“Look at me and breathe,” he said, cradling her face in his hands. “I’m going to get the tape off.”
He pulled at it slowly, Grace’s warm, rushed breath washing out over his knuckles. When her mouth was free she started gasping for air.
“Breathe baby, you have to breathe,” he said as he started to work at the tape on her wrists.
The second her hands were free she threw her arms around Jax and clung to him. She sobbed into his throat as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap.
“You’re okay,” he said over and over again.
* * *
The flashing lights were giving Grace a headache. Well, it was probably that and all the crying she’d done, but really what else was to be expected when a lunatic held her at gunpoint. Grace wasn’t sure how long Jax held her on the floor of that office, but when they finally went downstairs, Chad and Hoyt were gone. Hoyt was taken directly down to the sheriff’s office; Chad had to make a trip to the emergency room first.
The parking lot was filled with multiple sheriffs’ cruisers, an ambulance, and a crowd of people. Jax had refused to leave her side and was currently standing guard next to her as the paramedic looked at the cut over her eye.
“I think you’ll just need a few butterfly stitches,” he said, gently probing her forehead.
She winced when he disinfected the wound. Jax had his hand at the small of her back, and Grace was grateful for it. The only thing keeping her grounded was the sure, steady weight of his hand.
“He didn’t do anything else to you?” Jax asked as the paramedic applied the last bandage.
“No,” she whispered.
He nodded, none of the tension leaving his face or shoulders.
“Grace!”
She looked up as Brendan, Oliver, and Lula Mae crossed the parking lot.
“Oh, thank God,” Lula Mae sobbed, pulling Grace in for a hug.
Grace looked over her grandmother’s shoulder at Brendan and Oliver who were both wearing matching expressions of worry.
“You shot him?” Brendan asked, looking at Jax.
Jax nodded. “He’ll be going away for a very long time.”
“It better be for the rest of his lousy, miserable life,” Oliver said, shaking his head. He looked over at Grace and promptly started to cry.
“Pops, I’m okay,” Grace said as Lula Mae pulled away and Oliver took her place.
“I know,” Oliver said, holding her. “But I’ve already lost one of my girls. I can’t do it again, Gracie.”
“I need to go talk to some people,” Jax said as he started to step back from the group.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Lula Mae said, grabbing him and pulling him in for a hug. “Thank you, Jax. You saved her life,” Lula Mae cried as Jax wrapped his arms around her.
Jax looked up and locked eyes with Grace. “Grace is my life.”
* * *
Jax and Grace headed to the station so Grace could give her statement. When they arrived Jax had to give his own statement, and he looked more than a little bit panicky when he had to leave her side.
“I’m fine,” she said, giving him a small smile.
“All right.” He gave her a kiss on the forehead before he walked down the hall.
Grace told Lieutenant Lancaster exactly what had happened from the moment she walked into the funeral home. She was surprised she’d been able to remember everything past the blind panic that had consumed her for the majority of the time, but she somehow managed to get through the story.
Grace and Jax didn’t get home until after midnight. She was exhausted and all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and not move for days.
The second she walked in the door she headed for the bathroom. They’d given her a lot of hot tea at the station and it had made its way to her bladder on the ride home. When she finished washing her hands she dug a hair tie out of the drawer next to the sink. Jax hadn’t moved any of her stuff when they’d been apart.
She pulled her hair up and grabbed a washcloth, soaking it in cold water before she wiped the dried tears from her face. Mascara and eyeliner had smudged under her eyes and she washed that away before she ran the cool cloth to the back of her neck. Her skin was still crawling from where Chad had touched her and she wanted to wash that off, but she needed to talk to Jax first.
When she opened the door she saw Jax in the bedroom. He was sitting at the edge of the bed, his arms resting on his knees as he stared into his open hands. He didn’t say anything as she sat down next to him, just continued to stare at his hands.
“Jax?” she asked, reaching out and putting her hand in one of his.
His long fingers closed over hers as he shook his head. “He had a gun to your head,” he whispered thickly.
“I’m okay,” she said.
He turned to her, tears streaming down his face. “But what if you hadn’t been?”
“Oh, Jax,” she said, inhaling sharply. Grace had never seen Jax cry, not once, and he was crying for her.
“I keep seeing it…seeing you…bound…with his arms around you…touching you…and that gun…God, that gun…” He closed his eyes and turned into her, wrapping his arms around her and placing his head over her heart.
Grace pulled her legs up onto the bed so she could wrap herself around him. She rested her head on the back of his neck, one of her hands stroking his shoulders, the other in his hair.
“I can’t lose you…I can’t…do it,” he choked out.
“I know. I can’t lose you, either. I love you, Jax,” she said, kissing the nape of his neck.
“I love you. I love you. I love you,” he said over and over again.
They both cried and held on to each other, neither of them wanting to be the first to let go.
Epilogue
All You Ever Wanted
Jax was busy at work all week dealing with the aftereffects of the burglaries, the shooting at Rejuvenate, and the disaster at the funeral home. Every morning, he left the house with Grace at seven in the morning and didn’t get back until after nine.
