Grace's Fake Groom

by Francesca Lane

  Wren continued to gush. “I’m so thrilled to have someone to share them with again.”

  Grace smiled. “Thank you, Wren. But I bet there are many people living around here who love the bounty from your garden.”

  “Hardly! Most of them are weekenders, and none are like the Morelli family. No, no, it’s very sad.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She wiggled her hand through the air as if brushing away her new neighbors. “They are hardly ever here—those beautiful homes are usually quite dark. And when they do come they roll their beautiful cars straight into their garages. Not even a wave.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Wren slipped her hand through the crook of Grace’s arm. She leaned in close as if they were dishing on the latest news of the ‘hood. “Tell me about your man,” she said in a whisper. “He’s a tall drink of something, isn’t he?”

  Thank goodness the flowers were occupying her hands. Otherwise, Grace feared the sudden onset of sweaty palms might give away her situation. “He’s, well, he’s a … great guy.” There. That was safe.

  Wren gripped her arm tighter, steadying herself, and glanced back. “He’s crazy about you, and that is so attractive in a man.”

  Grace kept her gaze focused on the roll of white, foamy waves a stone’s skip away. She couldn’t outright laugh at Wren’s comment—how would that look? But she didn’t dare agree with what she said either. Hadn’t they already dug themselves into a deep enough sand hole to climb out of when the truth was revealed? No sense agreeing with an observation so incredibly incorrect!

  “Grace!”

  Grace swung around and Wren let go of her arm. She shielded her eyes with her hand.

  “Zeke wandered off!”

  “Oh dear,” Wren said.

  “What? No!” Grace quickly scanned the water’s edge and then back toward Chase. “Which way did he go?”

  Chase shook his head and opened his arms wide with a giant shrug. “I’ll go this way,” he shouted. “You go down to the water!”

  Grace handed the flowers back to Wren. “I’m so sorry. I’ve got to go. Will you keep an eye out?”

  “Of course, of course.”

  Grace took off toward the tide line, watching for any sign of Zeke. “Zeke! Here, boy! Zeke!” How hard could he be to spot? He had fluffy black hair and moved fast. Surely one of them would see him soon.

  After a half hour Chase joined Grace in the area of her search. More than once she heard him swear, while she held back tears that pressed up against her eyes and windpipe.

  She couldn’t lose Zeke. Finding him had meant more to her than she could ever have imagined. She hadn’t planned on that, but when she brought the puppy into her home, he’d also burrowed quickly into her heart as well.

  Chase halted in place and expelled one exasperated breath. He continued to scan the beach with his eyes, only now he avoided Grace’s.

  Silence dropped between them. A wave crashed. A gull sent out an alert for food. Chase crossed his arms and dropped his gaze to the sand below.

  She turned on him then. “How could this happen? What were you doing when he slipped off?”

  He raised his eyes. In them she saw clouds and worry. “Nothing. He was digging away and then all of a sudden I looked down and he was gone.”

  “You looked down? From what—the phone? That’s it, isn’t it? You were working!”

  “Oh, now you are one to talk.”

  She took a step toward him and lifted her chin. “What does that mean?”

  He stuck a tongue into his cheek, staring back at her. “It means I haven’t seen you take a break from the computer of yours since you got here.”

  “So what.”

  He shrugged as if he didn’t care.

  Anger crowded out her fear. “Stop deflecting. You said you’d watch him so I could talk to Wren. You promised!”

  Chase shoved his hands into his pockets. His jaw hardened, as if he were about to lash out at her with as much force as she was giving him. He looked her square in the eyes.

  She refused to look away, refused to give him any grace at all. “I’m so angry, Chase. He’s just a puppy. What if he gets hurt? I can’t believe—” Her words died on her tongue, giving way to her first tear.

  In a breath, he pulled her into his arms, molding her to him. She sank into him, her body warm against his, an imaginary line crossed. That first tear led to more, dozens more, until the place on his chest where she laid her cheek had become soaked.

  She peered up at him and Chase’s hand found the back of her neck. “We’ve got to find him,” she whispered.

