The Complete Arms of Grace Series

by Eleanor Chance

  "Let me guess," Grace said. "Darnell."

  Johnny squirmed. "Why do you blame everything on him. Maybe it was my idea?"

  "Was it?" Grace asked. Johnny shook his head. "It doesn't matter whose idea it was. Why didn't you just ask if you could go? Dad and I would have driven you and your friends this morning. You didn’t have to lie."

  Grace caught Ryan raising his eyebrows. She ignored him but the irony wasn’t lost on her.

  "We wanted to see what college was like with no parents. That's all. We didn't do anything bad. We could've drank, but we didn't."

  "Am I supposed to congratulate you on that? I'm glad you made that choice, but in your case, you would have ended up in a coma if you drank," Ryan said.

  Johnny nodded. "I know." No one spoke for several seconds. "So, what's my punishment?" He cringed while he waited for their answer.

  "Dad and I need to talk about that, but I have one more question. Are you sorry because you got caught or because you feel bad about it?"

  Johnny raised his chin and looked her in the eye. "Both. I do wish I hadn't got caught, but I swear I was going to tell you when I got home. I felt sick about doing it, especially after our talk last night, but I didn't want to look like a momma's boy. I’m sure you don't believe I was going to tell you, but it's the truth."

  "Thanks for your honesty. Go in the other room and give us ten minutes to decide your fate," Ryan said.

  Johnny started for the hallway but stopped after a few steps. "How'd you know where I was? We didn't tell anyone."

  Ryan looked at Grace, waiting for her to answer. She'd dreaded that question, but since he'd been honest with her, he deserved the same.

  "I put a parental tracker on your phone several weeks ago, so I’ll always know where you are. I didn't do it because I don't trust you. I did it because it's a dangerous world, and I want you to be safe. And because of your medical issues."

  Ryan's mouth dropped open, and Johnny's face reddened. "What do you mean a tracker? Like you can read my texts and stuff and see what I do on my phone?"

  "No, it's only a GPS tracker so I can see where you are." Johnny breathing quickened, and his face got redder. He glanced at Ryan, who held up his hands. "Don't blame your dad. He tried to stop me, but I bet he's glad now that I did it. You'd still be stranded in Charlottesville."

  "You put a tracker on me like I'm a dog? How could you do that? You always talk about trust. Where's your trust now?"

  Grace stood and glared up at him. "You're questioning my trust after what you just did? This night could have ended much worse. You should be thanking me."

  "Thanking you?' He spat the words. "I hate you." He turned and stormed down the hallway as fast as his crutches would carry him.

  "Johnny! Come back here!" Ryan said, but Johnny ignored him and slammed his door.

  It was Grace's turn to stare openmouthed. Her precious little man, her Johnny, hated her.

  She started to go after him, but Ryan grabbed her around the waist. “You’ll only make it worse. Give him time.”

  Grace struggled to get free, but she was no match for Ryan. She slumped against him, and a sob escaped her lips. “You heard what he said? He hates me.”

  Ryan turned Grace to face him and pulled her to his chest. “He doesn’t mean it. You know he loves you. He’s just mad. You remember how it was to be that age. Teenagers always hate their parents. If not, you’re doing it wrong. That’s what Mom used to say.”

  “My parents were long gone before I was Johnny’s age. My grandparents were overwhelmed by having my brothers and me thrust on them when Mama died. I did my best to be the perfect little girl to ease their burden. After they died, and I was sent to my aunt and uncle, I thought it was my chance to be a normal teenager, but I was just in their way. They were glad to see me go when I was forced to marry Danny at sixteen.” Grace pulled away and looked into Ryan’s eyes. “We’ve sheltered Johnny from the brutalities of the real world. That’s mostly my doing. He has no idea how good he has it.”

  Ryan tenderly brushed a lock of hair from her forehead. “Sometimes I forget what your life was like before we met. Let me deal with Johnny. I’ll get him to see some sense. You two can hold a peace summit tomorrow when you’re calmer.” Grace nodded and leaned back into his arms. “Are you willing to remove the tracker? You were right about it this time, but it might be a good gesture for initiating the peace process.”

