Page 34 of Two Hearts
“As per your request.”
“All right!”one of the guys yelled, and he took the boxes from her to set them on the table, while JW popped the top on a can of Budweiser and handed it to Grace.
“How’s your sister doing?”JW asked as Grace sipped from the can.
“They’re letting her come home today.She’s almost back to one hundred percent.”
“Oh, man, that’s great.”
“Wait a minute…wait a minute,” Jack said.“You guys knew she was coming?”
“Well sure.We invited her.”
“But…but…”
“Jack, shut up and listen for a minute,” JW said.He shoved Jack into a well-worn easy chair and handed him a slice of pizza.“Now, I know you never wanted your wife to see the way you used to live.And I know why, but I think you’ve been selling her way short.So I called her and asked her to come.’Cause she’s got a few things she wants to say to you.”Then he waved an arm.“Gracie?”
Smiling, Grace took another swig of the beer, set it down, and then came to take the seat beside Jack.“You love being a cop.Admit it.”
Jack shook his head.“It’s just a job, Grace.I’ll be just as happy—”
“You’re a liar.I want you doing what you love, not what you think is socially acceptable.JW and I had a long talk, Jack.I know all sorts of things about you that I didn’t know before.I know about all the commendations, and about all the war stories, and the good you’ve done.And I’m not prepared to let you give that up for me.”
“I’m not!”he protested.
“No?Listen, Jack, I know one thing for a fact.You can’t be that good at something, unless you truly love it.”
Jack’s gaze slid from Gracie to the TV set behind her.Someone had hit the pause button and the frame, frozen on the screen with wavy lines breaking it in two, was Gracie’s face, sweaty and red, hair plastered to it, smiling broadly, eyes sparkling as she walked off the court.
“You’re right,” he said finally.“No one’s that good at something unless they love it.”
“Will you guys…excuse us for a minute?”Grace asked.
JW chucked her under the chin, gave her a wink and led the other guys to the door.“I think we need pretzels, guys.Let’s go to the corner store and get some, hmm?”
When they were alone, Jack sat there and stared into his wife’s eyes.
And she said, “JW told me about your mother, Jack.”
Jack leaned back against the sofa.“Hell, Gracie…”
“Talk to me,” she begged.“Please?”
He sighed.“I was twelve,” he finally said.“She went to take a shower, and she stayed in the bathroom for…too long.I got worried.She wouldn’t answer the door.So I forced it open, and found her sitting there.Just sitting there in the shower, fully dressed, all her clothes soaking wet, with the water running down on her.She was all curled up, and staring at nothing.”He shook his head.“It scared me, Grace.”
“I know,” she said.“But I’ll tell you something, Jack.It’s not going to happen to me.”
He looked up at her, loving her with every cell in his body.“How can you be so sure?”
“Because if it starts to get to me, I’m going to tell you so.No more secrets.No more lies.I promise you that.I want you to be who you are, Jack, not who you think I want you to be.And who you are is one hell of a cop.And that’s who you should stay.”
Jack sighed.“What about your mother?Her friends?Your friends?”
“If they don’t accept the man I love, they aren’t friends at all,” she said.“And as for my mother…well, there’s a big family dinner at her house tomorrow.A welcome home celebration for Hope.And I think it would be a good time for me to learn to stand up to my mother.I love her, Jack, but her snobbishness is misguided.It has hurt me, and it has hurt you, and it’s still hurting Hope.So I’m gonna tell her the truth about you, and tell her how very proud I am to be married to you, and that’s the end of the discussion.”
“So…you’re saying…you honestly don’t want me to quit the force?”
“I’m saying I won’t let you quit the force.”