  He nodded quickly. “Let’s not stop looking.”

  She allowed herself one long, hiccupy breath before beginning to pull away.

  He stopped her with a touch of his fingers on her chin, his face mere inches from hers, his eyes searching. “I’m so sorry, Grace.”

  Grace shut her eyes. He infuriated her … yet, when had she ever been so content in a man’s arms, so assured that this was where she was supposed to be at this moment in time? If only the circumstances weren’t so dire—and she wasn’t so angry with him!

  She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and stepped back, taking another look toward the sea.

  Chase held her upper arms, his gaze assuring. “We’ll find him, Grace. If I have anything to say about it, we will find Zeke.”

  They trudged toward the house, their arms empty, no words passing between them. They’d been canvassing the beach for an hour with no luck at all. They’d repeated the question over and over again, but no one had seen Zeke.

  Fog had rolled in, as it often did along this stretch of the coast, causing shivers to overtake Grace. She hugged herself from worry and chill, with Chase close behind her.

  The sounds of crashing nearby waves engulfed them, reminding Grace of childhood days spent at the beach house. She didn’t love this particular memory. Grey never set well with her mood, even back then. Her mother may have loved all that cottony air, but not Grace. The fog rolling in often muted surrounding sounds while amplifying the surf. The monstrous sound of a wave hitting hard-packed sand only heightened her fears.

  If only she hadn’t let Zeke off of his leash.

  If only she hadn’t allowed herself to be distracted by Wren.

  If only …

  If only she hadn’t married Chase on a cruise ship!

  Chase’s voice broke her meanderings. “Did you hear that?”

  Grace threw a glance over her shoulder at Chase. He stepped closer, his hand brushing her lower back.

  “That,” he said, whipping his chin one way and then the other.

  A familiar whine had managed to squeak in between the sounds of crashing waves.

  Grace let out a whoop and scrambled up the stairs where Zeke sat on the welcome mat, the one with the dolphin on it, whining about how long they had taken to get there. His tail wagged so hard it nearly knocked a hole in the back door.

  “You brute! I can’t believe you’re here!” Zeke slobbered all over Grace’s cheeks and chin as she bent down and scooped him up, giving him Eskimo kisses. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again!”

  Chase’s gentle touch on her shoulder turned her around, and he encapsulated both she and Zeke into a bear hug. Tears that had started earlier fell even harder now, the tension of the past hour rushing out of her in a torrential crush. She heaved from a deep place, leaning into the relief.

  “I’m sorry,” Chase whispered into her hair. He continued to hold them both tightly.

  Though her tears subsided, Grace kept her face buried in Chase’s chest until Zeke whined as if to say he’d had enough emotion for one night. She pulled back and looked up into Chase’s face.

  His dark eyes were hooded as they took in her eyes, her face, her mouth. She couldn’t miss the charm of their comfort at this moment, when dread had been on her mind only minutes before. “I’m sorry for yelling at you,” she whispered.

&nbs
p; There was no time for thinking, an impulse overtaking them both, their lips meeting, a mingling of soft and electric. He tasted salty, as if her tears had mixed with his.

  A whine from Zeke split the magic. A weird sort of giggle escaped her. Who cared that giggling was for teens? She’d been given back a year of her life, or so it felt.

  Chase continued to hold her, though his grip had loosened. His skin looked flush, a glimmer of that kiss in his eyes.

  Maybe she’d misjudged him, had misjudged their entire arrangement. Perhaps they’d been brought together for a reason that neither of them had considered. Could it be that everything they never knew they wanted might actually be in reach?

  “Grace?”

  “Hm?”

  “When did your sister say she would be calling?”

  The Skype call!

  Grace gasped. “I completely forgot about it.” Her heartbeat began to accelerate, and not in a sexy way. Had she and Chase discussed the implications thoroughly? Did they know how they would act? How they’d answer her siblings’ questions?

  And did he truly understand how much she hated keeping the truth from them?

