Shattered Grace (Fallen from Grace) (39 page)

Grace had no tears left to cry. She was empty, dry, cried out. She pushed herself to the bathroom, and tried not to look at her alarm clock. It was already 1:45. So much for not looking. After she finished showering and getting ready, Grace stumbled to the kitchen for some food, not caring about her blotchy face or swollen eyes. The hangover was gone, but the dehydration lingered. It wasn’t all the beer’s fault this time.

Quentin was sitting at the island, eating a sandwich while reading the paper, and doing a good job of ignoring the condition of her face.

“
Hey,” she said, pulling the orange juice container from the refrigerator.

“
Hey.” He didn’t lift his gaze from the paper.

Eventually, Grace parked herself in front of the television in the family room, her iPhone in hand. She had several texts wishing her a happy birthday. Her thumbs quickly replied to them all with a thank-you.

Before she laid her cell on the cushion next to her, Emily had already replied.

Emily:
Howz ur bday so far?

Grace:
Ok.

Emily:
U still want 2 shop w/me?

Grace:
When?

Emily:
1 hr.

Grace looked at the time on her phone and pressed gently around her eyes with her fingertips. The swelling would probably be down in an hour or so. She could probably do a good enough job covering it with makeup.

Grace:
K. U getting me?

Emily:
Yep :)

Grace:
C u soon.

Emily:
K.

She decided to sit for twenty minutes or so before climbing back up the stairs to get ready, and flipped through the channels. Grace turned off the TV and tossed the remote beside her, giving up on visual entertainment. Her phone vibrated next to her. On the screen was a contact photo of a boyish-smiling Darius holding a bouquet of blue wildflowers in front of a backdrop of night. Not sure how she got his number, or
how it could be programmed into her phone with a picture no less, she answered with an unsure hello.

“
Happy birthday.”

“
Thank you,” she answered, a little embarrassed. “About last night … uh, I’m sorry. I feel so stupid. I guess I can’t hold my beer.” She sank into the couch and put her face in her hand, mortified.

“
No, it’s fine. I had fun.”

“
Sure you did,” she countered, pulling her hand away.

“
Well, you weren’t passed out the whole time,” he said through his laughter.

“
Gee, that’s a relief.”

“
I’m just giving you a hard time. No, really, I had a good time. The talking and the not talking was … nice.”

Nice? She hoped during the non-talking she wasn’t snoring, or—oh God—drooling. Silence fell between them for a few awkward seconds. Grace wondered what Darius was thinking.

“
So, did you get my present?”

Absentmindedly, she played with a string coming loose in the seam of her sweats, and felt her cheeks warm. “Are you talking about the pic?”

“
Did you like it?”

“
Yeah.” She longed to be back at the lake. “The flowers are beautiful.

“
I thought you might since they’re your favorite color.”

Puzzled, she stopped pulling at the string. She didn’t remember telling him that. “How do you know that?”

“
You told me last night.” She did? What else did she say? She shuddered to think about it. “I saw your phone in the ashtray. I hope you don’t mind that I programmed my number in.”

“
Not at all.” Grace pulled more violently on the loose string.

A few more silent seconds hung in the air.

“
Is everything alright there,” he asked with reluctance in his voice.

Grace smiled to herself. “Everything … is going to be fine. It’s good.”

“
Good,” Darius said. “I’m glad to hear it. Do you have family plans for your birthday then?”

Was he going to ask her out on a date? Grace felt a smile twist at her lips. “None whatsoever. Why do you ask?”

“
I was going to see if I could take you out tonight.” Yes!
Grace screamed anxiously in her head.

“
Or, if you don’t want to—”

She’d screamed it in her head, but failed to say yes out loud. Wonderful. “That would be fun.”

“
You sure your family won’t mind?”

“
I’m positive.” Even though she wasn’t entirely sure her mom didn’t have anything going on, Grace was hoping she’d be busy with her fath … Richard. The whole Richard thing was going to take time. Possibly a lot of time.

“
Okay, cool. What about the guy?”

“
Quentin?” she asked. “He’s protective like a brother, but he has no say in it.”

Grace could hear the smile in Darius’ voice. “How about I pick you up at seven o’clock?”

How does that sound, Grace wanted to say. Like too much time between now and then.
“Seven’s great!” was what she said instead. “See ya then.”

“
Grace?”

“
Yeah?”

“
I’ll be picking you up on my bike, just in case you were going to wear a skirt or something.”

“
Thanks for the heads-up.”

