Foundation (A Golden Beach Novella)

by Loraine, Kim

  Drew’s heart lurched. Something had happened.

  “I’m sorry, sir. She specifically requested not to allow you to visit.”

  His jaw dropped. “What? I’m her bloody husband. Those are my children.”

  “I am sorry. She’s given us permission to tell you they’ve given her something to stop the labor. She’s resting now and the babies are fine.”

  “When will she be released?”

  The nurse shook his head. “I can’t provide that information.”

  Drew raked his hand through his hair and bit back a curse. “This is ridiculous.”

  “You’re welcome to wait. I just can’t allow you to see her.”

  “Right. I’ll just be over there, then. Please let her know I’m here?”

  The nurse nodded and offered a sad smile.

  As Drew found a seat in the waiting area, worry and disappointment gnawed at him. He’d done this to himself, but he couldn’t believe she’d go this far. The memory of the look on her face when she’d turned to see him running after her broke his heart. All he could do was settle in and wait.

  He would wait, forever if he had to.

  Chapter 13

  “Drew. Wake up.”

  He groaned, as he drifted into consciousness. His muscles ached and protested. He’d passed the night stretched out on the uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room, hoping Grace would have a change of heart.

  “Wake up.” Her scent invaded his subconscious and he had to push back the answering wave of heartache.

  He didn’t want to leave the dream. In the dream, Grace was there with him.

  Shaking finally brought him around and he blinked through the discomfort of sleeping in contact lenses. Her lovely face filled his vision and he sat up, sore and stiff.

  Before she could stop him, he had his arms around her, pulling her as close to him as he could. He breathed her in.

  “Are you all right, love? I’m so sorry. So, so, sorry.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “We’re fine. I’m going home.”

  He nodded. “Right. Let’s get you all home and off your feet.”

  She shrugged out of his hold, her posture holding an unfamiliar stiffness.

  “No. Your dad’s taking me home.”

  “Why? That’s daft.”

  “I need to get some of my things. I’m going to stay in our cottage for a while.”

  His stomach clenched. Why would she want to be there? They hadn’t been apart from each other a single night since she’d moved out of the cottage and in with him. “What do you mean?”

  “I need some space. Time to think this through. I . . . I don’t know if I can trust you.” Her voice wavered as she said the last words and his heart shattered.

  “I said I was sorry. I forgot the bloody appointment. My mobile was switched off because I’d been in a meeting.”

  “The appointment? I don’t care about that. Sarah. That’s what I care about. You told me you weren’t working with her anymore.”

  “I . . . You don’t understand. It’s not like that.”

  “Then why was she there after you told me you wouldn’t work with her? Why was she looking freshly fucked? Why are you lying to me?”

  He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  “I saw your messages, Drew. All of them. Were you really staying late all those nights because of work?”

  Dread pressed on his shoulders. Sarah had sent Grace his messages. He’d said things, things in the heat of the moment that he hadn’t meant.

  “Don’t go to the cottage, Grace.”

  Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared into his eyes. For a panicked moment he recognized the resigned look on her face. He knew that look. He’d worn it once upon a time, years ago. She was giving up.

  “You’ve always made me so happy. I never thought it would hurt to see you.” She reached out and ran her hand over his cheek. “I can’t even look at you.”

  “Go home. I’ll stay at the cottage until we can work through this.” His voice was thick as he swallowed back tears.

  Her shoulders stiffened as she whispered, “If we can.”

  Drew rolled over on the bed he’d spent countless nights in when Grace had lived at the cottage. Images of her splayed out beneath him, her hair spilling across the pillow and eyes heated with lust, played out over the course of the night. He couldn’t stop thinking about everything he’d lost—the intimacy they’d shared, the gravity of his love for her, all the things they’d been through on their path to each other.

  He started at the sound of a key in the lock and for one brief moment dared to hope it would be Grace coming through the front door. Instead, he heard his dad’s rough voice call his name, and he smelled the familiar scent of Indian curry.

  He shuffled into the kitchen and groaned as his father shot him a withering look.

  “It’s three o’clock in the bleeding afternoon. I popped by the shop and Henry told me you haven’t been in for days. What have you done today? You look like a sack of shit.”

  “Thanks, Dad. You’re such a boost for my ego.”

  “Son, I don’t think your ego needs any more of a boost.” His dad grabbed two plates from the cupboard and started dishing up the food.

  He shoved a plate at Drew and shot him a level look. “Sit your bony arse down and eat. What have you been living on? Biscuits and scotch?”

  “I’ve had porridge and tea as well. I’m not a bloody alcoholic.”

  “Three days you’ve been here. What have you done to get your family back, lad? It looks to me like a whole lot of nothing has happened here.”

  “She won’t see me.”

  “I know. I know all about it. I’m ashamed of you. I don’t think I’ve ever had to say that before.”

