Betting on Grace (23 page)

“Don’t get defensive here,” Lane said, “we’re just
tryin’ to figure out which direction to go.”

Grant nodded, but he didn’t look very convinced.

“So your plan is to go to your parents’, see if she’s
there?”

“That’s where I was gonna start, yes,” Grant
confirmed, answering Gracie’s question.

“I think we need to start by talkin’ to Jerry,” Lane
interjected. “You said it yourself, you don’t know what he and your dad talked
about, and you haven’t heard from your dad since then. I think we need to see
if Jerry knows somethin’ we don’t.”

Lane waited patiently while Grant pondered over the
suggestion. He kind of expected Grant to jump the gun anyway and run over to
his parents’ just because he could, so he was rather surprised when Grant
nodded in agreement.

“Thank you. Both of you. I’m not sure what I’d do
right now if y’all weren’t here,” Grant said softly, sadly.

Lane didn’t say anything — he didn’t need to. Grant
had made a huge step in reaching out to them both, especially for a man who had
yet to admit his feelings. Lane longed to hear the words out of Grant’s mouth,
but to be honest, this was the next best thing.

And for now, he’d take it.

■□■□■□■□

Grace was damned proud of herself for keeping it
together for the last half hour.

First, she’d received an abrupt text from Grant that
had sounded much like a
Dear John
letter, which was why she’d
practically run from the stables to his cabin without stopping.

Her heart had been in her throat when she’d barged
through his front door, and seeing Grant so distraught, she’d been a second
away from crumbling into a puddle on the floor.

When Grant had mentioned his mother, so many memories had
come rushing back. Back to when she was twelve years old and her own mother had
died.

As far as Grace knew, her mother had been healthy, yet
one minute, she had been there, cooking in the kitchen while Grace, Mercy, and Hope
helped her prepare the midday meal for the trail riders, and the next minute,
Charlotte had been on the floor, clutching her chest and asking them to call
911.

Grace remembered that day so vividly. Her father had
actually been out on that trail ride with Faith and Trinity. Her parents had tended
to split her and her sisters up to make it easier on them during the day, and
that week, Grace had been assigned to helping in the kitchen. Not that she had minded
at all. Spending time with her mother had been what she’d looked forward to,
even more than she’d looked forward to learning to barrel race.

Without a doubt, that had been the absolute worst day
of Grace’s life. Hope had stepped in, thank God, handling everything as if she were
decades older than just sixteen at the time. She had dialed 911, directed the
operator on where they were, and then gone out front to flag down the ambulance
that was coming from the neighboring town.

Grace remembered how pale her mother had been at that
point, lying on the floor, Mercy crying while she gripped their mother’s hand
tightly. Grace hadn’t held it together that day. At first, she’d been too
scared to cry, but once the ambulance had arrived and the men had come in, she
had broken down completely.

Once again, Hope had stepped in, taking care of them
while managing to get one of the wranglers to go out on the trails to find her
father.

By the time Jerry had made it back to the house,
Charlotte had been whisked away to the hospital, and he hadn’t been that far
behind. Grace and her sisters had remained at the house with several of the
staff as they’d waited for the news that their mother was going to be okay.

That news had never come. Charlotte had died from a
heart attack. And none of them had ever been the same. They had comforted one
another through the devastating weeks that had followed. Jerry had been stoic
through it all, his head up, his eyes dry, but Grace had known he cried at
night. She had heard him.

So when Grace had walked in to find Grant nearly in
tears after his revelation, she had barely managed to keep herself together.

But she had.

And now they were stepping into Jerry’s office, hoping
for him to enlighten them on what had happened between him and Darrell earlier
in the week. Grace wished it would be that simple.

“What’s wrong?” Jerry asked, getting to his feet as
the three of them stepped into the room, closing the door behind them.

“Plenty,” Grant mumbled, but thankfully, Lane stepped
forward to handle the situation.

“Mr. Lambert,” Lane began, “if possible, we’d like to
know what you and Grant’s father talked about yesterday. It looks like Grant’s
mother is missin’, and we’re tryin’ to backtrack to see if Darrell might’ve
mentioned somethin’.”

Grace watched her father, noticed the concern in his
eyes as he stared back at the three of them. She had to wonder what was going
through his head.

“We talked,” Jerry began, “for a long time. It took a
while for your father to calm down, but he finally did.” Jerry was staring back
at Grant, his eyes kind, his voice soft. “I know your dad has a gamblin’
problem, Grant. Not everything on this ranch is a secret. I’d heard the rumors,
so I chose to address your father directly. He admitted his problem.
Surprisingly. But he didn’t seem interested in gettin’ help. That’s when things
went south and he left.”

“So you didn’t give him money?” Grant asked. The
relief in his voice had Grace turning to look at him.

