Saving Gracie (18 page)

Her school, which she’d built from nothing.

And Jake, for whom she’d let down her guard.

She’d been so wrong to waste her time on both. She didn’t have anything to show for either effort. Until this minute, Gracie had believed with all her heart in faith and hard work.

God answered all her recent prayers with a clear “no.” That broke her heart more than anything.

She’d been so wrong about it all.

Gracie reached out for a nearby wall to steady herself. She leaned back, wanting to take a few moments to compose herself. Instead, her knees buckled and she slowly slid down the length of the cold green stone.

She reached the floor and pulled up her knees, then rested her head, too exhausted by the battle to fight anymore.

* * *

The nurse’s shoes squeaked on the linoleum outside the door to the room in the ICU. Jake hadn’t left Nana’s side since arriving at the hospital more than twenty-four hours ago. He needed a shower and a shave.

More than that, he needed to apologize for his words the other night. He couldn’t bear the thought that those might be the last words he ever got to say to Nana.

Jake squirmed a little in the chair. Whoever bought furniture for Provident Medical Center clearly put cost before comfort. The thin cushions were covered in a burnt-orange vinyl that squeaked when anyone sat down. He rolled his shoulders back and around once, twice, three times. Anything to get comfortable.

Jenna touched Jake’s shoulder, shaking him from his thoughts.

“Jake, we have to talk.” Her usually sparkly voice sounded flat.

“I know, Jenna. The doctor said we may have to make some decisions soon. I’ve just been hoping it wouldn’t come to that. Do you think we’re there?”

She nodded. “We may be close. And before we get there, we have to decide what to do with the foundation.”

The Peoples Family Foundation easily rated as the last thing on Jake’s mind. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I turned in my resignation after I found out I was expecting. My last day is next Friday. With my history of hypoglycemia, Gloria felt that it would be best if I eliminated as much stress from my life as possible for the next few months. And Mitch and I have always wanted me to be a stay-at-home mom.”

Between the revelations about her brother and Nana’s stay in the ICU, Jake knew that the past few days had been anything but stress-free. “Okay. I understand.”

“But even if Nana...comes back to us...she can’t keep up with the demands of the foundation and being on the board at the company.” Jake could hear Jenna forcing words around the lump in her throat. He recognized the sound because he’d been battling the same stone hardness ever since he got that fateful phone call.

“You’re right, Jenna.” Jake nodded in agreement. “But I’m starving and I can’t think straight. Let me run down to the cafeteria and get a candy bar or something and I’ll come back and we can talk it through. Do you want anything?”

“No. I’m fine for now. All I want is for things to be the way they used to be.” She turned her gaze back to Nana and her soft words got lost in the steady beeping of the machines monitoring Diana Peoples’s vital signs.

“I know.” He blew a kiss to his sleeping grandmother on the narrow hospital bed. “Be right back.”

He couldn’t look at Nana under the blanket of wires and tubes for long. It reminded Jake that the doctors considered her prognosis touch and go.

Even the strongest of hearts could wear out.

Jake walked down the long, fluorescent-illuminated hallway, alone with his thoughts. What would become of him without Nana—especially now that the secret about his heritage had come out? How would he rebuild his life without the foundation on which he’d always relied? He didn’t see how he could help Jenna with the burdens on her shoulders now that it was revealed that he was a Peoples in name only.

As he rounded the corner to the cafeteria, his train of thought drifted, and Gracie came to his mind. The image seemed so clear—almost as if she was standing in front of him.

“Jake?” The voice cut into his thoughts. “You need to get out of here before she sees you.”

“What?” He did a double take. Gloria Garcia Rodriguez blocked his path to the vending machine.

She narrowed her eyes and gritted her jaw. “Gracie. After what you did to her...” She paused, then launched in again. “You need to leave.”

“Gloria, I don’t understand.” He looked over Gloria’s petite frame and saw Gracie near the soda fountain. “What are you doing here?”