  He let anger take over at that point. “I haven’t done anything.”

  “Your wife certainly seems to think you have. Sarah’s a man-eater, you know that as well as anyone. Why in God’s name would you be spending time with her?”

  “You don’t understand.”

  His dad set his fork down with a loud clatter. “Then tell me.”

  “Sarah wanted to listen to me. To make things right between us. At least, I thought she did. She was a good person once.”

  “You’re a bleeding idiot.”

  “Grace and I have barely spoken in months. She won’t let me near her. She didn’t want me around.”

  “So you go running to your ex-wife?”

  “No. She came to me. She apologized for everything. She just happened to get the job as the account manager for AGG.”

  “What?” His dad’s bushy white eyebrows rose.

  “I hadn’t planned on ever seeing her again, but she took over for Mark. After Grace asked me to, I called and requested a new rep but they wouldn’t give me one. I couldn’t tell her.” Shoving his hand through his hair, he took a steadying breath and continued. “I was trying to make the best of it. Things had started downhill at home. I was working all the time. Sarah and I started talking about business, but then it led to personal stuff.”

  “What went wrong at home?”

  Drew let out a heavy sigh. “Grace found my birth mother. I didn’t know how to tell you.”

  He watched his father’s face pale. “Bleeding hell.”

  After relaying the story, John’s relationship with Maggie, Grace’s insistence that he continue to reach out, and the gap it caused between them, his dad poured them each a scotch.

  “Grace is right. You should talk to Maggie.”

  “I’ve already spoken to her, in person. Grace pushed me into that, and can’t see how hard it is to think of all the time John spent with Maggie.”

  “So, you decided that because your
wife wanted to help you have a relationship with Maggie, you’d stop talking to her?”

  Drew opened his mouth to protest, but his dad’s hand whipped around to smack the back of his head. “You need to make things right with Grace. No wonder she thinks you’ve shagged your ex-wife.”

  “I don’t know what I can do.”

  “You make sure you’re seen, even if she won’t see you. Check on her throughout the day. Don’t give up on her.” He chewed on a piece of naan before continuing. “I never told you this, but your mum and I had a rough go of it during our first few years of marriage.”

  “You did?”

  “Oh, I thought we were done for. We’d been trying to have a baby. Every month we were disappointed only added to our unhappiness. It consumed us for a while. Everything became about what we didn’t have rather than what was right in front of us. She left me for two months. It was the lowest time in my life.”

  Drew didn’t know how to respond.

  “She came back after I finally went to her on my knees. Begging. Then we decided to adopt. Six months later we found you, my boy.”

  “But you hadn’t done anything wrong. You still begged even though you weren’t guilty of anything?”

  His dad shook his head, a sad look on his face. “You don’t get it. We’d both made mistakes. I realized it first and swallowed my pride. We were both wrong, but that didn’t matter. All I cared about was fixing my family.”

  When Drew didn’t answer, his dad continued. “Start by working on your own problems. You need to settle things with Maggie. You’re not dishonoring the memory of your mum by getting to know your birth mother. I promise you that.”

  With a clap on the shoulder, his dad left him, sitting at the table and staring at the empty plates.

  Drew sat in silence, absorbing his dad’s words. He was right about so many things, as the old man always was. He needed to sort himself out and win Grace back. He didn’t want anything more than he wanted her.

  Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he dialed Breanna’s number. Ready to make contact with Maggie again.

  Chapter 14

  Grace woke smiling, reaching out for Drew in their bed. What she found brought her back to the cold reality of her situation. There was no husband smiling at her, telling her she was beautiful. All she had was an empty pillow and a broken heart. He’d been gone two weeks, and she didn’t feel any better.

  A soft knock on the door lifted her melancholy. “Grace? Are you up?”

  Sam had been staying at the house for the last week, as Drew insisted she needed help if he couldn’t be there with her.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ve made coffee and pancakes.”

  “You’re an angel.”

  As Grace padded down the hall, she forced herself to focus on the things she needed to get done rather than dwelling on her situation with Drew. She needed to get the last few details for the project finalized so when she had two babies to care for—potentially alone—she wouldn’t leave the interim architect in a lurch.

  “Drew stopped by a few hours ago,” Sam muttered as she stirred cream into her coffee.

  “Hm.”

  “He left more flowers, and he said you probably needed some more freshly ground beans for your decaf. He left a box on the counter.”

  Grace peered into the apple crate Drew had left and her chest tightened. Next to the bag of coffee beans and fresh fruit, he’d tucked in a white ceramic mug that had Likes Time Lords written on it. She swiped the tears from her cheeks and sighed.

  “Okay, lady. That’s enough time on your feet. Sit.”

  Grace knew she was a terrible patient, but Sam was definitely the right woman to have around. She made sure there was plenty of food prepared, everything was easy access, and she checked in on her throughout the day.

