Falling Into Grace (21 page)

“But what’s the point of thinking about that now? I still have you for a few more hours.” He brings his hands to my face and kisses me. I instantly pull away from him.

“Go get dressed.” He helps me down, and he walks away. I follow him to the other side of the house. His room is vast. He has a California king-sized bed that is positioned in the middle of the room so you can watch the sun rise and set from bed. I walk over to the window and gaze at Vineyard Sound from his view. It is beautiful from both of the houses. I see a sailboat and think about his father. Once Grant is dressed, he walks up behind me and wraps his arms around me. I can smell his cologne and his scent mixed together. He tugs me out of the room. We walk back through the house hand in hand. He leads me back into the garage, this time toward a Mercedes. He opens my door and kisses me, then he holds my hand the whole way to the hospital.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

W
hen we pull up to the hospital, Grant kisses my hand and gets out, so I get out too. When he makes his way to my side, he sees I didn’t wait for him and makes a face at me.

“What?” I look at him, smiling. He walks over to me while looking around, then kisses me. I roll my eyes at him when he releases me. I’m starting to get used to his sweet kisses, and for a second I think I might even miss them.

When we step into the elevator, he turns to me.

“What are you doing Friday night?”

“My best friend is flying in from California. I’m spending the weekend with her.” He looks disappointed, but I choose to stay quiet. We head into his mother’s room, where the doctor is talking to her.

“Mr. and Mrs. Grace, good timing. I was just getting ready to release your mother.” I can feel Mrs. Grace’s eyes on me.

“Thank you,” Grant says, shaking his hand, and the doctor leaves.

“Mrs. Grace?” Mrs. Grace says with a smile on her face. “It suits you,” she teases.

“Well, call me Hannah; Mrs. Grace is my mother-in-law,” I say back to her. We both begin to laugh. Grant doesn’t say anything, and I notice Aiden in the corner of the room.

“Are you all signed out now?” Aiden asks, sounding annoyed. “Can we leave?” She nods at him. I wonder when Grant called them last
night. A nurse comes in with a wheelchair, and we get Mrs. Grace settled.

When we get out front, I realize I have to get out the slip for the SUV. When I look in my bag, Grant’s underwear is still in there. I laugh out loud and Grant walks over.

“I still have your underwear,” I whisper, and he starts to laugh.

“I’ll get them when we get back to the house.” I get the slip and hand it to the valet attendant, who is back in under a minute.

Mrs. Grace and Grant are already in the car waiting for me. When the SUV pulls around, I hop in and begin to follow them home. I look in the rearview mirror and see Aiden is behind me. I follow along, until Grant speeds up to miss a red light. I slam on my brakes so I don’t run the red light. Aiden slams on his and almost slams into me.
Shit
, I think,
I have no idea where I am going, and Grant is out of sight
. The light turns green and I go; Aiden changes lanes and speeds up. I slow down for him to get in front of me. I see up ahead that Grant has pulled over, and we pass him. I wave, and so does he. I look at Grant’s driveway as I drive past it. I push the feelings that start to stir inside of me.
I can’t do this
, I tell myself. I have to leave it all here.

We all line the driveway, one car after another. I get out to help Mrs. Grace, but Addy and Aiden are all over her. I start to walk in behind them, but remember I have to return Grant’s underwear. I head back to his car, open the door fast, and shove them under his seat. I quickly close the door and catch up to everyone else. I think Grant sees me, but if he did, he doesn’t say anything.

We are all in the foyer when Addy tells us she has brunch ready. It’s then I realize how hungry I am. We all make our way to the table. Grant takes my chair out and I sit down. Aiden sits on the other side of me.
Fuck
echoes in my head, but I busy myself with filling up my plate. I feel like I haven’t eaten in days, so I dig in. Grant nudges my arm and I ignore it. Under the table Aiden’s hand begins to wander on my leg and then it rests there. If I make any sudden movements, I feel like it will be obvious, so I ignore him too.

