Grace took a sip of coffee to avoid answering right away. Finally she groaned, “I lied about that too. I have been looking up what he preached about each Sunday.”
“Did you lie about your studies too?”
“Yes. I've got C's in every class. I know I am being foolish and I'm messing up my future. I know, Mom, please don't tell me. Just be here for me for a moment,” Grace pleaded.
“I don't know what to say...”
The door of the kitchen swinging inward startled her and she gasped as her father stormed into the kitchen. “Dad?”
“Gracie.” Grace paled as she realized her father was shaking and his face was red.
“Are you okay, Dad, did we wake you?” she whispered, praying he hadn't been listening at the door. It was bad enough that her mother wasn't taking it too well, but she didn't know how he would. All doubts of his eavesdropping disappeared as he spoke.
“How could you do this, Grace?”
“Dad, you were eavesdropping!”
“Don't dad me, young lady! And you're damn right I was eavesdropping. This is my house and last I checked, you were still my daughter. Your mother and I feared this would happen! I knew I shouldn't have let you go off to that big college. No, you should've stayed here for two years then transferred. I feared it would be too much for you. Too much, too soon, but instead I listened to your mother and let you go. I should've just listened to my gut. Now you're used goods, you've shamed yourself, your family, and most importantly, God.” Archie paced the room.
“Dad, please. Stop. I'm not sorry for what I did. I know you think it's wrong, I know. But please don't make what happened between Drake and me into something filthy. Because it wasn't, Dad. It was beautiful. I know you don't want to think I'm grown up, but I am, and I consented. And I love him,” Grace whispered, tears filling her eyes.
“Your birth mother was the same way. We couldn't tell her a damn thing, and she went off into the big world and listened to any snake that told her she was beautiful and gave herself away. Bit by bit she threw the jewels of Christ away, every piece of her soul until she was corrupt and nothing. Then she had you and you're turning out the same way. Why, God, have you given me two girls who refuse to follow your will? Why?” Archie shook his fist at the sky and collapsed into a chair at the table.
Grace stared in silence as Annie moved to soothe him. “Stop, Archie.”
“You knew my birth mother?” Grace managed to choke out. “I thought you adopted me from the orphanage and you had never met her.”
Archie looked up and nodded. “Of course we did. She was our daughter.”
The coffee cup Grace held slipped from her grasp and shattered on the tile floor. She winced as hot coffee splattered her legs and burned them through the jeans she wore.
“Oh!” Annie yelped. “Let me clean that up.” She busied herself with a broom and Grace stood frozen, staring at the man she had known as her father since she was a very little girl.
“My mother was your daughter?”
“And she was a harlot just like you,” Archie yelled. “You're turning out just like Mary. Today it's just your virginity. Tomorrow it's selling yourself on a street corner for rent.”
Grace gripped the edge of the counter to hold herself up. “You're my grandparents.”
Archie rubbed his eyes. “Yes. We are. We didn't even know you existed until Mary died. She kept you from us, a secret.”
“Mom?” Grace whispered and Annie paused in her cleaning.
“Yes, Grace.”
“So my whole life has been a lie?” Grace sobbed out, her heart rending in two.
“No, your mother was a crack whore and we adopted you as our own. You should be grateful we gave you a future. We left town and moved here, telling folks you were our adopted daughter. Luckily you look enough like your dead beat father that no one questioned anything. Annie and I just wanted to start our lives over, Grace, you gotta understand that. We didn't want you to be known by the whole town as the daughter of the whore. We wanted more for you.”
She stared at her father as if he had suddenly grown three heads. “You've gotta be kidding me.”
“I have never been more disappointed in you, Grace. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Well, I can tell you right now you're coming home. There will be no more of this Yale business. I'm not going to have a whore living in my house. Either you'll clean up and fly right or you'll get the hell out. Just make sure you don't leave us a bastard baby to take care of like she did.”
“Archie!” Annie hissed. “That's enough!”
“No, Annie, it's not. I have raised this child up the best way I knew how. She turned out to be a disappointment just like her mother and I won't have it. Gracie, you are coming home, and that's final.” Grace flinched as Archie slapped a hand down on the table.
“You know what's funny? You're not my dad, so you can't tell me what to do,” Grace croaked.
Archie stood from the table and she shrunk back against the counter as he stepped closer. Before she could react, his hand came across her face, further injuring the cheek that had been hit the night before. “As long as you're in my house you will follow my rules.”
Grace brought a trembling hand up to her cheek and as a tear trickled from her swelling eye, she snapped, “Then I won't live here anymore.”
“What are you going to do, go fornicate with that man some more? Go on! Be just like your mother.” Archie railed.
“You have no right to say that about my mother or your daughter. What the hell is wrong with you? Even if she made some mistakes and screwed up, you're still supposed to love her!” Grace shook her head in disbelief.
“No, when she drained our bank accounts for smack and left you for dead, any love I felt for her sorry behind died.” Archie declared.
“You're wrong. Maybe my mom did bad things, but I can't imagine she would leave me for dead. No. I just- I can't.” Grace argued back.
