Grace sat in the kitchen, her new laptop open in front of her. She casually checked her old college email account, the one she had communicated with some old friends from college with. She that she could feel secure as it was a forgotten trace from her past that she kept hidden from her husband, Jack.As she scrolled through, a new email popped up, catching her attention.With a frown, she clicked on it to check what the mail was about. She knew it wasn’t junk mail, because she would have deleted it immediately.It was from Garrett Sullivan, an old friend who had helped her in the past to uncover information about her birth parents. The subject line made her heart skip a beat.She wondered what he had found out again, because that was their deal, for him to only contact her when it was absolutely necessary, just in case her husband found out.Well, he couldn’t find out now, because she wasn’t there with him any longer.Clicking open the email, Grace’s eyes widened as she read Garrett’
“I didn’t mean to startle you, Grace, really.” Noah said as he walked into the kitchen and saw her jump when he called her name.His footsteps echoed across the kitchen tiles as he approached Grace, his brows knit with concern. “Grace, are you okay? You seem… shaken.” He asked her as he looked at her.Grace flinched a little as if she was caught off guard by Noah’s sudden presence again. She hastily wiped a stray tear from her cheek, attempting to compose herself. “Oh, it’s nothing, just… something I stumbled upon,” she muttered, avoiding eye contact.“But you don’t have to worry.” She added.“Really, I shouldn’t worry? I just saw you wipe a tear, didn’t I?” He asked, pushing his brows up.“It’s nothing, seriously. It’s not something big or serious enough to bother me. I guess something flew into my eyes, so…” she said, trailing off when she didn’t know what to say any more.Noah’s gaze softened as he pulled out a chair to sit opposite her. “Come on, Grace. I might have only met you i
As the weight of her secrets loomed heavy in the air, Grace took a deep breath, steeling herself to confide in Noah. “Noah, there’s something I’ve never shared with anyone before. It’s about my past, my life before everything changed.” She started, and Noah pushed forward in his chair.He knew there were still things she hadn’t shared with her, a big chunk of information that was missing, but he didn’t think to ask her, because that might scare her. He had just left things the way they were, hoping that she would tell him whatever it was when she was ready.With the look of things now, she seemed like she was ready to share.Noah leaned in even more, his eyes encouraging her to continue. “Take your time, Grace. I’m here.” He said.One thing he had realized about Grace was the fact that, she always took several step back into her shell at the first sign of trouble, or the fact that the person she was trying to talk to might be bothered instead of being there for her. He needed her to k
The aroma of sizzling garlic filled the kitchen as Grace stirred the bubbling tomato sauce. Her culinary sanctuary was a haven, a place to focus, yet today her mind drifted. All she could think about was the words Zeke and Noah were whispering to each other just some feet away.Across the marble-topped kitchen table, Zeke and Noah talked about her ex husband, and for some reason, they were talking so lowly she couldn’t hear them. Noah gestured emphatically while explaining the details of the situation to him, his eyes sparkling with anger.Zeke was leaned in towards him, nodding attentively, his hand occasionally going to cover up his mouth as he listened to what Noah had to say.Noah and her had both decided it was best he was the one to explain things to Zeke because she couldn’t go over talking about it with him, or even talking about it again.“I could probably help with that,” Zeke voice rose suddenly, his gaze shifting towards Grace. “Hacking and decoding encrypted files? It’s k
Grace had just made her way to the front door, ready to open it when a forceful push surprised her. She looked at who it was and she saw that it was Diana.Diana strode past Grace, marching confidently into the house like she own the place. She had a look on her face, and she looked down at Grace from her nose like she wasn’t even worth to stand before her.To say that she was stunned by the intrusion was saying the least, Grace watched as Diana made a beeline for the kitchen where Noah and Zeke, Noah’s brother, were gathered.What was the woman’s problem, really? She had no problem that she was visiting Noah, because really it was none of her business, but the way she treated her, it was really like she was a dirt on her shoes, and that infuriated her.But, she was not in the mood at all to say anything to her. It was what she was dealing with, with her ex husband that she was thinking about.Shaking her head, she walked back to the kitchen and walked to the stew she was making, glan
Grace heaved a sigh of relief as she closed up Charlotte’s shop for the night. She had somehow been able to convince her she would do that when she noticed the other woman was feeling down.Charlotte rarely miss coming to the shop, and she always close up when she was around, but Grace knew she needed the rest, so she had sent her home early. “She wouldn’t if I didn’t do that.” She muttered to herself as if answering a question.The familiar ritual of taking out the trash at closing hour usually offered a brief respite from the hectic buzz of the day. It was a pretty eventful day, from the beginning of having to serve coffee and scone and pies, to the slow buzz in the evening.She was all pumped up so much she didn’t even think twice when she offered to close up, because she didn’t think about having to walk home alone or at night.Anyway, she was already starting to feel at home in town, and she didn’t have to worry about whether or not she was going to get caught by her ex husband.
The seconds stretched into an eternity as Grace clutched her phone, her thumb hovering over Zeke’s contact. Anxiety coiled in her chest as she pressed the call button. It rang twice before he answered, his voice laced with concern. “Grace? What’s wrong?”Although, there was more of surprise that she was calling him at night like this, as it happened it was her first time of calling him.“It’s urgent,” Grace replied, her voice tense. “Can you come over? I need you to come here, please.” She said with her voice shaking a little. She might have acted all brave and stuff when the man was warning her, trying not to show a side that she knew would make the man even more happy of how vulnerable she was, but right now, after all the encounter, she was scared shitless.Not that she wasn’t scared then, but she just needed to act like she wasn’t, and now, there was no more acting.“What’s going on, Grace? Is anything all right?” He asked her but she just told him what she said before. “Please co
Just about when Zeke left and Grace stood up to go to her room, she had staggered and then she had fell back against him, thankfully he was fast enough to caught her as she fell backward.After that, she knew nothing again until now when she felt a small slap on her face, then a hard pressing against her chest, and that made her realized her surrounding even though she couldn’t open her eyes yet. “Come on, open your eyes now, goddammit, breathe please!” She heard Noah’s voice so far, yet so near.She was feeling as if she had just been dragged out of the water, like that night she had to stay in the lake, freezing, but that hot breath of Noah against her face was pumping heat through her.Suddenly, she wanted to get up and get under the blanket, and she started to struggle to open her eyes. Noah’s voice and his breath was so hot on her cheek, as he said one thing over and over. “Come on, Grace. Come on, open your eyes. You can do it.”He kept saying those words, words that somehow c