“I work next door, remember? One of my clients had complications in labor and had to be admitted here. I’m bringing lunch to the family. Gracie’s with me. She needed a shoulder to cry on today.” Gloria looked him up, then down. The searing anger in her gaze locked on Jake like a missile that had found its target. “No thanks to you.”

What?

Gloria kept talking in blame-filled riddles. Clearly he wasn’t going to get answers from her. He needed to make his way to Gracie and ask her personally.

If he could get her pit bull of a sister to let him through. She dogged each step he tried to take. “Let me pass, Gloria.”

“No.” One determined syllable said it all.

Only one tactic remained for him to try.

“Gracie!” At his shout, every cafeteria patron’s head snapped around and stared straight at him. He took a quick step and edged past Gloria.

As he neared, Gracie put her hand out. He could see a sheen of tears across her chocolate-brown eyes, clouding them. “No, Jake,” she said softly.

“You’ve got to tell me what’s wrong. Why is Gloria giving me the evil eye?”

Gracie looked down at the floor, then up at Jake. She stuck a fingernail in her mouth and bit down before speaking softly through clenched teeth.

“Because you lied to me.”

“I did what?” Jake began to doubt his ears. First, he couldn’t believe his entire family hid the truth of his parentage from him his whole life. Then, he couldn’t believe Nana’s life was in jeopardy. And now, he couldn’t believe Gracie thought he’d been untruthful with her.

“I trusted you, Jake. You let me down. I’ve never really believed anyone when they said they wanted to be with me. I trusted you. You said you called Carter Porter and that I could keep my school.” Tears squeezed out of her eyes, but she continued. “But you stood me up yesterday, just like every other man from your side of town has. You’ve figured out I’m not good enough for you. Then today that ordinance you said you’d stopped passed. Did you even really make that phone call? How could Carter Porter ask for a vote on your special proposal if you told him not to? Your actions closed
El Centro.
Everything was clearly a lie.”

It all sounded like the teacher from the Charlie Brown specials, spoken with a bitter Spanish accent. None of her words made any sense. “You’re not good enough for me? What do you mean, Gracie?”

“Come on, Jake. You and your family can’t afford any more scandal this week. Why else would you be afraid to be seen on the wrong side of the tracks with the wrong girl or to actually go to bat for her school?”

“Gracie, that’s nonsense.” The whole room could hear them arguing—some of them Nana’s friends—but Jake didn’t care. He needed to make this right. But how? He didn’t understand, much less know where to start.

“No, it’s not.” She turned her face away. “I can’t...I can’t talk to you any more.”

She clapped her hand over her mouth and dropped her head, then turned and quickly made her way through the maze of tables. Jake started to follow her, but Gracie’s chief protector intercepted him.

“Leave her alone,” Gloria said in a tone that left no room for discussion. “You’ve done enough damage. She’s been calling and calling for two days. Why won’t you answer your phone?”

“I haven’t gotten any calls.” Jake reached in his pocket to prove his point, but it was empty. His stomach grew queasy. “Oh, no. I bet it’s still in my car. I’ve been at the ICU with Nana since I left Gracie’s house Saturday night. Nana had a heart attack. My whole world has been a haze of surgeries and consent forms and standing vigil with my sister.”

Gloria gave him a wary look.

“Look at this chin if you don’t believe me.” Jake pulled his hand across two days’ worth of stubble. “I haven’t had a shower in forty-eight hours. I haven’t been home. I haven’t left Nana’s room. These are the same clothes I was wearing when I left Gracie’s house Saturday night. I don’t know what she’s talking about. Gloria, you have to help me.”

A chime rang from the pocket on Gloria’s scrubs. She pulled out her cell phone and looked at the screen. “I have a mother in early labor at the clinic. It looks like she needs me.”

“But I need Gracie.”

