In Search of Grace (15 page)

 
             
“
To Grace
, I will never forget you
.”   There was no signature
on the front or the back
. 

             
He turned back to Alex and saw that she had covered her ears with her hands rocking back and forth. 
Grabbing her
shoulders,
he shook her.  “Alex, who sent these to you?
And who is Grace?
”

             
Without any
response,
he yanked her up from her sitting
position
and hauled her to the front door, leaving the box and the card lying
i
n the front yard. 

             
“
You know what you need honey? 
You need a stiff drink, and
then I think it is about time
you and I have a bit of a chat.”

             
Charles
did not
like the way she looked
as he
placed her carefully into a kitchen chair.  Slamming around the
cabinets,
he searched in vain for something strong
to give her
.

             
“Hell woman, don’t you have
anything
here stronger than herbal tea
?
”  Alex pointed to the cabinet in the
living room
. 

             
“Now that is more like it!”  Grabbing a bottle of Jack Daniels
,
he
strode
back to the
kitchen
and poured two s
tiff
drinks
, t
hrusting
one
into her hands
.   “
Drink
,
Alex!
”

             
She started to cough as liquid f
ire burned down her throat
at the first gulp.
 

             
“Pussy foot
.
” 

             
She stared at him.  “What did you just say?” 

             
“I called you a pussy foot”.

             
They stared at each other for a full moment,
and then
they both burst out laughing.  In mid laugh, Alex started to cry which
in turn, turned into
to a full sob.

             
“Oh baby….you have got to tell me
what the hell is going on.  What is making you so upset?
”  Charles came from behind and hugged her strongly.

             
“Can I have more?
”
Pointing to the whiskey, Charles
did not
hesitate.  Maybe if she
were
drunk enough, she would spill the beans.  His eyebrows
went
up as he watched her down the second portion that he gave her.

             
A hiccup escaped from her lips.
“Excuse me…”  Pressing her fingers to them
,
she remembered Seth’s kiss
,
and tears filled her eyes again.  Charles said nothing.  Sitting in
silence,
he waited for her to speak.

             
“We never spoke about my divorce
,
Charles
,
remember? 
You had gone to
Europe
with
Gerard
and had wanted me to go
.
”

             
“I remember
,
Alex.  I had begged you to come with us
,
and you said that a year was too long to be away and that you wanted to make a decision about you and Jeremy.  By the time I came back, you had already filed for a divorce.”

             
“Yes, that’s right…”  Her voice drifted off.  Charles was worried
.
S
he was acting as if she
was
in shock
,
and
he was not
sure what to do.

             
“You left, and I was so alone.  I knew that I had to leave him but
did not
know how.  It was so bad Charles…I missed you so much.  
You
have to understand, a
s bad as my marriage was with Jeremy
it was not
his fault entirely
.  It was me.”

             
“Alex.  The guy was an ass and treated you terrible
.
”

             
“Wait, you don’t understand!  He was right though.  I was
standoffish
,
a
nd I did have issues
stemming from my childhood
.  There are things that happened in the past, before you or Jeremy
,
and I brought it into the marriage
.
  Even I am not stupid though
.  One day, I came home early to talk to him and found he was
screwing
another woman.
”
 

             
“
Ok
ay
, t
hat I don’t
remember
,
Alex,
but it makes sense.  Y
ou called and said it was over
,
and you had filed your divorce papers that day.  I asked if you wanted me to come home
,
but you said no.”

             
“I felt so good finally standing up to him.  Standing up to him was like standing up to every person that ever hurt me growing up.  I was really ok with the divorce.”

             
Charles looked at her confused.  Well,
if it wasn’t Jeremy, then what was bothering
her
?
Her voice went down to a whisper.
“
I never told anyone
except the police
.
”
  Alex stopped talking, grabbed the whiskey
bottle
and poured more into her glass. 
Charles was relieved to see that
even though
h
er hand was still shaking
,
she was more in control. 

             
“
Alex, I am so confused right now. 
What does this all have to do with the flowers?
 
And
who
is Grace Davis?”

             
“
I went for a walk….it was such a beautiful afternoon.  Kind of cool
, but the
kind of
weather I like
.  I went to
Break
heart
…I
didn’t
tell anyone where I was going.  Nobody knew.  He must have
followed me..
.”
Alex’s voice trailed off.
  Charles’
s
body started to chill
,
and he could feel the gooseflesh break out over his skin.  
He knew he was at that moment in life
when
you hear something that changes you forever. 
He dared not even
breathe
as she continued to speak for
fear
she would stop.
 

             
“One minute he wasn’t there and the next he was.  I remember that I had been thinking of
how great my
future looked. 
Everything was falling into place
again
.  It kinda made up for my past, ya know?”  She looked at him at that moment, wanting him to understand; needing someone to understand.  “
I wished...
” her
voice caught. 
Charles watched as h
er eyes glazed over again as she
star
ed
back into time
.
The
tea
rs fell one by one down her face as she
continued
.
“He asked to walk with me
,
and I said no….and he didn’t like that
very much
,
and
then
grabbed my arm.  It hurt
,
Charles.”  She rubbed her arm as if she felt again the pain of his touch.  “I pulled away and tried to run.  He ran after me.  We came to a clearing
,
and
…
and
he knocked me down, and it hurt
.”

             
“
Oh my God - w
hat did
he do to you
,
Alex?”

             
She shook her head back and forth, unsure if she should go on.  Charles got up and
sat next to her,
taking her hands in his large ones.  “Tell me
,
Alex! What did he do to you?”

             
Anger
welled
up inside
as h
e remembered how s
he had loo
ked when
he had returned from
Europe
.
She was
thin as a rail
. H
e had assumed it was the stress of her divorce.
Staring into her face now, he remembered what had bothered him most about her
when he returned
. 
It
was her eyes
.  They had looked empty and dark
all of the time
.
Some of the girls in the office would say that they looked creepy.  He thought they
looked haunted
,
just as they did now.
  She had never spoken about
an
assault
.  Now he kicked himself for not prying deeper
sooner
.

             
“He raped me
,
Charles
.
”
S
he
hiccupped again and reached for some more whiskey.  Her voice returned to the same whisper as if she
did not
want anyone to hear.  Charles had to lean in to catch her
next
words.  “
But
I got away somehow
.
  Charles, I am Grace.  My real name is Grace Alexandra Davis.
”

             
“You have to go to the police!”

             
“Stop
,
Charles
! 
I did.”  Defeated
,
he watched her shoulders droop as a
knock at the front door made them both jump.
“Are you expecting anyone?”
Heart beating
,
Charles strode to the door. 
Peering
though the
glass,
he saw Seth.  “It’s Seth
.”
 

             
“Oh God
! 
No Charles, he can’t see
me like this….p
lease, not now!
“

             
Charles opened the front door.

             
“Hey
,
Seth….”

             
“Charles.  I saw these
in
the front yard and wanted to give them to Alex, she must have dropped them.”

             
Surprise crossed Seth’s face as Charles grabbed the box while blocking the entryway
.

             
“Um, is everything ok?”

             
“Yes, thank you
,
and I will be sure to give these to her.  Thank you. Bye.”
  Charles
tried to close the door, but Seth had placed his foot in the
doorjamb
. 

             
“You know
,
Charles, I am tired,
and so
I am not going to push right now
,
but if you ever need me, give me a call.”  After handing Charles his
card,
he removed his foot
. 
Charles
hesitated before nodding
.