Falling Into Grace
| Falling Into Grace | |
| Ellie Meade | |
| Ellie Meade (2014) | |
| Tags: | Romance |
Hannah Winterfield was blessed with a storybook marriage, until it was suddenly destroyed in one fateful, unalterable day. Can she ever be open to love again? Find out in Falling Into Grace, author Ellie Meade’s captivating and heart-pumping romance that charts one woman’s journey from the throes of heartbreak to the throes of newfound passion in a love triangle. With heartfelt romance and a sexy edge, this searing story of loss and love is certain to enthrall anyone who champions the unending possibility for new love. As the story unfolds, Hannah has just been dealt an unimaginable blow when her beloved husband is suddenly killed. A devoted physician’s assistant and mother of small children, Hannah has no choice but to rely on her strength to keep the family in tact in the aftermath of the tragedy. However, when a difficult patient by the name of Victoria Grace lands in the hospital, Hannah finds herself quickly entangled in new emotions for two of Mrs. Grace’s sons, Aiden and Grant. With dramatic flair, believable characters, and full-on romantic fire, Falling Into Grace spins a story that goes straight to the heart, while also offering plenty of unbridled passion on every page. Find out just what Hannah is driven to do when she falls truly, madly, deeply into grace.
FALLING INTO GRACE
Ellie Meade
Copyright © 2013 Ellie Meade
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 0615826989
ISBN 13: 9780615826981
eBook ISBN: 978-1-63003-243-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013910124
Ellie Meade, Islip Terrace, NY
PROLOGUE
I
t has been eight months since the event that changed my life forever. I try not to think of it, but in the darkness of the night, it creeps over me. I watch as the alarm clock shifts to 2:38 a.m. It should be no surprise to me; I have not slept since he has been gone. I am a robot. My body goes through the motions of each day, but my heart and soul are still in the deepest shades of black. When will I snap out of this? In that instant I go back to the moment I lost him. I stand in the shadows watching, as I’m told my future is no more.
CHAPTER ONE
October 2012
T
he morning starts like all the rest. I roll over to realize that we are once again going to be running late. I kick the blankets off my satiated, exhausted body and for a brief second look over at Chase’s side of the bed. What we did last night was so good, I wish I could be doing it again right now, but I have to get the kids ready for school. I walk into Ella’s room first, and she is starting to stir.
“Good morning, sunshine,” I sing as I open her blinds.
“Stop, Mommy, I want to sleep,” she says as she pulls the blankets over her head. She is grumpy already, but this does not shock me. My beautiful baby girl is like fire, and she is only five years old.
“Well, lovey, you have to get up if you don’t want to be late to school,” I say.
“Fine,” she says in a snarl.
I roll my eyes as I exit the door and walk to Hunter’s room. He is the most beautiful boy when he sleeps and unlike his sister, he wakes up happy and smiling. I open his door and he shoots up.
“Good morning, Mommy,” he says as he leaps out of bed to greet me with a huge hug and warm kisses on my cheek. He makes my heart melt every morning.
“Get dressed quickly, or we are going to be late again.”
Not worrying about him following my directions, I go back into Ella’s room to make sure she hasn’t gone back to dreamland. Much
to my surprise, she is getting dressed in the outfit we picked out last night. I have discovered we are better off negotiating the outfits the night before so we aren’t screaming at each other in the morning.
Good
, I think to myself,
this morning is going to be an easy one
.
I head downstairs into the kitchen to start breakfast. It’s not a great breakfast, I think as I pour Rice Krispies into their favorite bowls, the ones with straws coming out the side. Before I can finish, they are coming down the stairs completely dressed. My beautiful babies; I was blessed with twins, one boy, one girl, or as Chase would put it, two birds, one stone. I go to the fridge and take out strawberries; this will have to do. I slice them thin and put a few in each bowl, making sure they each have the same amount. Lately breakfast has been an eating contest; I rush them to eat faster so we won’t be late. As they are taking their last bites, I grab their bowls and put them in the sink.
“OK, time to brush your teeth.” I’m on their heels as we head into the downstairs bathroom. We all quickly brush our teeth and wash our faces.
“All ready for school?” I ask.
“If we have to,” Ella whines as she rolls her eyes. She is a mini me in every way, and she is going to be the death of me in the latter years. I can just feel it now.
“Get your shoes on and let’s get in the truck. Move it!” I shoo them out the door and go back into the house. They forgot their backpacks, so I grab them and sprint to the truck. I check them in their booster seats, then hop into the truck. I start the engine and roll down the driveway. It’s a fast ride to school, and they lean over to kiss me before they jump out the door.
“I love you,” I yell after them. Ella rolls her eyes, giving me the look of
you’re embarrassing me, Mom
, but Hunter, my sweet Hunter, yells back, “I love you too, hot mama.” I laugh. Chase rubs off on him in every way.
I thank God I’m off today. I need a day of rest after working all weekend at the hospital. Unfortunately my day off will be spent cleaning. Chase is an amazing husband and father, but cleaning is not
his thing. The moment I walk into the house, I check the dishwasher to see if it has even been emptied since I turned it on Saturday morning. Much to my surprise, it has been emptied and reloaded.
