by Ciana Stone
And she wouldn’t have Sherri and Theo. No, she couldn’t be that girl anymore. Tad might have been an unfaithful and neglectful husband and father, but her children were worth every unhappy moment she’d spent with the man.
It had taken a more than a decade, but what she’d just seen happen on her mama’s front porch allowed her to release all those old resentments. “You’re always welcome, Beau.”
His smile rivaled the slanting rays of light from the setting sun and was every bit as beautiful. “It’s good to see you, Gracie.”
“I hungry!” Theo announced. “Eat eat time!”
Beau laughed and put Theo down. As Theo raced for the kitchen yelling “Gran! Me hungry!” he looked at Grace. “Truce?”
“How about letting bygones be bygones?”
“I’d like that a lot.”
“So would I. You want a beer?”
“I brought wine. It’s on the porch.”
“Would you rather have wine?”
“Oh heck no. Give me a cold beer any day.”
“Same here. Come on.”
They headed for the kitchen and Beau smiled down at her. “It’s good to know that some things don’t change.”
“Yeah, it is.” Grace agreed, thinking to herself, and it’s downright terrifying as well.
Because good or bad, smart or stupid, she still had it bad for Beau Legacy.
Chapter Nine
Grace couldn’t remember when she’d had such a nice evening. During dinner, Beau encouraged the kids to talk and drew Sherri out of her shyness so that before long she was chattering a hundred miles an hour about school and having to chase their cat Paws all around the neighborhood to get a kitten out of her jaws and how Paws didn’t hurt the kitten but wanted to keep it.
The tale ended up being quite humorous, and they all laughed as she told about her trials in the great kitten rescue. Theo didn’t talk much about school, but did mention there was an old red wagon in the garage with a broken wheel, and he sure wished it worked.
While Grace and Ida cleaned up, Beau and the kids headed out to the garage. By the time the dishes were done, the wagon was fixed, Brick was hooked up to it like a draft horse, and Theo was getting pulled around the yard, riding that wagon like a stagecoach.
Beau, Ida, and Grace sat on the front porch and watched the kids play until the house phone rang. Ida got up to answer, and when she returned to the porch with the cordless, she announced it was Tad, wanting to talk to the kids.
The pleasant mood of the evening evaporated. Grace wanted to say no, but she knew that wouldn’t be fair to the kids.
“Sherri? Honey, your dad’s on the phone. You want to talk to him?”
Sherri raced to the porch and grabbed the phone. “Daddy? Hey, Daddy. Where are you? Are you coming to get me and take me home? Are you—“The hopeful expression on her face started to fade and tears formed in her eyes. “But I’m a big girl. I’m eight. I can ride the bus home, and I can fix my own dinner and—no, Daddy, please. Daddy? Daddy?”
The wail that came from her had Grace scooping her up into her arms. “It’s okay, sweetie. Mama’s here and I love you.”
“No!” Sherri tore away from her and wrapped her arms around Ida’s legs. “He won’t come get me and it’s all your fault. You coulda just let him and Miss Amy keep kissing in the laundry room and we coulda stayed home. I could have my room and my bike and dance classes and my friends and… and I hate you. I hate you, Mama. It’s all your fault. We don’t have a home and now daddy doesn’t love us and it’s your fault.”
“Now you hush,” Ida scolded her. “You can’t blame your mama—“
“I can! You don’t know, Gran. If she hadn’t gotten mad at Daddy about Miss Amy we wouldn’t have to be here. It’s her fault.”
Ida took Sherri’s hand and tugged her along. “Come on now. Let’s get you into the tub and you can tell Gran all about it.” She looked back at Grace. “I’ll put her in my tub and tuck her in with me. You take care of Theo.”
“Thanks, Mama.”
When the door closed behind Ida and Sherri, Grace turned around to find Beau holding Theo in one arm. “I not mad at you, mama,” Theo said.
“Me either,” Beau added.
