Discovery (9 page)

“How about something to drink?” Grace tried to stand up from the couch. But standing up was not an option in her dizzy state and she almost fell over just as Gregory caught her.

“Do you need me to get it?” Gregory smiled at Grace's unsteadiness. “I didn't know I had that effect on you. Perhaps we need a little more practice in the kissing arena. My father always says practice makes perfect.”

“No. I'm fine.” Grace giggled as she pulled herself out of Gregory's arms and headed to the kitchen. She grabbed two beers out of the refrigerator and was grabbing two cocktail napkins out of a drawer when she glanced out the kitchen window and spotted Ben's car parked across the street.

“Great,” she said to herself.

“What?” Gregory called from the other room.

“Nothing,” replied Grace as she returned to the living room and placed the drinks on the coffee table. She crossed to the front window and drew the blinds. That will stop
Ben's weirdo spying game
, she thought.

“Now, where were we?” Grace asked as she settled back onto the couch and into Gregory's arms.

Gregory smiled. “I believe we were practicing.”

• • •

“I think I like the red satin dress on you best,” said Annie as she stood outside Grace's dressing room. “Now, what do you think about this one with my skin tone?”

Grace exited her dressing room and evaluated Annie standing in front of the boutique's three-way mirror. “The green looks good with your eyes. Besides that one is on sale and you don't have any money so you better get it before someone else does.” Grace turned to look at herself in the mirror. “I really like this blue one on me. Plus it's on sale.”

“But Gregory likes red and he is your date so go with the red. Trust me.” Annie stood next to Grace in front of the mirror, her black combat boots sticking out from the chiffon folds of her long green dress.

“We'd look like a Christmas tree with all that green and red,” said Grace.

“Oh, who cares?” said Annie. “It's your birthday party. We can paint our faces purple and no one can say a word about it that night.”

“I really can't believe the party is almost here. You know I'm actually having fun shopping for a new dress, but I still feel weird about having this huge party.” Grace's stomach had been nauseated all day.

“Weird, shmeird, get over it. As for the dress, forget what's on sale. Get what will make Gregory happy. As guest of honor, you have to have something new for your party and you need to feel pretty that night. Who knows? You might get lucky,” stated Annie matter-of-factly.

“Annie! What if someone heard you?” Grace whispered as she looked around the dressing room area. “Besides, I don't think Gregory and I are ready for that yet.” The image of Gregory's red eyes from the front porch incident flashed to the front of Grace's mind and the fear she felt that night briefly passed through her heart again.

“You never know — ”

“No. I know. It's not time for that even if it is my birthday,” said Grace.

“Oh, for Pete's sake. You are as prudish as Ben,” said Annie, rolling her eyes.

At the mention of Ben, Grace's discomfort switched gears. “Speaking of Ben, have you seen him lately?”

“No. Pete in the pro shop said he heard from his girlfriend that Ben asked Julian if he could work different shifts from us. Guess he's really mad at you.”

“At me? What did I do?” exclaimed Grace.

“Started dating Gregory,” said Annie.

“So.”

“So. Our Ben apparently doesn't like that.”

“But he said he would try — ”

“Try. Shmy. If I were you, I would tell Ben not to come to the party unless he gets an attitude adjustment toward Gregory,” Annie declared as she reentered her dressing room to change clothes. “It would make the party run a little smoother if you didn't have to worry about Ben weirding out on you that night,” Annie said over her dressing room door. “I'm just saying … if I were you.”

“I can't disinvite him,” said Grace. “He's one of my best friends, remember? That would be like disinviting you. Maybe I should just go talk to him before the party.”

“Whatever,” said Annie, emerging from the dressing room, green dress in hand. “Do what you want but I don't think talking to Ben is going to do any good. He really hates Gregory and if I had to choose between my boyfriend and my best friend to be at my birthday party, I'd choose my boyfriend. Gregory is hot and rich and you could forget all about college being married to someone like that.”

“But I don't want to forget about college. And marriage is not even on my radar.” The memory of Gregory's red eyes was now burning Grace's brain.