Apparently Missy Lee had been stealing from the dead for years. She would take a necklace, or a gold watch, or a ring here and there. She’d pawn the items whenever she’d go on one of her big trips, but not too much to draw attention to herself. While she waited to pawn them, she’d stashed them at the funeral home, hiding them in the lining of the display caskets and inside the urns. She’d stolen all of the stuff that Gene Fritch had wanted to be buried with.
Missy had let Chad in on her secret. When Chad and Hoyt were identified at Rejuvenate, they knew they needed to get out of town, but they decided to liberate Missy’s contraband before they did so. They’d been hiding out in an abandoned gas station across the street from the funeral home waiting for their perfect opportunity, which Grace had provided.
Missy Lee didn’t take very well to being backstabbed. The second she’d found out what Chad and Hoyt had been up to, but after she’d already been presented with insurmountable proof of her own theft, she squealed like it had been nobody’s business. In the end, all three of them were going to pay for their crimes.
Jax might’ve been working long hours, but he stayed in constant contact with Grace, calling her and texting her. He knew she was okay for the most part, but he had a desperate need to see her, to touch her, to hold her. He’d come apart when he saw Chad holding that gun to her head. He’d broken right in half, and having her in his arms was the only way he felt whole.
Whenever Jax was in the same room as her, he had to be touching her. Whether it was his hand at the small of her back, his fingers in her hair, or his legs tangled with hers as he held her in bed. He knew he’d never get tired of touching her; never get tired of her warm, soft skin beneath his hands. He loved how she responded to his touch, how she reached for him and curled into his body. He loved the contented sigh that escaped her mouth even when she was asleep.
He just loved her and he was ready to prove it in every
single way.
* * *
It was a little over a week after the funeral home incident, when Grace and Jax had a Sunday off together. They slept in that morning, Grace sprawled across Jax, using his chest as her pillow. When they got up, Jax asked if she’d like to go see the finished product of his house. Grace hadn’t been inside for over a month and she was excited to see it.
Jax was anxious as they drove up and it only intensified the closer they got. Grace knew he was nervous about the house. He’d never gotten approval from his parents, and showing her something that he’d put so much of himself into was probably more than a little nerve-racking for the guy.
But Grace had full faith in what he’d created. She had full faith in him. He’d worked on the house with his own hands, kind and gentle hands that she loved. There was no way those hands hadn’t created something amazing.
The outside was finished, too. Jax had painted the exterior a dark gray, with white trim and a bright red door.
“Wow.” Grace smiled at him. “It’s beautiful.”
“Well, you like the outside. Let’s hope you like the inside, too,” he said as he led her up the steps.
“I’m going to love it,” she said, squeezing his hand reassuringly.
“All right.” He smiled at her nervously before he put the key in. The lock clicked and he pushed open the door.
The air-conditioning was running. Cool air wrapped around Grace as she stepped through the door. She couldn’t help the small gasp that escaped her lips as she walked into the hallway. It was painted in the dove gray she had picked out. Hardwood floors stretched out toward the living room and into the brightly painted red room next to where Jax was standing.
“That’ll be the office,” Jax said, pointing to the room.
“I like the Boston Red Sox’s red.” She grinned.
“It’s just red,” he said, shaking his head. “Nothing Boston about it.”
“Mmm hmm.” She grinned as she made her way down the hallway to explore more. “Oh, Jax,” she said as she came into the living room, “it’s beautiful.”
The ceilings were vaulted. Amber wooden planks came together from the front and back of the house. The dove gray walls made all of the white edging pop. Grace spun around slowly, taking it all in, and when her eyes landed on the kitchen, she stopped, stunned.
“Oh, my God,” she breathed, covering her mouth with her hands.
It was her dream kitchen, down to the very last detail. The same hardwood as the rest of the house covered the floors. The countertops were black granite. The cabinets a creamy off-white and a couple of the ones above the counter had paneled glass doors. The refrigerator was housed in the same wood as the cabinets and it blended in perfectly. There were two ovens stacked on top of each other built into the wall, and an eight-burner stove sat in the middle of the back counter.
The sink was on the right wall with a window above it. There were two islands in the middle of the room. One had a wooden rack hanging above it and it had already been filled with all her pots and pans from her apartment. The other island was set up as a bar, with a light gray granite countertop and bar stools lined up on one side.
It was perfect. Had he built it for her?
“Jax?” she whispered through her hands as she turned around to look at him.
He was standing right behind her, and his hands came up to grip her elbows and pull her hands away from her mouth.
“I’ve never really had a place to call home. Where I grew up with my parents, that wasn’t a home,” he said, shaking his head. “It wasn’t a place that I felt safe or loved. The first time I ever really felt safe was at your grandparents’ house. You came along a very short time after. I remember seeing you for the first time, and you were so small and innocent, and all I could think was how beautiful you were.
