Heart of the Hunter

by Chance Carter

  “Everyone knows everything, Grant. Except for Lacey of course. Just leave this to us. We’ve got your back.”

  “Thanks, Sammy.”

  “Any time, Uncle Grant. You’ve had my back enough times in the past. We’ve got yours on this.”

  By the time I got home, no one was there. It was no wonder. They were all out arranging my dream wedding. I took the opportunity to collapse onto my bed. I slept like a log.

  Chapter 46

  Lacey

  SOMETHING VERY WEIRD WAS GOING ON. I mean, something really weird. I couldn’t get a straight answer from anyone. Forrester was acting like a school boy who’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Grady ran out of the kitchen when I entered. Faith and Jackson weren’t answering my calls. Even Sam wasn’t answering my texts, which was a first.

  I knew it was because of Grant. What had he done? Had he told everyone we’d made love again? Were they all upset with me about that? Or even worse, had they all been involved in his decision to interfere with my engagement to Rob? Had it been some sort of intervention?

  I decided to find out.

  Grant liked to think of himself as an expert tracker. He said he could follow a car for a hundred miles without them even suspecting he was there. Well, I gave him a taste of his own medicine.

  He slept a little later than usual, showered, had some cereal in the kitchen, looked around the house, I assume for me because he went to my bedroom, and when he finally left the house in his ’67 Mustang, I was right on his tail. I followed him all the way into the city and he didn’t notice a thing.

  The hunter had become the hunted. I was pretty proud of myself for not losing him and not being spotted, especially considering how heavy traffic was on the freeway into the city.

  I was surprised when he got off the highway at a residential area, then I realized it was the same area we’d gotten off at together when we went to the flower market. What was he up to?

  I tailed him along numerous streets until he arrived right at the very same old house that I’d wanted to stop at last time. I parked down the street and watched him. What was going on? He got out of his car and greeted the orphan boys I’d spoken to when I was there. Then he took the For Sale sign out of the ground and threw it into the back of his car. I wanted to get out and find out what was going on, but I was torn between being discovered and maintaining my cover. I mean, technically, I was still mad at him. Although I did find it hard to stay mad at him. I had no idea what he’d said to Rob, what the circumstances of their conversation had been, or who’d initiated it, but with every passing minute, I realized more and more that he’d been right. Rob wasn’t the man for me, and if Grant had decided to do something about that, he’d probably had a good reason for it.

  In fact, I was grateful. I didn’t want to marry Rob. Whatever led to him calling off the wedding was a good thing. I’d felt so free and full of relief since finding out. I knew it was only my own stubbornness that made me mad at Grant. I couldn’t admit that I’d been losing control of my life and that whatever he’d done had been a help.

  I decided to swallow my pride and find out what was going on. I locked my car and walked up to the house.

  “Hey,” I said to one of the boys who was on the porch. “What’s going on here?”

  Grant was inside the house with the rest of the boys.

  “Lacey?” the boy on the porch said.

  “Yes,” I said, too startled to ask how he knew my name.

  “Grant explained everything to us. Don’t worry. We’re all in school, and we’re all going to graduate. I swear it.”

  “What’s your name?” I asked him.

  “Arnold. I’m the one Grant put in charge. I already had the heat and power hooked up. The water is running. The internet and cable guys are coming today. We’re going to make this work.”

  “Make what work?”

  The boy smiled, as if he knew I was asking a rhetorical question and already knew the answer.

  “Everything, Lacey. We’re going to make you real proud of us. Whatever your father did for Grant and the other brothers, we want you to do for us, and we won’t let you down. You won’t find another group of kids more committed than we are.”

  It was at that moment that Grant stepped out of the front door.

  “Lacey,” he said, obviously surprised to see me.

  “Grant,” I said.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I could ask you the same thing.”

  Grant told Arnold to go wait inside with the others. Then he came down the steps of the porch to me.

  “This was supposed to be a surprise,” he said.

  “For when?”

  “For when you weren’t mad at me,” he said, sheepishly.

  I smiled. “I’m already not mad at you.”

  “Really?”

  I nodded. “I don’t know what happened between you and Rob, but I’ve decided I don’t want to know. Whatever it was, it was guy stuff.”

  “Well,” he said, obviously relieved, “that’s great.”

  “Now, tell me what on earth are you up to here?”

  “What you said, when we were here. It got me thinking,” he said. “I could tell you wanted to help these boys.”

  I thought back to the last time I’d been there. It was true. I had wanted to help. “I did,” I said.

  “Well, now you can. In fact, you already have. You bought this house.”

  “I what?”

  “It’s in your name. The paperwork will be arriving at your lawyer’s office on Monday.”

  “I bought this house? Why?”

  “Because you’re your father’s daughter.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Your father changed my life. He changed Jackson’s, and Forrester’s, and Grady’s too. He saved us.”

  “But what’s that got to do with me?”

  “Well, when I was watching you here the other day, I knew you had the same impulse inside you. The same goodness that was in your father is in you, and I thought it would make you happy to be able to show it by helping out these boys, and others like them.”

