In Search of Grace (22 page)

             
The man
did not
hear Seth’s approach
,
only felt himself
grabbed
then thrown up against the house.

             
“Who are you?”  Seth demanded.

             
“Dude, chill out, I am just looking for my wife
.
”

             
“Wife?” Seth growled at him.

             
“Well, technically
ex-wife
.  She’s not returning my calls
,
and I want to talk to her about a business matter.”

             
Alex’s ex-
husband halted
,
then defensively
responded
.  “Wait, who the hell are you?”

             
“I a
m the neighbor.”

             
“
U
h huh
,
I bet you are
.
”
Seth
released his grip while
Jeremy
turned
,
looking
Seth up and down
, t
aking in the uniform
.

             
“
Get
a piece yet
?
  N
o, of course you
did
n’
t,
no
t with
Alex
. 
Let me give you a bit of advice.
You
don’t want
her
pal
, s
he
’
s a bit of a cold fish, if you know what I mean.”

             
Seth was seeing red even before
Jeremy
finished speaking
.  Grabbing him
by the front of the
shirt
,
he hauled
him to the front of the house
.  Throwing him to the ground
,
Seth placed his knee in the small of
Jeremy’s
back
while
reaching
into his pocket
pulling
out the wallet.
  Seth immediately found the driver
’
s license.
“Jeremy Tuttle from
Rhode Island
, you are trespassing on private property.“  Hesitating for only a moment, Seth pulled his phone out
.

             
“What are you
doing
?” 

             
Seth
ignored
him
.
“Yes, this is Trooper Walton, I have
a
trespasser at
26 Grove Street
.  Yes, thank you.” 

             
Jeremy struggled as Seth made the call.  “I told y
ou
I know her. Her name is
Alex and she is my
ex-wife
.  Please don’t call the cops!”

             
Seth leaned down
,
pressing even harder while leaning forward.
“
I am the fucking police. 
Why are you sending her flowers?”

             
“What flowers?  What the hell are you
talking
about?”

             
“You didn’t send Alex
or
Grace flowers?”

             
“No!”
Jeremy grunted as Seth pressed harder on him
.
“No, I didn’t send her anything
.  Who
the hell is
Grace?
”

             
Seth thought for a moment.  Th
is
guy may be a shit, but he actually believed him.

             
“You ever come here
again
,
I swear you will not even remember
your
name by the time I am done with you.  What
ever your business is with Alex,
it
is
now
non-
existent
.  Do you hear me
pal
?
”

             
Hearing the sirens, Seth eased up the pressure but did not release his grip until the
Malden
police had
Jeremy
in custody.  Briefly filling the
officers
in on what happened, he watched as they hauled
him
away. 
He knew that they
would not
hold him for long. 
However,
it was enough that would possibly make him think twice about coming back and seeking out Alex.  Seth
walked
to his house.  As each day
passed,
he realized that he knew less and less about this woman that had grabbed his heart.   He
did know
that
living
with secrets
could
eat at you, ripping you apart day by day until you are just a shell of who you were before.
 
He would not allow that to happen to her.

Alex
walked
off
the stage while the applause was still rip
pling through the auditorium. 
Thinking to herself how fantastic it felt speaking to a crowd this large
,
all
women
.  Greg was standing
off to
the side
looking at Alex with intense pride.
 

             
“Wow, you reall
y
pulled that one off.”
He had seen her at many events, but this one was the most powerful
.
She
seemed so
confident
and sure of herself. 

             
“
Whoever he is, my dear, keep him.  He has brought out a different part of you that I like.
”

             
Alex glowed at the praise.
“Greg, do you think that you could change my flight back to
Boston
for this afternoon and not tomorrow?”
  She did not want to wait another day to see
Seth
.  She missed him.

             
“Sure thing, I will have Vanessa make the arrangements.”

             
Reaching for her phone, she started to dial
Seth’s
number
,
then stopped.  No, she
did not
want to talk over the telephone
.
 
Their last conversation had gotten completely out of control
,
and s
he wanted to see Seth and apologize face to face.  It was going to be a long trip back home.

             
After landing in
Boston
, it w
a
sn’t until she was d
riving
home that
it dawned on her that he might be working a shift tonight. 
It
was not
until 7:00
pm
when she
finally
pulled
up in front of her house and breathed a sigh of relief at seeing his truck
in the driveway
, and a light on
in his house
.
  Sweaty and tired
,
her nerves started to get the best of her. 
Maybe
she
should s
hower
before heading over.
She decided it would be best to
take
a few more minutes
to compose herself.
Thirty minutes later
,
Alex was looking at her reflection in the mirror
.  Her eyes were wide and uncertain. What if he was still angry with her?

             
Taking a deep breath, she knew it was time
to face her fears
.  Stepping through the
gate
separating
the two houses,
her pulse started to race while the
doubt
came in waves,
flood
ing
her.  Maybe she should have called
first.
  Maybe he
was not
alone. 
Hearing the
rock
music blasting through his
speakers,
she k
nock
ed
loudly
on the door
.
  After a few
moments,
she
gave up,
started to turn away
,
when the door opened.  Seth seemed surprised to see her.
His body stiffened
while
Alex inhaled sharply
at the site of him.

He had no shirt
on
,
and his bare chest
,
sprinkled with hair looked damp.  His faded jeans
ripped at the knees
, were well worn and
unbuttoned at the waist.
He was barefoot
,
smelling of
soap
,
and
Alex realized he must have
just taken a shower
himself
. 
She
swallowed hard.
  This was going to be harder than she thought.

             
“
Can
I come in
?
”

             
Hesitating
at first, then w
ithout
say
ing
a word
,
he opened the door wider so that she could step in
,
but he did not move
,
forcing
her to
turn sideways
to
pass
him
,
t
heir
bodies
touching briefly as she did so. 
Locking
eyes with her the whole time
,
s
he could feel
the anger emanating from him.

             
Walking to the
center of the
kitchen,
she spoke
.
“Seth, I am sorry
.
I
should have told you I was leaving
.
”
Her voice trailed off.

             
“
I was worried about you
,
Alex.”

             
“I know
.
”
H
er voice trailed off n
ot know
ing
what to say next
.
 
It was obvious h
e had no intention of helping her with the conversation.  Seth
walked to the counter leaning against it with arms crossed.
  There was no softness to him as his eyes bored into hers, demanding an explanation.

             
Unsure of what to say next, she stepped closer to him and touched his arm.

             
“I AM sorry
.
”

             
He unfolded his arms and rested them on each side of him on the counter.  He looked
relaxed
,
but
the
vein pulsing on the side of his jaw proved that to be an illusion.  E
lectricity
snapped
in the air
around them. 
Looking
deep
into his
eyes,
she took another step closer and saw them darken a bit. 

             
Seth watched her struggle with her apology
.  He
knew that
his anger had more to do with
his disappointment at her
not trusting him
and worry that something
terrible
had happened to her.