We get halfway through brunch when Grant’s hand slips on to my other leg
. Shit, shit, shit
, I think. I remain still, hoping neither one of them moves his hand and feels the other’s hand under the table. I begin to choke on my quiche and stand up. They both jump up, trying to give me a glass of water, and Grant asks me if I am choking. I grab the glass of water and feel better. I sit back down, but have lost my appetite. This is harder than I thought it was going to be. I can’t handle two men, especially brothers. What did I get myself into? I look at my watch and realize I will be leaving in two hours. I excuse myself from the table, using the lame excuse of needing to finish packing. Mrs. Grace nods her approval, and I head upstairs.

In my room I throw myself on the bed. It hasn’t been made yet, and I can still smell Grant on the sheets. I lie there for a few minutes, soaking in his smell. I make the bed and put my suitcase on it. I have everything packed already, so I just reorganize it and add a few items I had left in the bathroom. I zip it up and sit next to it. When I look over at the door, Grant is in the doorway. I don’t know how long he has been there, and I don’t want to ask. I have to make a clean break from them. I don’t need to go home with feelings for them, and I don’t need to see them again. I am done with the Grace family the second I leave this house—well, the second I get off their plane. I have to get through this. Grant walks in and closes the door behind him. He takes my suitcase off the bed and sits next to me. I bring my knees to my chest as if they will protect me from him.

“I have to leave. I thought I would say good-bye.” He bumps his shoulder into mine.

“I…” My voice trails off. I don’t know what to say to him. I ease myself off the bed and stand in front of him, placing my hands on his knees. I push them open and he pulls me into him. I stand there in his arms, thinking,
I thought this would be easier
.

“It was fun while it lasted,” I muster up.

“It can last longer if you want it to,” he replies. If only I was ready for this, he would be the perfect man for me. But I’m not ready.
I have kids and a home and a job. He lives, breathes, and is consumed by his company.
He doesn’t have time for me
, I tell myself. I pull away.

“Maybe another time or place.” I smile, and he kisses me softly. It’s the kind of kiss that takes my breath away and sends my heart plunging. I feel my insides dancing with excitement. When we part, he puts his forehead against mine.

“I look forward to another time and place.” He breathes these words into my soul.

“Let’s leave it to fate, l don’t believe in that stuff, but with you, I know anything is possible.” he whispers.

“To fate,” I say and we kiss on it. He grabs my bag. I follow him down the stairs. We stop at the bottom, and he gives me a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. I watch him walk out the door and feel a little plunge in my heart. I try to breathe it out. One down, one to go. I hope saying good-bye to Aiden won’t be like this. In the living room, I see Mrs. Grace and Aiden playing chess. I sit across from them and watch. They are into their game, because neither looks at me. I never got into chess, but they look intense.

“Checkmate,” Mrs. Grace grins. Aiden leans back in his chair and smiles at her. They notice me after having a moment together.

“Hannah, just the person I was thinking about. Could you help me in for my nap?” Aiden stands and answers his phone. I help her up, and we walk into her room. She points to her private patio, and I help her out the large French doors. We settle into seats and enjoy the view and the salty breeze. We sit in silence, just listening to the waves crashing. Mrs. Grace is the first to break the silence.

“John told me he saw you driving Grant’s car yesterday.” She is looking at me, amused.

“How did that happen?”

“I was impressed with the car, and I think he was impressed that I knew about the car, so he asked if I wanted to drive it, and I jumped at the chance.”

“You have made quite an impact on him in the short amount of time you have been with us.” What the hell do I say to that?

“He has never had anyone else in that car before, so I was kind of surprised he was willing to take you. I knew you would be great for him. Just give it time and you will see it as well, Hannah.” I lean back in my chair and close my eyes for a bit.

“Tori, Grant is wonderful, and I see it, I do. It’s just I don’t want that right now. I need to find myself first. I’ll leave it to fate.” Mrs. Grace smiles at me.

“Fate has brought you together. If I hadn’t had my heart attack in New York, we would have never met you, and you would have never met Grant. This is fate telling you to be with him.” I laugh and roll my eyes at her. She is so pushy sometimes.

“Well, fate will have to work her magic again.”

“What are you doing this weekend?” she asks.

“My best friend is flying in from California, and we are spending the whole weekend with the kids.” I see she is frustrated with me.