“No, son, I didn’t. I wouldn’t’ve done that without
talkin’ to you first. If I really thought your father needed money and you
weren’t givin’ it because you didn’t have it, I would’ve come to you. It was
clear your father was panicking. From what I gathered, he’s graspin’ at straws,
desperate to make some money, and he’s convinced that bettin’ on the races is gonna
get him where he needs to be.”

“Where he needs to be is in rehab,” Grant said sadly.

“I agree. I even mentioned it,” Jerry concurred.
“Unfortunately, he disagreed. I’m sorry, but he didn’t mention your mother.”

Shit.

That wasn’t very helpful. Grace kept her eyes locked
on Grant’s chiseled face, and she saw the moment his hope vanished.

And hers seemed to go right along with it.

Grant would admit that he’d probably never been as
scared as he was right then. So maybe he didn’t have the greatest relationship
with his parents, or even with his sister, for that matter, but not knowing
where his mother was, or whether or not she was safe, was killing him.

He had fought the urge to break down like a fucking
sissy the moment Lane had walked through his front door earlier. Grant’s
indifferent attitude hadn’t lasted long, because he
had
given in,
letting Lane wrap his strong, secure arms around him. It had felt almost too
good to let go. Having him and Gracie to lean on was the only thing keeping him
together.

That and having them there to make sure he tackled
this from the right angle. Even if he really didn’t know what that might be at
this point, he sort of figured out that jumping in his truck probably wasn’t
the best plan. Then again, the news Jerry had just shared didn’t tell Grant
much of anything, and heading off down the road was looking like his only
option.

Well, except for the fact that his father had probably
headed to his old haunts, desperate to make some money, and Grant didn’t even
know where those were.

As he stared back at Jerry, desperately trying to
process what this meant and what the next step was supposed to be, Grant fought
the urge to yell out his frustration.

Weren’t the parents supposed to be the more mature
ones? Shouldn’t his mom and dad be wondering about him and his sister, checking
on them from time to time to make sure they were okay? Not the other way
around?

Unable to answer those questions, and knowing that no
one else in the room had any idea what was actually running through his head,
Grant accepted the fact that Lane and Gracie had been right. Running off to his
parents’ house wouldn’t have done much good. No, it would’ve been a complete
waste of time. He doubted his father was there. It was clear his mother wasn’t.
She wasn’t at Morgan’s, either. And for the life of him, Grant had no idea
where she might’ve gone.

“Do you have any suggestions on what we do from here?”
Gracie asked her father, moving to stand beside Grant and resting her small
hand on his arm.

Without thinking, Grant pulled her against him,
desperate to feel her heartbeat, to lean on her at a time when it felt as
though the floor was about to drop out from under him.

The second he did, Grant met Jerry’s sobering gaze
from across the room, and fear unlike anything he’d ever known set in. It
overwhelmed his own worry for his mother because Jerry Lambert looked as though
someone had just pulled the rug out from under him, and unlike Grant, the floor
wasn’t even there to catch him.

To Grant’s surprise, Gracie put her arm around his
waist, squeezing him gently. It was as though she was trying to reassure him
that what he’d just done wasn’t going to land him on the unemployment line.

To make matters worse, Jerry didn’t say anything. He
looked from Grant to Gracie and then back, all while Grant held his breath,
unsure what to do. It wasn’t as if he could just push Gracie away, pretend that
the damage hadn’t already been done.

“Does she have a cell phone?” When Jerry finally did
speak, the short sentence sounded foreign to Grant, stunning him for a moment
as he tried to remember what it was they’d been talking about.

When the question finally registered, Grant said,
“Yes. When I try, it goes right to her voice mail.”

“What if you call the service provider and see if they
have GPS on the phone. Maybe they can locate her that way,” Jerry offered
helpfully.

Grant glanced at Lane briefly, noticing that his eyes
were wide as he stared at Grant and Gracie, looking almost as perplexed as
Jerry had.

Yeah, buddy, I know. I just royally fucked up.

“That’s a great idea,” Gracie said, leaning back just
a little and looking up at him, still not letting him go. 

Grant was terrified to look down at her, scared of
what he might see in her eyes. Did she realize what they’d just done? They
might as well have had a sign that said,
“Look Jer, I’m screwin’ your
daughter. What do you think about that?”

“Thank you, sir. We’ll try that first. Come on,” Lane
said as he passed by, his arm brushing Grant’s in the small space. “Let’s go
see what we can get out of the cell company. At least it’s a start.”

Grant looked back at Jerry one last time, but he was
taken aback to see that Jerry wasn’t trying to kill him with his death ray
eyes. No, what he saw looked a little like acceptance.

Acceptance? Surely not. Maybe that was pity. Or maybe
Jerry was just thinking of all the forms that would have to be filled out when
he fired Grant later.

