Page 12 of You're the Reason

“The very one.” Seth leaned his shoulder against one wall.

“Man, last time I saw her she was in pigtails and braces.” Jon shook his head again as if trying to reconcile the little Gracie with the grown-up Grace. “I was gone a long time. She... grew up.”

“No kidding.” Seth rubbed at his temple. And Seth had thought she’d been pretty back then.

“I thought I heard she moved to Chicago.”

“She’s evidently back. I don’t know for how long. We didn’t get that far in the conversation.” Seth pushed off the wall and walked toward the stairs but paused at the top and turned back. “We were too busy discussing the fact that she was the one that called in the break-in last night, so that should tell you something. The Howells don’t want me here. Maybe I need to respect that.”

“Then where are you going to go? You need something.”

Seth shrugged. “I’m a survivor. Always have been. I still have five hundred in my bank account and three jobs I’m waiting to hear back on. I appreciate the offer, but it’s a no.”

Shoot, and he’d really wanted to work with his cousin too. Not just because he needed a job, but because Jon was a wise businessman, and he wanted to learn from the best. But that had been before.

Seth hurried down the stairs before Jon could call him a liar. Jon might not see it, but he’d never be welcome again.

Dr. Medler had told her exactly what she had been hoping to hear. Then why didn’t she feel better? Grace flipped on her blinker and took the exit toward Heritage as her phone rang. She tapped the steering wheel and answered through the car stereo. “Hello.”

“You’re driving north.” Mallory’s no-nonsense tone carried over the line. “You do know warm-ups are in just over four hours, right? You should be headed south if you want to make it in time.”

“Good morning to you too, stalker.” Grace slowed her speed as she got closer to town. Her appointment had been early—very early—so she was arriving home just as Heritage rush hour was headed out. Rush hour of fifty cars that was.

“Hey, you’re the one who convinced me to get 360. My stalking you is your fault.” Mallory’s voice muffled a moment, then there was a loud clatter followed by her voice far away. “One second.”

No doubt her friend was trying to juggle the phone as she readied her hair or something. Then Mallory was back, voice clear. “Are you going to tell me why you’re headed the wrong way?”

“I forgot my bag.”

“Your bag? How do you forget your bag? That’s all you had with you.”

“I blame Seth.” Shoot, she hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

“The guy who asked you out?”

And the guy who’d been practically best friends with her brother Gabe when she’d left. She’d thought she’d see him at the funeral, but he had all but vanished, until today.

“He was at the police station because evidently he thinks breaking and entering is no big deal.” He’d seemed almost glad to see her until he’d found out that she’d called the police. She flipped on her blinker and turned down Henderson.

“I guess that’s what I should expect from a Howell.”

What had he meant by that?

“Hello, are you going to explain?”

“Shoot.” Grace ducked down as she passed her house. “I was hoping my mom had already left.”

“Grace, you’re talking like a crazy person. A crazy person who shouldn’t be driving.”

She turned on Richard Street and pulled along the curb, as her gaze landed on Otis just across the street on the sidewalk by the new playground. The brass hippo must have moved in the night. That was Otis, always keeping the town on its toes. She cut the engine and popped the door open. “Fine, I stopped. I’m even getting out.”

“Thank you. Now what is going on?”

Grace slid out of her Sonata gave a quick glance up and down the street then crossed the street and sat on her old brass friend. “I am still headed to Chicago. I just had to come back for a second because I forgot something. But I want to wait until my mom leaves to grab it.”

“I got that part but what did the doctor say? Why were you at a police station? And why are you talking about Seth?”

“He said that with exercises, stretches, and some ultrasound therapy he thinks we can possibly get my leg back in shape—Dr. Medler, not Seth.”

---