Gloria started to take a step and then stopped. “When you stood her up for church yesterday, I told her that I figured your family didn’t want any more scandals this week and you didn’t want to be seen with a girl from the wrong side of the tracks.”

Jake shook his head. Gloria kept talking.

“Your friend on the City Council got the resolution passed. Gracie has to close her school. She’s probably gone home to pack.” She punched a button on the phone in her hand. “It’s funny. People always look to money to solve problems. Your family has all the money in the world, but it doesn’t seem to help. In our family, we never had money. We just had faith. Now Gracie thinks that’s deserted her, too.”

She slipped away quietly, leaving Jake by himself in the middle of the crowded cafeteria.

He heard footsteps behind him and hoped to see Gracie, returning to listen, to let him explain the misunderstanding. When he turned around, he saw his brother-in-law, Mitch.

“Jake, Jenna said I’d find you here. Nana’s awake and she’s asking for you.”

Chapter Eleven

J
ake knew he needed to focus on Nana. But his concentration kept slipping. He felt divided. Jenna and Mitch left the room to catch some fresh air, leaving Jake and Nana alone, except for the constant company of the bank of monitors over the bed.

“We need to talk, Jakey.” Nana’s voice scratched like dry twigs in winter.

He patted her hand, thankful to hear her voice in any fashion again. “About what?”

She took a long, deep breath. “Everything that’s happened. We need to finish our conversation on why I’ve stayed silent all these years.”

Jake’s eyes widened. Forty-eight hours in ICU, unconscious, and her relationship with her not-quite-grandson was the first thing on her mind? “But you knew from the beginning.”

“Of course I did, dear boy.” Her squeeze felt like the flutter of butterfly wings. “But it didn’t matter to me. I’ve loved you since the moment you were born, just two floors above where we are now. I knew your mother was a flirt and a social climber. She and your father were alike in that way. It always pained me that your father acted that way, as if his name and his money made him special. Your grandfather thought we needed to send him to that fancy boarding school in the Northeast. I still wonder if I’d fought harder and kept him home, would he have turned out differently?”

Jake couldn’t remember his grandmother speaking so frankly before. “You’re not usually the type to talk about regrets, Nana.”

“Well, Jakey, I’m not the type to think about dying, either, but you do a lot of that when you find out you’ve had a serious heart attack and you’re lucky to be lying in a hospital bed.” The corners of her mouth turned up, warming her whole face. “I knew the secret about you, but I’d forgotten about the bylaws. I wouldn’t have ever set you up in that manner. I hope you know that.”

A lump formed in Jake’s throat. Nana’s inherent nature was too good to concoct such a scheme, but he couldn’t find the words to let her know he forgave her completely. Another pat on the hand would have to suffice.

“I’ll never regret having a reason to bring you home, Jakey. This year’s been rough for you, losing your father and your law practice. I wanted to make your road a little easier. I didn’t plan on things going this way. But I’m not a quitter, and blood relative or not, I helped raise you and I know you have my fighting spirit. This isn’t the end for you with the Peoples family or Port Provident.”

Jake let go of Nana’s hand and walked to the window. He stared blankly at the street below. “But I don’t see how to overcome this one, Nana. And now I’ve lost Gracie, too.”

“Gracie? Who is that?” Nana’s voice began to sound a little more animated.

He sat heavily in the orange vinyl chair. “Gracie Garcia. She runs a school teaching English as a Second Language and other skills to immigrants in the community. Her school sits where the pool was slated to go for the condo project. I knew I’d need a knockout punch to prove to the board I could do the CEO’s job, so to ensure I could easily end the lease on that property and tear it down, I got Carter Porter to propose an ordinance at the City Council for Maximized Revenue Zones that would eliminate nonprofit businesses along Gulfview Boulevard.”

Diana pressed a button and made the top of the bed sit up. “Jake, that sounds like a scheme your father would cook up.”

