Sticks and Stones (19 page)

            She
spat, “You didn’t call me the next day or the day after!”

            Rick
shot Chase an angry glare. Chase lifted his hands apologetically.

            Rick
nodded. “You’re right, I didn’t. But I listened to an idiot’s advice instead of
my heart. Look, Grace, I want you in my life.” When she turned away he gripped
her chin and forced her to look at him. “Please don’t look away when I’m
pouring my heart out.” He sighed vulnerably and raked a hand through his hair.
“I didn’t want to do this in front of a crowd, but damn it Grace, I’ve fallen
for you and I’m hoping you’ll catch me.”

            She
didn’t know how to respond to his proclamation. When she stared at him blankly,
he waited a few minutes, so she could collect her thoughts. When she made no
effort to speak, he shook his head sadly and kissed her gently, but firmly,
between her eyebrows and walked away with a parting thought. “Grace, stop
thinking about all the reasons we won’t work and believe all the reasons we
will.”

Chapter
Ten

          Dejected, Rick
dug his hands in his jeans pockets and hung his head. So much for working his
magic.

          “Give her time,
Rick. She has a lot to absorb, ya know?” Chase mumbled.

          “Time? That’s
not what she’s looking for, Chase. She’s confusing my age with maturity. Did
you see that old fucker she was with?
That’s
what she wants!” He lifted
his hands and made quotation marks in the air. “
Stability
!” He snorted.
“Like I couldn’t give her that!”

          Passing a bar
Chase grabbed Rick’s elbow and pulled him inside.

          After receiving
bottles of Corona, Chase took a long pull from his bottle and leaned over the
table. “Look at it from her point of view. She lived with a guy for several
years and he dumped her for a younger woman. You enter her life. You’re
younger, a hot-shot hockey player, who’s known to have a reputation with the
ladies. What the fuck is she supposed to think?”

          Rick slammed
his empty bottle on the table and burped. “She wants someone like Jack Off.”

          Chase snorted.
“Hoff.”

          “Like I give a
fuck. He looked like a jack off to me.”

          Chase eyed his
friend thoughtfully. “You really like her, huh?”

          Rick nodded to
the waitress when she placed another Corona in front of him. “Fuck! I don’t
know. All I know is right now I don’t want to spend my time with any other
woman.”

*        *        *

          Considering the
circumstances, Grace ended her lunch date with Jack abruptly.

          Jack left,
telling her if things didn’t work out with Rick he’d welcome another date with
her.

          It only made
Grace feel worse than she already did.

*        *        *

          Ben sorted
through the last moving box. He pulled a short white cardboard tube from the
box and popped the white cap from the bottom.

          He carefully
unfolded the paper inside and held it down on the kitchen counter using four
drinking glasses.

          Unsteadily, he
sat on the wooden stool. He remembered the day Grace showed him their dream
home. He had an excellent day in court and wanted to celebrate so he brought
home a bottle of Dom Perignon. He found her in their home office tying a red
bow around her sketch.

          He marveled at
the detail she put into the drawing. Everything they had talked about; from a
loft library down to a small indoor pool facing a fireplace.

          Looking at the
plans now made him realize how much he lost. He glanced at the clock and
quietly rolled up the drawing and returned it to the tube. He’d see her tonight
and work his magic.

*        *        *

      
“How was lunch
Grace?” Zee grinned.

          Grace rolled
her eyes. “It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”

          Zee frowned.
“Not good, huh? Well, I have some news to tell you that you’re not gonna like,
either.”

          Grace closed
her eyes. “Hit me with it. I can handle it.”

          “Patterson
called. He’s found someone else to redesign his office.”    

          “Oh. Um, well
okay. Never started his remodel anyway,” Grace shrugged, walking towards her
office.

          “Grace, there’s
more.”

          She turned,
cocking her head at Zee. “ ‘kay…”

          “Kat Wise called.
She’d decided to go with another company, too.” Zee took a deep breath and
fired rapidly. “So did Sutter, McAdams and Cullen.”

