Chapter Twenty-Six

Grace climbed the steps to the front porch of her disaster house. Things really were becoming a disaster. The renovations were going okay, but they weren’t going to make the deadline. Not after Blaise told her Cash wanted to go back to California.

She couldn’t tell in the dark interior of Blaise’s truck on the race back from the lake, but maybe he had tears in his eyes. He didn’t want to lose his son. She knew that much for sure.

Hoke Carter was onto her investigation into who bought the house for her. He’d said as much, but that wasn’t going to stop her. She’d go to the library tomorrow and look up Claire Phillips. Blaise had enough on his plate. He didn’t need to help her.

She shut the door and leaned against it. She’d left a small table lamp on so the house wouldn’t be in total darkness when she returned. The lamp sat on the floor because the room still wasn’t finished, and maybe never would be at this rate. The place smelled of dust and spackle.

What would she do if she lost this house? How would she return to Silverside and still hold her head up? Jenn had said she was crazy for taking this project on. Chloe thought it too. Larry would probably have a good laugh at her expense. Would she have to tell the people at the Silverside Library about her failure? Silverside might be bigger than Heritage River, but gossip still flowed at a quick rate. There would be whispers about Grace making a fool of herself. Isn’t that what she had been doing down here?

What she needed was a cup of tea.

With a soft knock, she carefully opened Chloe’s door and checked. She didn’t expect Chloe to be asleep yet. She listened to her daughter’s slow breathing. Watching Chloe sleep never got old, and old habits don’t die. She used to stand at Chloe’s crib and watch in fascination as her little baby lay on her side, sucking on her fingers. Then Grace would watch as her preschooler with chubby cheeks tossed and turned in her sleep.

As Chloe got older, she didn’t check in as much. Larry always said it wasn’t necessary, and Chloe liked Grace stepping into her room less and less as the years went on. But she couldn’t help herself. Who was she if she wasn’t Chloe’s mother? She watched for a moment longer and then left as quietly as she came.

Grace took the tea and went out to the back patio. She could sit out there at least. Otherwise, she’d be confined to her bedroom, and at the moment, that had lost its appeal.

The lights were on in Blaise’s house. If she positioned herself right, she could see him over the fence as he paced back and forth in the kitchen. Cash stood at the counter, his hands in his pockets. Colton leaned against the fridge, a mug in his hand. Nothing good was going on over there. She sank into the patio chair. It wasn’t comfortable with its plastic lines cutting into her, but at least she could sit and see the stars.

She wanted to help Blaise. Offer advice, but she didn’t have any. She wasn’t in any position to tell him how to handle his son. She didn’t want Cash to go either, but her reasons were partly selfish. What was going on between the cousins? And why doesn’t anyone see it? Maybe Grace would ask Chloe what she thought. If the mood was right.

The chamomile soothed her nerves, which had been on fire since Blaise pressed his lips against hers. Just thinking about it made her legs jittery. It was a good thing she was sitting. She pressed her fingers to her lips and could still feel Blaise. He had smelled good too. Clean and masculine. She had wanted to run her fingers against his skin, but she didn’t dare. She hardly knew this man, but he was affecting her in ways no man had before. Making her act like a schoolgirl when she was a middle-aged divorced woman who should have some sense.

Did she really want to have sense? On the one hand, yes. He had been with so many women. She could contract a disease, and how could he possibly feel anything for her other than lust? She didn’t want to be another Blaise Savage conquest. Making love had to mean something, didn’t it? What would it mean to a man who could never stay in one place very long with hundreds of women lining up to get into his bed?

And what if she did try to have sex with him—her face flushed just thinking about it—and things went badly? She was out of practice. She and Larry hardly set off any fireworks. They had their routine, with its memorized steps. Lovemaking with Larry didn’t amount to much. As soon as it was over, he’d reach for his reading glasses and check emails. She’d roll over and turn out the light.

Just that kiss with Blaise felt hotter than any sex she had while married. Yes, he was skilled and it showed, but there was more. His quick wit and sense of humor. The subtleties and his consideration. The passion in his music. She needed to stop thinking about him, or she might find herself on his front porch. And how would that look?

Besides, he would go on tour and forget about her. Some younger, hotter woman would wave her bra in his face, and he’d forget about Grace. She couldn’t bear that. And she was leaving for Jersey as soon as she could. They weren’t in a position for a romance, and no amount of learning to be more of a free spirit was going to allow her to have a sexual affair with a man. She wasn’t ready to take that leap.

