Crash and Burn (23 page)

“I know what it is too,” Stone said, hazarding a look out the door. Divina was there talking with her hands at the crowd surrounding her. Stone wanted to roll his eyes, but it hurt too much. “As soon as I can get out of here, I’ll make it better.”

* * * *

It was three more days before Stone was allowed to leave the hospital. Divina and Walt came to pick him up, followed by a flurry of photographers. The doctor gave him strict instructions to take it easy. No racing, plenty of bed rest, and no sex.

Divina was like an octopus. Her hands touched him at every moment, she attempted to lick his ear and she made innuendos until he wanted to scream at her. His head had stopped hurting for the most part. Every time she came into his room, he wanted to beat his head with the broken, bent muffler of his car. He still rebuffed Divina’s suggestion to move him into the master bedroom, even thought she asked many times a day.

“You’d be more comfortable. I’d be closer to help you with your…um…needs.”

“No. No. No,” he said over and over.

She hovered and annoyed the crap out of him. He didn’t have two minutes to himself to make one stinking phone call. He wanted to call Grace. He needed to hear her voice.

“Stone, dear. You got a package.” Divina handed him a small brown box. There was no return address and it was addressed only to him, so it couldn’t have been a belated wedding gift. Divina waited. “Aren’t you going to open it?”

“Are you going to stand over me?”

She huffed and stormed out of the room. Stone was learning how to read his selfish wife. He knew the buttons to press to tick her off and her first and only reaction was to stomp her feet and leave the room.

He turned the box over in his hand. It was the size of a Rubix cube, wrapped in a brown paper bag. He slid his finger under the tape and released a side. From there it was easy to unwrap the rest of it. The white box gave no clue as to what was inside and he was getting more and more curious.

The top popped off with a flick of his finger and nestled in white tissue was Grace’s ring. He sucked in a breath and his heart fell. She’d mailed his ring back to him. She didn’t want it.

Meaning she didn’t want
him
.

“So what is it?” Divina asked from the door.

“Nothing,” he answered, replacing the lid before her nosey eyes saw the ring. Once she saw it, she’d want it. And that was not going to happen. That ring belonged on only one finger.

“Seriously, Stone. What is it? I want to see.”

Stone shook his head, which caused it to start throbbing. “I need some medicine. My head hurts like hell.”

She disappeared and Stone rolled out of bed. He stuffed the box in the bottom of his duffle bag and covered it with clothes and a towel.

Divina returned a minute later with the pills and a glass of water. He downed the pills, grabbed his cell phone and pushed past her. “I’m going out for a few minutes. Please don’t follow me. I need some time to myself.”

She put her hands on her hips. “What if something happens to you?”

“If I don’t come back, call 911.”

The fresh air hit his face and it was a welcome feeling. He didn’t want to chance running, so he walked as fast as he dared to get out of sight of the house. Grace’s number was already programmed into the phone and he hit send as soon as he was clear from view.

It rang twice before the answering message sounded. “You’ve reached Grace’s phone. Please leave a message and I’ll get back to you. Have a nice day.”
Beep
.

He snapped the phone shut. He wasn’t leaving a message for her to ignore. He wanted, no, he deserved to talk to her and get an explanation.

Dialing again, he let it ring, then hung up. Three more times, he tried before she picked up the phone.

“Hello, Stone. What do you want?”

“You.”

He heard her quick intake of breath.

“It’s not an option and you know it.”

“It
is
an option, if I want you with me. I need to see you.” He imagined her shifting her weight from foot to foot, chewing on her lower lip. He wished he was with her to prove to her once and for all she belonged with him.

“Stone,” she started to protest.

“Grace, I love you. I think I’m worth fighting for, don’t you?”

“She’s my sister.”

“Yes, she is. And she’s a spoiled brat who doesn’t deserve this unconditional sacrifice. Don’t you want me? I got the ring you sent back. That’s your ring, I bought it for you.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “The ring was part of the Divina costume. It was to fool that reporter.”

“Let’s clarify something, here. I love you. I gave you the ring because I wanted to, not because some half-wit reporter thought you needed one. Do you remember that night? At the restaurant?”

“I remember. I remember everything. That’s why I can’t keep talking to you.”

“Let’s get together. I need to see you.”

“Go home to your wife, Stone.”

“Don’t hang–” He made a motion to chuck the cellphone, but he held on. She loved him. He knew it. Just because she didn’t say she loved him all the time didn’t mean it wasn’t true. He’d have to convince her. And he would.

After one more call to George Halkins, he returned to the house and collapsed on the couch.

Divina walked into the room and sat next to him. “Everything okay?”

“I’ve called a press conference for tomorrow. You’ll be there, right?”

“Of course,” she said, patting his thigh.

“I’m also calling your sister to tell her to be there.”

“Why on earth would Grace be there? She has nothing to do with us, or with the crash.”

He snickered to himself. Grace had everything to do with him. Tomorrow he would finally be free to love the woman he needed in his life.

* * * *

Grace rocked back and forth in the recliner in her parent’s living room. Tears threatened to spill over. He’d told her he loved her. He’d said she should fight for him. She wanted to. She really did.

She’d gone to the race to fight for him, but Divina had been there and all of Grace’s confidence had faded at the sight of her sister. Fighting for Stone might cost her the relationship with her sister. Her family.

Rocking, she contemplated what it would be like to live without having to bail Divina out of scrapes, troubles and mistakes. She smirked, one side of her mouth rising in quasi-delight.

Not entirely bad.

But did she love Stone enough to take what she wanted?

A knock on the door broke through her debating brain. She shuffled, wrapped in her blanket, to the door. A courier stood on the stoop. She frowned.

