Saving Grace (19 page)

He was kicking himself again.  He was not about to be the guy that soiled her reputation or asked her to go against her religious beliefs only for her to wake up one morning – feeling too guilty to move forward in their relationship.

“I’m sorry.  Does that change things for you?  I mean…”

He cut her off with a kiss, and then pulled back, saying, “It’s okay, sweetheart.  I’m glad you told me.  I guess this means we need to take things slow.”

“But you only have one bedroom and you’ve asked me to stay.  How is that going to work?”

“We’ll make it work.” He wanted this woman more than any other he’d ever met, but he wasn’t about to touch her without the circumstances being right. 

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?  Having values … for being amazing?  Just because you drive me out of my ever-loving mind thinking about you – isn’t a bad thing.  I love that you feel you can be so honest with me.  I love that you shared this with me.  I love …” It hit him. 
He loved her.
  “… you.”

Grace’s eyes snapped up to meet his.  He was serious.  “You what?”

He was kicking himself for the third time that evening.  “It’s too early …  I’m sorry.” 

“No, it’s fine.”

“It’s fine.  Great.  I tell her that I love her and her response is that it’s fine!” 

Grace laughed as he started talking toward the ceiling.  “No, silly.”  She gave him a playful shove.   

“Listen.  The reason I was willing to give myself to you is because I feel the same way.  No one has ever made me feel like you do.”

“Really?”  His heart lifted.

She nodded, and laced her fingers with his. “You know my parents had this magical love story, but I was so young that when I got older – after they passed - I thought that I made it all up – that it wasn’t possible.  But now I know it is.  You’ve shown me that.” 

Grace readjusted on the on the couch in efforts to get closer to him, to finish what they started – and to show him how much he meant to her.  As she lifted up to maneuver over him, her knee hit the live button on the T.V. remote, sending voices bursting from the screen.

Grace jerked, and let out a yell.  “Holy – that scared me!”

She twisted around to face the television, as her sister and nine other women were shouting for joy onscreen and yelling, ‘we’re going to Hawaii’.  Grace jerked back to him, whose eyes went wide. 

“They’re coming to Hawaii?”

“That’s what they said,” he responded, but couldn’t get past the fact that the woman of his dreams just told him that she loved him.

“I wonder what island?  The big island?”

“I don’t know.”  He laid his hands on her legs, which were currently straddling him and about to drive him out of his mind.

“Do you think we could find out?  I want to see my sister.”

He nodded and focused on the television screen, trying not to think about Grace’s long legs.

“You’ll help me find her?”

Diet Coke, baseball, hockey... 
He was doing what he could to keep his mind off of Grace’s frame that was still lingering over him.

He let out a breath, and said, “I know some people that could help. If there’s production going on here, or any island, I can find her.  Chet has connections.”

“Your mysterious friend, whom I’ve yet to meet? You think he can really help?”  Her face lit up.

“Yes, and you’ll meet him soon too.  He and his wife are sailing back from Maui this week.”

Grace squealed in delight, and hugged him around the neck.

“I may get to see my sister.  And…” Grace quickly settled and softly said, “What if after all this time, she doesn’t care to see me?”

“She’ll care.  She loves you.  You’ve seen what she said about you on the show.”

Grace felt like she was getting ready to jump out of a plane. 

“I’m scared and excited all at the same time.”

“Now you know how I feel when I’m around you.”  He raised his eyebrows and kissed her tenderly.

“Oh Burke,” she sighed and pulled away slowly.

He dragged his face away slowly and stared into her golden brown eyes. 

“I love you.”

“I love you too.  So are you going to tell me your story?”  Her eyes darted from the packet on the table back to his face.  “You know all about mine.”

He was struggling to be a gentleman, but couldn’t think with her on top of him any longer.  He sat up, moved her to his side, and reached for the remote.

“Let’s restart the show and watch it first.  Then I’ll fill you in with every last crazy detail.”  Burke made a face that Grace couldn’t quite interpret.  It looked like one of dread, but she couldn’t quite tell.

“Are you sure you’re over her?”

“Yes,” he said with clarity, and faced her.  “And I never felt for her, what I feel for you … honest.”

She looked into his clear eyes and believed him. 

Burke grabbed the remote. “Ready to watch your sis?” 

Grace eagerly nodded and settled back in for the show.

He hit rewind to replay the show, and pulled a light quilt over them, smiling to himself.  After his divorce, he thought he’d never love or trust another woman again.   What he just realized was that he never really knew what either was until he met Grace.  And although it was going to physically kill him to wait to take her to bed, he’d wait – because she was everything to him.

Chapter 23

Thunder rolled through the cloudless sky.  Zach looked up to see bright stars shining down on him, expecting storm clouds at any moment. 

He set his binoculars back into his backpack as the night sky was preventing him from seeing any movement along the shore.  Other than breaking for a run to McDonalds, he’d been faithful to sit here for most of the day, looking for any sign of Grace or her boyfriend.

In the heat of the afternoon, he tried not to be too inconspicuous as the traffic was mostly local, but today the passerby was few and far between.  Even though it was a public beach, he could have looked out of place and knew he’d need a story in case anyone approached him. 

