“I’m not sure.”
“Is this Bailey?” Grace asks.
“Yeah! I’ve heard a lot about you!” she squeals.
“I’ve been worried about Ian.”
“He is fine. He’s been working a lot.”
“Would you tell him that I called?”
Grace can hear a deep, harsh voice bellowing in the background.
“Yes. I will do that. Thank you for calling,” says Bailey in a timid voice and the line goes dead.
Grace regards her conversation with Bailey as being strange, but puts it out of her mind. She has homework that she needs to do.
The next day as she walks into class the first thing she sees is Ian’s glowing smile. She runs to her desk and out of breath asks, “Where have you been?”
“Excited for math?” he asks, jokingly, with a little laugh.
Grace gives him a sour look and turns around to pull her book from her backpack. When she turns back around, there leaning on Ian’s desk is Christina Perkins. Grace has a sudden vision of pulling Christina off Ian’s desk by her hair and throwing her to the floor. Grace is not a violent person at all. She can barely kill a spider, so her daydream shocks her. Ian backs away from Christina as if she repulses him, as she leans closer to him.
“So where ya been, cutie?” asks Christina, in her raspy voice.
“Work.”
“Where are you working?” she asks, surprised.
“Tony’s Auto,” says Ian, in an uninterested voice.
“Maybe with all that money you’re making you can take me on a date?” Christina asks.
Grace glares at her then sends a glare Ian’s way. Ian backs further away from Christina and then calmly says, “Sorry, Christina, I’m dating Grace.”
Grace’s stomach is in her throat. Is he just saying this because he is trying to get away from skanky Christina or because he genuinely means it?
Ian looks at Grace and gives her a wink as Christina slinks off his desk.
“Oh. Well, good luck with that,” she says, as she walks away.
“Fuck off,” Ian mutters, and then turns to give Grace a reassuring smile.
As usual, the lecture in math is extremely boring, and Grace is working on an elaborate drawing throughout class. She tries her hardest not to pay too much attention to Ian. He makes it difficult to ignore him, as he keeps sneaking peeks in her direction. Grace focuses instead on her artwork, an almost lifelike drawing of the oak tree where he first kissed her. Grace senses that Ian is looking over her shoulder again, and looks up at him, unable to ignore him any longer.
Ian mouths, “That’s great!” as he points to her drawing. She smiles, and the smile he returns fills her soul with warm fuzzies.
The bell rings and Ian scoots his entire desk to Grace’s. “Are you okay?” he asks, gently.
“I guess,” she says, not looking at him.
“My sister told me you called. I didn’t get home till late, and I wasn’t sure if I could call you.”
Grace looks at him with doubt in her eyes.
“So I’ll see you at lunch?” he asks.
She nods and gets up to leave class.
“See ya at lunch!” Ian yells, as she exits the classroom.
The cafeteria is louder than usual, and Ian has to shout so that Michelle can hear what he is saying.
“She’s so confusing!”
“You haven’t talked to her since Saturday. You just can’t do that to a girl!” Michelle yells back.
Ian thinks about it and realizes that he has gone four days without speaking to Grace. If she only knew his reasons why, she would understand.
Grace strolls up to the table with her lunch tray in her hands, not looking too thrilled to see him. Ian jumps up, grabs her tray from her, and sets it on the table.
Michelle, rolling her eyes, gets up from her seat. “See ya,” she says, as she walks away flicking her hand through the air.
Grace is silent, which only intensifies Ian’s anxiety over talking to her. “You’re mad at me,” Ian says, as he lowers his eyes and gives her the best puppy dog look he can muster up.
Grace looks him straight in the eyes with very little emotion on her face.
“I’m sorry that I haven’t called you. I’ve been working a lot at the garage.”
Hearing his words does not seem to change her expression.
