by JL Hallow
Grace pinched the bridge of her nose, irritation was written all over her face. “Unfuckingbelievable” she gritted her teeth and stalked to the door. “I can’t do this right now, I’m leaving.”
“Grace don’t be…”
“Don’t be what?” Grace hollered, cutting off her sentence. “I really don’t have time for this. I’m not going to say it again.” She snarled and yanked the door open, jerking her coat around her tighter as the wind hit her face.
“Bye Victoria, I’ll see you later. I love you.”
“Love you too, Mama.” Victoria called from the living room.
Eileen shook her head and let her go with a dismissive wave of her hand. She was right, she wasn’t her daughter, and Grace had always disliked her. Well, not always. It seemed to come in waves; The two of them running hot and cold for most of their relationship.
Victoria looked up from the floor where she was laying with Gia “Why do you and Mommy fight?”
Eileen faked a smile “We’re not fighting honey, just disagreeing.”
“Oh. Okay.” The young girl shrugged and continued playing.
Chapter Three: Jesus Take the Wheel
Present day, Grace
Grace pulled onto the familiar highway without looking. She was sucked somewhere in the depths of her mind, and paying attention to her surroundings wasn’t her number one priority; Though it should have been. No, she was too busy thinking about the situation she found herself in. How did she get to this point? She always swore she would never be ‘one of those girls’. She was always going to get married to a good guy and have a normal family. Yeah, fat chance with Aaron around. She blew that already. They both had.
All of this was almost too much, and if it wasn’t for the little girl she had just driven away from, she would have happily thrown in the towel ages ago. After all, how much fight did one woman possess? Those bright emerald eyes were fixed on the road ahead of her but she wasn’t actually paying attention to what was happening around her.
She was still stewing over the mini-argument, lost in the storm of thoughts it brought to the forefront of her mind. Who the hell was Eileen to tell her that her father would have been ashamed of her? How dare she! That was a line she should have never crossed. Her mind kept racing relentlessly.
Grace glanced down at the clock on the radio and pressed the gas a little harder, despite the heavy snow that continued to fall. She only had a few hours to get to the courthouse and she wanted to be there earlier than her scheduled time. It was all about impressions, wasn’t it? She certainly didn’t want to arrive disheveled and out of sorts. Which was exactly how she felt. That argument had shaken her cool demeanor and blown away the nerves of driving in the snow. These days, she didn’t handle confrontation well, even the most minor of it, and Eileen was well aware of that. Grace’s gaze moved back to the road just in time to see a small black BMW spinning out of control dead ahead of her.
She never had time to stop.
Her foot swapped pedals instantly, slamming down on the brake as hard as she could in her moment of sheer panic. That action, however, backfired on her. Stupid, stupid. She knew not to do that but there was nowhere to go to get out of the way and avoid the upcoming collision. The brakes locked and turned her SUV into an almost three-ton sled going thirty-five miles per hour, slowly gaining speed with the more ground it covered. Grace squeezed her eyes shut, hands bracing against the steering wheel as her vehicle made contact with the much smaller one.
The force of the impact sent her flying forward, her forehead slamming into the steering wheel. It was one of the downfalls of being so short. Yeah, she had a seatbelt on but her height disadvantage meant her seat had to be closer. The sound of metal crushing against metal was the last thing she heard before the world went dark.
The momentum of the crash sent her SUV spinning off the side of the road, flipping twice before it bounced to a stop fifty feet down the embankment. By the grace of God, it stopped a mere twenty-feet from the river. Had her vehicle ended up in the river, she wouldn’t have stood a chance. In that cold, Grace would have succumbed to hypothermia in less than half an hour.
Chapter Four: Luck
Present day, Grace & Greg
Grace groaned. “What the hell?” She felt the tacky trickle of what she assumed was drying blood on the side her head.
Her left hand came up gingerly but was quickly lowered when she yelped in pain. Yeah, her left wrist was definitely broken. Oddly enough, it was the same wrist that been broken twice before in the past, courtesy of Aaron. Lifting the other, she gently wiped at the fresh blood from her forehead, causing a few new droplets to slide down her face. Blood. That was definitely blood. Grace sucked in a breath, her eyes closing once again as she tried to recount what had happened. She remembered looking up and seeing the black car skidding toward her car…
Fuck! The other car! Were they coming from the other lane and crossed into hers? Or did they hit the slick snow and their car ended up doing a one-eighty? Slowly, she started to move, reaching for the seat belt. She had to get out, had to make sure the other driver was alive and okay.
Gritting her teeth, Grace pressed the button down to release the belt. Her next move was to reach for the door handle and push. It wouldn’t budge. She shoved harder before slamming her hand into it. When it became apparent it wasn’t going to open, she crawled across the center console and tried the passenger side door. To her relief, the door on that side popped opened with ease.
She tumbled out of the vehicle and stood on shaky legs, glancing to the left and the right, she was surveying the damage of her vehicle and looking for the other at the same time. As calculated as she was trying to be, her movements were jerky and full of raw panic. The snow that had been falling steadily before had picked up to white-out condition and she was lucky to be able to see six feet in front of her. Hot tears pricked her eyes and started to cascade down her cheeks, how much time had passed since she had been out?
