Page 15 of Holding Grace

“Oh, you mean Barney?” I waved away his concern. “He’s always a grouch like that. It’s a good thing for him that his cooking is much better than his personality.”

“Well, thanks for letting me pick you up. I appreciate you letting me have my way on that.”

Surprised that he’d brought it up, I looked over at him as we pulled into the lot at Cameo, then shrugged as I released my seatbelt.

“It was no big deal.”

Michael looked at me as he opened his door. “It was to me.”

He nodded over at my door as he stepped out of the truck. “Hang on a second while I come around.”

I did as he asked, waiting while he opened my door then gave me his hand to help me down. As much as I’d have liked to keep holding his hand once both of my feet were on the ground, I made myself let go.

Hoping we’d get inside without an encounter with Travis, I hurried to the door, unlocked it, and breathed a sigh of relief when it closed behind us, no Travis in sight. Whether he’d given up his pursuit of me now that my tall, muscular “boyfriend” had shown up or he was too busy to take a break right at that moment, I didn’t know. I hoped it was the first and that, once Michael was gone, his memory would keep Travis far away, but for tonight I was just glad not to have to deal with him.

Once we stepped inside my apartment, Michael and I gravitated to the same chairs we’d occupied the night before. Michael leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs, his eyes intent on me. I had only a moment to wonder what it was that he needed to talk to me about, then he said one of the very last things I expected to hear.

“I think you should move back to Lark.”

“I...” Had I heard him right? “You what?”

“I think you should move back to Lark,” he repeated. “Hear me out.”

He pushed out of his chair, pacing back and forth across my tiny space as he talked, nearly retracing my steps from the night before.

“You said yourself that you’ll need to move again in a few weeks. Why move someplace where you know no one and have no one around to help if you need it? Move back to Lark where you know people and have people to help you. You realized right away that you hadn’t really needed to leave, right?” He waited for my nod of confirmation. “Jamey would hire you back in a second at the pub, so you’d have a job waiting for you, and we’ll figure out an apartment. Now that we know what’s going on, we can help keep you safe. You won’t have to do everything alone.”

Tears pricked the backs of my eyes at Michael’s words. It had been so long since I’d had someone I could trust completely; someone I could lean on. Just the thought of it, the possibility, felt...impossible. But what I really didn’t understand was...

“Why?”

Michael stopped pacing and stood facing me, arms across his chest. “I just told you why.”

I shook my head wordlessly, fighting to get the words out past the lump in my throat. “Why do you care? Why would you want me back there?”

Michael stood where he was for a second, then crossed to sit in the chair again, mirroring his position from earlier.

“We like you, Grace. Jamey, me, everybody at the pub. You were a member of the team, the family. When you left like you did...” Michael broke off, looking down at his hands clasped between his knees for a second before going on. “We care about what happens to you. If you come back to Lark, we can help you. Let us help you, Grace.” Michael’s eyes burned into mine as he repeated his magic words from before, “You don’t have to do it alone anymore.”

What’s that saying? That if something seems too good to be true, it probably is? I knew Michael meant well. Both he and Jamey were protective by nature. But he couldn’t really want to take this on, take me on.

Sooner or later, he’d get tired of my nearly constant vigilance, of me being nervous and jumpy at the slightest thing. Once he did, then where would I be?

As much as I wanted to, counting on someone other than myself felt dangerous.

“That’s really nice of you, Michael and I appreciate it, I do. But this isn’t your trouble. I can’t let you, or Jamey, or anybody at the pub get pulled into this.”

“I’m already pulled in. Now that I know what’s going on, it’ll drive me crazy knowing you’re out here trying to do this on your own.” Michael pushed out of his chair to pace again, radiating frustration. Even though I knew it was due to me, it didn’t make me wary the way it would have if it had been Ellis or Seth.

Michael stopped a few feet away and stood looking at me, hands on hips. “Look, we knew when you applied at the pub that something was going on.”

My eyes snapped up to Michael’s in surprise. How had they known?

Michael answered my unspoken question. “Jamey noticed a few things and we put them together. Don’t worry, we didn’t mention it to anybody else.”

I relaxed slightly at those words, though I still didn’t love that I’d raised some red flags without realizing it. If they’d noticed, had other employers?

“The point I’m trying to make is that even then, right from the beginning, Jamey and I both were ready to stand by you. I think Jamey’s exact words were ‘We’ll make sure she’s as safe as we can, and deal with whatever comes.’ Once he knows the truth – if you’ll let me tell him – he’s going to want you to come back to the pub. Not to mention that you’re a great cook and pretty much the perfect employee.”

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