Grace tried to smile, but it felt uncomfortable, and she gave up. “You need a bath, buddy. What say I get you into the tub and you can play with your toys for a bit?”
“I want Beau to do it.”
“Oh, honey, Beau’s a guest, we can’t expect—“
“I don’t mind,” Beau interrupted and smiled at Theo. “So, let’s get you in that tub, little man.”
Theo nodded enthusiastically, and Grace surrendered. She felt as if everything was out of her control right now, even her own children.
Half an hour later, at Theo’s insistence, Beau tucked him into bed. Grace gave him a hug and kiss, turned on his night-light that projected stars onto the ceiling, and left the door cracked when they walked out.
She and Beau went back outside onto the porch. It surprised her when he took her hand and led her to the porch swing.
“We did our share of rocking in this swing, didn’t we?” he asked when they sat.
“Yeah, we did,” she said and smiled as she remembered. “Those were good times. So much easier.”
“I’m sorry about what Tad did to you.”
His soft voice and the compassion in it both touched and embarrassed her. “Did mama tell you?”
“No, Sherri did. If you’d just let him and Miss Amy keep kissing in the laundry room. I’m guessing he cheated on you with someone you know.”
“One of my best friends,” she admitted.
“I’m sorry, Grace. You didn’t deserve that.”
“How do you know?” She looked at him. “Maybe I did. Maybe I wasn’t smart enough or pretty enough or good enough or—“
“Or that’s a load of horseshit.”
“Is it? You don’t know, Beau, how it was. Those women in his law firm? Every time I’d have to go to a function with him, they’d treat me like I was one of the catering staff—with just as much respect. They looked around me and through me. I didn’t even exist. I was just a stay-at-home mom with no career and no worth.
“We lived in a community that had a locked gate, armed guards, and all the women stayed at home. They played tennis and golf and hosted parties. I had to take golf lessons and tennis lessons and go to charity lunches at the club, and I felt like an imposter in all of it.
“I didn’t fit in and I guess part of me didn’t want to. I wanted to go back to work. I’d worked at a small newspaper, taking photos while he was getting started in the firm. Even though his dad owned it, Tad had to prove himself and bring in big clients.
“So, he worked all the time. We agreed that once he made partner I would quit work and we’d start a family and that’s what we did. Only it wasn’t what I imagined. I thought we’d be a family, not that I’d be a mom and he’d just be gone most of the time. I thought he wanted kids, not just as window dressing, but to be a real family.
“As it turns out, all he wanted from me was the window dressing. It sure as hell wasn’t for love or passion or even friendship. He got that from other people. Including, it seems, from one of my best friends.”
“Grace, you can’t blame yourself. You were always too good for Tad Finley. Always. And I’d really like to punch his lights out for what he did to you, but honestly, I’m just glad you’re away from him, glad you had the courage to walk away.”
“It wasn’t courage. It was humiliation.”
“Ah, Gracie.” Beau put one arm around her and pulled her onto his lap like he’d done so many times in their past. “Honey, I am so sorry.”
Grace allowed herself the luxury of putting her arms around his neck and burying her face against him. Oh God. It was like waking up from a nightmare to discover you’re safe at home. She wanted to wallow in the feeling, to cling to it tightly and not let go.
“Grace.” His whisper wa
s the lure of a siren with the power to have her turn her ship into the harshest of storms.
She drew back to look at him, and he whispered again. “God, I’ve missed you.”
That was all it took to have her hands moving to hold his face and her lips pressing against his. The kiss was soft at first, with her in control, but then to her surprise, it changed. Beau took hold of her hair and imprisoned her in his grasp as his lips and tongue instituted a sensual assault on her that had her lust-o-meter hitting the red line in two seconds.
Good God. Beau had always been a talented kisser, but now, dear Lord, he was like a living aphrodisiac. She wanted to rip his clothes off right there on the porch and have her way with him. Repeatedly.
“Gracie?” Ida’s voice from the door had Grace tearing away from Beau.
“Yes, Mama?”