  Grace gave a weak smile. “You missed your calling. You should work at the UN. I’m sure I’ll regret it, but I’ll get rid of the tracker. I should have talked to Johnny before I put it on his phone. He’s never given us a reason not to trust him until tonight.”

  “I know it’s not easy to be the bigger person after what he did.”

  “It’s not, but I’m the adult. Maybe we’ll revisit the issue once things are back to normal, if they ever are.”

  “They will be, and sooner than you think. Johnny doesn’t hold grudges.”

  Grace pulled away and gazed down the hall. “We should postpone the big talk about Johnny’s past for a week or two until our relationship is on a stronger footing. If I tell him the truth now, he will hate me forever.”

  “As anxious as I am to get it over with, I agree with you. No more than a week or two, though, please.”

  Grace reached her hand out to Ryan. “I’m ready to get it behind us, too. I’m tired of carrying this weight. I just want to be a typical family doing everyday things.”

  “Not sure what a typical family is, but we’ll get there.”

  “I’m going to bed and pretend to sleep. Good luck in there,” Grace said, gesturing toward Johnny’s room.

  Ryan smiled and kissed her. “This will be forgotten by tomorrow night.”

  Grace watched him go, doubting his prediction but wishing more than anything for him to be right.

  Johnny dropped onto his bed and started pulling stuff out of his backpack and tossing it to the floor. He didn’t care if his mom wanted him to keep his room clean or not. Darnell was right, what did he owe her? He was still shocked that she’d had the nerve to put that tracker on his phone. She’d violated his personal space and proved she thought he was a baby who couldn’t take care of himself.

  He stared at his phone lying beside him on the bed. The sight of it disgusted him. He wanted to text Darnell and tell him what his mom had done, but he wasn’t convinced that she couldn’t read his messages. He wondered what other ways she’d devised to spy on him. He considered searching his room for hidden cameras but didn’t get the chance before his dad walked in and motioned for him to move over and make room on the bed.

  Johnny scooted back and leaned on the headboard. “What do you want?”

  His dad’s look warned him to lose the attitude. “Your mom and I aren’t the ones at fault. We’ll get to the tracker in a minute, but first we need to talk about whether or not your apology was sincere.”

  “Everything I said was true. I was going to tell you. I did feel guilty. That’s the first time I’ve done anything like that. Mom should know that since she’s been spying on me like I’m some drug dealer.”

  His dad studied him for several seconds. “I’m choosing to believe you. Did you mean what you said to Mom? Do you hate her?”

  Johnny raised his chin and was about to say yes, but it wasn’t true. He was furious and felt betrayed, but he didn’t hate her. He let out his breath and lowered his shoulders.

  “Of course not, but what she did was wrong, and it made me mad. I love Mom, but don’t ask me to forgive her. She broke my trust.”

  “Fair enough, and she happens to agree with you on that. I tried to stop her, but you know how she is when she’s determined.”

  Johnny rolled his eyes. “More than anyone. Why did she do it? Was it really because she’s worried about my safety? Seems like a cop-out.”

  “She did do it for safety reasons. She could have handled it better, but she did it for the right reasons. She worries about you. Being your mothe
r hasn’t been easy for her, but she loves you more than her own life.”

  Johnny sat forward. “Why is she so worried? I know I’ve been sick a lot. That tracker doesn’t change that.”

  “She has her reasons. Leave it at that. She’s agreed to remove the tracker, but you have to offer up a compromise, too. What you said destroyed your mother. Her actions didn’t deserve that. No one deserves that, and you’re going to fix it. I’m tired of you being at each other’s throats.”

  Johnny crossed his arms and leaned back. “I’m pretty pissed.”

  His dad got up and kissed the top of his head before he could duck away. “Think about how she feels.”

  Johnny watched him go, not wanting to think about his mom’s feelings. She’d always been a great mom, even if she did baby him too much, but what she did went too far.

