The clunk of a ping pong ball in the red cup at her end of the table brought her back to her current situation. Facing the Marshall brothers.
“Hey, Gracie. Haven’t seen you since you’ve been back. You look good.” This from Carter, the flirt. The man who thought anyone with boobs looked good.
“Thanks, Carter. Nice to see you again. Brady. You too.”
“Yeah. Welcome home.” His eyes didn’t reach hers. He was older than her, and they never interacted much growing up. Other than the time he tossed her his shirt. If the situation had been different, and she hadn’t been buck ass naked in the grass, she would have appreciated his bare chest.
Lean and sculpted from hard, physical labor.
Ben came sidling up to the long table, a beer in one hand, Alexis in the other. “You ladies go easy on these boys. Ty and I have skunked them two games in a row.”
“I highly doubt Grace has ever played a game of beer pong. Lily either, for that matter.” Alexis sipped her water with a smirk. “This should be fun.”
“I’m glad I’m not playing against you, Alexis. You were prime back in the day.” Carter chucked a ball at Alexis’ water bottle.
Of course she was. Alexis was the athletic one who hung out with all the guys while Grace was only wanted for her body.
“I’ll play one more and then I need to get going.” Brady moved the cups in front of him until they formed a perfect pyramid.
“Don’t be such an old fart. It’s not even eight yet.” Carter sipped from his bottle before setting it in the grass. “Besides, we’re not even playing the right way. It’s not like we’re going to get shitfaced.”
“What’s the right way?” Lily had to ask.
“Normally.” Ty placed a ball in Lily’s hand. “Each cup has a beer in it. When the opponent gets a ball in the cup you have to chug it.”
“But since Ben’s married and old—”
“Easy,” Alexis warned with a smile.
“Marriage looks good on you, Alex. I never thought I’d see the day.” Carter pointed at Ben. “Back to the birthday boy. We’re keeping things on the down low so the party doesn’t get out of control. Not like the good ol’ days, right, Grace?”
Her cheeks weren’t used to warming in embarrassment. Grace loved being the center of attention at parties, only now the attention wasn’t what she wanted.
“Are we going to stand around and talk all night or are we going to play?” She took the ball from Lily’s hand and aimed at the cups across from her. The ball went wide and bounced off the side of the plywood table. Brady caught it and tossed it back, sinking it in the cup in front of Lily.
“Drink.” Carter tipped his bottle at the girls.
“Oh. I don’t have a drink yet.”
“I’m sorry, Grace. I should be a better hostess. There’s sangria in the pitchers on the table.” Lily held up her full plastic cup. “It’s one of the few recipes I can actually follow. Or there’s wine in the buckets.”
“I have some beers in the cooler if you want one of those. You used to shotgun a beer faster than any guy in school.”
Thanks, Carter. He seemed to be stuck on bringing up Grace’s high school years. The fewer reminders she had of them the better.
“I’m all set, thank you.”
“Ty, can you get her a sangria?”
He took off and was back with a plastic cup before Grace had time to decline.
“We’ll go easy on you ladies. No chugging required, but a good healthy swig every time we sink a ball.”
“Well, since it’s floating...” Grace pointed at the white ball bobbing in the cup full of water.
“Always was a wise ass.” Carter smirked.
“And what do you and... Brady do when we sink a ball?” Grace didn’t know why his name tingled on her lips.”
“I’ll pay up and drink half a beer each time. Workaholic over here is girly-sipping his beer.”
“Someone’s got to be the responsible one in the family.”
Brady had the reputation of being a hard worker. Grace remembered when his father died. The whole town came out for the funeral and pitched in at the farm during blueberry season. Grace was only in sixth grade but remembered having fun eating more berries than she picked and playing manhunt in the bushes with her friends.
Even back then the oldest Marshall brother scowled at her for being an immature frolicker. He’d grown up and out over the years. Always tall, his frame didn’t appear so gangly like it had before she took off for Italy. His shoulders were wide, his arms strong from hours and hours on the farm.
