Page 35 of Holding Grace

“Levi’s the oldest. He’s five years older than me and Mercy. Ace and Ry are in the middle. They’re both two years younger than Levi. Then like I said, me and Mercy. Levi’s thirty-five, Ace and Ry are both thirty-three, and Mercy and I are both thirty. Technically Mercy is the baby. I’m older than her by about six weeks.”

“But Ry’s not actually related, is he?”

“Not by blood, no, but he might as well be. He’s been part of the family for as long as I can remember. He practically lived at my cousins’ house growing up. Levi, Ace, and Ry have always been a set. You see one, sooner or later you see the other two.”

“And you? You all seem close.”

“We are. I’m closest to Mercy, but the guys are like brothers to me. I’m the black sheep for not joining the family business, but they still let me come around.”

Grace’s light laugh stroked across my skin like a touch. “How long has it been the family business?”

“The construction part maybe...” I calculated in my head... “twelve years? The property management part closer to seven, maybe eight.”

“Oh.” I glanced over at Grace. She saw me looking and shook her head a little. “When you said ‘family business’, I was thinking it had been generations, but I don’t know why I assumed that.”

“No, it was Levi’s brainchild. He worked construction whenever he could in high school and college, and always wanted his own company so he could do things his own way. He got the others on board and Baron Properties was born.”

“But you didn’t want to do that?”

“No. I’m a cook through and through. I always said I wanted to be a chef growing up and it stuck. I don’t want to do anything else.”

“Have you ever thought about having your own restaurant?”

“Maybe. But seeing what Jamey has to deal with, I don’t think so. I do some admin work, but I still get regular time in the kitchen, and I have a lot of freedom. It’s the best of both worlds.”

I could see another question on the tip of her tongue, but I interjected. “Your turn now. What did you want to be when you were growing up?”

“A butterfly. Or a horse. I couldn’t decide.”

I laughed as I looked over at Grace. “That’s two ends of a wide spectrum.”

Grace shrugged. “I was keeping my options open. I was bitterly disappointed when I found out I couldn’t be either. I kind of boycotted the whole idea of growing up for a while, then decided I wanted to be a professional roller skater.”

She shook her head like she was remembering back. “I spent hours in our driveway and basement working on skills and tricks.”

“I bet you were cute.”

“I was a disaster. I was covered in scrapes and bruises from falling. Finally, my dad had enough and took my skates away. And that was that.”

She said it so matter of factly but my heart squeezed for little Grace, deprived of her dreams once again.

“Then in high school I started waiting tables, then working in the kitchen – which I already told you about – and here we are.”

“Here we are,” I agreed. She didn’t elaborate but I hoped she was okay with where she was. She seemed like it based on our earlier conversation, so I didn’t push.

Our conversation turned to other topics and about half an hour later I was pulling into Levi’s driveway.

I turned off the car, then laid my hand on Grace’s arm as she reached for her door. “Let me get your door for you, okay?”

She gave me a look, not seeming annoyed, just curious. “You don’t have to do that, you know. Hold the door for me, I mean.”

I acknowledged her words with a nod. “I don’t, but I’d like to. If you’ll let me.”

She exhaled quietly. “Okay, then. If it’s something you want to do.”

I exited the car, grabbed the brownies from the back seat, then circled around for Grace’s door. Once she was out, I closed it behind her, then led the way up to the porch. I knocked twice then pushed the door open, and Grace followed me in.

I heard voices from the kitchen so I yelled out “It’s Michael and Grace,” then started that way, thinking I liked the sound of my name linked with Grace’s like that a little more than I probably should.

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