Summoning up the nerve to trek forward, Grace pulled her coat around her battered body and started moving. She made it about halfway up the hill when she spotted the dark car standing out against the snow. That Beamer was totaled. At least she had a fighting chance in her tank of a vehicle but did the other driver?
“Hello?” She yelled.
Grace’s legs were moving before she knew what she was doing, using her right hand to propel herself forward, her body protesting against the pain as she yelled again “Hello? Please answer me!” The car was a good twelve feet closer to the road than hers but the crawl up the steep embankment of the hill was still difficult.
When she made it to the car, she prayed she hadn’t killed whoever was behind the wheel of it. Grace reached the driver’s side of the smashed-up beamer, peeking into the tinted window. From there, she couldn’t tell if he was all right. Grace tried the latch, giving it a gentle tug, the door gave way and opened. To her relief, the driver was alive and breathing. “Sir, are you okay?” She reached her hand in and lightly shook his shoulder.
“Please…please, God, no.” she whispered softly.
The man rolled his head to the side and grunted. A moment later, his eyes fluttered open. “What…what happened?” he groaned.
He was looking at her, his eyes clearly unfocused.
“You, well, we got into a wreck. Are you okay? Can you move?” Grace bit her lip, feeling helpless. Her head was clouded and the falling snow was not helping her morale.
The man shifted and sat up a little bit, “I think so, my head hurts a bit but I think I’m mostly alright Ma’am.” He tried to move and immediately let out a yelp of pain. “I think my leg may be broken.”
Grace let out a sigh, tears forming once again as her body sagged back against the door. This time the tears were caused by a mix of emotions, not just purely by fear. Grace pulled out her cell phone and glanced at the screen. “Damn it.” She muttered.
“No cell phone reception.” Slowly, the man reached forward a
nd retrieved his own phone that managed to stay put in the cup holder.
Evidently, his car managed to stay upright throughout the ordeal. Shaking his head, he glanced at his phone and checked it. “No service on mine either.”
“Well, since it looks like we’re stuck here for a while. I’m Grace Gibson” She reached out her hand.
The man extended his hand to her “I’m Gregory. Gregory Herricks. You can just call me Greg though.”
The first thing she noticed about him was the black suit he was wearing. It looked… expensive, not that she was any suit expert. It just had that extra something, especially when it was finished off with the navy-blue silk tie. He was an older man, in his late fifties or sixties maybe, sporting salt and pepper crew cut hair. He was a taller man, maybe six-foot-one, give or take an inch or two, and a tad bit stockier than most.
Grace nodded, flashing him a soft smile. “I feel awful, I didn’t see you and I was driving angry…”
Greg cut her off, shaking his head “Accidents happen, I suppose. Let’s just be thankful we’re okay for the most part. Plus, to be fair, my car was out of control long before yours. You were just the unlucky party to hit me.”
Grace nodded in agreement, while looking him over once more. They were both alive and had relatively minor injuries considering the damage to the two vehicles. She would live with a broken wrist and few bruises. It finally dawned on her that they were stuck, both vehicles off the road and totaled, with no way to call for help. They would be stuck there until someone else drove by the scene. When would that be?
With the way it was snowing, anyone in their right mind would have stayed home. A grim situation, to say the least. Her knees buckled, body dropping to the snow with her head in her hands. “I just can’t believe this is happening. I have to be somewhere very important today.” Grace shook her head again, trying not to cry.
Apparently, crying was going to be the theme of the day. Why had she bothered to do her make-up? The crying made her feel pathetic.
Greg smiled “It’ll be okay.” He was trying to keep her calm.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Grace asked, noticing the man’s slight shaking when she picked her head up.
He blinked a few times, trying to get rid of the dizzy feeling. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me, I’m diabetic, you see. I figured I’d be at work now and would be able to grab food but then I hit a slick spot. I wasn’t even going that fast when I lost control and you showed up and then, well, you know.”
“I may have some food in my truck.” Grace pulled herself to her feet, slipping slightly as she tried to right herself in the deep snow.
Confident she was steady enough on her feet, she promised she would come back. Grace sucked in a steadying breath before she made her way back to her SUV, slipping and sliding the entire way. Once there, she yanked the half frozen, badly dented backdoor open and began to dig around. “Where the hell did I put that food?” She asked herself, shuffling some more stuff around.
“Ah ha.” She reached forward and snatched the gallon sized Ziploc bag she had back there.
It contained a peanut butter sandwich, a few granola bars, some popcorn, pretzels, an orange and a semi-frozen can of Wild Cherry Pepsi. As she started to back out of the car, she paused to grab an old, stained fleece blanket from the seat. Her hip knocked against the door, slamming it shut before she headed back to Greg. Being a mother, she always knew to pack extra snacks and obviously that proved useful today. Only she wasn’t feeding a screeching overtired, hungry child.
