“Damn!” Grace cursed as she realized what had happened. Everything was gone, including her bag, clothes and phone. She had left them right there and it was gone.She wondered who it could be and what they had been thinking doing this. The only reason she was calm was because she knew this couldn’t be her ex husband’s doing. If it wasn’t so late, and she was already freezing in the water, she might have thought it funny.It was really getting late, and when she looked around, she couldn’t see anyone, but she knew if she was going to walk home in her underwear, then she was going to have to make sure everyone had gone to bed, and the town was asleep before she could leave here.She wondered what Noah would think right now, or whether he would be so tired he would have gone to bed. She wondered what it would be like, if when she showed up at home in her underwear, and found Noah waiting out in the living room for her.“Damn, he had better be sleeping.” She muttered to herself, embarrassm
Rushing out of the car as soon as he parked it, he started to walk towards the lake, looking around while he did that. The place was deserted, and he wondered why Grace had thought it was all right to come to the lake this late at night.As he drove here, all he could think of are the what ifs that could happen. He couldn’t for the life of him, understand why she had not even bothered calling him any letting him know she would be coming here.Not only was it so irresponsible or her, but also very unexpected, and he hated how his heart squeezed in pain when he thought of the what ifs that something might have happened to her.That aside, he had been calling her back home before Jimmy arrive to tell him where he thought she went, and the drive all the way down here, he had done nothing but call her, and at some point, the phone had switched off.She probably didn’t remember to have it charged, that was the most reasonable reason he could come up with, but then again, when his mind came
Placing her gently in the passenger seat of his truck, he grabbed out his white coat from the back seat to cover her up a bit. She was really blue now, and he cursed.“Why do you have to test being brave like this?” He muttered under her breath before closing the door and getting in himself. He turned on the heater as soon as he started the car, then he started to drive them both home.As he drove through the silent streets with the car’s heater humming softly in the background, he glanced at her, curled up in the passenger seat, wrapped in a blanket. Despite the warmth filling the car, he couldn’t shake off the image of her, vulnerable and exposed in that water, waiting for midnight so that she could walk home in her underwear without being seen.How reckless was that?Why in the world would she want to walk home when she was in that state, and most importantly, half naked. She might think that no one would see her, but someone might. What did she think would go throw through their m
After the messed up night at the lake and Noah came to her rescue one more time, Grace decided she had to avoid him, be out of his way, and stay as out of his sight as much as possible, and so far, everything had been just fine.“Thank goodness for that.” She whispered to herself.It wasn’t easy, but she had been able to do it for a whole week. She knew it might not be a big deal for others, but for her, it was. She had been making sure to work around his schedule, leaving her room only when he was gone to work, or leaving very early to open the shop, and coming either very early or late, depending on whichever worked for his schedule.Walking alone was becoming a normal thing for her and she only had to look over her shoulder just a few times.“You better learn to stop doing that.” She thought mentally, sighing as she thought about what it would be like not having to look over her shoulder ever again.What had happened with Noah might not be something others would be embarrassed of,
After Grace was done with dinner, she placed everything on the kitchen table, and as she walked out and reached the door, the front door opened, and Noah walked into the house, his eyes connecting with hers immediately.“Hey, you’re back early.” He said, and Grace just nodded, then she remembered Diana was at the backyard sipping the orange juice Grace had squeezed for her while waiting for Noah.“Huh, your girlfriend is here, she’s waiting for you at the backyard.” She said, trying not to make a face as she said that.Grace wasn’t sure what to think about the woman, but it was none of her business.Noah’s expression shifted to confusion. “My girlfriend? What are you talking about?”Grace hesitated before responding, “She said her name was Diana.” Was that what she called her name? She wasn’t sure, but the look on Noah’s face told her she got it right.“Yes, Diana, she’s waiting for you at the backyard.” She repeated.Instantly, Noah’s mood darkened. Diana, the woman who had broken hi
Charlotte paused as her hand picked up the apple from the fridge and she turned to look back at Grace over her shoulder. She had stopped by to pick up the food Grace told her to come pick up, and was now telling her what happened.“Is that a joke?” She asked her, turning completely now to face her. “What do you mean Noah’s girlfriend was here?” She asked.“I said his ex girlfriend was here, because according to what I heard them both talking about, I could tell it had ended.” Grace said.She hadn’t mean to tell Charlotte anything, but she had asked her why she had made that much food in the first place and before even thinking about it, she had let it slipped out.“So Diana was really in this house?” She asked and Grace nodded.“Yes, that was what she called her name.” Grace walked away from where she was standing to walk to the sink to wash her hands.She didn’t want to talk about that or what she had heard Noah and her talked about. The woman was just really so angry that she had ev
When he stepped into Charlotte’s shop that afternoon, he saw Grace back turned to him and she didn’t jump at the chime of the bell, neither did she turn to look at who it was that had entered the shop.That was good, she was making progress.As he walked to the counter, Charlotte looked at him from the door of the back office slash kitchen and shook her head at him. That was her way of telling him that she hadn’t been able to get Grace to talk.He sighed as she walked to the counter as well, and slipped into the stool that was in front of the counter at the corner. “Hi, Charlotte,” he greeted and watched Grace’s shoulder froze for a couple of second before she turned to face him.“Hello, Grace.” He said.“Hello!” She greeted without saying anything more after that.She was still avoiding him at home, but now he knew it wasn’t just because of the lake situation anymore, or the fact that he had seen her scars. Now, it was because of something Diana had said to her, and that worried him.
They both stared at each other, but Grace wanted to look away, no she wanted to walk away, but she didn’t want him thinking she was hiding something.Maybe she was, and she just wanted it to stay that way.“Is something wrong, Grace?” Noah asked, eyeing her carefully. “You haven’t said one word since we came back.” He said.Lifting her shoulder in a shrug, she said. “You told me we needed to talk, so I was waiting for you to do the talking.”Noah nodded, but he knew she was just being evasive. “Do you mind if we go sit down?” He asked and she nodded. They both walked to the living room and took their seat on separate couches, but then, Noah stood up and walked to the couch she was sitting down at.As soon as he did that, she looked at him for a meeting, then without saying a word, she pushed her head down, her hair suddenly covering her face.Noah reached out a large hand to brush her hair off her face to hold it behind her ear, and then he used his hand to raise her chin up so that s