Saving Grace (29 page)

Chapter 34

At the break of dawn, Grace awoke with a start as images of the night before replayed in her head.  She sat up expecting to see her sister asleep next to her, only to find an empty room.

“Oh no.”  Her heart dropped.  Surely Zach hadn’t come back.  Surely her sister was okay …

She glanced out the window to see the sun’s edges barely lifting over the horizon.  It was too early for Anne to be anywhere else but out there.

Quietly, she slipped outside her bedroom, where both Burke and Chad bunked on the floor and were sleeping soundly.

She smiled down to both men, thankful that they’d come to her and Anne’s rescue.  She’d be eternally grateful to both.

Grace tiptoed around their bodies, as they lay sprawled on the ground and peeked out the window, giving a sigh of relief. 

There stood Anne, ankle deep in the ocean with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.  Grace slowly shook her head.  She should have known that after all these years they both would have the same inexplicable draw to the one place that gave them peace.

She snuck out the back door and softly jogged down the path to where her sister stood ankle deep in the water. 

“You think I’m going to let you come out here all by yourself?”

Anne spun around to see her sister’s lazy but sad smile.  She opened the blanket up, motioning for her to step in.

Grace stepped in the water beside her sister, as Anne wrapped at arm around her shoulder. 

“This should keep us warm,” she said, wrapping them both up.

This was exactly as she remembered some of her most fond memories, the two of them on the beach, except something told Grace that this would be the most poignant memory yet.

“I was worried when I woke up and you weren’t there,” she said softly.

“I was hoping you’d sleep in.  You didn’t get much sleep last night.  Bad dreams?”  Anne turned to look into her sister’s tired eyes. 

“Yup,” she said, before letting out a deep sigh.

“It was a long night.”

“Even longer after having to go to the station, with the police, to give our statements.  I never want to go through something like that again.”

“You won’t have to,” she squeezed her sister tightly, before continuing.  “Zach is being heavily guarded in the hospital, and will be going away for a very long time.” 

Grace dropped her head back, taking in the twilight of the morning hours. 

“Come here.”  Anne stepped from the water, guiding Grace back to the sand.  “Sit with me.  Let’s just enjoy the time we have right now, and not think about last night.”

“How can we not think about last night?” Grace asked, before sitting down with Anne on the soft sand.

Anne wrapped the blanket back around their shoulders, and tightened her embrace around her sister.

Grace pulled into her sister and sighed, saying, “I’ve missed this so much.  And although I’d have given anything not to put you in danger last night, I was glad you were by my side.  Does that make sense?”

Anne knew exactly what she meant.  She nodded and let Grace continue.

“I don’t think I’d have made it through last night without you, Anne.  I was so scared, but at least I had you there comforting me.  I just hate that my bad choices put you in danger,” she said softly.

“You didn’t put me in danger, Grace.  You are not at fault here.”  Anne looked to her sister, who didn’t seem convinced. 

Grace dropped her eyes, out of shame. 

“Hey, look at me.  I mean it.”  Anne pulled her sister’s chin up, so that they were face to face.  “I mean it.  The only one to blame is Zach … and well, maybe grandmother.”

“Ugh, grandmother.  She’s going to hear about this on the news.  It’s bound to be a big story.  I can see the headlines now … missing heiress found after gun battle with ex-boyfriend.” Grace groaned.

Anne laughed and quickly apologized, “I’m sorry. I know it’s not funny, but can you imagine the look on her face.”

Grace looked up to the twinkle in Anne’s eyes, and couldn’t help but giggle. 

“See, made you laugh after all,” Anne said, smiling. 

Although Burke knew they were safe and Zach was heavily guarded, he had a hard time sleeping.  Just like his time in the military, it was hard to come down of the adrenaline high after missions … just as it was hard to come down from the battle of his life, last night.

Finally, he got some shuteye around 2 a.m., only to be awoken by Chad at first light.

“Wake up, man.  The girls are gone.”  Chad shoved Burke, trying to control his fear. 

Burke shot straight up. “Gone?  What do you mean?”

“They’re not in there sleeping.”  He pointed toward the bedroom.

Burke’s heart rate slowed and he smiled, knowingly.  “It’s okay. Come with me.”

He slowly stood, pushed open the back door, and stepped outside.

Chad followed him, only to see both girls huddled together on the beach watching the waves as they crashed onto the shore.

“See?”  He smiled. 

Chad let down his guard, thankful that they were safe.

“It’s going to take a while until I stop worrying about her.”  Chad’s chest still felt tight.

“I know how you feel.”  Burke nodded, soaking in the view.  “Come on.  Let’s join them.”

He grabbed a light blanket from the papasan chair, and started down the sandy path toward the girls.

“Here…” Chad shoved Grace’s phone into Burke’s hand, saying, “I heard it ringing and went in their room to see whose phone it was.  I saw Grace had a missed call.  After last night, I thought she’d want it sooner rather than later.”

Burke nodded, closed his hand around her phone, and made his way to Grace.

Both girls sat with their heads leaned in for comfort.  It was almost too precious of a moment to interrupt, but they did.

“Morning,” Chad smiled down to Anne, thinking she had never been more beautiful. 