“Honey, Sherri is crying for you. I think you need to tend to her.”
“I’m coming, Mama.” Grace stood, and Beau did as well.
“I have to see to my daughter.”
“I know.” He took her hand. “As you should. See me tomorrow?”
“I don’t know.” As much as she wanted to say yes, she wasn’t sure the time was right. “I—“
“Just think about it. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Grace nodded and let him kiss her softly on the cheek. “Good night, Gracie.”
“’Night, Beau.” She watched him walk away and put one hand against the doorframe to steady herself.
What was she doing? She’d walked away from the man she’d sworn to love who had broken her self-respect. Was she now going to fall right into the arms of the man who had the power to break her heart completely?
Chapter Ten
A niggle of unease took hold when Grace looked around the school cafeteria and did not spot Theo. She did see Sherri and hurried over to her. “Hey.” Grace knelt beside her daughter.
“What are you doing here?” Sherri asked.
“Theo forgot his lunch box, so I was bringing it to him. Where is he?”
“Oh, his class isn’t eating in the lunch room. They’re having pizza.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, lucky ducks. Mr. Beau showed up with a big stack just for Theo’s class. You think he would do that for me?”
Grace was stunned by the news. Sure, Beau had promised to have lunch with Theo and even help him with the bully problem, but she had never expected him to come through.
Apparently, she’d not given him proper credit for living up to his word. “Well, I don’t know, sweetie. Listen I have to go get back to the shop, but I’ll be here to pick you up.”
“Okay, Mama.” Sherri turned her attention back to the other children at her table, and Grace hurried out of the cafeteria and in the direction of Theo’s classroom.
The door to the classroom was open, and she could hear the laughter of children before she reached it. Grace stopped at the door and looked inside. The desks had all been slid to the perimeter of the room, and the kids were all sitting on their mats in the center of the room in a big circle.
There were easily a dozen boxes of pizza on the projects table along the window along with paper plates, bags of chips, and juice boxes.
Grace’s eyes teared up as she saw Theo grinning up at Beau who sat cross-legged on the floor beside him. Damn, girl, you’re turning into a freaking fountain. She wiped the tears away, smiled and quietly eased into the room to take a seat in a little chair along the back wall where she wouldn’t be noticed.
It wasn’t long before she was grinning. The kids were having a ball, and every one of them seemed to want Beau’s attention. He responded to every single child who yelled out a question or tried to make a joke.
Grace’s gaze went to Theo. She couldn’t remember ever seeing him look this happy. The look he gave Beau was one she’d always hoped to see on his face when he looked at his father. Open adoration.
The difference here was that he’d never looked at his dad that way, and Tad had never made such a gesture for Theo. Beau had. He’d done this for a child he barely knew, but one who had reached out to him.
Her hands went to her chest, crossed over her heart. No matter how many times she’d told herself it was too soon, it wasn’t wise, wasn’t safe, couldn’t be—no matter how many times she said she wasn’t—she was falling for Beau all over again and this had just cinched the deal.
How could she not fall for a man who would go out of his way to do something so kind for her son?
At that moment, Theo spotted her and waved. “Mommy, look! My friend Beau brought pizza for us!”
“Well, wasn’t that just the nicest thing? Did you thank him?”
“I did. We all did.”
A chorus of voices chimed in, kids yelling “thank you” to Beau and others letting Grace know that they had said thanks. Finally, the teacher, Mrs. Welch, interrupted. “Okay, children, it’s time for us to clean up.” Grace saw the way Beau grinned at the kids and the way he put his arm around Theo and hugged him.
“Now, let’s take our all our cups, plates and napkins to the trash and line up for recess.”
It was a surprisingly organized group of kids, which impressed Grace. They all disposed of their trash and lined up. Theo grinned at Grace as he got into line.
Grace didn’t expect Beau to fall in line with Theo. He stepped over to lean down and speak softly. “Theo and I have a little something to take care of on the playground.”
“Oh. Okay.” She waited until the class had left and then followed.