“Tori, it has been a pleasure to work for you, and getting to know you, and your wonderful family. You have made me feel part of this family.” I reach out for her hand.

“I feel like you are the daughter I never had. I want you to be part of this family. Please promise me you will stay in contact and that maybe you will come back and visit with the kids. There is so much to do here, I bet they would love it. I would like to hear kids running around again. Please think about it.” I smile and nod, but I know it probably won’t happen. I don’t want my kids to come here and fall in love with them like I did and not see them ever again. I can handle it, but I don’t think they could. I break out of my thoughts when I hear Aiden walk in.

“It’s time to go, Hannah.”

I get up, and Mrs. Grace does as well. We hug and she whispers in my ear, “Don’t wait too long. You can take fate into your own hands, Hannah.”

I feel tears leaving my eyes for the second time today. I pull away and see the tears in hers as well. I hug her one last time, then leave her in her room and walk out. When I reach the living room, I see
everyone has come over.
Maybe for a Sunday dinner
, I think. Shane and Annie walk over to me.

“We wanted to come and say good-bye to you before you left,” Annie says, giving me a hug. Shane hugs me after her.

“Thank you,” he says. “I mean it from the bottom of my heart. You have brought a part of my mom back that we haven’t seen in so long.”

“It wasn’t me,” I laugh at him. “It was her heart attack that was the wake-up call.”

“No, Hannah, it was you,” John says, walking over to me.

“She has never liked a single woman who came near her, or us, for that matter. You walked into the room and something changed. She came back to us that day.” Autumn steps over next.

“It was you, because she has never reached out to Annie or me, and yesterday she called us to go out to lunch next week,” Autumn says with a smile. She hugs me.

“Thank you.”

I shake my head at all of them. They are all crazy. Shane wraps his arms around Annie.

“And the best part of the whole weekend was that Grant finally got rid of that bitch Carla.” Everyone cheers, and I look down, hiding my smile, because I might have had something to do with that.

“You ready?” Aiden asks, and I am so distracted in thought about Grant that he puts his hand on my shoulder to shake me out of it.

“Yes, sorry. I’m ready when you are,” I say shyly back to him. I watch Aiden hug his family good-bye. They start talking about their upcoming plans for Friday. I hear Annie say my name.

“Are you coming Friday?” she asks me. I have no idea what they are doing, but I shake my head no.

“Why? You have to come,” she pleads.

“I am sorry. I have plans with my friend who is flying in from California.”

“Well, bring her. I’ll make the arrangements,” she says, brushing me off.

“Really, I would love to do whatever you guys are doing, but we have plans. I already promised her.” I feel bad because she looks disappointed.

“I will put you down with a plus one. It is the biggest night of the year for the Grace family. Think about it. I’ll e-mail you all the info and have the invite overnighted to your house,” she says to me with a genuine smile.

“Thank you, Annie. That’s very nice of you.” I still have no idea what they are talking about because everything in this house is so cryptic. I could ask, but I don’t. The less I know, the better.

Aiden starts to guide me away from the group, and we are outside climbing into his Range Rover before I know it. As we head out the gates, we are stopped by a man who flashes a badge. Aiden rolls down his window.

“Aiden, I hate to disturb you on a Sunday, but we were exercising a new dog, and he went crazy when we got to the woods down the block. I was wondering if it was OK if we let him search. I bet it’s nothing more than a group of kids who were smoking pot and left some behind.” He looks hopefully at Aiden.

“Sure, Harry, I’ll let the groundskeeper know. Let me know if you find anything good.”

“Thank you.” He tips his hat and Aiden rolls up the window and speeds away.

When we get into town Aiden’s hand finds its way onto my leg. He rubs down to my knee, and I cave in and smile.

“I missed you last night.” His voice is coarse and sexy as hell. I take his hand in mine and try to hold it, but he doesn’t let me. His hand makes its way in between my legs. My reaction is to spread them apart and let him explore.

“I can’t wait to fuck you on the plane,” he says, not looking over at me.

“Are you a member of the mile-high club, Mr. Grace?” I tease him.

“Yes, and in about forty-five minutes, you will be screaming my name as you become a member too.” He is raw and to the point.