  “So you bought this house?”

  “I bought this house, I got services connected, and I promised these boys that you and I would teach them the things they’ll need to know to make themselves successful.”

  “Wow.”

  “And I told the boys, if they want to live here, they’ll have to stay in school.”

  “Grant, that’s … I don’t know what to say.”

  “Don’t say anything, Lacey. The hard work is yet to come. Keeping them to their word.”

  “But you’ve made a start.”

  “For you.”

  “For me?”

  “It wasn’t just your father who saved me and the other brothers, Lacey. It was you too. You inspired us. You told us we could keep going when we wanted to give up. Remember when I dropped out in my senior year? Who was it that convinced me to go back?”

  “Me.”

  “And who convinced Forrester to keep working with that parol officer when he first got here?”

  “Me.”

  “And who got Grady out of trouble with that gang of bikers from LA?”

  “Me.”

  “And who helped out Faith, when she first arrived, pregnant with Sam.”

  “It was me, Grant.”

  “It was you, Lacey.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I was utterly overcome with emotion. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me. Grant didn’t just give me the chance to help the boys who lived in this house, he also showed me that I’d already been helping the people I loved my whole life. Everything he said was true. I had been helping the brothers. If it wasn’t for me they wouldn’t have gotten half as far, or done half as well, as they had. It was strange to realize how much of a difference I’d actually made to other people.

  “I’m just giving the eight boys who live in this house the same c
hance you gave all of us in your father’s house,” Grant said. “And I’m doing that by introducing them to you. You’re the key. You’re the gift, Lacey. It’s always been you.”

  I followed Grant into the house to meet the boys. They were kind and courteous to me. Grant had obviously prepared them, and they treated me with every respect. They seemed genuinely eager to work with us, and learn from us, in order to give themselves a better future. Even the house had been cleaned. Everything looked neat and homely. It wouldn’t be easy. I had no illusions about that. It would take many years to build those boys into the men they could be, but it would be a rewarding journey, for all of us.

  I knew I wouldn’t have to live in the house with the boys, they were practically men, but it would take a lot of one on one time with them. Eventually, once we got to know them, they might even move up to the mansion, but that was a ways off yet.

  I looked at Grant after we left the house. We were going to go buy some new beds for the boys. It was one of the most urgent things they needed, as well as some clothes and school things they could buy themselves with Grant’s credit card.

  “Thank you,” I said to Grant, as we got into his car. “This really means a lot to me.”

  “You don’t mind that I did it without asking you first?”

  I smiled and shook my head. “I love it,” I said, and I meant it.

  I loved what he’d done, and I loved him.

  Chapter 47

  Lacey

  THE WAY GRANT WAS LOOKING AT ME, I knew something momentous was about to happen to me.

  “We’ve got some important things to talk about,” Grant said.

  “Do we?”

  “Yes, so follow me.”

  I followed him to his car and we headed toward the center of the city. There was an expensive restaurant overlooking the harbor that had always been one of my favorites. My father had taken me and Grant there for one of my birthdays a very long time ago, before any of the other brothers had arrived. They served classical French cuisine and the waiters wore black jackets and white shirts. It was quite overpriced, and for some reason, I had always loved it. I guess because of the memories it brought back.

  “I’ve always loved this restaurant,” I said to Grant as we were seated at a table by the window.

  “I know that, Lacey,” he said.

  We took our seats and the waiter asked what we’d like to drink. Grant deferred to me.

  “This is Lacey Eden,” he said to the waiter. “She’s one of the most important wine buyers in the city. Show her your best stuff.”

  The waiter went back to the counter and brought me a worn, handwritten wine list that was obviously not used for most customers. On it were some of the fanciest and most expensive bottles of wine in the world. I was so curious about what Grant wanted to talk to me about that I probably didn’t give the wine list the attention it deserved. I chose a bottle of Merlot and when I looked for the price I saw that there was none printed.

  “Right away, miss,” the waiter said, and I gave a little shudder as I wondered what the wine would cost.

  Then I remembered, I couldn’t even drink it. I was pregnant, but I didn’t dare say anything.

  I looked at Grant and the way he was looking at me. He had something on his mind. Something big.

  “So,” I said. “I’m not sure what I just ordered.”

  “I’m sure it will be excellent, like everything you do.”

  I looked into his face. I know this is going to sound clichéd, and I know every woman in my position would say exactly the same thing, but he really was the most handsome man you ever could imagine. He was a real man, firm, as if built from steel and stone. I would trust him with my life.

  “How’s your shoulder?” I asked.

  “Better.”

  “I still can’t believe Rob shot you.”

  “Well, I’d have done the same thing in his position.”

  “And what position was that?”

  “Well, I was stealing you from him, and he knew it.”

  “Excuse me?” I said, my cheeks flushing red.

  “You heard me,” he said, and winked.

  “Grant, what are you saying?”