“You brought something into my life, Grace, something I’d never known before. I didn’t know what it was at five, but you changed me. I was always drawn to your grandparents’ house growing up, but it wasn’t because I found my home there, it was because I found my home in you.”
Tears were falling freely down Grace’s cheeks, and Jax reached up to run his fingers beneath her eyes.
“This kitchen was always part of the plan. Your kitchen was always part of the plan. And it’s because you were always part of the plan, it just took me a little while to figure it out. I built this house for you, every part of it. I wanted to give you what you gave me. Because, Grace, you’re my home. The place I feel safe and loved and wanted. The place where all the brokenness from the past goes away and it’s just you and me.
“I denied my feelings for you for so long, but when it comes right down to it, you’re undeniable. I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small velvet box as he got down on one knee.
“Jax,” she whispered, trying to remember to breathe.
“Grace Elizabeth King, will you marry me?” he asked as he flipped open the box.
She didn’t even look at the ring, because she couldn’t take her eyes off his.
“Yes.” She didn’t hesitate. She’d never been surer of anything in her life.
The smile on his face was like nothing she’d ever seen before. He grabbed her hand and slid the ring on. Then he was on his feet, pulling her into him and brining his mouth to hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his hands went down to her thighs and he pulled her legs up around his waist. He walked her backward and sat her down on one of the islands in the middle of the kitchen.
He pulled back and buried his face in her neck. “I love you, Grace. I love you so much,” he said as he kissed her throat.
“I love you, too,” she said, resting her chin on his shoulder.
Her arms were still wrapped around his neck, giving her a perfect view of the ring. It was beautiful. The diamond was over a karat and it was set in a platinum band.
“You bought me a princess cut diamond?” she asked, unable to stop herself from laughing.
“Yup,” he pulled back, grinning at her. “I always told you that you were a princess. I thought it was pretty fitting.”
“It’s perfect. I can’t believe you.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe you did all this,” she said, indicating the kitchen with her hand.
“I wanted to give you something, something like you gave me.”
“You already did, Jax.” Grace smiled, reaching up and touching his face. “The only thing I’ve ever wanted was you.”
Things Paige Morrison will never understand about Mirabelle, Florida:
Why wearing red shoes makes a girl a harlot
Why a shop would ever sell something called “buck urine”
Why everywhere she goes, she runs into sexy—and infuriating—Brendan King.
See the next page for an excerpt from the first book in Shannon’s sexy small-town series
Undone
Chapter One
Short Fuses and a Whole Lot of Sparks
Bethelda Grimshaw was a snot-nosed wench. She was an evil, mean-spirited, vindictive, horrible human being.
Paige should’ve known. She should’ve known the instant she’d walked into that office and sat down. Bethelda Grimshaw had a malevolent stench radiating off her, kind of like road kill in ninety-degree weather. The interview, if it could even be called that, had been a complete waste of time.
“She didn’t even read my résumé,” Paige said, slamming her hand against the steering wheel as she pulled out of the parking lot of the Mirabelle Information Center.
No, Bethelda had barely even looked at said résumé before she set it down on the desk and leaned back in her chair, appraising Paige over her cat’s-eye glasses.
“So you’re the infamous Paige Morrison,” Bethelda had said, raising a perfectly plucked, bright red eyebrow. “You’ve caused quite a stir since you came to town.”
Quite a stir?
Okay, so there had been that incident down at
the Piggly Wiggly, but that hadn’t been Paige’s fault. Betty Whitehurst might seem like a sweet, little old lady but in reality she was as blind as a bat and as vicious as a shrew. Betty drove her shopping cart like she was racing in the Indy 500, which was an accomplishment as she barely cleared the handle. She’d slammed her cart into Paige, who in turn fell into a display of cans. Paige had been calm for all of about five seconds before Betty started screeching at her about watching where she was going.
Paige wasn’t one to take things lying down covered in cans of creamed corn, so she’d calmly explained to Betty that she had been watching where she was going. “Calmly” being that Paige had started yelling and the store manager had to get involved to quiet everyone down.
Yeah, Paige didn’t deal very well with certain types of people. Certain types being evil, mean-spirited, vindictive, horrible human beings. And Bethelda Grimshaw was quickly climbing to the top of that list.
“As it turns out,” Bethelda had said, pursing her lips in a patronizing pout, “we already filled the position. I’m afraid there was a mistake in having you come down here today.”
“When?”
“Excuse me?” Bethelda had asked, her eyes sparkling with glee.
“When did you fill the position?” Paige had repeated, trying to stay calm.
“Last week.”
Really? So the phone call Paige got that morning to confirm the time of the interview had been a mistake?
This was the eleventh job interview she’d gone on in the last two months. And it had most definitely been the worst. It hadn’t even been an interview. She’d been set up; she just didn’t understand why. But she hadn’t been about to ask that question out loud. So instead of flying off the handle and losing the last bit of restraint she had, Paige had calmly gotten up from the chair and left without making a scene. The whole thing was a freaking joke, which fit perfectly for the current theme of Paige’s life.
Undeniable (A Country Roads Novel) Page 30