For the last few hours, before the sunset, he sat, pretending to take in the surfers, with his high-powered binoculars.  When in actuality, he’d positioned himself to watch the back of the house, where Grace was staying. 

Now that the sky was dark, and there was still no sign of her, he was about to pack it in – when he heard her laughter off in the distance.

He quickly zipped up his bag, turned his ball cap around backwards, and snuck along the fence line to get a closer look at the beach behind where Grace had been staying.

It didn’t take long to make out the shapes of the couple as they lay in the sand, kissing under the stars.  The moonlight almost bounced off their skin and they entwined along the ocean’s edge.

Zach was outraged.  This was supposed to be what he shared with Grace.  It wasn’t that long ago he was the one in her life, and now only one short month later she’s draping all over a stranger?

Zach watched Grace slowly pull away from her new boyfriend to prop up onto her arms, allowing the water to rush around her tone figure.  He’d forgotten how good she looked in a swimsuit.

Once more he heard her laugh as the water rushed around enveloping them.  As her new man rolled onto his side, and lovingly stroked her face, Zach’s hands rounded into fists.  He glanced down, frowning.

How could she?

“Come on, let’s dry off and go inside.”  He heard the man say, as he stood and pulled Grace to his side.

Zach shrunk back from the fence line and hid behind the neighbor’s plumeria tree, watching from a short distance.

The couple jogged up to their back fence and grabbed their towels.  It was easy to see how far gone this guy was.  He wrapped Grace up in her towel and cradled her in his arms, kissing her neck. 

Zach’s mouth went dry.  He stood in the shadows feeling completely betrayed.  She never gave him anything after months of courting, and now she was practically throwing herself at a stranger. 

“No, Grace.  This won’t do.” Zach roughly whispered.

He averted his eyes as the two dried off with their towels – not out of decency but out of disgust.  He couldn’t stand to watch them for one more second.

Once he heard the patio door slam shut and he knew they were gone, he marched over to the fence where they’d hung their towels to dry and lit up a cigarette, staying long enough to smoke one … then two.

Zach shook his head in defiance, watching through the back window, as the two started snuggling on the couch.  He saw Grace’s face break into a smile as she was wrapped in a tight embrace.

He inhaled one last time and flicked the last cigarette to the ground.

“Smile while you can, little Grace.”  Zach almost sang, leaning in for one last look before Burke lifted his arm to turn out the lamp. 

Zach turned his back as the room went completely dark.  He didn’t need to know what was happening inside to know what he was going to do about it.  Now that he knew where she was, he’d make her pay.

You think you can run away with no consequences, Grace?  You think you can hold me at arm’s length for months and then play me for a fool with this guy?

Zach swung back around to face the back of the house, yanked the towels from the fence, and threw them over his shoulder.

“See you soon, Grace,” he sang out loud and headed for the car.

Chapter 24

Like clockwork, roosters woke Grace at twilight, just minutes before the sun was poised to rise.  She lazily stretched to what was quickly becoming the sounds of home, and felt like the luckiest girl in the world.  

The slatted windows that ran up along one wall of Burke’s bedroom let in not only the roosters’ morning song but also the smells and sounds of the ocean, as it receded from the shore and crashed onto the sands outside.

Although she’d lived in a beach home at the Hamptons, she never quite felt this in tune to nature as she did here.  Maybe it had something to do with the fact that beach was only yards from where she lay her head.  At her house, Grace would be descending a lengthy wooden stairwell, from her deck, to get to the shore.  And it was also one, which was more sound proof, keeping nature at arms length.

Here, she simply rolled out the back door for the short walk.  Each morning when she took the short path through exotic vegetation to sit on the shoreline, she understood why Burke thought of it as his private beach.  No one could be seen down the entire stretch of beach, with the exception of some early morning surfers.  And, it seemed like the stretch of shoreline was waiting just for her. 

To Grace, this was her own private piece of perfection.  And it all started with her morning serenade, when the roosters would start at the crack of dawn.

Of course, she knew the roosters were doing what was natural.  They were calling for the sun to make its appearance, and singing of its glory.  But in her imagination, they were waking her up personally with their song.

Grace slipped the bed sheet from her body and tiptoed from her room.  Even as it was still somewhat dark in the house, she had come to know Burke’s house like the back of her hand.  And as she snuck by the pullout, where he lay sleeping, she paused to smile at his shirtless chest, as it rose and fell from deep slumber.

Last night she and Burke spent most of the evening sitting on the shore, discussing his divorce at length.  Her heart broke for all he’d come through.  She now fully understood his gruff nature, and how hard it must have been to let her in.  They ended the night with a little play in the water, sitting at the ocean’s edge, where the water could lap up over their legs.  She loved the feel of the cool water as it rushed around them at the shoreline. 

It took her back to when she was a child, and made her appreciate that she could share such a simple moment like this with the man she loved.  To her, he already felt like part of her everyday life.  And, she knew if her parents were still living – they’d approve. 

In fact, he reminded her so much of her own father in many ways … well for as much as she could remember about him.  Simply put, Burke felt like home to her and now that she had him in her life – she knew she never wanted this to change.