“I know, Nana. I wanted to show the board I wasn’t as bad a businessman as he said I was. But once I got to know Gracie, I saw her school filled a real need here and I learned she didn’t have the funds to relocate. So Friday night, I called Carter and told him to pull the plug on the vote. But he didn’t and the proposal passed anyway. Her school will have to close. Her American dream is dead, and it’s all my fault. I’ve lost my own business and I’ve killed Gracie’s, too.”

The first signs of color in days flushed over Nana’s pale cheeks. “Jakey, Jenna and I talked briefly before you got back here from the cafeteria. It’s about time I settle down and make some changes in my life. Maybe God’s telling me retirement isn’t the dirty word I always thought it would be.” A full smile spread across her dry lips. “I need you to run an errand for me.”

* * *

Gracie sat in the middle of her classroom. She didn’t know if she would ever smile again. Her heart had fallen somewhere around her ankles at the sound of the mayor’s gavel earlier. The three distinct thuds echoed constantly in her ears.

A knock at the door made Gracie jump. It sounded just like that stupid gavel.

She peeked through the window instead of opening the door. Gracie didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. She felt far too much self-pity to be good company.

Pastor Ruiz stood on the front porch. She couldn’t be rude and pretend not to be home. He’d always treated her like a daughter.

“
Holá,
Gracie,” he said as she pulled the door open. “Gloria called. She said you might need a sympathetic ear today.”

She closed the door behind him. “I don’t feel much like talking right now, Pastor.”

“I understand. Maybe I could do the talking, then.” He sat down on one of the chairs in the classroom.

Gracie pulled out a chair nearby and slumped into it. “I don’t think there’s anything you could say that would make my heart stop hurting, Pastor Ruiz.”

“Do you remember the story of Jeremiah?”

She nodded. “He’s a prophet from the Old Testament, right?”

“Exactly. And much like what’s happened to you now, Jeremiah didn’t like the situation he found himself in. One day, God had him write a letter to the other exiles like him. In it, God reminded the people that even though they weren’t living in their lands, He still had a plan for their lives.”

Gracie straightened in her chair. “What are you trying to say?”

“Well, Gracie, God has brought you to this place, a long way from your homeland. You’re here for a purpose.” The pastor leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees. “I don’t know what God has in store for you, but He hasn’t forgotten you, and the work you’ve been doing is not in vain.”

Slowly, she could feel her heart begin to inch back to its rightful place. “But what about Jake, Pastor? I trusted him. I’ve prayed about him, and this wasn’t the way I thought it was supposed to work out.”

“Trusting others isn’t a bad thing, Graciela. But above all, you have to trust in God. Even when His timing is not our own.”

Gracie knew Pastor Ruiz spoke the truth. “Easier said than done.”

“Most of the important things in life are,
hija.
” He reached out and gave her a reassuring pat on the knee. “I have some boxes in the church office. I’ll go get them and then come back to help you start packing.”

“Thanks, Pastor. I appreciate your stopping by.”

They both rose and walked back to the door.

“Anytime. I’ll be back in an hour or so.” He opened the door and left Gracie standing in the front hallway, alone again with her thoughts.

Suddenly, Gracie felt very small. She’d been raised to have faith. But in the toughest afternoon of her life, she’d forgotten all about it. How could she rebuild on a foundation that proved to be so easily shaken?

Maybe some hot tea and quiet time with her Bible would do the trick. She began to walk down the hallway to the kitchen. An insistent knock on the door stopped her in her tracks.

“Gracie!”

She knew that voice. It haunted her thoughts.

Jake’s fist connected with the door again. “Gracie, please open the door. Your car is parked out front. I know you’re here.”

Every fiber of her body wanted to stay put. But Gracie knew she couldn’t hide. Not from Jake or from whatever lay ahead in her now-uncertain path.

She retraced her steps back to the door, then slowly turned the doorknob.