If he ever smiled, he’d pass as attractive. He wasn’t heart-stopping but wasn’t ugly either. Not that Grace had ever given him much thought other than to hide her face from him and his judgment.
While he never said more than five or six words to her over the years, she could read his dislike for her in his stoic face. Most people smiled around her. Not Mr. Grumpy. Not wanting him to ruin her evening, she pushed thoughts from the past aside and sipped her sangria.
Fresh berries and sweet red wine coated her tongue. “This is delicious.”
“Thanks. One thing I can whip up in the kitchen is a good drink. Let’s see if I’m any better at beer pong than you.” Lily tossed the ball and missed.
They both took a drink.
It didn’t take long for the Marshall boys to get them down to two cups, and Grace and Lily had still to make a shot.
“This time. I can feel it.” The competitiveness she must have recently inherited from Alexis drummed through her veins. “I’m not going down without a fight.”
Grace focused in on the closest of the red cups, took a breath, and let the ball fly through the air. It bounced off the rim of one cup, then another before finally splashing in one of the cups in front of Brady.
“I did it!” She jumped up and down and clapped her hands. “You guys are going down now.” She gave Lily a high five and wiggled her hips, and stared at Brady’s hand that held the ball.
When he went to toss it she waved her hands in hopes of distraction, which worked like a charm.
“What the hell was that?” The ball missed the cup by a good six inches.
“Don’t be a sore loser now.”
“Sore loser? You guys have made one shot to our eight.” Brady crossed his arms, and his shirt tugged tight over a chest Grace hadn’t realized was so chiseled.
“Yeah. Well. It’s our first time. You’ve had more practice.” Lily tossed the ball in return and squealed when it landed in a cup. “We’re getting the hang of this, Grace. Drink up, boys.”
Two shots later they lost the game and were feeling pretty buzzed.
“I declare a rematch before the end of the night,” Grace said with liquid confidence.
“Ben and Ty are back at it now. How about horseshoes? You ladies up for a game?” Carter asked.
“I’m all set but you can play, Grace.”
Her confidence wasn’t so high without Lily by her side. Spotting Hope across the lawn they thanked Carter and went to visit with their newlywed friend.
“Having fun?” Hope had a smile that hadn’t left her face since Cameron came into town last winter. Another perfectly adorable couple that made Grace feel like she was missing out on something.
At least she still had Mia and Jenna as her single friends. With Mia’s quirky personality and love for going out, Grace couldn’t see her settling down anytime soon. And Jenna was so reserved, so aloof when it came to discussing men. She didn’t mind hearing about other people’s stories but kept her past love life a secret.
The same could be said for Grace. Although she did tell the girls one night at book club about Marcus, and her random bad dates, and a handful of fun one-nighters.
Robert, however, she wouldn’t be mentioning. If she never saw him again it would be too soon.
“Lily and I got our butts handed to us in beer pong.”
“I can’t believe you got her to actually play that game.�
�� Hope laughed.
She tried not to be offended. She knew Hope didn’t mean it as an insult. Grace worked hard to get away from this small town and her party animal reputation. Sure, she was a partygoer in Europe, but that sounded much more classy than chugging beers and doing keg stands at parties in the woods.
Maybe coming back to Maine was a mistake. But she had nowhere else to go and needed to get out of France as quickly as possible. Thankfully news of her scandal hadn’t made its way to the dead-end town of Crystal Cove. The off the grid town was the perfect place for her to escape while still moving forward with her career in fashion.
“It was fun. I’m more in shock that Brady Marshall is here. He must have changed a lot while I was away. Rumor has it he never left his land.”
“You knew him back in the day, I only know of him now. Mostly it’s hair salon gossip.” Lily refilled their sangrias and smiled out across the lawn at the dozens of people. “I suppose small towns run on gossip? It’s still pretty new to me. You grew up here though. The old biddies who come in to get their hair set every ten days absolutely adore Brady. They say he’s Daddy material. I can’t tell you how many have argued that their granddaughter is the better woman for him.”
