Finding You

Angela smiled bigger and nodded her head. “I’ll let you know if anything happens, but I’m confident she’ll sleep all night.”

Nodding, I said, “Great. Thanks so much. You’ll never know how much I appreciate you staying tonight.”

Giving me a wink, Angela said, “Oh it’s my pleasure. This is what I’m here for, Noah.”

The moment the door shut, I let out the breath I had been holding. Waiting a few minutes, I headed downstairs to the kitchen. I could hear the television on in the guest room. Opening the refrigerator, I looked at the beer Grayson had left behind two weeks ago. Reaching out for them, I saw Grace’s face flash before my eyes. My hand stopped and I grabbed a bottle of water instead.

By the time I made it back up to my room, I could hardly keep my eyes open. I sat on the bed and fell backward as I closed my eyes.

Slowly I felt relief coming. My mind cleared and I drifted off to sleep.

Grace

Opening the front door, I stepped out and ran right into someone. Looking up, I let out a small squeal as my father looked at me.

“Daddy! Another surprise visit?” I asked as I saw my mother standing slightly behind him.

“Mom!” Moving toward her, she opened her arms and held me tightly. “What have you done, Grace?” she whispered into my ear.

Pulling back, I looked at her cautiously. “What?” I asked as I glanced between the two of them.

“Are you headed to class?” my father asked in a stern voice. I was instantly transported back to the night I got busted for sneaking out of the house and heading to a party Jimmy Clay was throwing before he left for the Army.

“Um . . . I was going to grab lunch.”

Glaring at me, my father stepped forward and opened the door as he said, “Lunch can wait. We need to talk.”

Swallowing hard, I knew what it was about. My grandfather must have told them about Noah’s house.

Deciding now was not the time to stand up to my father; I turned and headed back into the house. “Alex and Will are both in class so it’s just us,” I said as I walked in to the kitchen.

“Something to drink?” I asked as I pulled out a water for myself.

“No thank you,” my father said as he sat on the sofa.

Smiling weakly, my mother said, “No, Grace. Why don’t you come on in here so we can talk.”

Dragging in a deep breath, I walked confidently into the living room. If there was ever a time I listened to Luke’s advice, it was when he told me how to act around my parents when we were in trouble. Never show weakness. My father would go in for the attack.

Sitting, I smiled at them both. “So, what’s so important that you had to drive all the way here to talk to me in person?”

Knowing the answer, I looked at each of them and gave them a fake-ass smile.

“So, you’re getting married?” my father busted out as my smile quickly faded.

Fuck a duck.

I totally forgot I told my grandfather Noah had asked me to marry him.

“Um, well . . . ah . . . um . . . I . . . well Noah and I, we um—”

Shit. I was not expecting this. How stupid of me to have forgotten.

My father cracked his neck and slowly let out a breath. “When were you planning on telling us this new plan, Grace? Does Alex know? Does she know you’re walking away from the dream you both shared? Did you even have the decency to tell her?”

Anger quickly raced through my body as my mouth dropped open.

Looking at my father, my mother shook her head and said, “Jeff, what did I say on the way here?”

Standing, my father pushed his hand through his hair and cursed under his breath.

“Bullshit, Ari. We worked our asses off to put this girl through school. She’s less than two months away from having everything, and she’s throwing it away for some asshole who we don’t even know.”

Heat flushed through my entire body as my heart rate increased.

“Jeff!” my mother called out.

“How dare you!” I said as I slowly stood up and balled my fists to the side. “How dare you start throwing out accusations? You know nothing, Dad. Nothing at all of what my plans are.”

Turning to face me, he pointed at me as he spoke. “You went to your grandfather and asked him to buy a house, Grace! A fucking house that belongs to this boyfriend of yours that no one even knew about.”

I tried to calm myself before I spoke. “I was desperate and I knew I couldn’t ask you.”

Jerking his head back, my father’s eyes grew bigger. “Holy shit. You’re pregnant, aren’t you? That’s why you couldn’t come to us.”