          “Those are my
only clients,” Grace whimpered.

          “Well, you
still have Chase Storm,” Zee offered.

*        *        *

      
Blake entered the
office doors with a grin plastered over his face. “Oh I have wonderful news,”
he called out in a sing-song voice.

          Zee shook her
head and pointed towards Grace’s office.

          “What’s wrong?”
Blake frowned.

          “All her
clients quit her. It was a domino effect,” Zee tsked.

          “All?” Blake
bit his lip. “Storm Design Group, too?”

          “No, but he’s
the only one left.” Zee stood and grabbed Blake’s arm, pulling him away from
Grace’s earshot. “I’m worried about her. She’s been sitting at her computer for
the past hour staring at a black screen, eating candy bars. I don’t know if it
has something to do with losing her clients, her first date with the guy from
Dutch Lunch or the fact that Rick interrupted her date.”

*        *        *

          Grace pondered
life as she stared at the black computer screen. What had she done so wrong to
deserve such vitriol from Janice?

          When Janice
apprenticed at
We Design It
, Grace took her under her wing and mentored
her. Their work relationship morphed into a friendship, despite a ten year age
difference. Grace even fought with their boss to allow Janice to attend
seminars across the country with her.

          She couldn’t
understand it. She was a decent person. A hard worker. A loyal friend to
Janice.

          Grace’s creed
was
harm none
.    

          Well, as they
say in hockey, the mitts were off.

*        *        *

      
“So, you’re in
love with her?” Blake muttered into the phone.

          “You’re putting
words in my mouth. I care a lot about her and want to be with her,” Rick
replied. “Why?”

          “Well, when
Grace returned from lunch Zee informed her that all but one of her clients
dumped her and now she’s sitting in her office staring at a blank computer
monitor, gorging on chocolate bars. Zee said she hasn’t moved in over an hour.”

          “I’ll be there
in twenty minutes,” Rick stated.

          “No. Let me
find out what’s going on first. In case you’re the one causing problems.”

          Rick snorted,
“Gee, thanks, bro. Appreciate the warm fuzzies.”

          Blake pinched
the bridge of his nose and layed his head against the black leather chair.
“Look, I know you’re sincere about your feelings for Grace. I really do, but
let me handle this and I’ll call you later, okay?”

          Rick hung up
the phone with a sickening feeling. It was his fault Grace was so miserable and
he needed to fix it.

*        *        *

          “Gracie? Can I
come in?” Blake murmured.

          Deep in
thought, Grace didn’t hear him and nearly jumped out of her skin when he stood
in front of her desk, waving a hand in front of her face.

          She blinked her
eyes wildly at him, sending candy wrappers onto the floor and jumped, putting
her hand over her heart. “You scared the shit out of me!” she shrieked.

          “Sorry, but I
knocked first,” Blake mumbled.

          Grace snorted,
“It’s okay. What’s up?”

          “That’s what I
want to know.” Blake shifted in the chair. “What happened today?”

          Leaning back,
Grace began her story. Afterwards Blake lifted a hand. “So, are you upset
because of Rick or your clients?”

          Grace shrugged.
“Both I guess.”

          “Well, I can
fix both problems, easy peasy. I’ll tell Rick to leave you alone and as for
clients? We’ll advertise our faces off! Maybe even take out an ad in Chicago
magazine.” He took a breath and continued, “I wasn’t going to say anything, but
my man, Mr. Timmons, just made full partner so we’ll have an increase in our
income. He’ll be glad to help us out.”

          Lifting a hand,
Grace mumbled, “I don’t want Rick to stop coming around. As for the clients?
I’m not worried…too much. I’ll have my hands full with Sunset Ridge and if Jack
can get Chicago magazine to do a cover story on it, things will be good.”

          “Why do I feel
like you’re leaving something out?” Blake muttered suspiciously.