  Chase’s warm touch on her cheek stilled her, calm flooding her nerves. She flicked a glance upward, taking him in.

  “It’s going to be fine,” he said. “You and your family still have much to discuss regarding the beach house. I’ll be there as your … as your arm candy.”

  She threw her head back, laughing. Zeke took that as an opportunity to give her one more sloppy lick on her neck. “Okay, thank you.” She exhaled, centering herself. “I have to admit that I can’t wait for this call to be over.”

  Chase opened the porch door and stood back for Grace and her beloved dog to step inside. “I’m looking forward to later on tonight as well.”

  This was a first. Four out of five siblings had signed in for the video chat. She and her three sisters, plus their brother, had not managed to speak or all see each other for the past five Christmases. The only time they’d been together was after their parents’ death last year. And then only long enough to say their goodbyes … It wasn’t a happy time.

  “Did he say for sure that he’d be on the call?” her sister Maggie asked.

  Though their reception was spotty, Grace recognized the telltale sign of stress on her eldest sister’s face. And worry. Her sister hadn’t done well in the relationship department. As a result, she was raising a daughter alone. Still, she managed to maintain her status of “mother” to their ragtag group. She guessed that to be fitting.

  From her chic apartment, Lacy sipped her wine and smirked. “Who cares? Our brother’s a flake.”

  Bella looked up from her book, something pink and flowery on the cover. She frowned, her big eyes peering over the top and into the screen. “I think Jake is quite dashing. I would not be surprised at all if he’s been delayed by something heroic.”

  “What? Like helping an old woman cross the street? Please.” Lacy set her goblet down after emptying it and she huffed a sigh, sat back, and refocused on the screen. “So, big sister, tell us about your recent name change.”

  “Hold on a sec.” Maggie reached forward and adjusted her computer screen, giving them all a close-up glimpse of her ample cleavage. Tendrils of thick, highlighted hair unfurled along her shoulders. “I want to get a better picture of the happy couple.”

  Grace rolled her own shoulders back in an attempt to look relaxed. She turned slightly toward Chase and gave him a hopeful smile, then addressed her siblings, which wasn’t easy since they were scattered in boxes across her own computer screen. “Everyone, I’d like you to meet Chase.”

  “Welcome to the family,” Bella said, her voice breathy, but not in a sensual way. Bella had a way of looking at just about all aspects of life through a fairy tale lens, and because of that, her siblings had often compared her to Giselle in the movie, Enchanted. Grace half-expected to learn that bluebirds appeared in the morning to help her slip into a sundress.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” he said.

  Lacy assessed him. “Did Grace mention she had three sisters?”

  Chase hesitated. “I … well.”

  Lacy laughed. “I knew it. Of course she didn’t! She isn’t labeled the smart one for nothin’.”

  Grace ran a tongue across her top row of teeth, fuming. “It’s not like we’ve seen each other all that much lately …”

  Maggie’s phone rang. She frowned, picked it up, and glanced at the screen before shoving it back into her purse. “Knock it off, Lacy.”

  “Oh, I forgot how you like to defend our goody two-shoes sister.”

  Grace reached for the keyboard of her laptop. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”

  Maggie shook her head. “Forget about Lacy’s nonsense. How’s the old place?” she asked, her expression dour. “Probably needs a ton of work, right?”

  Chase relaxed into the couch and casually put his arm around Grace’s shoulder. Grace suspected he was glad about ducking out of the spotlight so quickly. She had to admit that she was too. “Not really. Seems like it’s in pretty solid shape. We’ve been enjoying ourselves immensely.”

  Lacy’s laugh broke through the pleasantries. “Oh, I just bet you are!”

  Bella shushed her, while Maggie shot a really at their middle sister, turning her head slightly as if they were actually in the same room.

  Lacy brushed a strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “I, for one, would like Jake to get his butt over there soon to assess the house’s needs. The idea that lovebirds can give us any kind of honest assessment is just, well, it’s pretty dumb, if you ask me.”

  Grace clenched a hand. “Are you calling me a liar?”