Coming around the passenger side of his car, she opened the door. At this rate, company was better than sitting in her vehicle alone and someone needed to keep an eye on him. “I have a PB&J sandwich, an orange, some granola, pretzels, and a soda.” She smiled, slipping into the passenger seat. “Will anything in here make do?”
Greg just smiled “It’s very nice of you to offer. If you don’t mind, could I possibly have some of that soda and the sandwich?”
Grace nodded and snapped the pop top on the can, passing it over to him. Greg took a few swigs and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Thank you so much.”
“Really, it was no problem.” Grace unwrapped the sandwich awkwardly with one hand and passed him half of it. “So where were you heading?” She asked.
“I was making my way towards Bridgewater, over in Windsor county.” He said.
Grace nodded. Growing up in Vermont she knew just about every part of the state and what were the chances that she was headed to the same place? “Funny, I was on my way there too.”
Greg turned to face her, “May I ask why you were heading there?”
“Well… court.” She shrugged, why lie? “Family court, actually. I’m fighting to keep full custody of my daughter.”
Greg nodded “Such a shame.” He sighed and looked up, meeting her eyes and giving her a sad smile.
Grace blinked, a poor attempt to rein in her emotions. Returning the smile, she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. It wasn’t often someone entertained her conversation about court or her ex. Her gaze traveled down as she spun her ring around on her finger. It was a nervous habit she picked up over the years. A way to cope with the stress when Aaron was blowing up around her.
The car was silent for almost a minute before Greg cleared his throat and spoke up. “So tell me Ms. Grace, how did all this start?”
“How what started?” She asked curiously.
“Your situation. What made things get to the point of needing family court?” He pried.
That’s when it began. Gregory Herricks became the first person to hear Grace’s side of the story, all of it. Every raw detail.
When she started, and she wasn’t sure why she did, it was hard to stop it all from coming out.
Chapter Five: Where It All Began
Ten years earlier, Grace and Aaron
It was a dark, cold, and rainy April day the first time Grace laid eyes on Aaron. He was tall, roughly six-foot-three-inches with black hair and blue eyes. Those crystal eyes are what had captured her from the very start. That and he was the only one that stopped when her car broke down on her way home from work. Who else would’ve stopped at midnight on a Friday night in the pouring rain? Not many. Then again, there weren’t many people on the road at that time of night to begin with; the exceptions were drunks coming home from the same bar she was working at. That was the problem with living in the sticks.
The moment he stepped out of the car she knew she would marry that man one day. What she hadn’t banked on? Him turning into the devil himself after the wedding. “Ma’am” He tipped the edge of his baseball cap.
He had been raised a hay farmer’s son, but had gone right into first response after graduation. He was an emergency dispatcher for the local police department. He was also the epitome of the perfect man, the type of which many girls dreamed. The type that are kind to their mothers, helped their sisters, and are the football stars in high school. But the booze would inevitably be his downfall.
“Thank you so much for stopping. If you could just jump me…please?”
Aaron laughed. God, his smile was enough to melt someone right there. “You mean your car?” He said with a wink.
Grace’s cheeks turned a deep crimson color. “Let me just get my cables.” He turned and jogged over to the big black Ford F150, that flirtatious grin on his face.
They were both soaked to the bone by the time they finally got her car to start, but forty minutes later, the beat-down little Honda was running again. “So.” She paused “I never did get your name.” She smiled
“It’s Aaron” He said, a hint of flirtation in his voice.
Grace felt her knees quake, certain if she had been standing they would have buckled from the tone of his voice. “Well Aaron, thank you again, I have to get home before my mother calls the state police” She laughed.
Although she was twenty, her parents still treated her like she was fifteen. Her mother had a love for
shows like Forensic Files and living in a heavily-wooded area, the woman’s mind ran wild. Sometimes a little too wild.
“You still live with your parents?” He regretted asking right after the words left his mouth. “I’m sorry, that was out of line and I didn’t mean it the way it sounded, really. I swear…”
She only shook her head “No, no. It’s fine. I do. I’m a waitress slash bartender and paying for school is just too much for me to afford my own place right now.”
He nodded. “Well, get in that car of yours and get home before your mom sounds the alarm.” He turned to walk away as she got in.
Grace turned on the lights and glanced into her rear-view mirror, only to see him running back. She rolled down her window right as he got there. “Yes?” She asked with a small smile.
“Here.” He slipped the paper through the window and into her hand, grinned, and dashed back to his truck.
Grace shook her head and smirked, staring at the paper. “Well Aaron, you’ll be hearing from me soon.” She whispered to herself and tucked the paper into her purse before pulling onto the road heading for home.
Chapter Six: So You See
Present Day, Grace and Greg
“It was like…I don't know… Like we were made for each other?” Grace couldn’t help but snort out a laugh when the words left her mouth. It sounded so stupid to her now. Reliving that first night brought back all the good times, before things went south. Knowing how bad things had gotten was a difficult pill for her to swallow, and admitting it was even harder.
“He was a great guy, it didn’t last long but for the short time he was, it truly was great.” Grace leaned her head back against the seat and blew out a breath, eyes closing briefly. “What about you? Do you have a family?” Her head lolled to the side, eyes opening again to look at him while they spoke.
