Page 42 of Forbidden Kisses
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Grace sat nervously beside her mother in a large, tastefully decorated waiting room. She’d been anxiously awaiting this appointment with one of the leading doctors for Parkinson’s disease ever since she’d made it last week. It was amazing that they’d gotten in so quickly.
“I thought you were going to stop worrying about me,” her mother said.
“I never agreed to that.” Grace quieted her nervous hands while pretending not to notice her mother’s trembling ones. “This doctor is one of the best. Promise me you’ll listen to him and do what he suggests.”
Her mother shook her head. “I’ll listen, but he’s not God and there is no cure for what I have. So you need to promise me you won’t go and get your hopes up too high.”
“One of us needs to have hope, Mom.”
Her mother’s eyes crinkled at the corners as she smiled. “I hope for a lot of things. You finding a man. Grandchildren. That’s plural, by the way.” She lifted a brow.
As annoyed as Grace was, she had to laugh.
“How are things going with Jack?” her mom asked.
Grace’s laughter skidded to an immediate stop. “Jack?” she asked a little too quickly.
“You’re working with him now, aren’t you?”
“Oh.” Grace let her hair spill over her cheek. Just hearing Jack’s name made her blood rush, and her mother was quick to pick up on things like that. “Well, he trained me in my job at the Sawyer Seafood Company, but he’s doing his own thing now so I don’t see him much at work.” After work was a different story.
“I see.” Her mother stared ahead at a generic painting of the ocean. There was nothing particularly interesting about the picture, so Grace guessed her mother was lost in her own thoughts. A hint of worry revealed itself in her downturned mouth.
“We’ve entered the East Coast fishing tournament. There’s a twenty-thousand-dollar prize.”
Her mother looked over. “You don’t know the first thing about fishing. And Jack isn’t a captain anymore.”
“He still knows his way around a boat.” And around a woman, she thought, hurriedly continuing past her lustful thoughts. What had gotten into her?
Jack, her mind responded. He’d gotten into her and she was loving it.
“Boating and commercial fishing are dangerous, Gracie. Why would you do that?”
Grace frowned. “You told me to fix your mistakes with the Sawyers. To make things right. That’s what I’m doing.”
“I didn’t mean to get yourself killed.” Worry had turned to alarm in her mother’s face. Her tremors intensified.
“You’re supposed to be happy about this. My cut of the prize money could buy back theBeatrice. Even you said that was a good idea.”
“I was wrong. And since when do you listen to my ideas? Buying back that old boat won’t fix anything. I never should’ve asked you to help me. My regrets are not your problem.”
Grace was about to argue that the Sawyers’ disdain for her mother was her problem. It bled over to her and her relationship with Jack.
A door opened and a nurse appeared holding a clipboard. “Tammy Donner,” she called.
They both turned to the nurse. Grace could only imagine the expressions on their faces. Anger. Confusion…Definitely not hope.
“Well, let’s get this over with.” Her mother took an exaggerated moment to stand. Grace tried to help, but her mom swatted her away. She was independent, stubborn, ungrateful…and often hard to love. Grace did love her, though. Her mom was all the family she had in the world. She wanted to take care of her, and her mother would just have to deal with it.
Chapter 11
The following week, Jack listened to his voicemail on his cellphone and smiled to himself. Word about his new business was spreading fast—this was Blushing Bay after all—and someone had called with an offer for more work. Chris would’ve insisted that this called for a night out for drinks at Castaways tonight. Jack couldn’t argue that. Too bad Chris wasn’t here to celebrate. Grace was here, though.
He headed toward the Sawyer Seafood Company to see if she was free. It’d been a couple days since he’d gotten to see her in private. Between her mother and his overbearing family, all they’d managed was a few stolen kisses. As he pulled into the parking lot, he noticed Noah’s truck parked beside her car. Disappointment swirled with aggravation. This secret was putting a damper on things. Jack wanted to be able to shout his feelings to the world—though he hadn’t even shouted how he felt to Grace yet. After their date on the boat, his feelings had only grown stronger. In the past when he’d dated someone, the opposite usually happened. Dating usually made him miss his alone time. Now, when he was alone, he missed hearing Grace’s voice, seeing her smile, touching her skin.
“Hey, man,” Noah said, coming down the steps toward him. “What brings you here?”