Good
, I think to myself, he is capable of doing things, but I know his game all too well. He likes to pretend he can’t do anything so I have to do everything. He has been like this forever, but every now and again he surprises me.
It doesn’t take much to please me. I enjoy all the small things. When Chase washes the dishes after dinner, it’s like foreplay to me. I like to watch him stand and clean each pot with those rugged hands of his. Oh, those hands. I snap out of it, laughing at myself; he can distract me without even being here. I walk over to the counter and turn on my iPod, and then I turn my new Bose speakers on and connect them. Bluetooth and wireless connection is the best invention ever! I need music to clean, so I turn the volume up and flip on my favorite cleaning mix.
I push through the kitchen in no time, and move on to the adjoining family room. I fold all the blankets and start to launch the toys, that are all over the floor, into the toy box. It is a little game I play: How many in a row can I get in before missing one? I throw a remote-control car, and it hits the wall, leaving a big dent. Shit! I run my hand over the dent to see how deep it is. Then I hear the sound I should have run from, the sound that would change my life forever.
CHAPTER TWO
I
walk over toward the door, peeking out the window to see who the hell would be knocking at my door at such an early hour. It’s the police. I think back to my conversation with my neighbor just days before about a break-in a few blocks over.
“How the hell can this happen? We live in a good neighborhood,” I had said to her. The woman was not home, thank heavens, but they stole all her jewelry and a few other novel items. I open the door to be greeted by a calm and handsome man.
“Mrs. Winterfield?” he says, to my dismay.
How the hell does he know my name? Why the hell does he know my name?
Suddenly I see Chase’s best friend Kevin’s car pull into the driveway like a bat out of hell. I don’t think he even stopped the car when he put it into park, as he jumps out of the car like a rocket. My heart suddenly drops.
No, no, no
. What is going on? I step back into the house.
“Come in,” I say in a whisper, taking another step back.
“There has been an altercation involving your husband, Mrs. Winterfield,” he says gently as if he is talking to a child. I fall to my knees, because I can feel the void in my heart already.
I go numb. The room is suddenly spinning around me. I have never had this feeling before. I feel like my arms and legs have fallen asleep. I stare blankly at the floor and begin to count the floorboards.
What the fuck is happening?
I guess Kevin is reading my face because he begins
to tell me what happened. I can’t do this now, I have to get away from this. I get up and walk away. I begin to run through the house, out the back door, and onto the patio. Kevin follows right behind me.
He grabs my arm and yells, “Stop.” He grabs too hard, and I feel pain shoot down to my wrist and back up again.
“Chase was inspecting a new building this morning that we bought.” He looks down and I can see his tears.
“Is he dead?” I don’t recognize my own voice, and a part of me already knows the answer. He nods. My heart sinks, leaving my insides throbbing. I can’t breathe, and I feel my wounded heart sink deeper. It’s the kind of sadness that immerses your stomach and leaves it all to ache. I’m broken. I plummet down again; it feels like a free fall off the top of the Empire State Building, then it landed right on me, crushing me beneath it’s weight. Kevin gets down to my eye level and continues.
“We were told it had been cleared and condemned yesterday.” He stops and I vaguely remember them on the phone last night talking. Chase—all business, with one hand in his pocket and the other holding his cell. He is sexy as hell, with long legs and broad shoulders. Then I shudder. He
was
sexy as hell. It starts to hit me that he is no longer here. I can no longer touch him and get a returning touch. I start to shake, and my breathing seizes.
Kevin starts again, choking on his words. “He was doing a fast sweep. You know how he is.”
Yes
, I think. He likes to touch and see things before he knocks them down. It hits me again like a wrecking ball: he
liked
to.
“He went in while we were talking. I heard yelling in the background and then the phone went dead. I tried calling back, but he didn’t answer, which isn’t like him. I was only a few minutes away. I wish I would have called the police sooner.” He stops and I look up. He is crying.
The detective steps in, and we both jump. I have completely forgotten he was here.
“Ma’am, your husband was attacked by a man named Wesley Fisher.”
I know that name. Why do I know that name?
“He is wanted for the murder of two police officers from two nights ago.” That’s why I know the name; it has been all over the news. I remember seeing his mug shot in one of my patients’ rooms. The thought of this makes me shake once more. Feeling nauseated, I pull my knees to my chest for some kind of protection. I can’t hear any more. I can’t do this. I want to yell “Stop!” I want my life back. I want to keep cleaning my house happily and peacefully.
“He was hiding out in the building, and your husband—uh, Mr. Winterfield—must have spooked him.” He looks down at his feet.
Kevin looks up at me. “I was too late. It’s all my fault. I woke up late and was running behind. I should have been there.”
I jump a little and devastation deepens inside me, twisting my insides, making me want to vomit. “When I got there, I ran straight to the third floor where he said he was before the phone went dead.” He shakes his head at the word.
Dead
. The feeling inside me is horrific; I can feel the bile rise in the back of my throat, burning everything in its path. My insides feel like they are being shredded apart even more.