The Stand

by Lila Kane

  “It looks like Grace is packing,” Riley said. “Maybe we should help her.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll bet everyone else will help to get all your stuff over to the guesthouse.”

  Grace shook her head. “We don’t have to do it right now. I don’t need to be out until the end of the month.”

  “But, Grace…” Maddy looked to Riley.

  Grace crossed her arms, meeting Riley’s gaze directly, challenging him to say something.

  “We’re going to talk about this, too,” he said.

  She frowned. She knew he didn’t want her to be by herself, particularly in the evenings and at night. But she only had a few weeks until she’d be out of her home forever. She wanted to enjoy it while she could. And she wanted Riley to stop playing big brother.

  Instead of arguing, she only said, “You guys just got back. I want to hear all about the trip. And so will everyone else.”

  To her relief, Riley nodded. Maddy’s enthusiasm returned and she started with the plane ride.

  ~ ~ ~

  The trees were decorated with green buds and swayed as if in a dance as Nathan drove down the hill that led into town. He was ready for summer. Ready for thunderstorms and warm, starry nights. Ready for hot afternoons and blooming flowers.

  The excitement was dulled with the knowledge that summer brought the deadline for finding the star. An uneasy feeling kept nagging at him, though he couldn’t pinpoint it. Ever since he’d seen his ex-wife in his foyer, he had a terrible feeling that there was going to be much more to stopping the force behind the star than just finding the last piece.

  He’d kept his thoughts to himself, however. The same feeling that heightened his urgency also told him he needed to be careful around Grace. He was going to push to help her out, but he needed to make sure he didn’t push her away entirely.

  Nathan wound around the last curve of the hill and entered town. He passed the new multi-plex cinema and the neighborhood Grace lived in, though not for much longer. When he reached Moore’s Antiques, he noted Grace’s car was the only one in the parking lot.

  The store sat in the northernmost building in the business district of downtown Serenity Falls. It looked sad and lonely compared to the rest. And empty. Last summer she’d had flowers out front. Small items on display. Now the storefront was bare. The door sat propped open with a heavy bucket.

  Nathan stepped across the threshold as Grace put her purse over her shoulder.

  She turned, saw him, and paused. “I thought we were meeting at the youth center.”

  He tilted his wrist to look at his watch. “In a few hours. Are you leaving early?”

  “I’m…” She glanced around, lowering her purse to the counter. “I thought I’d close early.”

  “Why?”

  Her laugh was quick and sharp. “Do not tell me you haven’t noticed what’s going on with the store.”

  “No, I noticed.”

  She gave a heavy sigh. She grabbed a pen off the counter and returned it to the jeweled holder on the opposite side. “You know I’m closing the store.”

  “I know.”

  “Look at this. There’s hardly anything left. Only one person came in today. My time would be better spent at the youth center.”

  Nathan nodded. “If that’s where you feel like you should be, then that’s where you should be.”

  She frowned.

  “What?”

  Grace closed her eyes and pressed her fingers to her temples briefly. “You say that like you disapprove,” she murmured before reopening her eyes.

  “Why would I disapprove?”

  “The same reason everyone else sounds like that when they talk to me. They think I should have said something sooner. They think I need help.”

  Nathan crossed the space between them, wanting to reach out and smooth her frown away. He kept his hands to himself. “I’m not everyone else.”

  Her lips moved in a trace of a smile, one that didn’t reach her eyes. “That’s a bit of a contradiction to what you said before the wedding.”

  He gave her a questioning look.

  “You remember, I know you do. You came in here and told me that once Kara found her star, all bets were off.”

  Nathan chuckled. “I did not say that.”

  “Well, not in those words exactly, but you said you were going to help me because I needed it.”

  He reminded himself to be cautious. “I did say that. Because I want to help.”

  “See? So you are just like everyone else.” Grace lifted her purse again, jerking it onto her shoulder. “I want something to happen. I want to deal with the star now so that I can get it over with. And the only thing I need help with is figuring out what’s going to make it start–”

  “Grace–”

  “Don’t say ‘Grace’ like that, like you’re going to tell me I shouldn’t be so eager for something to happen. You don’t know what it’s like to be in my position. And you certainly haven’t had to deal with the star like everyone else–”

  “Grace,” he said, more sternly this time. “You’re wrong about that.”

  “What?”

  Nathan took a calming breath, wondering how his intentions to be patient and cautious had turned into a disagreement with her. He still hadn’t told any of the women about his encounter with Amanda in his house. An event which he knew, without a doubt, had everything to do with the star.

  He softened his voice. “I don’t want to argue with you.”

  “That’s not what you were going to say,” came her intuitive reply.

  “No, it’s not.”

  He saw her hand tighten on the strap of her bag. Telling her now would just make it worse.

  “I can drive you to the youth center,” he offered. “We should stop and get lunch first and I’ll help with whatever you need.”

  She looked like she wanted to argue again when a voice broke in.

  “Excuse me.”

  A man stood in the doorway, stance hesitant. He looked to have at least twenty years on Nathan, though the tiredness in his eyes probably accounted for a lot of it. He pulled the cap from his head and pinched the brim with nervous fingers.