          “Oh? You mean
the part where I kick Janice’s wannabe witch ass?” Grace replied haughtily.

*        *        *

          Instead of
confronting Janice in the heat of the moment, Grace drove home. First she
needed to find the correct spell to cast and then do a ritual cleansing.

          Since she
didn’t have any such spells in her Book of Shadows she’d have to visit Tilda
first. Then she’d set her plan in motion.

*        *        *

          At Rick’s condo
Blake, Rick and Zee sat in the living room.

          “Gray witch?”
Blake scratched his head. “What the hell does that mean?”

          “It means that
I’m neither good nor bad. I’m in the middle,” Zee explained, glancing between
Rick and Blake. “I can work magic for the good or for the not so good.”

          “And you’re
here to do what, exactly?” Rick asked.

          “Well the first
thing I’m going to do is check to see if you have any spells cast on you then
I’m going to cast a spell to show your true feelings. Kinda like a truth
serum.”

          Rick nodded, “Okay, but I
think it’s a waste of time. I knew the minute Grace fell into my arms that she
was the one for me.”

*        *        *

          “Poppet, you
need to calm down,” Tilda cautioned. “You know our creed. Harm none. Surely,
you’ve not forgotten that?”

          Grace hissed,
“I haven’t forgotten, but she’s out of control! She’s ruined my life!”

          Tilda patted
the seat next to her. “Please, Poppet, let’s talk about this before you do
something you’ll regret later.”

          Lifting her
chin, Grace snapped. “If you’re not willing to help me then I’ll go to the
Wicked Wand tomorrow. I’m sure someone there will help me.”

*        *        *

          “Give me your
hand, baby,” Zee crooned.

          Rick as he held
out his hand to Zee. “Now what?”

          Zee ran her
fingertips lightly over his palm, then turned his hand over and held his hand
between hers. A smile lit her face as she closed her eyes, imagining him
running his palms against her stomach and thighs. “Nothing, sweetie. I just
like holding your hand,” she murmured.

          Rick shook his
head. “Well? Am I legit to you?”

          “You’re
feelings for Grace are real. No one has cast a spell on you,” Zee affirmed.

          “Gracie has,”
Blake joked as he pulled his ringing phone from his pocket. “Hello?”

          “Blake!
Gracie’s planning to go to the Wicked Wand tomorrow!” Tilda shrieked into the
phone.

          Blake scratched
his head. “What’s the Wicked Wand?”

          Zee muttered,
“It’s my shop. She’s had enough of Janice’s bullshit and wants to repay her.”

          “What does that
mean?” Rick frowned.

          “It means a
white witch wants to go rogue.” When Rick didn’t understand, Zee clarified.
“She wants to perform black magic.”

*        *        *

          Grace shuffled
around her house, cursing under her breath. Fuck! She couldn’t trust anyone
anymore, thanks to Janice and Ben.     She grabbed a bottle of Irish cream from
the cupboard, along with butterscotch schnapps and poured a healthy dose of
each into a glass. While she drank the numbing nectar she thought about the
consequences of her actions. If she performed a dark spell what would be the
ramifications?

          The doorbell
rang, dragging her from her thoughts.

*        *        *

          “Ben?”

          He stood on the
door step holding a white cardboard tube. “I found this today and wanted to
give it back to you.” She reached for it but Ben held tightly to the tube. “Can
I come in?”

          Grace waved an
indifferent hand.

          “Are you okay?
You seem out of sorts.”

          “That fucking
bitch Janice has now taken my clients! First you and now my clients!” she
hissed.

          “All of them?”
he asked, puzzled.

          Grace plopped
onto the sofa with her velvet bag of rune stones and a dark chocolate Dove
candy bar. “No, I still have Storm Design Group…for now.” She closed her eyes
and plucked a single rune stone from the bag and scowled.

          “Maybe this
will bring a smile to your face,” he mumbled, pulling the rolled up paper from
the tube.