  Chase cleared his throat. She glared at him before turning back to her sisters. “I mean, are you calling Chase a liar?”

  Chase coughed out a laugh, as if to say, leave me out of this.

  Lacy collapsed into the sofa. “Always so dramatic, Grace! No one’s calling anyone a liar—sheesh. Don’t be such a goody goody.” She sat up again and looked pointedly at the screen. “Let’s cut to the meat, shall we? That house … I think I speak for all of us when I say that, though we had some good times there, I think we should each put in our time, stick as many bandages on it that we can, then cut our losses and call that real estate agent who practically owns the town.”

  Bella, who had been holding that book in front of her nose the entire time, slowly set it on her lap. Wide-eyed, she said, “You mean sell our family home?”

  Maggie spoke to Bella. “The family home was gone a long time ago.”

  Grace stiffened. She sensed Chase’s attention on her, but she ignored it. Still, he reached over and laid his hand on one of hers.

  Maggie’s phone rang again. This time she yanked it from her purse and moved out of view, terse-sounding whispers echoing in the background.

  Bella continued. “I would just like to say that this is one of the few times we have all had to discuss our family’s remaining home. Well, Jake’s not here, of course, but you know what I mean.” She closed her eyes, a diminutive smile drifting onto her face. “Think about the days we spent there when we were young. Really think about them!”

  Lacy rolled her eyes. “I’d rather think about the root canal I have scheduled for next week.”

  Grace shook her head. “Lacy …”

  Bella cut in, those big eyes of hers open wide again. “C’mon, you guys. Let’s all stop for a few seconds and reflect on what it would mean to sell it. Please?”

  Maggie entered the space again and sighed. “Bella, honey, I would love to entertain the idea of keeping the place, but it’s all I can do to put macaroni and cheese on the table each night. I need the money. I’ll never understand why our parents didn’t just leave us the place without these ridiculous restrictions, but they did, so I’m just counting the days until we’ve fulfilled them all and can sell.”

  Grace saw the weariness in Maggie’
s eyes, the determination in Lacy’s expression, and heard the wistfulness in Bella’s voice. Her agreement with Chase had certainly granted her some time—though if he hadn’t had to fire her in the first place, she wouldn’t be in this situation. She bristled at the thought of being beholden to someone. Their father paid everything in cash. Grace had always thought it to be a quaint custom, but now she wished she had paid a little more attention to his quirky ways …

  As if sensing her reflection, Chase squeezed Grace’s hand. She withdrew it, sensing a bout of sweat coming on. Annoying little habit! She glanced over at him as her sisters continued their debate without her. He watched her back with a sort of curiosity, his usually tamed locks having landed every which way after the sea air had its way with it. Softened his edges some.

  The high-pitched clanking of a glass broke her concentration.

  Lacy was holding her empty wine glass and tapping it with a spoon.

  Maggie grimaced. “What are you doing?”

  Lacy’s right eyebrow shot up. “Really? Has it been that long since you’ve attended a wedding?” She turned toward the screen, nearly mewing. “The tinkling of the glass means the lovebirds have to kiss.”

  Grace scoffed, tired of her middle sister’s antics. Truthfully, she was tired, period. The past week—and past few hours—had caught up with her.

  “They don’t have to perform for us,” Maggie said, her voice agitated.

  Bella cut in. “Oh, I think it’s a sweet custom. You two do seem so in love, Grace. I’m really happy for you both.”

  Lucy laughed and smacked her wine glass again with a spoon. “Here, here. Kiss her already.”

  Grace opened her mouth to protest when a strong hand found the back of her neck. Chase’s mouth found hers quickly, more forcefully than the last time—when they had just found Zeke on the porch after an hour of searching. She had even less time to think about it this time around, torn between her desire to lean into him, to explore his kiss more fully, and the reality that they had an audience staring back at them via three screens.

  His lips moved against hers, warm, studied … perfunctory. Of course. The heat of shame reached her face and her hands, appropriately, broke out in a sweat. How could she forget? They were playing a role, she and he, of a couple in love, though the truth was far from that.