  “I’m looking for Grace Moore.”

  Grace switched to business mode, clearing her face of emotion. “I’m Grace.”

  “My name is Lewis Gale,” the man said, taking one cautious step inside. His gaze swept the store briefly before settling on Grace again. “I…don’t think you know me. I knew your mother a long time ago but I just talked to her recently. She told me–that is, uh…Grace, I’m your father.”

  Chapter 4

  Grace felt like her feet were glued to the floor. Her hand gripped the straps of her purse so tightly her knuckles turned white.

  “I’m sorry, this is probably a huge surprise,” Lewis continued, shifting his weight. He grimaced. “But I didn’t know before and I then I talked to your mother–”

  “You talked to my mom,” Grace said in a monotone voice that sounded strange even to her ears.

  “She said she was going to come see you.”

  Grace’s lips parted. She felt sick.

  “Grace?”

  She couldn’t move. She hadn’t seen her mother in years. Never even met her father before now.

  “Grace?” It was Nathan. He’d stepped closer, put a supportive hand on her back, voice full of concern.

  “I…” She shook her head slowly. It took effort to form words. “I think you’d better take me to lunch now.”

  Nathan didn’t need to be told twice. He ushered her toward the door, moving around Lewis and onto the sidewalk.

  “This conversation is going to have to wait,” she heard him tell Lewis.

  The man only gave a slight nod. “I’m sorry. I thought maybe she’d told you.”

  Grace could only shake her head.

  “Not now,” Nathan said. He pulled Grace off the sidewalk and opened the door to his truck for her, waiting as she climbed up. She plopped her pur
se into her lap, staring ahead as he closed the door.

  Lewis lingered on the sidewalk, looking lost. He dropped his cap back on his head. If Grace had been able to get control of her thoughts, she might have told him to give her some time and try again. But she wasn’t sure that’s what she wanted. In the midst of closing the store, working toward opening the youth center, and trying to find the star, this was the last thing she expected.

  The star…No, this had nothing to do with the star. It was just bad timing.

  Nathan hopped in next to her and shoved his keys into the ignition without hesitation. “Seatbelt,” he murmured.

  When she didn’t respond, he started to reach across her. Grace grabbed quickly for the belt and fastened herself in. “Where are we going?”

  “We’ll go to Ruby’s.”

  “We can walk there, Nathan.”

  In response, he pulled smoothly out of the space. “It’s faster this way.”

  Grace let her eyes stray to Lewis once more, too many thoughts swirling through her head. Beside her, Nathan looked focused and serious.

  As he drove them to the familiar diner, she found herself wishing he would say something. Wishing he would distract her with one of his comments–which had never failed to irritate her in the past. Or one of his solutions–which had always grated on her nerves. Now they sounded welcome.

  Nathan was safe. She knew where she stood with him because she knew her own mind. Her father…her father, she couldn’t even think those words without wincing…was a whole different topic. Completely unsafe. Just like her mother.

  “Are you okay?” Nathan asked.

  “I don’t know if I can eat anything.”

  He gave a quiet chuckle and turned into the parking lot at Ruby’s anyway. “That’s not exactly what I was looking for.”

  Grace shifted to look in his direction. He turned the wheel, tucked them neatly in a tight space, and killed the engine. “What are you looking for?”

  Nathan unhooked his seatbelt to face her. “I want to know if you’re okay.”

  “I am.”

  “Still not what I’m looking for.” His eyes searched her face. “You don’t look okay. The truth, please.”

  Grace didn’t know what else to give him. She wasn’t okay if she was acting like this. But she couldn’t seem to get the old Grace back into place so she could deal with things like she usually did. Smart and efficient.

  “I don’t think he was lying,” she whispered, something like amazement in her voice.

  “That man. Lewis?”

  Grace reached down to release the belt. Suddenly it felt too tight. “It seemed like he was telling the truth.”

  Nathan appeared to be choosing his words carefully. “He did seem sincere.”

  “That’s not good.”

  “It isn’t?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  Grace clutched her purse again, trying to think of something to do with her hands. “I’ve never even met my father before.”

  “What about Riley? Would he remember his dad?”

  Grace closed her eyes briefly, her mind on overload. “It doesn’t matter.”

  Confusion clouded Nathan’s hazel eyes. He ventured out a hand. She let him touch her arm gently, understanding he was only trying to help. “Grace, he might want to know about this.”

  “No.”

  “Grace–”

  “Let’s go in.” She grabbed for the handle.

  His sigh was a struggle for patience. “Please, Grace, wait.”

  She fought against the natural response to ignore him and get out anyway. She fought to see his side. He didn’t know what she knew.

  “Nathan, Riley might remember him but it doesn’t matter. My dad is not his dad.”

  A flicker of understanding passed across his face. Nathan blew out a quiet breath. “I didn’t know.”

  “You’re not the only one,” Grace told him. “Riley’s my half-brother. But it doesn’t feel like it. Besides Grandpa, Riley is the only one who’s been there for me.”

  The sympathy in his eyes almost broke her. “Come on,” she murmured, reaching for the handle again. “Let’s eat.”

