Mended Hearts (New Beginnings Series) (17 page)

When she pulled her hands away, Gracie yelled, “Surprise!”

“Gracie!” he cried and scooped her into his arms for a bear hug. “What’re you doing? Are you moving back to town?”

“No. Just visiting. I’ve imposed on your wife for hours. I should get going.”

“Can’t you stay?” Steve asked. “It’s so great to see you.” The last time he and Gabby had seen her she was being loaded into an ambulance, and even her two good friends couldn’t recognize her through the blood and swelling on her face.

“You have work to do, I hear. Congratulations on the show, Steve. That’s great.” She squeezed his hand. “I really should get out of your hair.” She turned toward Gabby and hugged her. “I’m so glad I saw you walking up the sidewalk. I wouldn’t have stopped
otherwise, and this has been so much fun—catching up.”

Gracie didn’t get away for another
hour and a half. Steve had talked her into coming up to his studio to check out some of the pieces he was working on for his exhibit. There were a couple of watercolor beachscapes that made Gracie think of Sonny.

After she left, she drove over to the recording studio
where she had worked and went inside to see if any of her old friends were still around. The music industry—at a local level—was a bit mercurial, and musicians came and went. Her old office manager, Pam, was still there—but had been promoted to business manager. She and Gracie chatted for a while, but Pam was on her way home for the day and Gracie didn’t want to keep her. She didn’t recognize anyone else, though. The studio was still owned by the same guy, but he was out of town, and Gracie hadn’t been very close to him anyway. The two sound engineers working hadn’t been there back when Gracie was, so she’d never met them. All in all, she didn’t spend too much time there before heading out.

She
turned her rental car toward the airport, planning to find a restaurant for dinner nearby, then to just wait around the airport until it was time to board her flight. Gracie found an Olive Garden and went in for a leisurely dinner, feeling peaceful and good about her trip to San Francisco. She was glad she had come and felt a lot stronger than she had as she lay awake the night before.

Her flight left
almost
on time at nine thirty and she dozed through most of the hour and half flight. Since she hadn’t taken any luggage, she was able to breeze out of the airport to her car and head on home. She’d be home by midnight.

CHAPTER 12

Sonny was fit to be tied. If he didn’t have a gimpy leg, he’d have paced a hole in the floor. Where was she? What was going on?

After his PT session that morning, he’d driven over to base and gotten to work. The rest of the team had come in—after taking the long weekend off—for their debriefings and to get all the paperwork started. It was great to be a part of the team again. They’d all gone over to the McDonald’s on base for lunch together, and back to work at their headquarters after that. Sonny didn’t even mind the boring paperwork.

Around three o’clock, though, his pleasant day had gone to hell. His cell phone had r
ung and it was Mathias . . . looking for Gracie . . .
worried
about Gracie. Had Sonny talked to her? Seen her? Was she okay, or was she curled up in a ball somewhere crying her eyes out? Mathias—
and
his parents—hadn’t been able to reach her all day, and panic was setting in.

What
was going on? Sonny tried to get Mathias calmed down enough to explain why they would be so panicked. Maybe she was just busy this morning, out running errands. And she had to work at the daycare this afternoon, didn’t she? Sonny hadn’t talked to her, but had planned to talk to her this evening. He was sure she’d be checking in to see how his first day back at work had gone.

But, no . . . Gracie wasn’t at work at the daycare center. She’d taken a personal day. And she wasn’t answering her cell phone . . . which wasn’t like her at all. Now Sonny’s panic was setting in
too. He called Colby, but Colby hadn’t talked to her either. They didn’t have band practice on Monday nights, so he didn’t expect to see her. Neither Maggie or Savannah had heard from her. It was a long shot, but he even had Trace call to see if Meg had heard from her. They had, after all, been two peas in a pod when they were worried about Sonny the week before.