  Since he was off the hook until morning, he let it go and finished unpacking his clothes. The receipt from the food he bought at the game fluttered to the floor when he pulled out the last handful. Seeing it reminded Johnny that his dad hadn’t handed down his punishment. Maybe apologizing to his mom would get him a lighter sentence. He flopped back on the bed, willing to give it some thought.

  Steph’s ringtone blared in Johnny’s ear the following morning. He glanced at his phone. It was only nine. On a Sunday morning. What was Steph thinking? When he shook his head to clear it and sat up, memories of the previous night flooded his brain. He was tempted to chuck his phone at the wall, but it wasn’t Steph’s fault, and if he broke his phone, his parents would make him pay for a new one.

  He groaned and tapped the answer button to get it before it went to voicemail. “What do you want, Sis?”

  Steph laughed. “I was calling to see if you’re still alive. I was afraid either the storm or your mom did you in.”

  Johnny gritted his teeth. Did the whole family always have to know his every move? “How’d you find out so fast?”

  “Are you kidding? You had us all scared to death. Dad called after you went to bed to let me know you were okay. Why’d you take off like that? I’d have driven you and your friends to Charlottesville.”

  Johnny felt guilty all over again. He hadn’t thought about anyone else when he’d left with his friends. “I had a ride. I didn’t want to bother you, but I should have told Mom and Dad. Did Dad tell you about the tracker?”

  “He did. I tried to get your mom to talk to you first. She wishes she had, but maybe she did the right thing after the stunt you pulled.”

  “I’ve learned my lesson.”

  “Hope so. Good luck today. You’re going to need it.”

  Johnny could hear Steph laughing as she hung up. He didn’t see anything funny about it. He rolled onto his back and was about to cover his head when his text alert buzzed. He picked the phone up and saw that it was his other stepsister, Jen.

  Call when you wake up.

  He called instead of replying. “Hey, Jen, what’s up?”

  “You’re already awake? Or did I wake you?”

  “Steph just called,” Johnny said and smiled. He’d never admit it to anyone, but he liked that his sisters worried about him. “How are you feeling?” he asked to avoid the reason she was calling. “Thanksgiving wasn’t the same without you and Jason.”

  “I’m as big as a house. I don’t know if I’ll survive the four weeks until these babies arrive. I don’t know how my mom did this.”

  “Focus on how great it’ll be. I’m excited to be an uncle again, especially since it’s boys. I love Mark and Valerie’s kids, and the Emersons are great, but there are too many girls.”

  “You have Fisher and Graham, but Jason agrees with you. So why did you run off and scare all of us to death?”

  Johnny gave Jen the same excuses he gave Steph and told her he was sorry. “I’ll see you when we come up to DC before Christmas. Hang in there. It’ll go by fast.”

  “Doubt it, but thanks. Behave yourself and apologize to Grace. You broke her heart.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  “Love you,” Jen said and hung up.

  Johnny smiled at his phone, waiting for Mark or Valerie to call until he realized they’d be at the restaurant in the middle of brunch service. He decided to get up and face the inevitable.

  “Did you sleep?” Ryan asked Grace as he came into the dining room. “Every time I woke, you were staring at the ceiling.

  Grace pushed her notepad aside and gave him a weak smile. “You must have only done that twice, because I slept most of the night, surprisingly. I guess I’ve finally trained myself to sleep through a crisis.”

  “I’d hardly call this a crisis. It’s just typical family turmoil. What were you writing?” he asked and glanced at her notes.

  “Just putting a few thoughts down to keep them straight for our peace summit. It helps keep my emotions in check.”

  “I’ll get Johnny so we can get his over with and enjoy the rest of our day. It’s back to the real world tomorrow. Hopefully, he’s awake, so we can avoid that battle.”

  “I heard him on the phone a few minutes ago. He sounded in a good mood, so there’s a glimmer of hope.”

  Grace gave her notes one last check but closed her notebook. Maybe she was making too much of what Johnny had done. Though Ryan didn’t excuse their son’s behavior, he didn’t seem too worked up about it either. Grace decided to take a cue from Ryan and not make it a big deal. Parents of teenagers dealt with these situations all the time. She and Ryan were fortunate that Johnny rarely gave them trouble.