It couldn’t be that Jerry might possibly accept the
fact that Grant loved Gracie.

How could that be? Wasn’t this the guy who’d tossed
Garrett Daniels out for wanting to date Trinity? Wasn’t this the guy who
continued to reiterate that he did not want anyone dating his daughters?

Grant fucking hated that they had to hide, but he
thoroughly understood. Talking to Faith the other day hadn’t helped Grant’s
desire to come out about his relationship with Lane and Gracie, and at this
point, the last thing he needed was to get on Jerry’s bad side.

Too late for that, dumbass.

Before Grant could contemplate the answer to the
millions of questions running through his head, Lane moved to the door. Grant
released Gracie when they stepped out onto the porch behind Lane, although he
would’ve preferred to keep her close.

After all, the damage had already been done.

■□■□■□■□

When the door closed behind Grant, Gracie, and Lane,
Jerry had the urge to rub his eyes.

Had he been seeing things? Or had he been right all
along? Was his little Gracie there to comfort Grant in his time of need, or was
there something more going on there?

Jerry had never once considered himself an idiot, or
even slightly obtuse, for that matter, but … it sure looked like he’d been
right. There was something going on between those two.

A small smile formed on his face.

Yep, he’d been right. This little display was what had
kicked the suspicion right into the fact category.

Grant and Gracie.

He couldn’t say he was disappointed with the idea of
his head foreman and his strong-willed daughter falling in love. He actually
liked it.

But what about Lane?

There was something strange going on here, past the
whole possibility of Grant and Gracie dating, because if he wasn’t crazy —
which he seriously doubted he was — there was something going on between Grant
and
Lane
. Today wasn’t the first time he’d thought that the two of them
might actually be a little more than friends, although he had to give them
credit, they were relatively good at hiding it.

And no, Jerry didn’t have anything against two men
wanting to be together. His own personal preferences for the opposite sex were
just that. His preferences. To each his own, that’s how the saying went. And
more power to Grant and Lane if they wanted to be together. Jerry’s take was
that as long as you loved someone, love them. With all that you are and all
that you have.

He’d learned that with Charlotte.

Jerry had fallen in love with her before she had
turned eighteen, and her daddy was one of the meanest sons of bitches Jerry had
ever had the displeasure of meeting.

Funny, Jerry still talked to the man, even all these
years later. They weren’t exactly friends, but Lionel Simons had learned to let
go of his hatred for Jerry once he’d realized that Charlotte truly loved him.
Now, with Lionel in his eighties, Jerry checked on him from time to time just
because he could.

Grant and Gracie?

Wow. The idea of the two of them together still blew
his mind. But what was even more unreal was the fact that Gracie hadn’t
bothered to tell him. Not that any of his daughters had bothered to talk to him
about their relationships, especially when it came to dating men who worked on
the ranch.

To be honest, Jerry didn’t really give a shit who they
dated, just as long as the men knew to treat them right. That was his only
requirement and one of the main reasons he threw his weight around so much. It
was a warning. If they fucked with his kids, they were fucking with him.

And just like that rotten fucking bastard Garrett had
learned, Jerry didn’t put up with anyone mistreating his daughters. No one.
Goddammit!
Just the thought of that no-good fuckup made his blood pressure rise.

Shaking off the memory, Jerry pushed off the desk and
walked around behind it. Dropping into his chair, he eyed the phone. He reached
for the receiver but stopped himself before he had it in his hand. He did that
three more times before he snatched the damn thing up and stabbed the numbers
into the phone. Putting the receiver to his ear, he waited for her to answer.

“Hello?”

“Hey, baby,” he greeted.

“Hey,” Jan replied, sounding happy to hear from him.

Why, Jerry didn’t know. He felt as if he’d spent the
last eight months unable to introduce her to his family. It didn’t matter that
she was usually the one who talked him out of it.

It was time to change that.

After all, Grant seemed to be stepping up to the
plate, proving that he wasn’t the type of man to hide his relationship from
anyone.

Jerry knew it was time for him to do the same.

“I want you to come to the dance on Saturday,” he told
her.

“Are you sure?” Jan inquired.

“Absolutely. I’m…”
Shit, how did he put this?
“I’m done pretendin’ this is less than it is, Jan. I want us to move forward.”

There was a pause that lasted long enough to give
Jerry heart palpitations, but then Jan said, “Okay. The dance sounds fun.”

Jerry knew she heard his sigh of relief.

“Are you sure about this?” Jan asked before he could
say anything in return.

“More than sure.” Jerry leaned back in his chair,
feeling somewhat lighter, as though he were no longer carrying around a two-ton
anvil on his shoulders. “Oh, and Jan…”

“Yes?”

“Plan to stay the night.”

The feminine giggle that was her answer made Jerry’s
heart swell to enormous proportions.

Yeah, it was certainly time.