“I’ve been trying to save up some money because Brandon, Bailey, and I are going camping this weekend. And…” His sentence trails off as he gathers the courage to ask her what he has been meaning to. “Don’t be mad at me, Grace. I’ve just been dealing with some family stuff and working hard. It has nothing to do with not wanting to talk to you. I swear,” he says, as honestly as he can.
As Ian explains his absence, Grace realizes that she is being too hard on him and gives him a warm, sweet smile. “I’m not mad at you, Ian. I was just worried when I hadn’t heard from you and didn’t see you in school.”
“You don’t need to worry. I have it all under control,” he says, as he picks at her French fries. “So anyway, Gracie,” he says, placing his hand on hers, “I was wondering if James would let you come camping with us.”
Grace is taken aback by Ian’s question. He makes her feel as if she is on a roller coaster. One moment she can tell that he likes her and the next she does not know if her feelings are valid.
At the moment, she believes that he does like her. Why else would he ask me to go camping with him?
“He probably would, as long as he knew exactly where we were going and that your brother and sister will be there too. James is cool about letting me do things. He trusts me,” she says, and then smiles.
“Well, should I ask him?”
“No, I can.”
“We’re going to the spot I found at the lake where I took you last Saturday. We want to leave after school on Friday. My dad is gone for the weekend. We have to be back by Sunday afternoon by three.” Ian pauses and a frown washes over his face. “Before he gets home.”
“He?”
“My dad,” Ian says, still frowning. After a moment of silence, he perks up. “So you really think he’ll let you go?”
“Oh yes,” Grace says. “James trusts me and he’s really good about things like that. He’ll definitely let me go.”
Despite the excitement in her voice, Grace becomes anxious again about Ian’s invitation. She wants nothing more than to spend time with him. In fact, she would be happy spending every waking moment with him, but she worries about getting hurt, and feeling like she did when he didn't call her for days.
The Friday they are supposed to leave for the camping trip, Ian and Grace sit under the towering oak tree, eating French fries and staring into each other’s eyes. Ian senses that Grace has been having doubts about his feelings for her, and he has been trying to show her with little gestures that he really, genuinely likes her.
“Are you excited for our camping trip?” he asks, breaking their silence.
Ian reaches out and grabs Grace’s hand.
“Honestly, no.”
His heart drops. “What? Why?” he asks, shocked.
“I hate the outdoors. Remember? The bugs.”
Ian tilts his head to the side and studies Grace inquisitively. “Then why did you say yes when I asked you to come?”
“Because.” She smiles, sweetly, and stuffs a French fry into her mouth.
Ian pulls on her hand and brings it to his lips. He pauses before he plants a kiss on the top of her hand.
“Because I want to be with you, silly,” she confesses.
“Well, like I said. I’ll protect you. I bought citronella candles, and we have plenty of bug spray. You’ll be fine,” he reassures her.
Grace stuffs her pajamas into her backpack and looks around her room.
Two nights and a day and a half, she thinks as she looks around for anything else that she may need.
James walks in with an industrial sized sleeping bag. “I took the one out of
my trailer. It will be warmer than that girly one you have,” he says, as he throws the old heavy, hunter green sleeping bag on her bed. “It’s times like these that I wish I had gotten those damn cell phones,” James says, as he sits on Grace’s bed.
“I’ll be fine, James.”
“I know you will. I'm not sure why, but I trust Ian. And you know I trust you. But don’t forget to get those directions to the camping spot for me before you go,” he says, smiling.
“I won’t. I promise.”
After Ian rings the doorbell announcing his arrival, Grace walks down the walkway from her home, following Ian to the car. Always the gentleman, Ian opens the passenger side door for her. As Grace crawls into the car, she glimpses the two red haired kids sitting in the backseat.
“Hi. I’m Grace,” she says, reaching her arm back to shake hands with Bailey.
Bailey is smaller than what Grace had pictured her to be. She is thirteen years old, but looks like she is ten. She has straight, fire-engine-red hair, and her face is a mass of freckles. She has Ian’s blue eyes, and Grace thinks she is very pretty.