She watched as Archie laughed. “You're such a fool, Gracie. You believe that she was good. Don't you realize once you're an addict, you're no longer a good person? That you'd sell your body, your child, your soul for another hit? You'd tell lies, you'd hurt anyone you knew, just to feel the way you felt when the drugs hit your bloodstream. If you don't know that then you're a bigger idiot than I pegged you for.”
Grace sobbed out as his words flayed her soul. “You're wrong. My mother loved me. I may not know much about my life, but I know she loved me. I know you both do, but you're too wrapped up in your beliefs to let anything change them. Just because I had sex with him doesn't make me a whore. Just because I'm growing up and figuring out who I am, it doesn't make me a slut. It makes me a normal, healthy, messed up adult. Stretching the boundaries, coloring outside of the lines, and screwing it all up and starting over.” She pushed around him and ignored the wails of her mother and the furious bellowing of her father as she ran up the stairs to her room. She had left the little car she had worked for three summers here, deciding it would save some money instead of wasting gas at college driving around town. But now she was grateful to have access to the tiny red car. Getting away from here would require it.
Once in her room she threw the lock and rummaged through her dresser to find her keys. She pulled her suitcase from her closet and threw her clothes and belongings she hadn't taken to college into it before zipping it up. She left her trophies from math club during high school, the tacky velvet unicorn posters she had colored in so precisely on the walls, and the teddy bear that Annie told her they gave her the day she was adopted. Moving back down the stairs, she dragged the suitcase behind her. Archie stood at the bottom of the stairs. “You're not leaving.”
“Get out of my way or I'm calling the cops,” Grace screamed and Archie stumbled back, seemingly shocked by her outburst, giving her just enough room to squeeze by.
Grace picked up her purse on the table by the door and opened the door wide before pausing to stare back at the people she had known a
s her parents. “I'm not living here anymore. Therefore you can shove your self-righteous shit up your...your ass!” She stepped out onto the porch and walked down the driveway to her little car.
“Good riddance! Go on and be a whore just like your mother!” Archie yelled out the door at her and she glanced up to see Annie sobbing into her hands.
“Mom?” Grace called, hoping that her mother would look at her or say something in her defense. As the seconds stretched on, defeat filled her heart and she jumped as Archie slammed the front door.
Grace's hand shook as she unlocked the door and threw her suitcase in the back. Sliding behind the steering wheel she jammed the key in the ignition and started the car. Peeling out of the driveway and into the sleepy little street, she drove back toward Yale. Tears streamed down her face as she drove and she finally realized she wasn't safe to drive any longer and pulled into a coffee shop parking lot and parked the car. Checking her face in the mirror she winced at the bruising. What Mack had started in the bar, her father had finished with his beefy hand. Her eye was swollen shut and her face was turning funny shades of purple and blue.
Leaning forward she rested her head against the steering wheel and blew out a breath. I need some sleep. While coffee sounded great, Grace knew she shouldn't be driving. I will find somewhere to crash for a few hours. She sat back up in the seat and started the car again, driving down the road until she found a motel. She parked and crawled from behind the wheel before shuffling toward the door of the motel and stumbling inside. Exhaustion seeped into all the spaces of her body and she could barely hold herself upright.
The manager at the desk of the little motel eyed her face warily and Grace shot him what she hoped was a reassuring smile as she stumbled down the hallway to her room. As she slipped the key into the lock, she fell into the room and barely caught herself against the wall before dropping to the floor. She locked the door behind her and kicked off her shoes as she walked to the queen sized bed and fell across it. The faint scent of cigarettes filled her nose and she barely had time to wrinkle her nose before she fell into a deep sleep.
Chapter Seventeen
Drake pulled into the teacher's parking lot at Yale and parked his car. Running his hand through his hair, he groaned. I have to find Grace and tell her. He had walked past her dorm too many times in the time they had been apart, hoping in a perverse way that he could bump into her on accident. But now he had to walk to her dorm and pray she didn't scream at him and let the world know in advance what had occurred between them. He didn't take Grace for that type, but he hadn't taken Patricia for being a bitch either, so obviously his radar for reading people was broken.
Patricia had been sending him nasty text messages with different pictures she had taken. There was even a grainy picture of them kissing in the drugstore parking lot. He had never imagined a grown woman would be so immature and cold, but Patricia was proving to him that age definitely didn't bring class or wisdom. He wasn't sure if she would do anything with the pictures or was just calling his bluff, but it was something he wasn't too keen on finding out. If he could get this nipped in the bud sooner rather than later, that would be best. Until he could convince Patricia to stop, he needed to warn Grace.
Finally opening the door of his car, he stepped out and closed the door behind him before shoving his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and hurrying down the sidewalk. Different students stopped him as he went, asking him about the midterm and if they could do extra credit. Drake made promises of extra credit, something he had never done in his years as a teacher, and rushed on. Anything to end the inane conversations so he could talk to the person he needed to see most.
He came to the building with her dorm and he slipped inside. Racing up the stairs he came to her room and knocked on the door. His breath came fast as he waited for a response. A soft voice asked, “Who is it?”
“Is Grace home? Please, I need to see her, it's important.”