Too caught up in her excitement, Grace realized she’d almost forgotten about shopping with Emily. She only had thirty minutes before she’d be here. Not knowing how long they’d be gone meant Grace had thirty minutes to get ready to go shopping
and
for her date with Darius.

“
Eek!” she squealed as she jumped up from the couch, almost taking Quentin out before hitting the stairs. “Sorry!”

Quentin chuckled. “Where are you going in such a hurry?”

Grace stopped in the middle of the staircase, slowly turning on the foot that remained under her. She forgot she would have to tell him about shopping. And what the hell was she thinking agreeing to a date? Suddenly, her nonexistent love life flashed before her eyes. She was never
going to be able to have a boyfriend. The heck with that! Quentin was just going to have to deal with it, and learn to give her some privacy.

“
Oh, I forgot to tell you. Emily asked me to go shopping and she’ll be here in thirty minutes.”

“
Okay, I’ll be ready.”

Taking the stairs two at a time, Grace mumbled down to Quentin, “And I’m going on a date at seven o’clock.” When she reached the top, she thought she was home free.

“
What was that?” Quentin asked from the bottom of the steps. Nope, not home free. She wasn’t going for loud and clear. She was hoping he wouldn’t care enough about it and just let it go. That way, when he said later she didn’t tell him, she could say she had without having to deal with it now. He was going to freak, and probably worse than he had last night.

“
Uh…” She looked down at him. “I said I have a date?” Grace hated how she made it sound like a question, like she was asking for his permission, because she wasn’t.

“
Cool.”

Cool? That’s it? Trying to sneak away toward her bedroom, she was stopped yet again.

“
Who are you going with?”

Sighing, she turned around. Here we go
.
“Darius, from the party.” Grace saw Quentin’s jaw muscle clench and something move in his eyes. A second later it was gone.

“
Cool,” he said again. Seriously? What’s wrong with him, she wondered. “What time? I’m assuming he’s picking you up?”

“
Yeah … yeah, he is at seven o’clock.”

“
Okay, I’ll be ready for that too.”

Grace stayed where she was as Quentin walked away, worrying if he could keep his distance unlike the night before.

Well, this is going to be fun … NOT!
she thought, as she moped the rest of the way to her bedroom.

Pressure. That’s all Grace saw staring back at her from the closet. She sat on the floor Indian-style and stared at her colorful wardrobe display in contemplation. She could go for comfortable, but she might seem disinterested. But comfortable could save Grace and Darius from an overly protective Quentin if Mr. Hyde decided to come out to play tonight. Or she could totally go for sexy, and not care what Quentin thought at all. No, that might make Darius think she was easy, and she wasn’t. Settling on something in between, she went for captivating.

When she grabbed a body-hugging tank from the rod, a chaotic shower of colored light danced about her white walls as she held it next to her body. Rainbow reflections shone from the sequins on her tank top, reflecting the sunlight pouring through the sheer-covered window. The tank was one of her favorites—gold on the top, blue on the bottom. She chose a pair of skinny jeans, and grabbed her blue suede pumps from their box and changed as quickly as she could. Heels clicking on the tile, she hurried into the bathroom, pulled her hair up into a messy pony, touched up her makeup, and put on coordinating jewelry.

It took her all of twenty minutes, she noticed, glancing at her alarm clock as she left her room. Impressed with herself, Grace figured she’d better let Quentin know she was ready to go since Emily would be there any minute. “I’m ready to go, Quentin, Emily will be here soon.” Carefully, she took one step after the other, and slowly descended the stairs. It was easy to picture herself tripping and tumbling to the bottom, and end up having to spend the rest of the night in bed.

When her feet were clacking safely on the wood flooring, she felt sure enough to lift her eyes. Startled, she skidded to a halt, and said, “Oh … I didn’t know you were already down here.” His eyes were wide, his stance frozen as he gaped at her for a split second before clearing his face and closing his mouth.

Quentin put both hands low on his hips, turned his head, and cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah … I’ve been down here for a little while.” Grace chuckled to herself and then noticed how dressed up he was as well. He was wearing a white pinstriped button-down shirt, sleeves casually rolled to his elbows, and a pair of black slacks. Quentin smirked when he caught her assessing gaze. He turned and headed toward the garage.

And of course, thinking like that had her mind rushing warp speed through a wormhole to the time when she was against the gym door, and he was against her lips. A twinge clenched in her stomach, and her heart skittered as it picked up in pace. The quick jerk of Quentin’s head in her direction was all Grace needed to know he was reading her loud and clear. As if that wasn’t bad enough, her cheeks warmed to some pathetic shade of red. Ugh!