Annie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. Now give me your wallet so I can go pay for my dress.”

• • •

Grace stood outside the men's locker room feeling like a stalker. She had stayed long after her shift at the club was over, hoping to run into Ben when he came in for work that night. She was hot and tired after a long day and not in the mood for any heavy discussion right now, but with the party only days away, she needed to resolve her issues with Ben tonight. After seeing his car in the club parking lot and looking everywhere else she could think of, the men's locker room was her last resort.

An eternity passed, but Ben finally emerged and the minute she saw him, all her rehearsed words flew out of her head. She just stood there and said, “Hey.”

Ben took a few steps back and looked around before he said hesitantly, “Hey yourself. What are you doing here?”

“I … I was hoping we could talk,” said Grace, an unexpected softness falling over her. Except for catching him spying from his car the other night, she had not seen Ben at all lately and had forgotten how blue his eyes were. Blue, beautiful and intense.

“About what?” feigned Ben.

“You know what. You've been avoiding me and I think it has to do with Gregory.”

“I'm not avoiding you. I've just been busy, that's all.”

Ben's mock ignorance of their situation erased the brief softness she had just felt and, in its place, left full-blown anger. Her rapid mood swings were often a handicap, both for Grace and those around her. And right now was no exception.

“Busy. Right. Busy spying on me and Gregory,” Grace said as she crossed her arms and took a defensive stance in the hallway outside the locker room.

A strange look crossed Ben's face. “I don't know what you are talking about.” He turned to walk away.

Grace grabbed his arm and spun him around. “Don't you walk away from me. What is your problem?”

“I don't have a problem.” Ben jerked his arm out of Grace's grasp. “Now let me get to work.”

“Fine,” Grace said through gritted teeth. “You don't want to resolve our issues? That is just fine with me. Some best friend you are. But you can forget about coming to my birthday party. Annie's right. I'll have a lot more fun without you and your attitude there so consider yourself officially uninvited. Don't even think about coming to the Cavern Café that night. I don't need you!” Grace fumed. She turned and stormed down the hallway and out the door without looking back.

The doorbell rang just as Grace was taking one last look at herself and the red dress in her bedroom mirror. Annie had left hours ago with Andrew to finish setting up for the party so Grace grabbed her matching red satin purse and headed for the front door to answer it herself. She was a bundle of nerves, still dreading the party, and the thought of being the center of attention for a night was making her palms sweat even with the now constant tingling in her fingers. Having avoided it all her life, she could not remember ever being the center of attention before, not even when her parents died. But then all she remembered about that time of her life was the smell of burnt metal.

As usual, Gregory was precise with his arrival time. She took a deep breath, sucked her stomach in and smoothed out the long, red satin that clung tightly to her curves. She gave her loose, long dark hair one more fluff before opening her apartment's front door.

And there he stood. His tuxedo made him look a little older, a little James Bondish, but it was the boyish grin that said it all. Gregory looked hot and Grace's nerves again turned to butterflies at the sight of him.

“Wow,” he said, looking her up and down, obviously evaluating every curvy detail of Grace's body beneath the red satin. “Are you ready to go?”

“I think so,” Grace replied with a hesitant smile.

“Trust me. You're ready.” Gregory grinned and took her arm to lead her out the front door.

Grace's satin dress swished rhythmically as they walked to Gregory's car and the noise made her even more self-conscious. She didn't want to listen to that all night. She had enough to deal with. When she saw they were riding in Gregory's Tahoe, her tight dress caused her even more consternation. She struggled with it as she climbed up onto the cloth seat of the Tahoe and would have preferred sliding into the soft leather of Mr. Reich's low-riding Mercedes.

“Sorry about the ride,” Gregory said as if reading her mind when he entered the car. “Dad has his car tonight to take Mom to your party. They really appreciated being invited.”

“Oh, no problem. I'm glad they can come,” said Grace as she shifted in the seat trying to get comfortable. Even with her stomach sucked in, the dress was still a little tight and the satin clung to the Tahoe's cloth seat like Velcro.

