Saving Grace (2 page)

To keep her heartbreak from resurfacing, she promptly stood, dusted the sand off her legs, and started toward her home.  She turned just in time to see Zach, her boyfriend, coming down the wooden walkway with a curious look on his face that she couldn’t quite interpret.

She brushed her hair back from her shoulders, and put on a sunny smile in greeting.

“Hey, I tried the doorbell.”  He frowned.  “What are you doing out here?”

“Me?” She shrugged her shoulders.  “I don’t know.  I just needed some alone time.   It’s been such a beautiful afternoon.”

Grace took Zach in.  He was dressed to the nines, in a tailor made tux with his father’s cuff links.  His face was clean shaved and he smelled good enough to eat.  She took his hand, and admired how handsome he was.

“Why are you all dressed up?”  Her stomach began to knot, hoping she didn’t forget another event. 

Grace wasn’t flighty, but unless she was kept on track, with a strict schedule, she was known to forget a party or two.

“Don’t you know what time it is?” His brow furrowed.  “Your grandmother has been trying to call you for over an hour.”

She pat down her shorts pockets, and shook her head.  “Sorry, I guess I left my cell inside.”

              “Obviously.”  He raised his eyebrow in disdain.

Grace didn’t like his expression or his tone, and felt sometimes Zach was nothing more than a glorified babysitter.  She wished he’d act more like her boyfriend and less like Lilah’s concierge.  She quickly brushed the thought from her mind.  She knew he was concerned that he couldn’t reach her, not because Lilah couldn’t … or so she hoped.

              “Sorry.  What time is it?”  She was trying to remember which event Lilah had deemed dire this time.

              “Time for me to pick you up for the fundraiser. Lilah’s been talking about it for weeks. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.  She wanted to remind you to wear your emerald green dress.”  Zach squinted his eyes, thinking she’d gone mad, and continued, “This is one of the biggest parties of the season, and you’re not answering your cell?”

              Grace sighed.  This was just another obligation or reminder that her life was not her own.  She stuffed the thought down, and gave him a brilliant smile, not wanting to upset him any further.

              “Yes, I remember,” she lied, and reached for his hand.

“Really?”  He asked, irritated.  He looked at his watch and pulled her back toward her house.

“I don’t take that long to get ready.”  She pulled her hand away, and paused for one more look at the ocean, saying, “And, I knew I had time for this.”

Grace waved her open arms toward the sea.  She breathed in her last breathe of ocean air. 

“Or so I thought …” Her voice trailed off, as she followed Zach back up to her home.

“Well, hurry up.  Now I’ve got to get the sand out of my shoes.  I don’t need to track a bunch of grit into my car.” 

              As promised, Grace was ready in record time.  She exited her bedroom expecting a smile, as she thought she did pretty well considering she was rushed.

Zach gave her a look of approval as she walked out, and then looked to his watch with a frown.  He didn’t compliment her or seem to notice how she perfected her look.  He just ushered her out the door, and reached for his cell.

              “I’ll lock us out,” he said, and motioned for her to go to his car.  Grace gave him a sideways look and left for his convertible, as requested. 

Zach’s Backdraft roadster was sitting unlocked at the end of her walkway.  She carefully walked down the pathway in her long dress, and opened her own door. 

Thankfully, the high slit along her thigh allowed her to slip in easily enough, but without a hand to help her take her seat, she relied on her own strength to sit as lady like as she could.  Grace struggled to close her own door, but finally grasped the handle to pull it in.  She looked up to Zach expecting some help, but he was more interested in talking to her grandmother on his cell phone, than taking care of her needs.

She narrowed her eyes as he rounded the front of the car and reached for his own door instead of closing hers.  She was so irritated that she wished she had some leniency with her dress, so could have reached over and locked him out.

As Zach opened his door, she heard the tail end of his conversation with her grandmother.

              “Yes, we’re on our way.  I told you I’d get her there on time.  Yes … you’re welcome Lilah.  Anything I can do for you.” 

As he slid in to start the engine, he didn’t notice Grace staring daggers at him.

              “Zach?”  She clamped her lips, and raised her eyebrow.

              Sensing her impatience, he smiled widely in her direction.  The last thing he wanted was to turn her off from his charms.  She was his means to an end, and he sometimes let that fact get lost in the game.

              “Yes, darling.”  He laid it on a bit thick, but knew he’d not paid her much attention and needed to smooth her ruffled feathers.  He softly lifted her hand for a kiss and looked lovingly into her eyes, saying, “You look beautiful tonight.” 

In return, she raised her eyebrow and pursed her lips.

              “How do you have a key to my house?” She reigned in her anger. 

              “Oh, uh.”  Zach dropped her hand to put his car in reverse.  “When Lilah couldn’t reach you, she called me to get her key and come check on you.”  He flashed a brilliant smile toward her before pulling out of her drive.

              Grace narrowed her eyes at his profile, rolling his words over in her head.  It made sense, but she wasn’t ready for him to have access to her home.

“Okay … I guess, but I’ll want it back.” 

              “Of course.”  He smiled tightly, and gripped the steering wheel. 
Denied again,
he thought before saying, “I’ll give it back to you when I drop you off.”

              Grace nodded, and firmly added, “Good.”

If you remember,
he thought bitterly
.

              They both rode in silence, with minds swirling in thought.  However, if Grace knew what was going through his, she’d want out of his car and as far away as possible.

