Falling for Gracie

“I’ll walk you out,” Alexis said and followed her to the front door.

“Well?” she asked when they were alone. “Are you going to find out what’s going on with Zeke and Pam Whitefield?”

“Yes. Riley and I are going to follow her tonight and see what happens.”

“Don’t lose her like you lost Zeke,” Alexis said.

“Thanks for the tip. I wouldn’t have thought of it on my own.”

She left the house and walked to her car. She felt uncomfortable, as if she had a bad taste in her mouth. The house where she’d lived for so long looked exactly as she remembered, but everything else was different, and those changes made her sad.

RILEY PULLED into Gracie’s driveway and found her waiting just outside the front door. The storm had moved on, leaving the sky clear, which would be both a help and a hindrance to their evening plans. It was already twilight, but there were plenty of stars and a good-sized moon to provide light.

Gracie waved when she saw him and walked toward the car. He watched her, noting something was different. Something he couldn’t figure out.

Not her clothes. She’d dressed casually, in dark pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt. Her blond hair had been fastened back in one of those fancy braids women seemed to love. She even had her damn camera with her.

“What’s up?” he asked when she opened the door and slid onto the passenger seat.

“Hi,” she said with a smile that seemed more forced than genuine.

He left the car in park. “I was asking a question, not offering an urban greeting.”

“What? Oh. You mean what’s up with me?” She shrugged. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

Fine had been the bright, cheerful, glowing woman who had delivered the cake to his office earlier that day. This was not fine.

“Are you sure?” he probed, then could have kicked himself. Did he really want to know what could be up in Gracie’s life?

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She let the smile fade. “Can you be okay with that?”

“Absolutely.”

He backed out of her driveway.

“We’ll swing by Pam’s house and see if she’s there. If she is, we’ll wait and see if she goes out.” He glanced at her. “Sound like a plan?”

“It’s great. When I saw Alexis, she reminded me not to lose Pam this time. Good advice, huh?”

There was something in her voice. Something sharp, but also broken. He gripped the steering wheel and told himself to think about sports.

Fifteen minutes later, he slowed as they turned onto Pam’s street. Her house was on the far corner-a modest single-story structure with a big garden and bay windows.

“She’s here,” he said, pointing to the lights on in the house and the car-a white Lexus GS300-in the driveway.

“Do you know why she’s here?” Gracie asked, speaking for the first time since they’d left her house.

“She lives here.”

“No, I mean why is she in Los Lobos? I would have thought she would head out for the big city.”

“I have no idea.” Nor did he care. Pam was firmly in his past and he was happy to keep her there. She’d lied her way into their marriage and as soon as he’d learned the truth, he’d been gone.

“It’s just I don’t know why they even asked me to be at the meeting,” Gracie said as she stared out the side window toward the house. “Obviously my opinions weren’t welcome. I don’t get it. I just don’t get it. Mom can’t be making that much at the hardware store. I’m sure she owns the house outright, but still.

“Vivian’s acting as if money is no object. A sit-down dinner at the country club? That’s insane.”

Riley didn’t want to ask. He held in the question as long as he could, but it finally escaped. “What are we talking about?”

Gracie sighed. “Nothing. My sister. My younger sister. She’s getting married in a few weeks. That’s why I’m back here. They said they wanted my help. But they don’t. Oh, Vivian wants a wedding cake, though. A big, heavily decorated one. Sure, I’m happy to give her that, but it’s as if she has no idea what she’s asking. We’re talking hundreds of hours. Plus, there’s the whole wedding party. I’m okay with it, but I don’t know why she lied. All she had to do was tell me the truth. So she wants Alexis in the wedding and not me. What do I care?”

Her pain was a tangible creature in the car. Riley wished he was wearing a tie so he could loosen it. Instead he touched her arm.

“It’s okay,” he said, feeling like a complete idiot as he spoke the words. How the hell did he know if it was okay or not?

She turned to him and he saw a hint of tears in her eye. In the glow from the streetlight, she seemed more frail, somehow.

“I’m telling myself I’ll be fine, but so far I know I’m lying. I’m not even a part of this family anymore. She and Alexis are close. That’s okay. I have to accept it. It’s just…” She swallowed hard, then drew in a deep breath and released it. “None of this is my fault. If I’m not a part of things, it’s because my mother sent me away. I never wanted to go.”

He felt both uncomfortable and awkward. Gracie being upset made him want to fix things, which was unfamiliar. But all these feelings-he didn’t like them at all.

“Go where?” he asked.

“After that summer.” She looked at him. “When you found out Pam wasn’t pregnant, you took off. But you weren’t the only one leaving town. I was sent away, too.”

“Right. I remember. To some relatives. Iowa, was it?”

The corners of her mouth turned up in an almost smile. For a second he wanted to move in and kiss one of those corners, which was insane. He leaned back against the door.

“My grandmother’s. I was sent away so I wouldn’t ruin your wedding. But after that, I didn’t come home.” She looked out the front window. “My mother said I had some issues, probably because my dad died when I turned twelve and that’s an impressionable age and you moved in next door and I fixated on you. She said I couldn’t stay in Los Lobos, even after you were gone. That people wouldn’t let me forget what had happened and I deserved a fresh start and maybe some help. So she sent me to live with my aunt and uncle in Torrance.”

She pressed her lips together and blinked several times. “I didn’t want to go. I felt like I was being permanently punished. I know what I did to you was wrong and twisted. I saw somebody, a counselor, for a while. She really helped me put things in perspective. But even after that, my mom said I couldn’t come home. So then I decided to stop wanting to. And now they’ve asked me to come back, and I thought it was because they missed me, but it’s just to do work on the wedding and it’s like losing my family all over again.”

It took him a second to realize she was crying. The tears fell silently down her cheeks. Riley felt a combination of compassion and anger. He knew all about being forced to do something he didn’t want to do. The only reason he’d married Pam fourteen years ago was because his mother had guilted him into it. But he knew that even if he’d refused, she wouldn’t have turned her back on him. At least not for long.

“I’m sorry,” he said, feeling stupid for the useless words.

She nodded, as if she couldn’t speak right then.

Riley reached out a hand toward her, then let it fall on the console. He swore silently, cursed himself for getting into this position in the first place, then leaned forward and pulled Gracie against him.

She resisted at first, then she sagged against him. He’d always thought of her as larger than life, but as he held her he realized she was kind of on the small side.

Her body felt warm against his. Her hands clutched at his shirt and her forehead pressed against his shoulder. He could smell the sweet scent of her body, along with a hint of maybe vanilla from her baking.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered as she trembled. “I’m actually more together than this.”

“I believe you.”

And he did. She’d grown her business from nothing, which meant plenty of hard work and talent on her part.

He rubbed her back and felt the smooth length of her hair brushing against his hand. She shifted and wrapped her arms around his waist. Then she was looking at him with tears in her eyes and her mouth was swollen and the