Sonny was in a state, trying to remember if something had happened the day before that might have upset her. She was fine when he dropped her off at home after their date. He’d walked her to her door, kissed her goodnight, and she was . . . yes . . . she was smiling when she shut the door. The kiss was good—kind of steamy—but he hadn’t crossed any lines or taken advantage of her. Had he? No . . . she seemed fine when he left.

He finally called Mathias back, told him that he couldn’t find anyone in San Diego who had spoken to her. What was going on? That’s when Mathias told Sonny the significance of the date. It was the second anniversary of her baby’s memorial service. A memorial service she hadn’t been able to attend, because that animal had hurt her so badly she’d still been in the hospital. His good knee buckled and he dropped into his desk chair, Trace and Charley hovering over him as they watched all the color drain from his face. Why hadn’t she told him?

After Sonny hung up, Trace harassed him until he told them what was going on. Trace and Charley looked shocked when they heard about Gracie’s history and the way she had lost her baby just two short years before.
Trace felt sick, but couldn’t think of what to do to help Sonny find her. When they left the office, Sonny’s friends insisted they would meet him at his place and figure something out. Trace called Meg on the way over and explained what was going on. She agreed to pick up dinner and bring it over for all of them.

“See, Trace? I knew there was something! My, gosh . . . what kind of monster would do something like that
to a sweet girl like Gracie?”

“Calm down, baby. We just need to be calm and help him figure out what to do,” Trace soothed her.

Trace and Charley were sitting in the parking lot for a good thirty minutes by the time Sonny pulled in.

“Where have you been? You left before we did,” Charley stalked over to Sonny’s truck.

He slid out wearily. “I went by her place and had the landlord go in to look around. I was afraid . . .” he choked off the words. He didn’t even want to think it. The three of them went on into his building and up to his apartment.

Trace was appalled. “No way. She wouldn’t hurt herself, would she?”

“I don’t think so. Everything looked fine. Nothing out of place or anything.” Sonny huffed out a breath. “He wouldn’t let me in to snoop around, though—privacy laws or something. Maybe we could find a clue if we could get in there.”

“Oh, we can get in,” Charley drawled. “We’ve gotten in and out of more secure places without anyone eve
n knowing we were there. Under the noses of much more dangerous people.”

Sonny tried to smile. “I thought the exact same thing.
Let’s give her a little more time. I don’t want her catching us there if all she’s been doing is taking a spa day or something.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I just can’t figure out why she’s not answering her phone. That’s not like her.”

Meg had walked in while Sonny was talking. She set
several brown bags full of deli sandwiches and coleslaw on the table and joined the guys on the sectional. Sonny and Trace filled her in and they all put their heads together, trying to figure out what to do. Meg finally got them all to eat something and they waited, Sonny calling Gracie’s phone periodically to leave yet another frantic message.

Finally around ten o’clock, Mathias called back. He’d gotten a friend of his, who worked in law enforcement, to pull some strings and found a plane reservation in Gracie’s name to San Francisco this morning and one back
to San Diego late this evening. It left them all scratching their heads, but at least they knew she’d made the morning flight, and could only assume she would the evening flight too.

Bleary-eyed from worry, Sonny dragged his hands down his face and sighed. “I’m going over there. If her plane takes off on time, she should be back at her place around midnight.”

The others offered to go along, but he sent them on home, thanking them for their support. He was so angry, he didn’t know what he’d say to her when he saw her. He also didn’t know what he’d do first—grab her up and hug her, or yell at her. Probably both at the same time.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Gracie was tired, but it was a good, peaceful tired. She came down the hall toward her apartment and jumped when a shadowy figure stepped away from the corner at the end of the hall. It was Sonny. She started to smile at him, but then she got a good look at his face. It was Sonny, but then again, it wasn’t. He looked scary . . . angry scary.

“Where the hell have you been?” He barked at her.

Her back went up. “What is wrong with you?”