“Hi, Grace!” Bailey says in her high-pitched voice. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
Grace notices that Bailey is very polite for her age.
Geesh, I wish Michelle would be more respectful like this, she thinks, and then shakes the thought from her mind. She loves her sister just the way she is.
Brandon gives Grace a nod as a greeting.
“I should’ve invited Michelle,” Grace says, moments later as they drive through the narrow winding forest roads.
Ian looks at her with a surprised look on his face. “I didn’t even think of it! Should we go back and get her?”
“No. She made plans with one of her friends. But I still feel guilty.”
“Now I do, too.”
They pull up to the shore near the lake where Ian and Grace had their first date. They all pile out of the car. It is a sunny, but crisp day, and the smell of pine fills the air. The air is fresh, and Ian takes it into his lungs with a stretch as Grace watches his chest rise and fall.
Bailey and Brandon begin unloading the car as they argue.
“Hey! If you two are going to start that crap, I’m taking you home!” Ian says, as he points at them.
They look at each other and silently agree to disagree.
“Wanna go for a walk?” Ian asks, as he comes up behind Grace, who is pulling a lantern out of the car.
His breath on the back of her neck sends a thrill through her entire body. She turns around. He is so close to her that her back is pinned up against the car. He is staring at her with something behind his blue eyes, a look she has only seen from him one other time. The look he had in his eyes just before he kissed her.
“I would love to, but what about all this stuff?”
Ian throws his head back with a deep, guttural laugh. “What do you think I brought these two for?”
Grace gives him a small, but gentle smack on his chest. Ian just laughs as he takes the lantern out of Grace’s hand and places it on the ground next to the car. He takes Grace by both of her hands and pulls her off the car. He then takes one of her hands into his and leads her away from the campsite. They walk along the shore of the lake in silence. A comfortable silence, not like the one they experienced when eating in the gazebo last weekend.
“Gracie?” Ian asks, in a low voice that she struggles to hear.
He stops their pace and grabs her other hand. She looks at him as the nerves crawl over her. Her eyes grow wide.
“I like you a lot,” he says. “I’m really sorry I went so long without calling you.”
His words pour into her soul and a gigantic smile spreads across her face.
“Why didn’t you kiss me?” Grace asks, sternly.
Ian gives his head a little, quick shake. “What?”
“Why didn’t you kiss me?” she asks, in a slow voice, as if Ian has a hearing problem.
“You mean last weekend?”
“Yes, Ian,” and again she repeats, “Why didn’t you kiss me?” This time her voice is elevated.
“I was trying to be a gentleman,” he says softly. “Believe me, I wanted to. I didn’t want your brother to see me kissing you on the first date.”
Grace smiles up at him and stares into his eyes. All her apprehensions about how Ian feels about her are erased from her mind.
“Well, your plan worked. James respects you.”
“Then mission accomplished,” Ian says, as he leans in to kiss her.
Their kissing becomes so passionate that they make their way to lying on the dirt by the shore of the lake. With every movement of their tongues, she falls for him more so than she already had. He breaks away from their kiss and looks down at her, one arm holding her back to keep it from touching the ground and the other lying carelessly over her stomach.
“I don’t want to date you anymore,” he says abruptly.
Grace smiles up at him. “I don’t want to date you anymore either.”
“You wanna go out? I mean, will you be my girlfriend?”
He appears nervous as he speaks. Grace has no idea why he is so nervous, but she finds it adorable.
Grace leans up to kiss him again, and then breaks away from their kiss. “Of course I will,” she says, smiling.
They spend hours talking about Ian’s music and Grace’s art as they lie by the shore, going from conversation to kisses as effortlessly as music goes from note to note.
They return to the campsite where she hears Brandon and Bailey goofing off in their tent. They have gone out of their way to make a comfortable space. Grace glances at the two tents set up by a fire pit.