  His looked reluctant, but hopped out of the truck and followed her in.

  ~ ~ ~

  Instead of being irritating, the busy noise of the dinner soothed his nerves. The casual chatter of diners and clinking of dishes was a nice bit of normality after the last thirty minutes of events.

  The only other time he’d seen Grace so rattled was last fall in the cemetery when Maddy had found her piece of the star. After they’d been stalked by the ghost of a black wolf and buried in a blizzard.

  And he knew it was just the beginning.

  Grace pulled the menu in front of her but only rested her hands on the surface. Nathan kept an eye on her over the top of his own menu as he scanned his choices. When the waitress came by for their order, Nathan kept it simple. Cheeseburger and fries. The waitress looked to Grace.

  “I don’t think I’ll have anything,” she began, but Nathan caught the waitress’s attention.

  “She’ll have the same thing. Cheeseburger and fries.”

  “Nathan–”

  “Onion rings instead?” He grinned.

  Grace frowned.

  He smiled at the waitress. “Just the cheeseburgers and fries, then.” He tucked the menus at the back of the booth, and the waitress looked amused. “Thanks.”

  Because it looked like Grace had returned to her old self for the most part, he switched modes and went for a lighter tone. “I got together a few layouts I thought you might like to look at for the youth center website.”

  “You did?”

  “I did. But I’ll be able to do more when you let me know what you want on it.”

  Grace’s eyes traveled to the entrance and around the tables of diners. “I…have a list. But I need to talk to Maddy and Kara about it to be sure.”

  “Grace?”

  He waited as she dragged her eyes back to him. Her eyebrows winged up at the expression on his face. “What?”

  “I don’t think he’s coming here,” Nathan said gently, reaching out and touching her hand.

  She straightened. “Of course not.”

  He kept his voice mild even though her frustration threatened to transfer to him. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Nothing to talk about.”

  “What if it has something to do with the star?”

  This seemed to intrigue her. She tilted her head, considering. “Then maybe I should go back and talk to him.”

  He frowned. Was she trying to get something to happen?

  Grace’s blue eyes turned cool. “Don’t look at me like that.”

  “How do you expect me to look at you when you make a comment like that, Grace?”

  She fiddled with the edge of the paper placemat on the table, folding the sides down. “You sound like Riley.”

  “I’m going to take that as a compliment. If Riley and I would both be asking you the same thing in this circumstance, then clearly something is at fault with your logic, not mine.”

  Her mouth opened wordlessly. A subtle flush of color crept into her cheeks. “Maybe I should take that cheeseburger to go.”

  Nathan calmly slid his own paper mat closer and proceeded to fold it down the center. “Don’t leave because you’re mad at me for making a comment like that. Try to understand why that came as a shock.”

  “What came as a shock? The fact that I might actually want to talk to my father?”

  He folded the paper in a V, lifting his eyes to hers briefly. “That you’d do it just to move things along with the star.”

  “Isn’t that what I’m supposed to be doing?”

  He started to answer but was surprised when she reached out and stilled his hand for a minute, causing his eyes to raise again. “Think about it. Really think about it. I only have three months. I have a deadline. And nothing has happened yet. What do I do when
the time gets shorter and still nothing has happened? Clearly that means I’m not looking in the right direction. So I need to look somewhere else.”

  “It hasn’t been that long since Kara found her star,” Nathan reminded her, casually making another fold, then another to gather his thoughts.

  “What would you do, then?”

  Probably the same thing you’re doing. But it was harder to say that aloud. He was making it a double standard and the idea of that really pissed him off. Nathan finished the last few folds, then balanced the paper design next to him before grabbing her paper and sliding it to his side.

  Grace narrowed her eyes. “What are you doing?”

  “Origami.”

  “How do you know how to do origami?”

  He chuckled at the frustration he still heard in her voice. “I had to go to Japan on business. Probably the most boring international trip I’ve ever taken.” Nathan ripped off the excess paper along the edges of his fold. “I was working on a project for a man named Mr. Kimura. Doing some programming, creating a Web design for his expanding business and some random media projects. Anyway, he had me over to his house a lot but ended up spending a good deal of his time on the phone for business. His daughter, Ayumi was about thirteen and took to following me around everywhere, asking all sorts of questions about the U.S. She taught me a dozen designs and made a zoo of animals for me before I left.” He glanced up again and saw she had propped her chin in her hands, leaning forward against the table as he told the story. “I still have all of them at home in a photo album.”

  “Do you have a picture of her?”

  Nathan smiled, linking the two papers together. “A few. They’re in the album, too. Here.”

  She sat up straight when she saw what he’d created. A flower. Something like a tulip with a long stem and a leaf. Grace reached for it, a smile in her eyes.

  The waitress came to drop off two plates. Not only did Grace accept the cheeseburger without asking for a to-go box, but she slid the flower to the side to make room and grabbed the ketchup.

  “What are the plans for the youth center today?” he asked, sprinkling his fries with salt.

  “Some of the kids from the old youth center are going to stop by. They said they’d paint a mural for the rec room.” She lifted a fry with a smile. “I have no idea what they have in mind but they assured me it will be awesome.”