  But before I could force an explanation from him, he was off his seat and down on the ground on one knee. I felt a sudden pang of nervousness that caused my heart to flutter. I knew what this meant. I knew what was happening. And yet, it was all so sudden, so unexpected, that my mind was having a hard time keeping up with what my eyes were seeing.

  Could this really be happening to me? To Lacey? The girl who never chose the right man? And could it be happening with Grant Lucas? The man who swore he’d never get married for as long as he lived?

  Tears filled my eyes instantly. They blurred everything. My lip started to tremble. I looked down at Grant, through my teary eyes, and knew that everything I’d ever wanted was about to come true.

  “Lacey,” he said.

  All I could do was shake my head. He reached into his breast pocket and took out a small box. I struggled to hold back tears of pure joy. He opened it in front of me and I was so startled I could hardly breathe.

  Inside the box was the ring I’d chosen from the jewelry store, the really expensive one I was going to make Rob buy. I remembered then that Rob had said someone else had already bought it. Had Grant had it all this time? Had he known all this time that he was going to make me his? Rob had said the ring had been purchased the very same day I’d looked at it. Had Grant known all of this was going to happen, even then? I couldn’t believe it.

  I wanted to fall down onto him and hug him. I wanted to cry. But I kept my nerve and just looked into his eyes.

  “Lacey,” he said again, “would you do me the honor of being my wife?”

  That was it. I couldn’t contain myself any longer. I got down and put my arms around his neck. He held me close, put his lips on mine, and we had the strongest, most passionate, intense kiss you could ever imagine. It was heaven. I felt as if my heart was about to burst. The thing I’d been dreaming about, fantasizing about, since I was a girl of seventeen and my father brought him to my house, was finally coming true.

  “Yes,” I said to him. “Yes, yes, yes, yes. Of course I’ll be your wife.”

  “Oh, thank God,” Grant said, and it surprised me to realize that he must have been just as nervous as I was. “Thank you God,” he said again.

  We kissed some more, and then sheepishly looked around the restaurant at the other diners. Everyone there knew what they were witnessing, and when we looked up, they applauded spontaneously. Even the waiters and kitchen staff joined in.

  Grant took the ring from the box and slipped it onto my finger. It was a perfect fit. I was dizzy from looking at it. The diamond was enormous. Just knowing how much he’d spent on it, and the fact that he’d bought it way back when I still thought I was going to be Rob’s bride, showed me how certain he was about his decision. It made me feel safe and secure. It meant that even if I hadn’t fully known what I’d wanted, and even though I gave him a hard time for intruding into my life and making decisions for me, he’d known, even then, that he was going to marry me. He was going to be my husband.

  I looked across the table at my new fiancé.

  “What the hell took you so long?” I asked, my eyes full of tears.

  “I had to make sure you were ready to say yes, Lacey. You’re a very stubborn girl.”

  “I’ve been waiting my whole life for you to wife me, Grant Lucas.”

  “And I’ve been waiting my whole life to make you mine.”

  Chapter 48

  Lacey

  LUNCH SLIPPED BY IN A DAZE. I didn’t even taste the expensive wine, but Grant didn’t notice. After the meal, Grant said that there was something else he had to show me. I couldn’t imagine what else there might be on top of what had already happened, and I followed him back to the car more concerned about my ring than anything else.

  It looked so beautiful on my finger, l
ike it had been made just for me. When I chose it originally, I’d thought I was marrying Rob, but now I knew it had always been meant for me and Grant.

  “Are you really going to marry me?” I said when we got into the car.

  He leaned across and gave me a long, passionate kiss.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “When will we get married?” I said.

  He caressed my hand gently as he drove.

  “Do you trust me?” he said.

  “Of course I do.”

  “All right. Then leave that to me.”

  I wasn’t sure what he meant, but he refused to say anything else about it as we drove out of the city. We were headed back toward the valley and I started to think he was taking me home, but as we approached the valley, he turned up, into the mountains, rather than going down toward the river.

  “Where are we going?” I said.

  There was a hotel high in the mountains at a place overlooking the entire Socorro Valley. It was a beautiful spot and when he pulled into the lot, I wondered if he was going to take me to a hotel room to celebrate our engagement, but instead he just drove up to the door and stayed in the car.

  “What’s going on?” I said.

  I turned to look at the hotel and saw Faith and two valets from the hotel coming to greet me.

  “Grant?” I said.

  “Do you trust me?” he said.

  “Of course, but what’s Faith doing here? What’s going on?”

  Grant took my face gently in his strong hands and kissed me deeply and passionately.

  “I’ll see you soon, Lacey,” he said. “You just follow Faith. She’ll explain everything.”

  Faith opened the door and gave me a warm smile. “Come on, girl,” she said. “You’ve got a dress to try on.”

  “What?” I said.

  I looked from Faith to Grant. They both knew exactly what was going on, while I didn’t have a clue. I got out of the car and let Faith lead me through the lobby of the hotel. I turned back to the door in time to see Jackson, Sam, Forrester and Grady getting into Grant’s car, all of them wearing the most dashing tuxedoes I’d ever seen.

  “Faith,” I said. “What the hell is going on?”