She looks back at Ian with a smile. “Only two, huh?”
Ian smiles back. “The intention is for you and Bailey to share.”
“Oh,” she says, blushing.
“But if you’re more comfortable sharing a tent with me, you’re more than welcome,” he says, with a snicker.
“I’d like to sleep with you,” she says, frankly, but only meaning that she will actually sleep with him. She has no deviant intentions.
Ian takes off his shirt, walks over to a large fallen tree trunk, lifts it up, and carries it over to the campsite. Holy shit! Grace thinks, he is so hot!
Grace sucks on her bottom lip as she checks out Ian. She turns her head and sees Bailey staring at her. Bailey bursts into giggles. Grace puts her hand over her mouth, and giggles as well.
“Your brother is so hot!” She leans in whispering to Bailey.
“Gross!” Bailey teases.
The four of them sit around the campfire later that evening and to Grace’s amazement she is completely relaxed outdoors. She feels utterly safe with Ian and his family. Brandon strums the guitar while Ian and Bailey sing.
“This family is talented!” she says, as she sings along with them.
They spend hours by the fire singing, telling ghost stories, and roasting marshmallows. Bailey and Brandon start to get tired and head to their tent. Once they are out of sight, Ian pulls Grace close to him and wraps her in a blanket.
“Are you having a good time?” he asks, as he softly kisses her on her head.
“Wonderful.” She smiles.
“Even with all the bugs and scary forest animals?” he teases.
“I haven’t seen one bug! Those candles really work!”
“I told you I would take care of you, baby.”
Baby. The word rushes over her body like silk.
The next morning the sounds of birds chirping in the trees wake Ian from his peaceful slumber. He has his arms wrapped tightly around Grace. He is perfectly content staying right here, in this moment for the rest of his life.
At the sound of her breathing, he shifts his body so he can see her better, and she stirs, but does not wake. He cannot take his eyes off every distinct feature of her beautiful face. Her flawless skin shines without the aid of makeup and her cheeks glow a pinkish tone. His eye
s fall on her mascara free, thick, long eyelashes, then follow the slope of her nose to the perfectly shaped tip. Ian cannot decide which of her looks he prefers, with makeup or without. He appreciates that she can pull either of these looks off effortlessly. The adorable, soft snore that comes from the slight part in her lips makes him fall for her even more.
An hour later, Ian climbs out of the tent. His goal is to find a tree to relieve himself on. In the glowing morning light, drinking delicately from the lake is a mama deer and her fawn. He pokes his head back into the tent and quietly says, “Grace, come and see this.”
Grace crawls from her sleeping bag and pokes her head out the tent. She looks at him with the most remarkable glowing smile. He cannot help but smile back at her. She makes him forget all the troubles he has in this world. He wraps his arm around Grace and they watch the beautiful scene unfold.
All of a sudden, Brandon yells, “Wow!” and the deer run off into the forest.
Ian glares at him and Brandon shrugs before climbing out of his tent.
They spend the day playing by the lake, lying in the sun, playing music, and singing.
Grace sits in a lounge chair, lakeside painting a watercolor of the landscape.
“Can I have that?” Ian asks, as he stands over her while she puts the finishing touches on her painting.
“Yeah. Consider it yours.” She smiles.
“You’re really good!” he says, carefully holding the wet painting in his hand.
Grace lowers her head, embarrassed.
“You really are, baby. Don’t be shy.”
“I’m not sure the colors are right.”
“Gracie, it looks exactly the same as what I’m looking at,” he says, as he points toward the lake. “You’re an incredible artist. Not only can you paint, but I’ve seen your drawings too. My girlfriend is a master!”
“Don’t be silly,” she says, flattered by all of his compliments.
“If you sucked, I’d tell you. Trust me. I’m not one to boost someone’s ego just to make them feel better. If you have talent I’m not going to shut up about it, and you have talent. Real talent.”
The Falling of Love (The Falling Series Book 1) Page 4