Page 68 of Saving Grace

“Thanks. It’s Coach.”

She sure does like nice things.

“You like perfume, Grace?” Addy asks.

“Um, yes. I guess. I’ve never bought it for myself before, but?—”

“Great!” Ruby squeaks. “We, ah, need to grab the entrée. Give me a hand, Adds?”

Addy smiles at me and pats my hand like a child. “Be right back. You want some wine?”

“Sure, white?”

She springs from the sofa and glides into the kitchen. Now I’m sure something is amiss. They’re always sweet to me, but their overeagerness is unnerving. My gut flips. I wring my hands in the paisley fabric and stare into the hearth, racking my brain as to why everyone, except maybe Louisa, is acting odd.

A glass of wine appears in front of me, and I pluck it from Ruby’s hand. Her elegant fingers finish in baby pink nails. Her hair is wavy, her brown eyes lit up as she drops to the sofa beside me. “Okay, I can’t keep a secret to save myself, so here goes. We wanted to do something for your birthday.”

What?

The air leaves my lungs and doesn’t return. My mouth opens. Nothing comes.

Ruby raises a hand. “We realize it was a little while ago. We also know it was a big milestone birthday. And the Rawlinses are not ones to let a significant date go by without celebrating it. So this, Grace Weston, is your twenty-first birthday soiree!”

I’m literally speechless.

“You and I are going to go out back, where the boys have put together a little party. It’s not much, just us, but we all wanted to do something for you.”

I clear my throat and suck in a breath. “Well, that explains Mackinlay.”

Ruby laughs and sips her wine. “I bet it does. He’s fond of you, Grace.”

I choke on the sweet liquid in my mouth. Somewhat recovered, I mutter, “That’s one way to put it.”

“Ready when you two are,” Reed calls from the back door.

Watching Ruby’s face bloom at the sound of his voice makes my heart ache. Gosh, those two are so incredible. Ruby stands and extends a hand. “Come on, birthday girl.”

I take her hand, and we pad down the hall. Nerves spring to life, like any minute now, the entire family is going to realize they made a mistake. I’m not worth their time. Too young for their son. That I am taking their hard-earned money while I’m fooling around with Mack. I sip the drink, letting it burn my throat.

I stall, stopping in the hallway shy of the door.

“It’s okay, Grace. Only people who love you are here.”

Her brown eyes find mine, and I understand.

This kind of love is unconditional.

Chapter Eighteen

GRACE

More fairy lights and lit up faces.

Addy is snuggled into Hudson’s side.

The soft sounds of the night insects buzzing between the crackles of the flames of two firepits. One by the back door, one just shy of the weeping green of the willow.

Reed, patiently waiting for his wife as we walk across the grass to the old tree where the long family table is covered in a blue tablecloth that sways from each end of the weathered planks.

---