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“What?!” I sat up too quickly, spilling tea on my skirt. I wiped it off with my hand, but little drops had already soaked into the fabric. “The articles I read said nothing about Guy being married. Actually, I could only find one small article on his disappearance. I looked for any follow-up articles on what transpired but couldn’t find a single word.”
“That was Mr. Bianchi’s doing. He kept it all as hush hush as he could.” Grace swung her legs around to the side of the chair. With her arms resting on her knees, she was leaning toward me. I turned in my chair to look at her head-on.
“We eloped and didn’t tell the family for a while. Actually, we came clean the day before he went missing. Antonio worked hard to keep the disappearance quiet. It hurt him terribly. He didn’t want his misery on display for the public. I greatly appreciated it, too.” Gracie paused before continuing. “I was young, recently orphaned, and now widowed, all in a matter of months. The baby was the only thing keeping the grief at bay. Without her, I don’t know what I would’ve done.”
My mind was on overload. So much tragedy in such a short time.
“Baby?” I asked.
“Yes, I was in my first trimester when Guy went missing. The baby was the only thing that made me get out of bed. The only thing that kept me eating. It got easier as she grew, when I could feel her move and kick. I never felt alone. Of course, I swore it was a boy.” Gracie smiled and rested her hand on her stomach, remembering that time in her life.
“Where is your daughter now?”
“She lives in New York and is a fashion editor for a magazine. She loves the busy-ness of the city. I see her as often as I can.”
“I’m glad you had her. It must have all been very overwhelming, but how have you stayed out of the spotlight? I’ve looked at every image I could find of Frank. I’ve never seen you in one. I’ve never seen your name mentioned. How are you able to stay close to him, but—”
“Let’s get back on track here. Although, my story does overlap with Franky’s and with yours.”
I felt the confusion on my face. Gracie jumped from subject to subject. My thoughts were spinning trying to keep up. I looked to Gray for support. He sipped his tea and watched the show. I turned back to Gracie and addressed her. “Mine? How?”
“The ring Gray gave you. It was the one that Guy gave to me.”
“My ring?” I pulled my hand against my chest, covering the ring with my other hand.
My ring?
My sudden mama-bear overprotection of the ring startled me, causing me to drop my hands before changing my mind and bringing them back together. I fidgeted for a moment before finally pulling the ring off and holding it up to the light. To me, the ring was special, but now, I realized it was more so than I had thought.
“Gray has always been special to me. I was a faux-aunt to him. Taking him to the park to play, special days, just him and me. He was such a sweet kid. I love him like my own. He,” Gracie nodded toward Gray, “and my daughter, were the very best of friends growing up. Gray probably knows my love story with Guy better than anyone. It was his favorite bedtime story.” Gracie reached for the ring and I willingly gave it to her. “I passed the ring on to him a few years ago. I told him to find his own path and save the ring for the woman who would blaze the trail with him.”
My eyes found Gray’s. He had used those words with me before. Blaze a trail. Light twinkled off the band as Gracie twisted it in front of her.
“That’s really Gray’s motto, as you probably well know. He was unhappy here. He didn’t fit the mold that Mary and Michael wanted. It was frustrating to watch. I finally took Gray on a drive, gave him the ring and told him to get the heck out of here. He’s smart, so he listened.”
Grace and Gray smiled at one another, love passing between them.
“Where did you go?” I asked.
“Don’t you know?” Gracie had started at the question. “Chicago. That was the trip where he met you. He called me hours later and told me everything about you. At least, what little he knew then.”
“Really?”
I turned to Gray with a smile in my voice. “Why have I never heard this before?”
“I can’t give away all of my secrets.” Gray winked and smiled back at me. Electricity zinged between us. I wanted to sit on his lap and curl into him. “I would’ve married you the next day.”
“I would’ve run for the hills.” When I met Gray, I was commitment shy from a bad break-up.
“You did the first time I proposed, remember?”
“Unfortunately,” I said.
“I knew I had to take my time with you, ease you into the idea of a relationship. Waiting for you to decide to come with me to Costa Rica was the longest twelve hours of my life.”
“It was the best decision I ever made.” I reached my hand toward him. Gray grasped it in his and pulled me toward him. I got my wish and curled up against him. I laid my head on his shoulder and enjoyed the heat coming from him. Golfers crested the hill behind Gray, reminding me that we weren’t alone.
My face flushed hot in embarrassment as I looked back over at Grace. I separated myself from Gray and sat back down in my original seat. I resisted the urge to fan my face with my hand even though I felt the heat of the blush.
Gracie handed me my ring back with a knowing look in her eye. Last night, I had not taken the time to really look at it. I was just so happy to have it on... to want to have it on. I took a moment to inspect it. The ring was smooth and white gold. I turned the ring so the sunlight would illuminate it enough for me to clearly see all of it. Etchings marked the inside of the band. I squinted to read the small print.
“‘Forever Entwined’. Did Guy put that in here?”
“Come inside. How about I fix us a little lunch and I’ll tell you about it.”
The layout was open so I wandered around the house, looking at photographs, and shooting her questions while she prepared the food.
“Your daughter didn’t want the ring?”
“She has plenty of personal items to remember us both by. Plus, I always taught her to follow her own dreams, not mine. The ring represents Guy, Gray, and now you, going your own way.”
“Guy didn’t want to follow in Antonio’s footsteps? He didn’t want the hotel?”
“He thought he did, until we met. After that he could picture a different life for himself, a simpler one. The hotel and the life it represented lost its appeal.”
I could understand that. The mob seemed way too controlling for me. I liked not having people in my business all of the time.
And, yes, I realized the irony since I was always in other people’s business. Like now, as I took in the photographs Grace had framed. I loved glimpsing others’ histories. Gracie’s daughter was stunning. She favored Gracie, but her face had harder lines. A shadow of the chiseled good looks of her father.
“So, Guy didn’t want the hotel, but went missing, so it’s a moot point. Why didn’t the other two brothers end up with it? How did Frank get control?” We danced around the subject of the mob. I was sure she must’ve known, and I was sure she must’ve known that I knew, but neither of us said it. Yet.
“Have you met Sal and Tony? Antonio always said that instincts couldn’t be taught. He should’ve known. He spent years trying to get those two to just think. Every decision they made benefitted them, and them only. Those two would’ve run the business into the ground and killed each other in the process.”
“But Frank?”
“Frank has natural instincts. He focused himself, got a degree in business and management from the University of Nevada, and became Antonio’s shadow. Antonio’s only stipulation in passing the business to Frank was he take care of Tony and Sal. Keep them on the payroll and give them bogus jobs.”
“Essentially, Frank is a lifetime caregiver for the brothers. Do you think either of them would ever want control of the casino? Would one, or both, try for a coup?” I asked.
“Those two are the laziest men I have ever met. They both avoid hard work, so the answer is no. They are both smart enough to realize the time and energy Frank puts in on their behalf.”
I let her words sink in but decided not to take them at face value. Large sums of money were a huge motivator for anyone. I whispered to Gray that I’d still like to follow up. He squeezed my hand in response.