Page 13 of Two Hearts
“What kids?”Then Grace’s brows went up.“You mean, those girls from the gym?How the hell do you know about them, Hope?”
Hope looked guilty.“One of them called for you yesterday while you were out.And we…talked.”
Grace got to her feet, taking a pillow with her and flinging it to the floor.“How did those kids get this number?Good grief, what if Mom had answered the phone?”
Charlie picked up the pillow, plumped it and settled it back on the bed.“You need to stop being so afraid of what your mother might think, Grace.You gotta be honest.Those girls were starting to depend on you.”
“I didn’t ask for that,” Grace said, battling a surge of guilt.“I was just trying to be nice, giving them some pointers when they showed up at the gym.”
“Yeah, and then they started showing up three times a week, same as you, just like clockwork.And you started ‘giving them pointers’ for an hour before you went about your business every single time.”
“So?”
“So, you were coaching them, Grace.Maybe it wasn’t official, and maybe you were never asked, but that’s what you were doing.And you know it, and I know it.”
Lowering her head, Grace closed her eyes.“Maybe…I can keep going down there a couple of times a week…for the girls.”
Hope smiled.“You should, Grace.I don’t think those kids have much else to look forward to.”
“Yeah, and I think you were enjoying it as much as they were,” Charlie put in.
Grace nodded.“Yeah, I guess I was.Besides, Jack doesn’t have to know about it.”
Hope looked at Charlie and rolled her eyes.
“Stop it,” Grace said.“You guys just aren’t getting it, are you?I love this man.Ilove him.”
“So you love him!So what?Does that mean you have to lie to him?”Charlie demanded.
“I am not lying to him!”
“You are so!”Charlie snapped.
“Grace, she’s right,” Hope whispered, putting her soft, perfectly manicured hand over Grace’s.“You can’t start out married life pretending to be something you’re not.”
“That’s just it.I’m not pretending.I’m…I’m changing.”Grace paced the room slowly, turned and paced back.“I can be the kind of woman Jack thinks I am.The kind he fell in love with.I know I can.And it’ll be fine.I promise you guys, it’ll be just fine.”
Charlie sighed, lowering her head and shaking it slowly.“Where did I go wrong?”she muttered.
“I blame myself,” Hope said.
“Knock it off, you two.We’ve got tons more to do than discuss my retirement from sports, at the moment.I’m getting married in two weeks.”
Hope sighed, ignoring her sister’s attempt to change the subject.“He’d love you, anyway, you know.That’s what you’re afraid of, isn’t it?That he wouldn’t?”
Grace stared at her sister for a long moment, struck by how hard she’d hit the mark.Their mother’s love had always been conditional.Be what she wanted, act the way she wanted, do what she expected, and you would be showered in her love.Yet always, always, both girls had kept parts of themselves hidden away, secret, out of fear they would lose that love if they revealed themselves to be less than the image their mother demanded.Grace had led a double life, and she sensed Hope, too, was hiding more than anyone knew.
But understanding why she felt the way she did certainly did nothing to change the feeling or make it go away.Jack had fallen in love with the belle of the ball that night.With the elegance and grace she’d had to practice for hours to pull off with any degree of success.He was always telling her how sweet she was, how delicate and pure.Those were the qualities he loved in her.And she loved him so much…he was the only man she’d ever felt this way about.
No.She couldn’t risk everything, not now.
She wouldn’t.
Two weeks later she stood near the swan pond on the grounds of her parents’ home and vowed to love, honor and respect the man who’d stolen her heart.And he promised to do the same in return.When he kissed her, her heart melted and her blood warmed.
And it was all pretty much downhill from there.
CHAPTER 5