“Can I help you?” she asked, after she opened the door.

“I have a delivery for Grace Adams.”

She shook her head. “There’s no one here by that name.”

“He said you’d say that. It’s for you.”

“I’m not Grace Adams.”

“I understand. He also sent me a picture of you, so I’d know who to give this to.” From behind him, he withdrew the small box she’d sent to Stone, the one with the ring in it.

“I don’t want it.”

“Sorry, I can’t leave without making sure you get this.”

She grabbed it from his hand. “There.”

“Thank you, ma’am. Have a good day.”

Grace slammed the door and retreated to her room with the box. Was the ring in there? She didn’t want to see. She didn’t want to know. Although it would be better to have it in her hands than to see Divina wearing it.

Curiosity got the best of her, so she opened the box. No ring. The white tissue paper had been removed and a lined piece of paper folded into an origami flower remained in its place. She picked the flower out of the box. The design she’d first seen was actually writing. She hated to destroy the flower, but the curious cat was already dead, so she started unfolding.

There will be a press conference tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. at Riverhead Racetrack. The pleasure of your presence is requested. Stone.
There was a P.S. at the bottom.
If you aren’t there by 8:30 a.m., I’m sending Barry over to get you and I’ll tell him not to be gentle.

A shiver ran though her body. This was exactly what she’d needed. “Stone, you jerk,” she said, smiling.

Chapter 18

Stone looked out from behind the curtain on the makeshift stage the racetrack set up for his press conference. The media was already there and it was only 8:20. He didn’t care about them. The person he was looking for wasn’t here and it was annoying him. He didn’t want to have to send Barry to Connecticut. The whole thing would be over before he would be able to get her back on the ferry and back to Long Island.

He hoped she wanted to come on her own. He was willing to risk everything, including his career, to have her, the least she could do was show up.

Someone from behind clapped him on the back. “It’s almost time. Are you ready to ruin both of our lives for a woman who might or might not show up?” Walt asked.

“She’ll be here.”

“Your wife is playing her role with Halkins. Shouldn’t you tell her he knows what’s going on?”

“Naw. She deserves to be left in the dark.” He nodded in her direction. “She’s loving the attention. She has no idea I’m about to blow her gravy train off the map.”

Barry ran into the room. “She’s here. A taxi just pulled up.”

Stone’s heart started beating double-time. She’d come. If he was honest with himself, he’d known she would. They were connected and if he had his way, they would have another type of connection after the press conference.

“Go meet her and get her to the seat we reserved in the front.”

“What about the vultures?”

“Walt will go with her. He’ll fight them off,” Stone said, businesslike. “Put Divina out back. I don’t want her to get too humiliated.”

Barry and Walt took off and Stone went over what he wanted to say. He took a deep breath.

At nine, George walked up to him. “We’re behind you, Stone. Go get ’em.” He slung an arm over his shoulder, squeezed and released him.

Stone took the stage one step at a time, careful not to look down to where he knew Grace was sitting and watching him. He felt her eyes on him, caressing him like she had with her talented fingers. Taking another steadying breath and giving a quick nod to the racing gods, he stepped up to the mic.

“Thank you for coming today. As you know, I’m Stone Adams. A week ago I crashed on the track. Thankfully I have recovered and will be back to racing soon. The accident did more than give me a break from the hectic race schedule, it also gave me a chance to reevaluate my family life.” He paused and considered what to say next. He remembered his mom pulling Band-Aids off when he was a kid. She always said to do it quick, get it over with to make it hurt less.

“When I was in Las Vegas, I got married. You know that part. Some of you noticed a difference in my wife from one race to the next and I’ll explain it all. I married Divina Cromwell.” He heard Divina ask if she should join him on stage. He tried to give an underhanded wave off. “Once we arrived home, Divina decided marriage to me wasn’t what she wanted.”

A few hands shot up, questions flying off their tongues.

“Let me finish, please. As I was saying, Divina wanted out, but I didn’t want to admit to anyone, especially you guys, that I made a mistake.” He heard her squeak from backstage.

“So we convinced my sister-in-law, Grace, to act the part of my wife. I was the luckiest man on Earth when she agreed. At first she was challenging–making demands, afraid of the media and downright unagreeable–but over time, she became so much more to me.”

He hazarded a look in her direction. She was sitting right in the seat he’d reserved for her. Her mouth formed a perfect “o.”

“What are you saying, Mr. Adams? Are you in love with your sister-in-law?”

“Yes, Bill, that’s exactly what I’m saying. I have talked to my agent, my sponsor and now to you. Everyone knows what’s going on. I filed for an annulment this morning from Divina Adams. My plan is to marry Grace Cromwell if she’ll still have me. I know this wasn’t the conventional way to meet or fall in love, but I hope you’ll support me in this decision.”

“I will not!”

Divina charged onto the stage, red rage blazing in her eyes. Stone felt a moment of fear. Fear for his safety, and fear for the spectacle she was about to create.

“Don’t do this,” he hissed. “You’ll regret it.”

“You think I’ll give you a divorce? You’ve taken everything from me. Hank, my sister. No. I won’t give you up.”

“You don’t have a choice,” he said.

“Mrs. Adams. Did you know your husband was in love with your sister?”

She paused, long enough for everyone to know that she’d known. “Of course not. I can’t believe my own flesh and blood would do this to me and to my marriage.”

“Are you kidding me?”

Stone whipped around toward Grace. He wasn’t sure it was actually her. Grace wouldn’t make a public scene, especially picking a fight with her sister. He was confused until he saw Grace leap the stairs onto the stage in one stride.