Page 78 of The Corner of Heartbreak and Forever
She straightened her spine and swiped at her tears. “Nobody’s,” Grace seethed, fire and ice filling her up like a well. “I’m going to do it myself.”
“What happened?” Reed asked.
“Keagen, the lead in the play, threatened to walk off because of some crap that’s going on.” She eyed her parents. “Sorry, but…”
“It’s okay, honey,” her mother said. “But why are you crying?”
“Because I have to go back.” Tears burned her eyes again.Darn it.She blinked them away and said, “I have to leave now and get him to continue in the role and placate the investors, who are going to pull funding if we lose him. We have a meeting at eight o’clock tonight.”
“You’re leavingnow?” several of them said at once, but it was Reed’s voice that clawed at her heart.
It was all she could do to nod as her family all converged on her at once, hugging, saying goodbye, and telling her they understood. Their support made her as thankful as it did sad, and the whole situation made her angry.
After so many hugs she felt depleted, her family walked them out to the truck.
Her father took her by the shoulders and said, “Chin up, Gracie Jean. I know you’re sad and angry, but they called you because you’re the head honcho, and we’re all very proud of you.”
He kissed her forehead and stepped back, allowing her mother to hug her one last time. She smiled the encouraging smile Grace remembered from the day they’d said goodbye when she went away to college. Why was this suddenly so hard? She’d come and gone dozens of times, usually anxiously awaiting her departure and the madness of her life in the city.
“We’ll be right here when you come back, honey,” her mother said.
“Will you video Sophie’s shower?” Grace pleaded. “I want to see everything. All the decorations, every gift, her face as she opens each one…”
“Of course, honey,” her mother said. “Now go, before you’re late. And remember, you’re not leaving us behind. We’re always with you.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
GRACE THREW HER clothes into her suitcase, not bothering to fold them. She was shaking too much to even try. “I can’t believe this!” She threw a pair of jeans so hard the suitcase jiggled. “We were supposed to have another week!” She gunned a shirt at the suitcase. “Stupid!”Throw.“Self-absorbed.”Throw.“Actors!”
She went to the closet and yanked her dresses off the hangers. Once she arrived in the city she’d have to go straight to the meeting, so she stripped off her jeans and put on her expensive black slacks and silk blouse. As she shoved her feet into her heels, she heard her sisters’ voices telling her she worecity clothesand Phoenix saying no one would ever think Grace was from Oak Falls.
Great.Now she was pissed about having to dress for a meeting in the city. She bit back a stream of curses, thinking of all the loose ends she was leaving behind.
“Please tell Frank I really wanted to meet him. I have to call Nana and the girls and let them know they’re on their own for the rest of the auditions, and I promised Nat I’d go over her final draft one last time. I’ll call her and do it over Skype. And Sophie. Oh gosh. I have to call Sophie. She’s going to be so upset.”
Tears filled her eyes again. She picked up a pair of high-heeled boots and threw them toward the suitcase. They bounced off the bed, landing on the floor with aclunk.
“I’ve got them.” Reed bent to retrieve the boots, and she plopped down onto the edge of the bed.
“I’m sorry. I just hate this.”
“It’s going to be okay, Grace.” He put her boots in the suitcase. “I’ll call Frank and tell him I can’t make it. I’ll go with you.”
“No! That poor man is leaving Monday. He came all this way from…wherever he lives. He needs you more than I do.”
Reed sat down and lifted her onto his lap. “We’ll get through this. Don’t worry.”
He was so calm and understanding, it made her angrier. “Why aren’t you mad? This ruins everything. We were supposed to have more time together. And I wanted to meet Frank and go to Sophie’s shower and spend more time with my family…”
For once in her life, she didn’t want everyone to understand or tell her it was okay. She wanted tostay, and for someone else to handle the issues and investors. That was the attitude of a weak person, not a professional producer, and that upset her even more. Was she not allowed tofeelwhat a normal person would feel? She was so confused, had kept her life and feelings in check for so long, she didn’t even know what was right anymore. But she knew one thing for sure. Pissing and moaning wouldn’t handle the situation any faster. And she needed to handle it quickly—for the sake of the play, and to return home to Reed and spend whatever time they had left of next week together.
She forced herself to sit up a little taller and pull herself together, but one look at Reed, and that weak girl inside her crumbled again.
“Come here.” He embraced her again and said, “Why aren’t I angrier? Because this is your job, and I’m not a kid who doesn’t get it. We both have lives, roots, commitments. This is a bump in the road, babe. Yeah, it royally sucks, but you know what?” He lifted her left hand and kissed her fingers. “You’re going to be my wife, and I’m going to be your husband, and there’s nothing we can’t get through.”
He pushed his hands into her hair the way she loved and held her gaze. Oh, how her heart softened and her sadness eased with his touch.
“We’re going to be fine,” he said confidently. “I promise.”