The lights went out next door. The Savage men had retired for the night. She hadn’t heard a car start or slamming doors, so maybe Blaise convinced Cash to stay at least until morning. She hoped Colton was on Blaise’s side through this. Colton’s obvious connection to Cash didn’t help matters any.

Grace drained the last of the tea. The night was warm and quiet. It might be nice to sleep outside if she had a way to do it. She could put up a hammock under the big poplar tree and a conversation set in wicker with green cushions under an awning would round out the backyard. A fire pit would be nice on cooler nights. This place could be a little oasis with half a chance. She pushed up from the chair. Something to think about.

Maybe she should think about staying. The thought took her by surprise, and she stopped with her hand poised at the sliding door. Stay? In Heritage River? Why? She glanced over her shoulder at the darkened house next door.

“It was just a kiss,” she said into the night. “Nothing more. Don’t get ahead of yourself. You’re too old for fantasies.”

****

The morning light slid through the kitchen window, draping the room in white. The heat hadn’t arrived yet. Grace stood by the opened window. The breeze rubbed against her warm skin. She hadn’t slept much with her mind racing in all directions. She was ready to start the day.

A truck rumbled into her driveway. Beau was there. Alone.

“Chloe, hurry. Beau is here,” she shouted through the house.

“Mom, you don’t have to yell.” Chloe turned the corner. She wore shorts and a tee.

“That looks like underwear.” Grace pointed a finger at the tiny pieces of cotton. “Why don’t you leave something to the imagination?”

“I’m an adult, and it’s my body. I can do what I want with it.”

“Said every hooker.” Grace yanked open the door before Chloe could stamp her feet and accuse Grace of calling her a hooker. Which she wasn’t, but Chloe wouldn’t see it that way.

“Good morning, Beau.”

He held up his coffee cup in salute. “Miss Grace. Miss Chloe. We have a lot of work to do today.”

“I hate this job.” Chloe threw her hands in the air. “I should’ve stayed in New Jersey.”

“You two have a lot of work today.” Grace pointed to Beau and Chloe’s retreating backs. “I have some errands to run, remember? I’m picking out the quartz counters and the appliances. I’ll be back later. Beau, you really should hire the boys back, and when is your crew coming?”

He gave her a grumble and marched into the kitchen. Stubborn old man. There was no time to debate with him. She wanted to get to the library when it opened and hopefully be in and out before Savannah arrived. Her internet service had been glitchy since she moved the router to the bedroom. If she locked herself in her bedroom, before long Chloe or Beau would come looking for her. She didn’t trust herself to lie well. Beau couldn’t find out what she was up to. He’d already warned her to stay away from any searching.

Before she could get out of the house, Colton walked through the front door, wearing his tool belt, work boots, and that same dimpled smile Blaise had. The smell of cigarettes followed him in.

“You’re not smoking in the house, are you?” It was out before she could stop it.

His eyes grew wide, and he threw a hand to his chest. “Who? Me? Never.” He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his shirt pocket. “You want one?”

“Don’t smoke in the house, please.”

“I won’t mess up your new house with my bad habit.”

“Good.” She pushed past him and headed outside.

Colton called from behind her. “You know you could say thank you.”

She stopped dead and turned around. The muscles in her neck twisted together. “Thank you for what?”

“For working on your house. I don’t have to do that, you know. It’s not like I need the money.”

“So why are you?” She hadn’t given it much thought. She was grateful Colton decided to join the crew. He seemed to know what he was doing, and the boys listened to him better than they listened to Beau. He was right. She was being rude. “Sorry, Colton. Thank you.”

He stared at her in surprise. “You’re welcome.” He turned on his heel.

“Hey, you didn’t answer my question. Why are you helping out?”

He stopped. “I have my reasons. But now it’s mostly because Beau needs my help.”

She took a deep breath and retied her hair in a ponytail. “Does that mean Cash is really leaving?”

“I’m not sure, and if he stays, there’s no saying if he’ll get his job back.” He hitched a thumb over his shoulder, pointing to the direction Beau went.

Colton was more of a softy than he let on, but she wouldn’t point it out. Let him have his bravado and stage presence. He didn’t seem to have a whole lot outside of his immediate family.

“Thanks again, Colton. I mean it.”

Colton waved with his hammer and went in.