She smiled up to him, and patted the sand next to her. 

“You didn’t wake me,” Burke said softly in Grace’s ear, as he settled in next to her.

“I know. I’m sorry.  I only came out here, because I woke up to find Anne gone. It scared me a little bit,” she admitted.

“That’s okay, because Chad over there was about to call the police when he saw you were both gone.”  Burke laughed.

Chad grimaced, and then reached for Anne’s hand.

“Sorry, everyone,” Anne smiled sheepishly.  “I didn’t think I had to announce to the whole house about my whereabouts, but after last night … I can see where you would be worried.”

Grace gave her sister a knowing smile as she watched her lay her head on Chad’s shoulder.  She then looked to Burke, who pulled her into his side.

And that’s how they stayed for the next few minutes, silent as the world woke up around them. 

As Grace leaned into Burke she let go of the final stress from the previous night.  She finally was free to live her life without fear of harm, without any lingering issues from her past. 

She felt like she could stay in this moment forever, as the sounds of myna birds serenaded them from above, and the scents the tropical flowers and ocean breeze cascaded around them.

It was as peaceful of a moment as she could remember, until the beeping from her phone brought her back to reality.

Grace groaned.  The spell was broken. 

Burke handed it to her saying, “It rang earlier.  It’s what woke Chad up, so we thought we’d bring it to you in case it was important.  You know …after last night.”

Grace looked to her iPhone screen, which showed two missed calls from Mercy.

“Ugh,” she grimaced.  “It must be important for her to call this early.  She knows the time zone difference.”

Grace dialed into her voicemail to hear Mercy’s distraught voice.

“Grace, you’ve got to call me.  It’s your grandmother.  Once your story hit the news, and oh boy did it hit the news … the next breaking headline was one that announced Lilah Aundine being admitted to the hospital with a heart attack.”                            

Grace stood, and started pacing as she listened to the rest of Mercy’s message.

  “They won’t release details of her condition, but I thought you’d like to know.  And I’m glad you’re okay.  I’ve been so worried.  Call me when you can.”

Grace’s eyes clouded over.  She turned her back on the group, and pulled up Mercy’s contact information, but stopped short of dialing.

She spun back toward her sister, who slowly stood with a knowing look, like the world was getting ready to crash in around them.

“Everything okay?” She searched Grace’s weary eyes.

“That was Mercy.”  She bit her lips, searching for the right words.  “Our story made national headlines.  We’re all over the news.”

“Okay, well we knew that would happen.”  Anne reminded her.

The guys stood to join them, knowing their lives were about to change dramatically.

“No, you don’t understand.”  Her eyes watered.  “I know you don’t care what happens to her but I do.”

Anne wasn’t following.  “Slow down.  What are you talking about?”

“That was Mercy …” Grace blubbered.  “And, apparently she not only saw our news story, but I guess Grandmother did too.”

“Sweetie, we talked about this.”  Anne tried to reassure her sister.

“I know, but I didn’t think it would break her heart … literally break her heart.  According to Mercy, once
Lilah Aundine
,” Grace rolled her name off her tongue, and continued, “… saw the news reports; she had a heart attack and was sent to the hospital.”

Anne’s hand flew to her mouth.  She was angry with her grandmother, but never wanted anything bad to happen to her.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”  She pulled her sister in tight.

“I’ve got to go see her.  I’ve got to go to her.”  Grace said, through tears.

“I know.”  She rocked her sister in her arms.  “I know.  I’ll go too.”

Both men quietly stepped in close, and laid hands on the backs of both women for comfort.

“We’ll all go,” Chad said softly. 

Burke nodded, and looked over the heads of both women to meet Chad’s soft but determined eyes. 

He knew his solitary existence of living alone on the beach was over, as he was now about to be shoved into the spotlight … but Burke also knew that it was well worth the sacrifice in order to be the man that Grace relied on and loved.

“We’ll go with you.  I’m not leaving your side,” Burke whispered down to Grace, who whipped from her sister’s arms and clung into his. 

Yes, anything was worth having her by his side. 

Chapter 35

Hours later, after packing and flying out, all four stepped from the taxi and whisked inside the hospital entrance, shielding their eyes from the flashes of cameras that went off outside.

Grace did the best she could to appear presentable, as the press would expect, but making sure she fit her esteemed look wasn’t the priority … getting to her grandmother was.

The flashes from the cameras outside were something she should be used to but she’d been away for long enough that they seemed so foreign to her.  Burke did the best he could to shield her with his body and usher her in the doors into the hospital after Anne and Chad.

Grace felt like everything was running in slow motion.  She watched as Anne rushed to the counter to ask for directions to Lilah’s room, and followed as if in a fog.

              “You okay?”  He put his arm around her waist.

              Grace nodded, saying nothing.  She didn’t know how to answer.

              As they exited and approached the suite, Burke pulled Chad back. 

              “I think we should stay out here,” he said quietly.

              Chad looked to Anne, silently asking her what she wanted.

Anne firmly nodded once, and grabbed her sister by the hand.  Grace allowed herself to be pulled forward, but not before giving Burke a kiss on the cheek. 

“See you soon,” he whispered and watched her go.