Page 90 of Falling for Grace

“New England?”

“No, England. You know, where William and Kate are from.”

Her eyes light up at the mention of our royal family.

“Did you go to the wedding?” she asks, bouncing up and down.

“Erm… No.”

“Oh… Are you not good friends with them?”

Ava laughs from the side. “Lucy, England is fairly big, not everyone knows the Royal Family.”

“I know that,” she says, rolling her eyes. “I was trying to be funny.”

“You are hilariously funny,” Ava pushes her playfully. “Tell Mama I’m home, I’m just going to get Grace settled then I’ll come say hi.”

“Okay. Nice to meet you, Grace. I can’t wait to hear about England.” Then she bounds away in a whirlwind of blonde hair, just like she had when she arrived.

“Lucy,” Ava says. “My niece.”

I nod, smiling. “She’s cute. She looks like you.”

“She looks like my sister. It’s scary how much she reminds me of her.” She bends and picks up my bag. “My mom and niece both live here,” she explains as she walks me through the vast hallway. It’s modern and clean, with marble floors and white walls, with a huge chandelier hanging in the middle where the glass catches the light, casting rainbows throughout the foyer.

“They shouldn’t bother you too much as I’m putting you in the annex.”

“Does your sister live here, too?” I ask, genuinely interested to learn more about Ava. She pauses at the top of the stairs.

“She died.”

“Oh, Ava, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

She holds up her hands and shakes her head. “It’s okay. It hurts, but it was over 10 years ago now. She was killed by a drunk driver. Lucy was in the car, but she was only one at the time, so doesn’t really remember anything.”

That was heart-breaking. Not knowing your mother. At that age you don’t really remember anything, and I can’t decide whether it was a blessing that she didn’t know her to mourn the loss or made it worse not ever knowing her mother.

I think it was the latter.

“My sister, after Lucy was born, she asked me if I would be Lucy’s guardian if anything ever happened to her. Of course, I said yes.”

We continue walking down the corridor, the marble floor replaced by the softest grey carpet. My feet disappearing into the pile.

“You just don’t expect it to ever happen. I was only 18 when she died. She was six years older than me. Obviously I couldn’t look after a child, so my mom agreed to take her. When I got my big break, I saved everything I earned. In this business anything can happen, everything could be gone in a heartbeat. So I saved and saved and now I find myself fortunate enough to be able to not only look after myself, but also lucky enough to give Lucy everything she may ever need and keep Mum and her safe and secure.”

I nodded, and the deal with Brandon suddenly made that much more sense to me, she’s terrified it may all disappear, and being linked to one of Hollywoods new A-Listers would only be a good thing. She knew that. Sue was right, what a bad first impression she gave. Regardless of the fact that their relationship was fake, it’s obvious she cares for him, and she can’t just walk away from him.

“So here you go.” She opens a wooden door and walks into a huge room and switches on the light on.

“Wow.” I stand in the doorway staring. The grey carpet continues into the bedroom, it’s walls are white, except one feature wall, which is a dark blue.

In the centre of the room was a black four-poster bed, with white sheets and grey pillows. Thrown on top was a blue comforter.

It was beautiful.

“There’s an en suite and a walk-in wardrobe over there. Make yourself at home.” Ava walks past me but I stop her reaching out, my arm touching hers.

“Thank you, Ava,” I say, because this, her letting me stay here. In a room that was the size of my house in England meant a lot.

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