Gregory grabbed Grace's hand and the minute she felt his electric touch, she took a deep breath and relaxed. His touch always calmed her as if he knew just when she needed him. She was drugged and she was grateful.

They soon pulled up to the front door of the Cavern Café and it was easy to see how the restaurant got its name. Looking like a cabin in the Ozarks, gray stacked stone covered the building's entire façade and thick, rough log columns marked the front entrance. Pine trees lined the front stone walkway leading from the parking lot to the front porch, and Grace knew from talking to the Café's owner that each of these pines had once been a Christmas tree in his family's home.

Grace had hoped that the combination of the restaurant's familiarity and the owner's familial quaintness would alleviate some of her nervousness tonight but this hope was quashed when a valet parking attendant abruptly opened her car door. Having valet parking at the Cavern Café tonight meant her party was a bigger deal than she had anticipated or wanted.

Grace did not recognize the valet but he obviously knew Gregory because he said, “Good evening, Mr. Reich. Nice to see you again,” when he took the keys from her date.

“Since when does the Cavern Café have valet parking?” Grace whispered to Gregory as they walked beneath the pines leading to the restaurant's front door.

“Since I hired them for your party. The Café's lot is a little small so I thought it would help with the parking tonight.” Gregory smiled at Grace and placed his arm around her waist.

“Thanks, I think,” said Grace relaxing unnaturally into Gregory's arm.

“No problem. I just want to do all I can to make tonight memorable.” Gregory squeezed Grace's waist a little tighter just as they reached the front door.

“Wait.” Grace stopped abruptly, took a deep breath, and stared at the heavy wooden door. She was not prepared to be the center of attention just yet.

“Grace, darling, I promise not to leave your side all night.” Gregory looked down at her and his voice seemed to hold a hint of frustration and impatience.

Grace looked up into Gregory's green eyes and fell closer into his tight embrace. Her nerves' protective blanket returned. “Okay. Let's get this over with.”

“I promise you. This will be a night you will never forget.” Gregory smiled as he opened the front door leading into the Cavern Café.

The restaurant was decorated like a fairy wonderland with tiny white lights and waves of natural pine garland hanging from every nook and cranny of the room's large wooden ceiling beams. Fresh flowers overflowed the white-clothed tables, with Grace's favorite flowers, lilacs, enveloping the room with spring's sweet smell. Grace could not have been more surprised if Tinkerbell herself flew down and landed on her shoulder.

“Do you like it?” Annie came bounding up with her green chiffon dress flowing over her black combat boots. Andrew followed close behind seemingly tied to the long, green satin sash streaming from Annie's waist. In his tuxedo, he looked like an overgrown emperor penguin.

“Annie, it's beautiful! I love it,” said Grace. “When did you do all this?”

“Off and on today. I had tons of help. Pretty much everyone here helped out with your party in one way or another,” Annie said, pointing to the other party attendees scattered around the room.

Grace looked around at the packed restaurant and her stomach turned when she realized how many people had showed up for her party. Julian was in the back directing the wait staff and wearing a black waistcoat and bowtie that Grace assumed to be some sort of British fashion thing. Lady Covington, with her triple-strand pearl necklace and more sequins than a woman that size should be allowed to wear, was sitting with Old Man Hillary and some of the other senior club members who routinely remembered Grace's name. Pete, the tennis pro, was at another table and, noting the large size of his entourage, Grace wondered how many favors he had promised Annie to get them all here tonight. Even Will Crenshaw was sitting with his girlfriend and crutches at a far corner table.

“Okay. Here is the plan,” said Annie moving into cruise director mode. “You go mingle while I go help Julian the jackass get your cake ready. Then we can sing, you blow out your candles, you and Gregory dance the first dance, and then we party the rest of the night. Got it? Good.” And with that, Annie rushed back to Julian who, by the look on Annie's face, was not doing whatever he was doing the way Annie wanted it done.