Page 86 of Trusting Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings 2)

“Easton stop, I need to get up. You need to help me. Please,” Grace begged, her voice sounding as weak as she felt.

“The only thing I’m going to help you do is stay in bed.”

Once she was lying back down, she closed her eyes, just for a second, to rally. That’s all she needed. Just a few minutes to close her eyes.

When she opened them again, she saw that it was brighter than it had been before. There was a lot more light in the room. She must have slept for more than a few minutes.

She tried to lift her head when she heard her door open.

“Oh good, you’re up. You need to drink this.”

It wasn’t Easton coming in her room. It was Audrey.

What was Audrey doing here?

“I need to go…I have to stage…”

“Easton is taking care of that.” Audrey sat down beside her on the bed. “You need to drink this.”

Grace felt her sister’s hand behind her neck and then her head was being lifted off the pillow. Then there was a cup resting against her lips.

“Just sip this.”

She did as her sister asked and then laid back down to close her eyes. Just for a minute. She just needed to close her eyes for one minute.

* * *

Easton checkedhis phone again to see if there’d been any other updates from Audrey. The last text she’d sent said that Grace had been able to drink even more of the tea and was sleeping again.

When he found Grace sick this morning, he’d called Brewed Awakenings because there was no way that he was leaving Grace alone, but he knew how much the competition meant to her. If it was up to him, he would’ve stayed with Grace, but he had to think about what she would want after she was feeling better.

So, he’d called in reinforcements. He hadn’t had any of her sisters’ cell numbers but he’d called the coffee shop, explained the situation, and Audrey had shown up within five minutes. Once she got there, she took her sister’s temperature with a forehead thermometer that she brought. It was 103.6. He wanted to rush her to the emergency room, but Audrey said that Grace was just exhausted and needed sleep.

Apparently, this wasn’t the first time she’d come down with such a high fever. Audrey said it happened in high school, when she was caring for her mom and finishing her junior and senior year. Also, during her finals in college, because she’d been working full time and taking a full academic load. Then it also happened when she was studying to pass the bar, while also working full time. She said it happened when Grace got run down.

Easton hadn’t liked it, but he’d agreed not to call the doctor.

They’d exchanged numbers and he’d made Audrey promise to stay there, to not even leave to run to the store and call him if either of them needed anything or Grace’s symptoms got worse.

He also made a double batch of a tea that he’d learned from a holistic healer in India that had always knocked out anything that ailed him within twenty-four hours. He told her to give her a half a cup every two hours and then after six hours increase the dose to one cup.

She’d been giving him updates throughout the day. Grace had basically been drinking the tea and sleeping. Her fever was still high, but not as high as it had been. It was bouncing between 101.9 and 102.4. It hadn’t gone over 103 since they’d taken it that morning.

Audrey also said that Cleo hadn’t left Grace’s side. He thought it was sweet that his two girls had bonded. Even if it had taken a possum scaring the shit out of Grace to do it.

Easton paced on the front porch as he waited for Maura to show up so he could give her the keys. It was 5:45 and the handover was supposed to happen at 6:00.

He knew if Grace was here she’d be walking through the house making sure everything was perfect. Even though he didn’t care about any of that right now, he wanted to do what Grace would want so he took his ass back inside and went through room by room checking each detail meticulously.

And it was a good thing he did. When he went into the master bed and bath he noticed that the outlet and light switch plates hadn’t been put back on after the painters finished yesterday. He wasn’t sure if that would have cost them the win, but he and Grace were putting their names on this house, and he wanted it to be work that they could both be proud of.

“Hello!” He heard Maura call out as he finished tightening the last screw.

He rushed down the steps and handed her the keys. “Here you go.”

“Whoa, is everything okay?” Maura asked.

“Grace is sick. I have to go.” Easton ran out of the house, literally, and hopped in his truck.

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