Page 63 of You're the Reason

“You’re welcome.”

Grace made a little scream at Gabe’s voice. Her head jerked around until she spotted him against the building a couple yards away.

She turned back to the door and secured the lock. “Leave.”

“You’re mad at me? What did I do?” He pushed off the wall and took a step toward her, propping his foot on the back of Otis, who still rested under the front window. “I’m saving you from him. He was lying to you. He’s the criminal.”

“Don’t step on Otis.” Great, now she was defending a statue. But maybe Gabe was right. Everything from the last few weeks with Seth suddenly seemed muddled in her mind. “You’re a criminal too. Or doesn’t it count because you’re never caught?”

His eyes hardened for a moment but then he looked away and dropped his foot. “You better not be going tohim.”

That didn’t even make sense, because his apartment was on the other side of this door. But if Gabe didn’t know that, she wasn’t going to fill him in. “Why do you care all of a sudden?”

“I care.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and met her gaze again. “Take my advice and stay away from that guy.”

His advice? He hadn’t been around for the past several years of her life and suddenly, he wanted to offer advice?

“If not for yourself, then at least do it for Gregory.” He offered one last hard look and was gone.

The air whooshed out of her lungs with his final words. For Gregory. Defend Seth, betray Gregory.

Grace darted across the square toward Ms. Margret’s house. She hurried up the steps, rushed in the door, and collapsed on the couch. As everything over the past fifteen minutes caught up with her at once, Grace pulled her knees to her chest and began to sob.

“Oh, dear.” Ms. Margret’s voice was soft, and the cushions dipped slightly as the woman joined her on the sofa and pulled her to her shoulder. “I think it’s going to take more than a cup of tea to fix this.”

After a moment, Grace lifted her head, and Ms. Margret wiped away her tears. “What has gotten you so worked up?”

“Did Seth kill Gregory?”

She sighed and brushed back a bit of Grace’s hair. “That’s not quite right.”

“Not quite right but kind of right?” She stood and pulled the tie from her bun, letting her hair cascade down. Somehow, she’d held out a trace of hope it was all a sick joke. But Ms. Margret wouldn’t lie.

“He was convicted of a felony.” Ms. Margret patted the seat next to her. “But I don’t believe it was murder. I do believe it was connected to what happened that night.”

Grace sat back down but stayed perched on the edge. “What happened that night?”

Ms. Margret reached up and wiped away another tear. “Don’t you think that’s something you should ask Seth?”

“Seth, the convicted felon?”

The woman gripped her hand, her aged fingers still displaying a fair amount of strength. “Seth, your friend.”

“How can I even trust what he says?”

The words slammed into Grace with enough force to steal her breath. You can trust me. I won’t drop you. But he had. Maybe not in the lift, but he’d dropped her heart, and after experiencing both, she’d much rather be dropped on her head.

“Has he ever lied to you?” Ms. Margret’s blue-green eyes seemed to look into her soul. But the woman knew he hadn’t. He’d left some key pieces out, but he’d never lied.

“I don’t even know where he is. Gabe interrupted us kissing, I told them both to leave. He just took off.”

“Did you say kissing?” Ms. Margret wiggled her eyebrows at Grace.

Had she? She needed to work on that think-before-speaking ability. “Yes?”

“Well, that answers the question of if you trust him. Unless you go around letting people you don’t trust kiss you?”

“No. I mean not usually—not ever. That was my first kiss. But that was before.”

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