Beau was waiting for her.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Just wait.”
She looked over the playground and spotted Theo. He and another boy were on two of the swings, talking and swinging. As she watched, a bigger boy approached, and when the arc of Theo’s swing moved him backward, the kid grabbed the chains.
“Gotcha!” Beau murmured and strode away, his long legs eating up the distance.
Grace followed, resisting breaking into a run.
“This is my swing, four-eyes,” the bigger boy said as he jerked on the chains.
“Let go. I was here first,” Theo yelled back in a fearful tone, clinging to the chain with a less-than-brave expression on his face.
“Get off or I’ll knock you off!” The boy went to shake the chains again when Beau reached the swingset. Grace arrived just in time to hear Beau address the kid.
“Now that’s not very nice.” What followed his words was a sound she’d heard before, but not one coming from a man. It was the sound Brick made when he felt Theo or Sherri were being threatened, that low growl that said, “go ahead, one more step and I’ll gnaw your face off.”
From the expressions on the bully’s face, as well as the kid sitting in the swing beside Theo, it was obvious she wasn’t the only one who’d heard it. They both looked very much like kids who’d just come face-to-face with the big bad wolf.
Theo, on the other hand, was smiling like Superman had just swooped in to save the day.
Bully Boy let go of the chains. “I was just kidding.”
“Well, sure you were. A nice guy like you wouldn’t be mean to a swell kid like Theo, would you?”
“Huh uh.”
“I didn’t get your name.”
“Uh, Harry Willis.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Harry. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around, seeing as how we’re both friends with Theo.”
“Uh, yeah.”
Beau smiled. “Oh, and when I can’t be around, I know I can count on you to keep an eye out for Theo, you know like friends do. Just to make sure no one gives him any trouble.”
“Yeah, I mean yes. Yes, sir.”
“Well, thank you, Harry. It’s nice to have another friend I can depend on.”
“Yes, sir. Uh, you want to go play kickball, Theo?”
Theo slid out of the swing. “Can Jaime come?” He gestured to the little boy in the swing next to him.
&n
bsp; “Yeah, I guess.” Harry looked over Theo’s head at Beau, and Beau gave him the thumbs-up sign. “Yeah, sure,” Harry agreed.
As Harry and Jaime headed for the field where a group of kids was gathered, Theo looked up at Beau. “Thank you.”
“What are friends for?” Beau asked and knelt.
Theo flew into his arm and hugged him tightly. Grace had to stifle a sound that involuntarily tried to escape her lips when she heard her child whisper. “You my very bestest friend.”
He released Beau and smiled at his mom. “See you after school, Mommy!” Then he ran off.
Beau rose and turned toward her. “You okay, Gracie?”
She nodded and turned her back on him, not trusting herself to speak. He walked along beside her in silence. It wasn’t until she reached the parking lot that she had herself in control. She stopped beside her truck, and so did he.
“That was the kindest thing anyone’s ever done for him,” she said. “Thank you.”
“Theo’s a great kid. I couldn’t stand the thought of him getting bullied, and it seemed to me like he needed to feel special.” Beau’s expression changed, and he hurriedly continued. “Not that you don’t make him feel special. That’s not what I meant. I just meant—“
Grace silenced him with her kiss. It was a chaste kiss, slow and gentle. “I know what you meant and thank you,” she said when she pulled back.
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“That’s what makes it so precious. I have to go. I promised Mama I would be back in an hour.”
“Wait.” Beau took her hand as she turned away. “Can I see you tonight?”
She shook her head. “I want to say yes, but no.”
“Will you tell me why?”
“Because of what you did today. That wasn’t a small thing for me, Beau. It carried a lot of power, and I have to move beyond it before I see you again because it blows my defenses all to hell and right now I need them.”
“You don’t need to protect yourself from me, Gracie.”
“You’re the only one I do need protection from. I have to go. Thank you again. I wish I had the words to tell you how much that meant to me. I’ll see you.”