Grace hurried to the library, but not without a glance at Blaise’s house before she pulled away. Hopefully, Cash would stay. Hopefully, Blaise stayed too. His tour would be a problem for all of them.

Grace didn’t recognize the one car in the library parking lot. That meant Savannah wasn’t in yet. If she hurried, maybe she’d get in and get out.

The air-conditioning hit her as she pushed through the door. The place smelled like old paper and overhandled books. She loved that smell.

Arlene sat at the circulation desk, her face buried in the computer screen. Her brown hair was piled on top of her head. Her lips were painted blood red. She left a lipstick ring on her white coffee mug that had seen one too many turns in the dishwasher, as the writing was all but worn off.

“Good morning.” Grace hoped she sounded good humored.

Arlene’s head popped up. “Oh, Grace. I wasn’t expecting you today.”

“I’m not here to work. I wanted to use the computer for a minute. I need to do some research.” She forced her sweaty hands to grip her purse instead of trying to smooth down her shirt. Her voice sounded strangled even to her.

“You don’t have internet access at your new place?” Arlene put more lipstick on that mug.

Grace waved a hand. “It’s so dusty there right now. I had a few errands to run anyway. I’ll just be a minute.” She scooted off to the back corner where the computer center was located.

The Heritage River library had only three computers for use. They were old-style personal computers with a wide monitor, but they still worked. Savannah wanted to use some of the fundraising money to buy new computers. Some of the town’s residents couldn’t afford computers or internet hookup at home and relied on the library to look for jobs, write resumes, and even stay in touch with friends and family faraway. Unfortunately, most of the fundraising money was going to fix the roof and update the checkout system. New books would be nice, but Savannah didn’t think the money would go that far. If Blaise didn’t play, the money raised might not be enough for the new computers.

Grace poised her fingers over the keyboard. She didn’t have much to go on. Where was Claire Phillips even from? She should have asked Blaise. She punched in the name, and a whole page of Claire Phillipses popped up. Some on Facebook, LinkedIn. One even had a Wikipedia page, but she didn’t look like a good fit since she was born at the turn of the nineteenth century.

Facebook was a good a place to try as any. Maybe Claire would have pictures with Nancy. People were pretty savvy with their security settings, locking Grace out of many of the photos. She scrolled and clicked, but not knowing where Claire was from had her going in circles. The search was pointless without more information. She should have planned better.

She tapped her fingers on the table and thought of the way Blaise always did that but with rhythm, unlike the awkward noise she was making. There was one other person she wanted to look up, although the library was the worst possible place to do it. She could ask around and hide her intentions better than punching his name into the search engine. If she was smart, she’d leave now. Instead, she checked around to make sure no one was nearby and typed Jud Montgomery, Heritage River into the search box.

As she suspected, articles from the local paper popped up. A full page of results with titles like:

Riverhawks Score Again!

Montgomery Soars with Three Touchdowns!

Riverhawks Give Their Opponents a Bath!

She skimmed through the articles. Jud was always mentioned as the team hero. The coaches and players loved him. She scrolled onto the next page and found the school’s honor roll listed. Jud’s name came up repeatedly. Another article talked about Jud and some classmates helping to build homes for the homeless. The picture that accompanied the piece was of Jud and four other boys, all smiling, their arms wrapped around each other.

Grace sat back in the chair. This kid had it all. Two loving parents, a good family including famous uncles, smarts, looks, and athletic prowess. And he hated Cash because Cash was none of those things. Often times kids like Jud found the weakest link and picked and picked until there was blood. How could he do that to his own cousin? To his uncle? But blood had nothing to do with it. It didn’t matter how you were related. Your closest relative could slice you up in ways no one else could.

“Grace.”

She jumped in her seat and fumbled with the mouse to shut the screen down before Savannah was on top of her. A quick glance at the clock said she’d been there longer than she’d planned.

Savannah dropped her big tote on the table and flopped down in the chair next to her. “You’re here early. Needed some quiet time?”

“Exactly.” The woman had a sixth sense. “I was just about to leave.” Grace jumped up and gathered her purse and keys.

“Before you go, I wanted to show you the seating layout I did for the concert.” Savannah rummaged through her bag and pulled out an overstuffed yellow folder. “I thought we’d use the parking lot and set the stage up at the south end. I know it means people will have to park on the streets and walk, but we don’t have enough grassy space for everyone to sit.”