“I can only imagine.” And she could. He still lived at home with his mother and worked like a horse seven days a week. Grace had heard her mother swoon over him too many times during her teen years and even now a dozen years later.
A family guy with solid family values. Loyal. Honest. Hardworking. Geesh. If he was so perfect, why was he still single and living at home?
Yeah. She was single and living in her childhood bedroom as well, but she’d also spent a third of her life far, far away finding her independence while Brady had yet to cut the umbilical cord. Or maybe that was his mom’s job.
Grace didn’t know too much about Mrs. Marshall other than she always wore jeans and flannel and an oversized sunhat. She was friends with Grace’s parents and they went out occasionally when their farms didn’t need tending, which happened almost never.
Although her parents were going out more now that Ben was around to help run the winery. Good for them. They were getting older and shouldn’t be doing hard physical labor every day.
“You and Carter must have gone to school together.”
“Yup.” She sipped her sangria and debated how much to tell Lily. If she wanted to have girlfriends, she’d need to learn to open up. But talking about the old days when she was a Crystal Cove rebel wasn’t the impression she wanted to give Lily.
“Alexis says you were quite the wild child.”
And once again Grace’s temper flared. “Not everyone is as perfect as Alexis. Or Hope. Or hell, even you. Some of us have skeletons in their closet they don’t want to be revealed. You of all people should know that.”
Grace gasped and sucked in her lips, ashamed at what just came out of her mouth. Afraid to look at Lily, she closed her eyes and swallowed hard.
“That was a super bitchy thing to say. I’m sorry.”
When she peeked through her lashes she was surprised Lily was still there with a full cup of sangria. If the roles were reversed, Grace would have tossed it in her face.
“I’m sorry for being insensitive. There’s an obvious tension between you and Alexis. And to be honest, I have no idea what it’s all about. I’m not one to pry. As you noted and know so well, I have skeletons.” Lily’s voice was kind and understanding. “I’ll respect your privacy, but if you ever want to talk, I’m here. I don’t know the old you and the old Alexis. I’m totally unbiased and nonjudgmental. And I want to be your friend. I’m here if you need an ear. Or a shoulder.”
Grace watched Lily’s retreating back and chugged the rest of her drink.
“There’s the Gracie we know and love.”
She spun around and tossed her empty cup at Carter’s chest. “Go to hell. And while you’re there, grow up.”
CHAPTER THREE
BRADY WATCHED CARTER chuckle as Grace stormed away. He’d said something to piss her off something fierce, and he didn’t appear to give a rat’s ass about hurting her feelings.
Not that he cared about her feelings either. Grace Le Blanc meant nothing to him. She was a flighty girl back in high school with a loose reputation. Hell, the last time he’d seen her she was buck ass naked running through his blueberry bushes.
He hadn’t asked what the hell she was doing or who she was doing it with. All he wanted was to get her off his land. It was bad enough every time he walked down the path between the Duke and Blue Crops he could picture her tall, lithe, naked body. She’d had curves a young girl shouldn’t have had at that age.
She may have been eighteen at the time, but to his twenty-three-year-old self, she was one hundred percent off limits. Not that he’d ever been tempted to cross the line. She’d been with his brother that night, who’d passed out from too much Jack Daniels in the apple orchard with three of his other numbnut friends.
Brady had no intentions of cleaning up after his brother’s mess, but he didn’t have to stand around and watch. Again.
“You done causing a ruckus around here? I’m heading home.”
“Ruckus?” Carter laughed. “You sound older than you are, Brady. Why can’t you ever learn to chill a little? Have some fun?”
“I’m not twenty-one anymore, and neither are you.” Cleaning up after Carter’s thirtieth birthday this past spring was about as fun as mucking stalls. Which was pretty much what Brady found himself doing.
“You can leave if you want. I’ll catch a ride with Ben and Alexis later.”
