A strange look came over Noah’s face and Grace’s pulse sped up. “What?”
His silence made her skin itch. “Noah?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, leaned against her door. “She’s not coming.”
Grace’s words got trapped in her throat. In the end, she could utter only a garbled “What?”
“Grace, you’re everything to me.”
“What did you do?” The whispered words hovered between them.
“I saw her leaving.”
Grace backed away, shaking her head. “What did you do?”
He stepped forward, placing his hands on her shoulders. “We’re in this together.”
“No!” she shouted. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes to breathe it out, then met his gaze again. “We’re not inthistogether. This is my problem. Tell me you didn’t do anything.”
“I gave her a check. Told her not to come back and threatened a bunch of stuff I’m not entirely sure I can follow through on but I think it scared her enough to work.”
Grace pulled out of his hold. “You didn’t.”
“Come on, Grace. I couldn’t stand by and watch her rip you apart. I’ve dealt with people like her my whole life.”
“So have I, Noah. She’s my mother.”
“She’s a vulture.”
She nodded, her gaze widening. “Yeah. OneIwas prepared to deal with. You had no right.”
He stalked forward. “No right? Correct me if I’m wrong but we’re a team. We’re building something together. Something we both want to last. You think I’m going to let her treat you like that? Scam you out of money? Walk all over you and hurt you?”
She leaned into his frustration. “We are a team but that means you have to trust me like I trusted you to deal with your father. You’re supposed to support me not do it for me. I’m not helpless.” The last few words vibrated with anger.
“This is what you do when you love someone, Grace.” He folded his arms across his chest, and it made her madder.
“No. When you love someone, you listen to them. Youhearthem when they say they’ll take care of it and trust them to do that. You’re there to comfort them if it all goes to hell. What you did is control the situation without my input. I’ve had too much of that in my life already.”
His lips parted, and even though it hurt every molecule in her body, she walked to the door and opened it. “I need time.”
Noah walked to her, ran his hand down her hair, nearly breaking her resolve. “Gracie.” His whisper was tortured. “Don’t do this to us. I only wanted to help. I wanted to protect you. What can I do?”
She met his gaze evenly despite the tremor rippling through her body. “Cancel your check.”
He left, and Grace felt like she’d shut the door on more than him. She rested her forehead against the cool wood, wishing it could absorb the hurt and anger coursing through her blood. It felt like part of her, and she wanted it gone. She had no idea how to achieve that. After a few deep breaths, she lifted her head, but only to turn and sink down to the floor, the door at her back.
She stared into the foyer, her heart feeling empty. The first tear fell as she realized she’d been on her own most of her life but until this moment, she’d never felt so alone.
45
Noah paced Chris and Everly’s small living room like a trapped animal. He’d been there for over an hour after driving around aimlessly, ignoring all of his calls and texts because none of them were from Grace.
“You’re making me dizzy,” Chris said, flicking through channels on the TV. Everly had very reluctantly gone shopping with Stacey. She’d been on her way out when Noah showed up unannounced.
“Sorry my misery is irritating you.”
He thought of how mad he’d been when he came back from New York. How much anger he’d felt toward his dad and how Grace pulled him out of it. Now when the devastation felt like it might suffocate him, he couldn’t turn to the one person who would make it better.