“You’ve had people . . . people who love you . . . from coast to coast trying to get hold of you
—all day. Now . . . where the hell have you
been
?” His voice rose dangerously at the end.

He moved closer to her and she panicked, flinching back from him.
As if she thought he might hit her.

“Oh, my God . . .” he breathed. “Gracie . . . I’m not going to
hurt
you. I’m just frustrated. And I’m scared to death. This may have been the longest day of my life.”

Gracie gulped and fumbled to unlock the door, leaving it open behind her so he could follow her in. “I . . . went to San Francisco. I had something I needed to do there.”

“What?”

“I went to the baby’s gravesite,” she said in a small voice.

“Jeez . . . Gracie . . .” he choked out. “Why wouldn’t you tell me what was going on with you today?” He dropped down on her sofa.

She carefully sat down beside him, keeping as much distance as she could between them. “I don’t really know.”

“We were together all day yesterday. You think you can’t talk to me . . . that I don’t understand. But you have to know I’d try to. Right?”

Gracie realized he was hurt. “I’m sorry. I’ve had people carry my load for me for the past two years. I’m finally feeling strong enough to carry it myself. I
have
to carry it myself.”

Sonny stared into her eyes, his amber eyes darker and bleaker than she’d ever seen them. “It’s not about me trying to carry your load for you, Gracie. It’s about me caring about you enough that
I just want to be there for you. It’s about you caring enough about me that you want me to be.”

“But, you see, Luca . . . it’s not. I
do
care about you—Mom and Dad and Matty too.” Tears started falling, which made Sonny feel like he
had
hit her. “I just can’t be weak any more. I can’t.”

“Angel, please . . . don’t do that. Don’t cry.” He moved closer and gathered he
r in his arms. “I’m sorry. I was just so scared. But letting me be there for you doesn’t make you weak.”

“I’m sorry. I thought I’d be back before you knew I was gone, and then I could tell you all about my trip. About how much better I feel about things now.”

Sonny drew back and looked into her stormy brown eyes. “Do you really? Feel better, I mean?”

“I do. It was hard at first, but I feel a peace about Jolie now.”

“Jolie.” Sonny gave her a gentle smile. “That’s her name?”

“Yes.
Jolie Laurent Chilton. Jolie is French for pretty. We used Laurent because we hadn’t picked out a middle name yet.”

“I think it’s a perfect middle name. That’s the one you should have picked from the beginning.”

Gracie brushed at the tears on her face and smiled. “You really think so?”

“Oh
, yeah. Come here, angel, and tell me all about your visit,” he said as he pulled her against him to rest her head against his chest.

So she did. They talked it all out and then she called Mathias and her parents, to apologize for going off the grid. She explained that she’d turned off her phone when she boarded the plane that morning and never thought to turn it on again, preoccupied as she’d been all day.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Friday night Gr
acie was feeling sassy—in a sexy new black, white and gray tank dress, the short skirt made up of several layers of ruffles, and stiletto-heeled black boots—singing Kellie Pickler’s
Red High Heels
. It was a good crowd, she thought, as she noticed a large group just walking in the door. As they came closer, she realized it was Meg, Jenna, Kelli and some of the other SEAL wives . . . only this time, they had their men in tow. Tobi, Scott, Declan—with a couple of their other friends from the SDDI—along with Sonny and Charley had already been there awhile. Gracie had spent a little time with them before the first set started. Val and Javier must have found a babysitter, because they showed up soon after.

Sugar Creek had a few more songs to go before the set ended, and she put Sonny’s friends out of her mind. She was a little embarrassed to see Meg and Trace after what she’d put them through on Monday. Charley, though, had
made her feel comfortable. He was just fun to be around and didn’t make her feel uneasy at all. It was easy for her to let herself get lost in the performance, focusing on the messages in the music and letting the satisfaction wash through her as she watched the packed dance floor. If people were enjoying the music and dancing, she knew they must be doing something right.