At least Brady knew Alexis wasn’t drinking and would get his brother home safely. Brady made the obligatory rounds, thanking Ty and Lily for hosting the party, and then saying goodnight to Ben.
“Happy birthday, Ben. Thanks for inviting me.”
“Hey, anytime.” They shook hands and did the guy pat-on-the-back thing. “I normally like something a little more low-key, but coming from a large Italian-French family, this sort of thing doesn’t phase me much. Alexis says your big three-six is the day after Halloween. How about we celebrate with a couple bottles of wine around the fire pit at my place.”
“I’m not one for celebrating birthdays, but I’ll take you up on a few drinks around the fire pit.”
Ben had been a nice addition to the Le Blanc family. He was the only guy Brady really talked to, besides his knucklehead brother.
He pulled his keys from his pocket and twirled them around his finger on his way down the driveway to his pickup.
Bright lights from a tiny car blinded him. He held up his arm to shield his eyes as he saw the struggle. The car was blocked in between a Ford 250 and a Dodge Hemi. Big trucks. He had a hemi too but had parked it down the road so he wouldn’t get bottlenecked in.
Seeing the struggle the driver had, he made his way to the driver’s window and hunched down, motioning him or her to roll it down.
“Need some help getting out?” The bright lights had blurred his vision, and large black dots filled the space where the driver’s head was.
“I’m stuck,” a familiar voice said as his eyes began to focus.
Grace.
Brady stood up and sighed, surveying the space between the vehicles. “I’m pretty sure the Ford is Cameron’s. I have no idea who owns the Dodge. That thing is a beast.”
“I don’t care whose truck it is. I just need to get out.”
He could go back to the party and ask around or he could try to finagle her car out himself. He took two steps toward the rear of the car and guessed there was about eighteen inches of space. Doable.
“Why don’t you get out? I’ll see what I can do.”
“I know how to drive a car.”
“I’m not questioning your ability to drive. The trucks have you penned in, and it’s dark as night out here.”
“It is night.”
Leave it to Grace to point out what a dub he sounded like. He could only imagine what she thou
ght of him. Alexis had complained often enough about Grace sowing her wild oats and hanging with fancy fashion designers and the snobby type in France. He didn’t like her looking down her nose on him.
“Do you want me to try to get you out or not?”
His mother would skin him alive for talking so rudely to a woman. Thankfully he didn’t see Dorothy and Grace sitting down for a friendly chat anytime soon.
“Fine.” With a huff and an attitude the size of the Mount Katahdin, Grace flung those long legs that hadn’t changed much since high school out of her car.
He had a hard time folding himself behind her wheel. He moved the seat back as far as it could go and adjusted the mirrors.
Going easy on the gas, he inched forward a smidge then put the car in reverse and guesstimated the eighteen inches he’d eyeballed before. Fourteen ten-point turns later, he had Grace’s little toy car on the driveway, free from imprisonment.
“Thanks. I didn’t think you’d get it out of there without denting my car.”
“Me either.”
“Now you tell me.” Her laugh was like liquid sunshine after a long, cold winter. It warmed him in places he didn’t want to think about.
“You sure you’re okay to drive?”
“I had two sangrias in the past two hours and ate about a hundred meatballs to soak up whatever alcohol was in them. I’ll manage.”
“We’re going in the same direction. I’ll follow you to make sure you get home safely.”
“I’m not drunk.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“You implied.”
“No. It’s late. It’s dark. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do. See a woman home.”
Hell, Carter was right. He did sound like he came straight out of a Paul Newman movie.
“Oh. Well. Oh.” Grace appeared as stunned at his words as he was. “Thanks. I guess. We are going the same way.”
He’d never noticed her eyes before. Something between grass and a green berry still ripening in the sun.
With a quick jerk of his head, he jogged down the driveway and out on to the road to his truck. By the time he’d buckled up and started the engine, her little white car had pulled out in front of him.
Here With You Page 3