  To his credit, Drew called morning, noon, and evening. Grace never answered. The thought of hearing his voice made her heart ache. She was sure he got regular updates from Sam. It was pretty clear the woman was straddling both sides of the argument.

  As she settled in for an exciting adventure of couch surfing and bad television, she balanced her laptop on her belly and opened her email. A Skype call came through before she could get her first message read.

  “Val! Hi.” She couldn’t contain her excitement at seeing her sweet friend’s face.

  “Hey. How’s the lazy life treating you?”

  “I’m so bored.”

  Valerie laughed and tossed her long blond locks over one shoulder.

  “Me, too.”

  “What? Don’t tell me you’ve gotten bored of Donovan already.”

  “We . . . uh, we broke up.”

  Grace was overcome with sadness for her friend. Her hormones getting the better of her, she felt the sting of tears. “I’m so sorry. I really thought you two had something special.”

  Valerie sniffed. “I did, too. It’s complicated. He’s complicated.”

  Grace nodded. “I understand. John was the most complicated man I’d ever known. Being with a firefighter is hard. They carry a lot home from the firehouse with them.”

  She watched her friend put on a brave face and try to change the subject. “So, how are those babies?”

  “Growing and giving me heartburn. I can’t even look at a glass of water without needing antacids.”

  “You’re living the glamorous life now,” Valerie teased. “Has Drew just started bringing Tums home by the case?”

  A pang went through Grace’s heart. She hadn’t told Valerie all that had transpired over the last few weeks.

  “Grace? What’s happened?”

  That girl was so intuitive. She always knew when Grace wasn’t telling the entire truth.

  “We’re having some . . . problems.”

  “What kind of problems?”

  “The Sarah kind.”

  “No . . .” Valerie’s voice was filled with incredulity.

  “It’s a long story.”

  “I’ve got time.”

  Grace relayed everything—the messages, the appointment, the moment she saw them together.

  “They were laughing. Drew gave that soft chuckle, the one he reserves for secret jokes and intimate moments. I thought I was going to be sick.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Nothing. I left.”

  Valerie scoffed and rolled her eyes. “When are you going to learn that you can’t run from your problems?”

  “I’m hormonal.”

  “That’s just a bullshit excuse, Grace.”

  “She had to straighten her skir—”

  “Drew would never cheat on you.” Her statement was so matter-of-fact it gave Grace pause. In her heart she knew it was the truth. Drew wasn’t a cheater. “As far as the messages go—that’s . . . he might not ever physically cheat, but he’s definitely guilty of something there.”

  Grace chewed on her bottom lip, trying to figure out how to respond to the heavy truth Valerie had just laid on her.

  “Grace? Have you talked to him about it at all?”

  She shook her head.

  “I went into early labor after leaving his office. He waited all day and night at the hospital, but I wouldn’t let him in my room. He’s . . . he’s living at the cottage.”

  A sad expression colored Valerie’s features. “Oh, Grace.”

  Grace fought back the tears that threatened to spill. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”

  “You need to talk to him.”

  She nodded at her friend and smiled. “I can always count on you to kick me in the ass when I need it.”

  “It’s what I do.”

  Valerie’s phone rang, distracting her, and Grace took the opportunity to say her goodbyes.
Talking about Drew just made her sad.

  As she watched a mindless home shopping show, she mulled over Valerie’s insightful comments. She was right. If Grace wanted anything to get better, she and Drew needed to talk. She needed to hear him and he needed to do the same for her.

  Picking up her phone, she sent him a text.

  Drew’s phone vibrated from somewhere under the invoices and miscellaneous papers strewn about on his desk. He’d been distracted over the last few weeks; his mind on Grace instead of the final important details of the Ten’s expansion. He shuffled the paperwork until he found his phone. His heart caught in his throat when he saw Grace’s name. She’d finally reached out.

  We need to talk.

  It certainly wasn’t a message overflowing with love, but it was a start. He fought the urge to drop everything and rush to her. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her until she couldn’t remember why she’d been cross in the first place. That wouldn’t get them anywhere. Kisses were all well and good but they didn’t mean much if she wouldn’t let him back into his house.

  Name the time and I’ll be there, love.

  He waited for her response, his breath tight in his chest. His intercom buzzed and he nearly jumped out of his skin.

  “Yes?” he answered, conscious that his voice was tense.

  “Erm, Sarah’s here for you.” Henry sounded as though the spider woman had his balls in a vise grip.

  “Right, I’ll be down straight away.”

  Running a hand through his hair, Drew straightened his shirt and took a breath to steady himself.

  She was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, her shining blond hair tumbling down her back and her generous cleavage visible due to the low cut neckline of her dress. Henry stared with blatant disregard for propriety as she leaned over the counter and flirted with him.