “Your house will be in walk-in condition when you get out of the hospital, if you do want to go back there.  There is something I can’t do for you, budo to stt will be there with you, and that’s to arrange Tom’s funeral.”  I just nod my head when Anna finishes speaking.  I feel really choked up that they would do all that for me.

“Thank you – for everything.”

“Don’t worry.  The nurse said you may be released tomorrow, in which case I’ll come and pick you up.  I can take you home, if that’s where you decide to go and take you to the funeral home to get that out of the way.  One less thing for you to worry about.”

“Alright
.”  I just agree, because I know from
experience that there is no used arguing with Anna when she has a bee in her bonnet.

“I’ll go, and let you sleep.”

“Wait a minute.  Will you tell me how Rona is?”  I ask, feeling responsible.

“She’s a bit sore on her hip and thigh, which she banged up when she fell into the coffee table.
  She was also hit in the face which has left some bruising.  She’ll be okay.  My dad is looking after her.  In fact she’ll probably be lucky to go to the bathroom on her own with how my dad is hovering,” she laughs, but sees the look on my face.  “Grace.  Do not blame yourself.  Your brother was responsible for his own actions and nobody blames you.  Do you hear me?”

I smile at her, “Yes, mom!”

Laughing she collects her purse from the chair, “I’ll see you tomorrow Grace and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do with that hot DEA agent.”  With that, she walks out the door, leaving me with images that are not going to help me sleep and will probably have me blushing like crazy if I see Josh Mitchell again.

~~ Josh ~~

Not really having a lead to go on in the search for Nick Lucas, I park up in the centre of town trying to think like him.
  He was after Rona for her money; he needed it to leave town, so at a guess, I’d say he’s still in the area and will probably try again.  Seeing how protective Cade is with Rona, I doubt he’ll get a second chance to get to her.  I hope not.  God, Rona.  She’s stunning.  My tongue was nearly hanging out of my mouth when I first saw her a couple of days ago.  It was only a look from Daniel that helped me get it together again.  What an idiot.

Then walking into the hospital yesterday morning to interview Grace – my heart stopped.
  What is it about this place and hot women?  Grace looked so fragile lying in the bed with her dark hair flowing in waves over her chest.  What the hell got into me when I’d finished questioning her I’ll never know.  It was as though someone else had taken over my body and before I knew what I was doing, I was standing beside her bed witdo to

Glancing out of the window I notice Rona with Elise and Justin taking seats in the grill across the road.
  Wanting to see Rona again and to see how she’s doing, I climb out of the car and walk across the street; entering the grill – I hover.  Watching the server deliver their food, I start to walk over.