The door cracked and Grace's blonde friend stood there. Drake knew immediately when she recognized him because she slapped his face, hard. “Ow,” he mumbled, rubbing his cheek. “I deserved that. Please, tell her I need to see her.”
“Sure.” Christina smiled. “When hell freezes over.”
Drake groaned and jammed his foot in the door as she moved to close it. “Look, you don't understand. Where is she?”
“She said she was going home for the weekend.” Christina kept pushing against the door and Drake flinched as his foot ached from the pressure.
“Could you stop trying to take my foot off? That'd be great,” Drake quipped and he was relieved when she eased back slightly. “I know you don't like me, but can I give you my number? I have been calling her, but she won't answer. Could you let me know when she makes it back here? I really, really need to talk to her.”
“About what?” Christina asked.
“Something really important. Please. Do you have some paper you can write my number down?”
“Yeah, gimme a second.” He heard her sigh as she stepped back from the door. In a moment she was back with a pink sheet of paper and a pen. “Shoot.”
“Four six five three eight three eight. Here’s my e-mail too. Please, you have to get her to call me, text me, e-mail me, something,” Drake pleaded.
“I hear you. I have like things to do, that don't involve dealing with the bastard who wrecked my best friend and left me to pick up the pieces. So, if you'll excuse me?” She stared down at his foot, still wedged in the door and Drake pulled it free.
“I understand. Just please get her to call me. It is very important. I need to talk to her before Monday.”
“Oh, I'm totally on it. Asshole,” she mumbled as she closed the door and Drake let out a sigh.
Shit. Grace, where the hell are you? He thought about harassing Christina again and trying to find out where Grace lived, but he wondered if the feisty blonde would kick him in the nuts or shoot him with pepper spray instead of just crushing his foot in the door. Hurrying out of the building, he raced back to his car and slid behind the steering wheel. His phone buzzed and he nearly jumped out of his skin as he hoped it was Grace. Did she get up with her that fast? Nausea filled his throat at the latest picture Patricia had sent.
The weekly newspaper of Yale was sitting on a table and sprawled across the front page was his picture and Grace's. 'STUDENT-TEACHER RELATIONSHIPS: HOW CLOSE IS TOO CLOSE?' followed by 'PROFESSOR LURES YOUNG STUDENT INTO SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP' was the headline, and Drake blew out a breath. Patricia had obviously surfed the internet to find some of the most unflattering shots of Grace she could. The photos on the front page were from her high school days, and the one shot of Drake was one she had taken of him at a tapas restaurant they had been at, and he was holding up a shot of whiskey.
Another text came through.
Look at the first run! It will be out Monday. I always knew you'd look good in print.
Drake fumbled with his phone and typed back with shaking fingers.
Go to hell.
His phone buzzed.
Oh sweetheart, only if I'm taking you with me.
Drake beat his hand against the steering wheel and tossed his phone into the passenger seat. Dammit, Grace, call me! We're so screwed.
Chapter Eighteen
Grace woke up slowly and stretched before shuffling to the bathroom. Glancing up into the mirror she winced at the purple and blue mottled color of her cheek and eye. As she finished in the bathroom she moved back into the hotel room and rubbed her good eye. What time is it? She looked at the bedside clock and groaned at the time she saw there.
She had slept almost fifteen hours and it was now the middle of the night, nearly two in the morning on Sunday. Sitting down on the edge of the bed she ran a hand through her tangled hair and began to cry. Tears poured down her face and her shoulders shook as she wept. My parents are my grandparents...my mother was their daughter and I have been lied to about my entire life. My dad actually hit me. He has nev
er hit me in my entire life, but then again I committed the cardinal sin, didn't I? I grew up and had sex.
Pushing back onto the bed, she lay on the pillows and stared up at the ceiling. “Oh, God,” she breathed. “What am I gonna do? I left him because I knew we couldn't have more and I shouldn't have gone home. I just wanted my mom, but it was a mistake. A huge, huge mistake. Now I can't go back home. What am I gonna do? I will have to find a place to live for the summer, find a real job. I shouldn't have been so hasty, huh?”
With a groan she closed her one good eye. No, I can't go back there and have the rest of my life be shoved into a tiny little box. I just—no. I can't. I'll go back to school and bury myself in my work and get my degree and make my life my own. I won't do this. I'm not gonna slink back and beg for forgiveness. I will never believe what Drake and I did was wrong. It was beautiful and perfect. I felt beautiful for the first time in my life, and loved. But it was the one time and it can't happen again. So I let him go.
Her stomach rumbled and she sat back up. I'm gonna get something to eat and drive the rest of the way back to school. She rummaged through her purse and found a pony tail holder and pulled her hair into a messy bun on top of her head and made sure she had everything in her purse before leaving the room and walking down to the front desk. After checking out and getting more curious stares about her face, she opened the front doors and stepped out into the brisk early morning.
Staring up for a moment at the brilliant, twinkling stars that were strewn across the deep velvet sky, she let out a breath and felt, for that moment, at peace with herself. Opening the door of her little car, she tossed her purse in the passenger seat and sat behind the wheel before starting the car and backing out of the parking spot.
Saving Grace (Wild Rose Book 1) Page 12