“How are the ticket sales going?” Maybe no one was coming, and the loss of the main attraction wouldn’t be felt as much.

“Great. I think we sold a hundred tickets already. I’m salivating over that technology room.”

A hundred tickets. “That’s more than you thought you’d sell.”

“What can I say? My brother is still pretty popular in these parts. If I could convince Colton to join him even for one song, ticket sales would triple. This whole place would get a face-lift. So what do you think of the layout?”

Savannah dropped the folder on the keyboard, waking the monitor up. Grace fumbled across the table to shove it back to sleep, but not in time.

“Oh, were you searching for something?”

“Just trying to get into my Facebook account.”

“You’re on Facebook? Me too. You should friend me.”

“Thanks, I will.” If she were on Facebook, wouldn’t it stand to reason the Facebook page would be up and not Google? “I was just taking a quick peek before I researched materials for the new counters.” She felt like the kid caught drawing on the wall with crayons.

“Don’t worry about it, Grace. We all need a little mindless entertainment. I love all the pictures of people’s kids. I won’t tell Beau what you were up to. I’m sure he wants you back on the job site after yesterday.”

“Why do Jud and Cash fight so much?” It really wasn’t any of her business, and she expected Savannah to say so. Grace was an outsider. She had no right sticking her nose where it didn’t belong.

“You know boys. They say something, get mad, duke it out, and it’s over. Colton and Blaise were like that all the time growing up. Drove my dad crazy.” Savannah offered a thin smile.

Grace pushed her shoulders back and took a deep breath. She needed as much confidence as she could find to say what she was thinking. “I certainly don’t know them well, and don’t pretend to, but during our time together I’ve noticed the constant bickering. They aren’t getting over anything.”

Savannah shoved her folder back in her bag. “You’re right. You really don’t know them, and of course a mother knows her son better than anyone.”

Why did women think just because they pasted a smile on their face no one else could detect the disdain simmering below the surface? Grace nodded, but she knew where this was headed.

“Jud and Cash are going through a stage. They’re the same age, their bodies are changing, their minds are forming, and this will pass. I’m not worried,” Savannah said.

Grace’s throat dried up. She tried to swallow. “I’ve heard them. Is it possible, just a thought really, that there’s some jealousy?”

Savannah pressed her lips together. “You noticed. Please don’t say anything to Blaise. I don’t want to upset him. It stands to reason Cash would be jealous of Jud. Cash never sees Blaise. His grades were never great, and he doesn’t participate in any school activities. He doesn’t have a lot of friends, and he gave up playing music. And don’t get me started about his look. He’s a handsome kid, and I love him to death, believe me, but what does he expect people to think when they see him?”

There was no denying people made judgments based on appearances. It wasn’t always right, and often times people got things wrong—look at Ted Bundy—but Cash was a good kid. He didn’t want trouble. He kept to himself. Something more was going on, and Savannah was blinded by her “mother eyes.” Grace could understand that too.

“Would there be any reason Jud would be jealous of Cash?” Grace took a step backward to give Savannah as much space as possible to lob at the question.

Savannah pulled her shoulders back, studying Grace. “Did Blaise ask you to quiz me?”

Grace waved her hands. “He would never ask me to do something like that. I was just making an observation, that’s all. I’m sorry I said anything.” Grace gripped her keys. “I should be going.”

“Do you think you know my brother well?”

Heat filled Grace’s cheeks at the thought of how well she was starting to know him. His muscular chest, his thin waist. His soft lips and strong tongue. “No, certainly not.”

“That’s good, because you don’t and you don’t know his son well either. Thank you for your concern, but we have it all under control.”

“You do. Again, I’m sorry I mentioned anything.” Grace took her purse and headed for the front of the library. She understood Savannah was filling the role of protector of her family. She was the matriarch and had been for a long time. Women always stepped in and did whatever was necessary to keep the gears grinding, and she wouldn’t want Grace questioning the harmony in the family.

Grace didn’t want Cash to get the short end of the stick either, and he might be. She’d talk to Beau herself to get Cash’s job back if Cash wasn’t already on a plane back to California by then. She hurried to her car and pulled out of the parking lot before she remembered. Her breath caught in her throat. It was too late to go back. How would she explain her return? No, she’d have to keep going and just pray she hadn’t pushed Savannah too far or that Savannah wasn’t one to hold a grudge.

She’d forgotten to clear the history on the computer.