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The threat Tommy posed just by existing on the outside was going to kill her.
Maybe he did give up. Maybe Hamlet managed to beat all of his attempts to get to her. It was a pleasant fantasy, and one she liked to think she believed, but her reaction at the applause was a wake-up call. Grace might manage to tuck her fears away, hiding them deep down beneath her skin, but she still expected Tommy to show up.
Not now, though. Not today.
Today, she had to deal with Natalie. And it might not be as terrible as if she looked behind her to find Tommy standing there. Then again, considering how Natalie treated her the last time they met, it wasn’t as much of an improvement. At least Tommy was convinced that he loved her in his own twisted way.
There was no love lost between Grace and Natalie.
She shrugged, trying to slough off the anxiousness and fear that settled over her shoulders like an old familiar coat. “It’s easy. After I stretch and warm up, the blood starts pumping. You heat up fast. I barely notice the chill in the air.”
The chill from the weather, at least. The chill from the blonde deputy’s unexpected appearance? Once she calmed down enough, once she understood that it was Natalie intruding on her instead of anyone else, Grace definitely felt that.
She smiled. It was phony as hell. She didn’t care. “Something I can help you with, Deputy?”
There was something in the way Natalie smiled in return. If it were anyone else, Grace might’ve thought it was earnest. Sincere.
Yeah. Okay.
Natalie wanted something, and she wanted it specifically from Grace. There had to be a reason why she searched her out when no one else was around. No Maria. No Rick. It was only Grace. The applause was on purpose. Natalie wanted her attention.
She had it now. Quite as obviously, the younger woman had no idea what to do with it.
Fiddling with the fringe on her scarf, she couldn’t bring herself to meet Grace’s stare. “Uh, yeah. I… Look, I’ve been meaning to stop in and talk to you. Actually, I came by the other day and Maria said you weren’t in. Didn’t want to bother you at Rick’s, so I dropped in when I had some free time. I heard the music—you dance beautifully, by the way.”
“Thanks.”
“Anyway, I heard the music coming from behind Ophelia and figured it might be you. I… I wanted to apologize. The last time we met? I was way out of line.”
That was true, even if Grace never, ever thought that Natalie would admit it.
She needed a second to think about that. Without a word, she walked toward the stool she dragged out to Ophelia’s backyard. Her phone was tossed on top of it, plus her water bottle and a clean towel. She plopped her headphones next to her phone, snatching the towel.
Grace wiped the sweat off her brow, then swiped the towel behind her to get the moisture collecting on her neck. Her heart was still racing. She wanted to think it was because she hadn’t had the chance to run through her normal cool-down routine yet. And then she ran Natalie’s apology through her head again and felt her fist clench around the towel, bunching the material between her fingers.
Finally, she had to say, “Did he put you up to this?”
It wasn’t quite an accusation; it was more curiosity mixed with utter resignation. If Rick thought he had to resort to this in order to smooth things over between her and Natalie, they would never have any sort of future together. She came to Hamlet because she wanted to stand up for herself. She took self-defense lessons from Rick because she wanted to protect herself. Prove herself.
“What? No. Oh, god, no. Ricky’s got no clue. If anything, he’d want me to stay far away from you. I’m risking his temper by coming here.”
“Really? Why’s that?” Grace tried to keep her voice carefully neutral. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but are you saying that he thinks I need protection from you?”
Natalie threw her hands up in front of her, palms out, a small smile tugging on her lips. When she wasn’t scowling or looking down her nose, the younger girl really was quite pretty. “Jesus. To be honest, it’s probably the exact opposite. I’ve heard about how you can knock Ricky on his ass when you two are sparring—whole town has. If you could do that to him, I’d hate to think what you could do to me.”
“Mmm.” Grace made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat as she tucked her towel under her arm and grabbed her water bottle. She took a much needed swig.
Okay. That was true, too. After six weeks of lessons, not to mention a lifetime of rigorous training for the ballet, even Grace knew it wouldn’t be a fair fight. She was taller than Natalie, a good seven years older, and she got what Rick meant when he said that you could fight fair, or you could fight to win.
She would always fight to win. Whether she was defending her life or her chance at happiness with Rick Hart, Grace wasn’t about to back down. She wasn’t above a bit of hair pulling, either. And Natalie’s long, blond hair would be so damn easy to grab and yank. Add a leg sweep and an elbow to her throat and she’d have Natalie down in a jiffy—
No. No. The deputy had come all the way down to Ophelia to apologize. Okay. For the sake of peace in Hamlet, she’d give Natalie the benefit of the doubt.
And if she tried any of that catty nonsense again? Grace would show her exactly why she now wore her hair in a bun while she trained with Rick.
Gathering up her phone, her towel, and her water bottle, she jerked her chin toward Natalie, gesturing at the way she came. “Let’s go around front. We can talk there.”
Just as Grace led Natalie around the corner, heading for the walkway that snaked up toward Ophelia’s porch, the soft hum of a motor broke up the awkward silence that hung between them.