  She turned her focus to the highlights from the past few days. Thanksgiving weekend had gone by fast and hadn’t exactly been the break she’d hoped for. Thanksgiving Day had been pleasant, though. She’d been glad that Mark, Valerie, and their kids had joined them for the feast. They saw too little of them because of the demands of their restaurant. Even though Jen and Jason hadn’t been able to come to dinner because Jen was too close to her due date, Grace was thrilled that two new members would be added to their clan when the twins were born. She couldn’t imagine managing twins, but she couldn’t wait to meet her grandsons.

  She was smiling at the thought when Ryan came into the room with Johnny following close behind.

  “That wasn’t the look I expected,” Johnny said.

  “I was thinking about Jen and the babies. I can’t wait for them to arrive,” Grace said.

  “I was just talking to her. She feels the same way, but for different reasons. She said she’s as big as a house.”

  Ryan took out his phone and pulled up his latest text from Jen with a picture. “More like a toothpick with an olive on it. I don’t know how she keeps from tipping over.” Grace and Johnny laughed when Ryan showed them the picture. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and said, “Let’s sit in the living room. It’s more comfortable.”

  Once they were seated, Grace said, “Let me see your phone. I’ll take the tracker off with you watching.”

  Johnny smirked as he handed it to her. “Guess you know the unlock PIN.”

  Grace ignored his comment. She uninstalled the tracker and gave him back his phone. “I should have talked to you before installing that app. I hope you’ll believe that it wasn’t because I don’t trust you. It’s a dangerous world. I worry about you after all we’ve been through. I’m sorry.”

  Johnny stared at his phone for several seconds. Without looking at her, he said softly, “Don’t apologize to me, Mom. You should have talked to me, but what I said to you last night was so bad. I didn’t mean it. I promise not to say that to you ever again. You know I love you. You’re a great mom. You do so much for me, and I never thank you. I’m so sorry. I hope you’ll forgive me, and that this won’t ruin things between us. Oh, and I shouldn’t have run off without telling you.”

  Grace ignored the tears rolling down her cheeks. His words were genuine and far more than she’d hoped to hear. She went to him and put her arm around his shoulders.

  “Thank you. You’re forgiven.
I’ve dealt with some tough things in my life, but one thing I couldn’t bear was the idea of you not loving me. Our relationship has been rocky lately, but I promise I’ll try harder if you will.”

  Johnny wiped a tear off the end of his nose before he nodded. As much as he tried to be grown up, he was still her little man.

  “Shortest peace summit in history, but we’re not finished,” Ryan said. “There’s still your punishment to deal out.” Johnny groaned but looked Ryan in the eye. “Your mom and I agreed last night that you can’t have or go to any sleepovers until after Christmas break. As sorry as I know you are, what you did was dangerous, and you need time to think about it. You can still have friends over and go to their houses, but no sleepovers, and we expect you to be honest about where you are at all times.”

  “Fair enough. I deserve that.”

  “And we’d like you to spend a little more time with us,” Ryan said. “I know we’re your boring parents, but you’re only fourteen and family is important. It’s no more than I expected from my kids when they were your age. You can ask them.”

  Johnny grimaced. “How much more time?”

  Grace chuckled and said, “Is the idea that painful? Just a few hours a week. We’d like to start today. Decorate the Christmas tree with us.”

  Johnny’s eyes brightened. Decorating the tree had always been one of his favorite holiday activities. Grace had fond memories of his eyes lighting up as they took each ornament from the box and reminisced about where it had come from on their travels or what it represented.

  “Can we start now?” Johnny asked.

  Ryan rubbed his hands together and jumped up to get the boxes of ornaments from the basement, leaving the two of them in awkward silence. Even though this skirmish was resolved, getting back to normal would take time. Grace watched Johnny pick at a thread on his hoodie and wondered again how time had passed so quickly without her noticing.

  “We good?” she asked softly.

  He jerked his head up and stared at her. “Yeah, Mom. Can we just forget all this drama?”