Chapter 2

Zach Garnett, the only son of Gavin and Melanie Garnett, grew up in what he felt a substandard environment.  It was no secret that his dad married his mom, whom he thought was second best, because he had to. 

If Gavin had married his first choice, Elizabeth Aundine, he would have been more inclined to shower more attention on his family.

              Elizabeth, the daughter of Andrew and Lilah Aundine, had been promised to Gavin in an arrangement that had been made from the time the two were teens. Both of Gavin and Elizabeth’s parents made their wishes clear from the start, which was to join their family lines and finances.  It would strengthen their bloodlines and their bank accounts.

              Although Elizabeth was the quintessential catch, Gavin never worried about her being swept away by another man, because his family had one of the best financials in New York City. Since he knew Elizabeth was loyal to her parent’s wishes, he never imagined she’d fall in love with someone else – let alone run off to get married … until the day she did. 

And that betrayal became even worse, when he discovered that she left him for a beach bum from the West Coast, who Gavin felt was masquerading as a soldier.  It didn’t matter that Elizabeth’s choice was actually in the military.  To him, he was no hero serving his country rather he was a low life grunt. 

              Gavin never moved past the burn of betrayal, to which Zach felt the brunt of his whole life. When he was younger, he tried to bond with his father to no avail. As adult, even after his father’s passing, he tried to think of ways he could earn his late father’s respect and get back at the Aundine’s for his family’s shame.  

              It didn’t take much to come up with a plan.  His first step was to move into their home at the Hampton’s during the summer.  He needed to be close to the Aundine’s, and it was no secret that Lilah never got over the scandal that her daughter caused.  All it took was a well-intentioned sentence at a dinner party for it to all fall into place.  Zach smiled in remembrance. 

Miss Lilah, you look more beautiful than ever.  Although I’ve had eyes for your granddaughter for some time.  Wouldn’t it be nice for our families to finally come together?

             
Within days, she invited him over for afternoon tea with she and Grace.  He sat for two hours answering Lilah’s questions about the most trivial subjects he’d ever encountered.  It was grueling, but the end result was in sight.  Before he left, he asked to see Grace and when she saw her grandmother’s approval, she said yes.

              He left with a master plan that he knew would make his father proud.

Chapter 3

The morning after the fundraiser, Grace awoke feeling utterly stifled.  As her mind wandered to the previous night, her chest constricted and she was unable to breathe.  Between dealing with Zach’s up and down personality swings or her grandmother’s looks of disapproval, she was constantly on her toes throughout the night.  Both made her feel as if she was never good enough. 

Tuning out last night’s drama, she lay quietly listening the ocean roar outside.  As hard as she tried to center her emotions, it was to no avail. 

She tightly squeezed her eyes shut; enough that she began to see stars. 

“Ugh,” she grunted and threw her legs off the side of the bed, sitting up. 

Deep down, she knew that she should pray in times of turbulence, but at this point in life she wondered if God would hear her.  Instead, she did what any young girl, in her shoes with a limitless bank account, would do.  She shut off her mind, stuffed down her emotions, and planned some retail therapy.

An impromptu shopping trip with her best friend and partner in crime, Mercy, was exactly what she needed.  Only to keep her Grandmother from meddling in her life, she left out her best friend’s name when telling about her weekend trip.  Mercy was someone else on grandmother Lilah’s taboo list.

Grace smiled to herself, knowing if Lilah knew where she was or whom she was going with – she’d throw a fit.  Mercy once was part of their socialite circle, and was on the approved list – until her family lost their money.  It was then that Lilah discouraged their friendship.

In Lilah’s world the two would no longer have anything in common, and there was no need for her granddaughter to befriend someone below them, however Grace loved Mercy.  She was her friend, and money or lack thereof would not change that.

With one text to her bestie and one call to her travel agent to book their flights, Grace quickly packed and smiled as she sailed out the door, finally being able to breathe.

Grace ran her fingers along the lacy edges of the purple baby doll nightgown, at LaPerla.  And although the two of them were shopping for Mercy’s honeymoon, thoughts of what her own honeymoon night could be ran through her mind before she shook her head. 

She wasn’t even in love, so why was she envisioning what she could look like in this?  She picked it up and spun to the mirror as she held it up for size. 

“Oooh! I love that.”  A smartly dressed sales person crooned, in efforts to make a sale.  Grace gave her a half-hearted smile and set it back down, to the sales woman’s dismay. 

“No, thank you. I’m not here for me.”  She tossed her hair over her shoulders to pay attention to the reason she was here. 

Grace watched Mercy as she poured over some of the nighties across the aisle, and smiled at her friend with fondness, remembering how they met.

As a child, Grace would often escape to the shoreline in efforts to recall memories of her parents. On one particular afternoon, Grace peacefully sat sinking her little legs into the wet sand, as the edge of the bubbly water rushed up around her.  She squealed in delight as the warm ocean splashed up on her face, and then turned to wave at Anne to double check that her sister was still there.  Like clockwork, Anne would give her a wide smile and waved her arm in return.

Grace gently rested her hands on the surface to skim the streaming water, as it enveloped her up to her waist. Bubbles and seaweed rushed through her fingers.

This is what brought her joy … the feel of the ocean surrounding her.  She was totally caught up in the moment … until another bright-eyed little girl took it upon herself to jump in the rising tides and splash the warm water onto Grace – breaking her solitude.