He looked as disheveled as he had at the hospital. His shirttail wasn’t tucked in and his khaki shorts—the same ones he’d worn Saturday on the boat—were wrinkled almost beyond recognition. A dark stain marred the hemline on the right leg.

She clearly wasn’t the only one who had been dealt a one-two punch recently.

“Gracie. I have something for you.” He stood on the porch, not pushing to come inside.

“I think you’ve given me enough, Jake.” She didn’t mean to be harsh. The words just came out of her mouth before she could think them through.

He held up a goldenrod-colored envelope, the size of a sheet of paper. “Take this. It’s yours.”

“But I didn’t leave anything behind on Saturday.” She took the envelope and held it gingerly, as though it would scorch what little she had left to her name.

“It’s not from Saturday.” His green eyes focused on her with the intensity of a bear trap. “Please open it.”

A slight tremble ruffled her fingers as she tore the flap of the envelope. Inside rested two pieces of paper. One, a sheet from a yellow legal pad, the other a blue rectangle.

Gracie pulled out the yellow page first. A short paragraph was shakily handwritten in black ink. Gracie’s voice faltered as she read aloud.

Dear Ms. Garcia,

It gives me great pleasure to award you a grant from the Peoples Family Foundation in the amount of $25,000. It is the foundation’s hope that you will be able to continue your work educating the citizens of Port Provident in a new location and to begin your GED program. The foundation’s new director, Jake Peoples, will be able to assist you should you have any further needs beyond this initial grant.

Sincerely yours,

Diana Powell Peoples

Digging back in the envelope, Gracie found the blue rectangle. As the letter said, it was a check written in the sum of $25,000—$10,000 more than the grant she’d hoped to receive but hadn’t.

Gracie tried to get a tight grip on her feelings, even as they began to take flight. She felt as if she were grasping at dangling strings from balloons rising on the breeze. “What is this?”

“I had a heart-to-heart with Nana about what’s happened the past few days—if you’ll pardon the pun, considering why Nana’s been in the hospital. The subject of you and me and
El Centro
came up. She reminded me that she and Jenna happen to be in charge of a foundation that makes charitable grants to worthy causes in the Port Provident community. But with Jenna about to start a family and Nana recovering from her heart attack, there’s a position open at the Peoples Family Foundation—and there’s no board of directors and DNA isn’t a job requirement.” Jake cracked a smile. “She also asked that I apologize for the informal letter, but the nurses wouldn’t let me bring her laptop into the ICU.”

She scanned the letter again, still unable to believe she held a grant check in her hands. “So you have a new job here in Port Provident after all?”

“One where I can work with people and help them achieve their dreams—just as you and I talked about on the boat. Just as my great-grandfather did after the 1910 hurricane.”

Gracie leaned against the doorframe for support, overwhelmed. “Pastor Ruiz was right. God does have a plan, even when we can’t see it. I don’t know how to thank you—or Him.”

“I have that praise and worship CD you accidentally left in my truck Wednesday night after church. He might like it if we drove down to the beach and sang along. We both have things to show our thanks for.”

Gracie liked the sound of Jake’s plan. Gratitude continued to wash over her with the repetitive force of one cresting wave after another.

“As for me,” Jake said, taking one measured step in Gracie’s direction, “I’d settle for a kiss. I want to know everything’s okay between the two of us. We had a misunderstanding the past few days, but I had to tell you...I love you. I’m not some shallow, narrow-minded guy from your past. I want to be with you. Forever. Please don’t ever question that.”

Acting on pure emotion, Gracie leaped forward and threw her arms around Jake’s neck. Together, she knew they could weather any storm life threw in their direction.

“Teacher?” Jake brought his head low to Gracie’s ear.

“Yes?”

“How do you say
I love you
in Spanish? I seem to have forgotten.” His breath stirred her hair.

“Te amo,”
she whispered.

“
Te amo,
Graciela Garcia de Piedra. Remember that,
maestra.
There’ll be a quiz later.”