Page 22 of Two Hearts
“No, you don’t.”Sniffling, she rested her head on his shoulder and twisted her arms around his waist.“I never told her.I’ve wasted my time being petty and jealous of her and teasing her for being all the things our mother wanted…things I thought were silly and foolish…until I met you.”
Jack’s hands stroked her hair.“You know I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, don’t you?”
Sniffling, she nodded against his shoulder.
“You never had any reason to be jealous of your sister.Never.But it doesn’t matter, because she knows you love her.You hear me?”Another nod as she burrowed closer.“But even if she has the least little doubt about it, Grace, it doesn’t matter.You can tell her when we get her back.And we will.Understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”He squeezed her one last time, and set her away from him.“Now fasten your seat belt.I’m gonna take you to your parents’, and then I’ll—”
“No!”
Jack blinked and looked at her.
“I need to be looking for my sister, and for Charlie.God, Jack, I couldn’t just sit by the phone and wait to hear.”
He tapped his palm on the steering wheel, pursed his lips.“This is filth we’re dealing with, Grace.I’m liable to be up to my elbows in it before I tug Charlie and Hope out again.This is no place for you.”
She sat back and buckled up.Then she grabbed up the light and resumed shining it on the murky swamp.Jack put the car into gear and drove slowly.
“You don’t have a clue what kind of place is for me, Jack.I’m not afraid of getting dirty.I’m not afraid of much of anything.”
“No?”
“No.”
He took a deep breath.
“Jack, if you take me home, I’ll just come after you.Wouldn’t you rather know where I was, than have me stumbling into situations the way I did tonight?”
He let his chin fall almost to his chest, then quickly brought it up again.“You’re right, dammit.”
“I know I am.”
“Grace…you’re going to see things…that might change the way you…”
“The way I what?”
His face, shadowed and lit in turns by the interior lights and the movements of the steering wheel, seemed tense and taut with concentration.“The way you feel about me.”
“It works both ways, you know.”She kept her eyes on the water, the swamp, the creatures writhing around in the mud and slime.“Now that the masks are off…I suppose I’m going to be telling you a lot of things about me that you didn’t know before.You thought you married a delicate socialite, Jack.But you’re going to know, pretty soon, just how wrong you were.And maybe I’m not the wife you had in mind at all.”
“That’s not gonna happen.”
“You can’t be sure of that.”
He lowered his head.“And I guess you can’t either, can you, Grace?”
“I guess not.”
“It’s like starting over, isn’t it?”
She glanced over her shoulder at him, nodded and attempted to smile.“Hi, there.I’m Grace Phelps.Pleasure to meet you.”
He smiled back, but it was strained.“No, hon.You’re Grace McCain.And the pleasure’s all mine.”
* * *
