Chapter 19
1711 Words
Steven pov
It’s been a week since Grace left. Today I decided to not go to work. Yesterday I learned that she gets engaged with Patrick Jonshon son of one of the richest men in the country. I don’t understand we were together for over a year and in one week she decided to get married to another man. I read her letter over and over again. She says that everything we live in is true. Her feelings for me are true, she has given me her heart but she is married to another guy. Why? Why Grace you didn’t talk to me? I put in another glass of whiskey. The bottle is empty now. It’s almost lunchtime, I will be driving to the hospital now to see her and eat together. I make a little laugh
“And we will have one of our quickies too” I whisper and I smile.
“I love our quickies” I remember her saying to me.
“I love you. I will do everything to be ok and safe. I want you to know that. You are my everything” I remember she says that to be the last day before she left.
So that’s it. She does it to protect me. From who? I go to take a shower and I drink a coffee to converge. I drive to Sally’s and I see Janet.
“You don’t look well. I will bring you something to eat” she says
“I want to ask you something”
“I will get you something to eat and then you can ask me” She smiles and I sit down at the table. She comes after a while
“There you go,” she says and she sits opposite of me
“I remembered something that Grace has told me”
“What?”
“I love you. I will do everything to be ok and safe. I want you to know that. You are my everything” I look at her and she thinks about it
“She wants to protect me from something. Who can harm me and Grace has to leave?”
“Only one comes to my mind”
“Who?”
“Steven if Grace didn’t tell you I...”
“Please, Janet. I ready to lose my mind” she sighs
“I knew he would not stay without doing something”
“Janet please”
“You already know who is her father” I nod
“Mr. MacLean doesn’t leave anything. Grace is an object for him to make more money”
“What father does that?”
“A lot of rich people,” she says
“I lived with this family for almost thirty-five years. I was a teen when my mother started to work for them and then I continued. Mr. MacLean and a lot of his friends think like that” She takes a deep breath
“Before Grace moved here her father decided to marry her to Patrick. The two companies will unite and they will be happy. Grace left and came here but I guess her father doesn’t leave her. Until the day I left too I knew that he had people to watch her. He never left her” She sighs and continue
“I guess when they informed him that she lives with you he couldn’t wait anymore”
“He came to take her back,” I say and she nods
“The daughter of MacLean will never allow being with a simple sheriff. I’m sure that he said to her”
“But why did she go with him?”
“Steven you don’t know MacLean. He has connections everywhere” She lifted her hands
“That’s it,” she says realizing something
“What?”
“He threatened her”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m sure that he threatened her with you, your family. She doesn’t want to get hurt, you and your family”
“That’s what you want to say is that she is going to marry the guy...”
“Because she wants you and your family to be safe and alive of course.”
“I will never blame her if she talks to me”
“You say that now. When you lose your job, or an “accident” happens to your parents you will still be with her?”
“He will do something like that?” She nods
“She doesn't want to hate her. Even she risked to hate her now. She prefers you have your family with you” she says and I think the letter
“Please don’t hate me,” I say and Janet looks at me
“She wrote that to the letter that she left me,” I say and she smiles
“Please don’t. God that's why she didn’t say anything. I never will be letting her go. That’s why. But she is right” I frown
“You can't fight MacLean Steven. He is powerful”
“At least she could talk to me.”
“You will let her go?” She asks
“No”
“You answer the question of why she didn’t say it” My phone rang and I saw it Lisa
“Hey Lisa”
“Hi, Steven. How are you?”
“You know the answer,” I say and I sigh
“I know. Arthur misses her too. He wants to see you”
“Ok. I’m at Sally’s. When I’m finished here I will come there” We hung up and I talked with Janet for a while. She made me eat all the food and I left to see Arthur. I arrived at their house and I went to his room
“Hey buddy”
“Hi Dad,” he says and stands up from the bed to hug me. We sit on the floor and we start to play. That’s good he helps me to not think of Grace
“Are you ok Daddy?”
“Yes. I’m good” I lied
“That’s good. I promise Grace to take care of you. I don’t want to break my promise”
“Your promise?” I ask and he plays with his car
“She came here and played. She asks a favor. If she is away and she is not with you” he says but he stops and he has a sad face
“Yes?”
“She asks me to take care of you” She makes sure that I will have people to take care of me. She thought everything
“She said anything else?”
“Something that I didn’t understand much”
“What is that?”
“She says to be a good boy for all of you because whatever I choose to do with my life you will support me” My baby is so hurt about her parents
“You know what that means?”
“What?”
“That if you want to be a doctor, teacher ever an astronaut,” I say and he giggles
“We will be here for you. Everything you choose. Even if you decide not to study we will be here for you” he looks down
“Even Grace?”
“Yeah even she will be proud of you,” I say and I hug him
“I miss her,” he says
“I miss her too buddy. But she left because she loves us so much. You should know that. I don’t like that she left but she didn’t have any other choice.”
“She will come back?”
“I hope so buddy. I do. I don’t like my life without her” I say and we continue to play. After a few hours, I went back home. My parents waiting for me outside
“Hi guys”
“Son. Are you ok?” My mother asks and she hugs me
“You know I’m not mom. So drop it” I say and I open the door. We sat in the living room and my mother went to the kitchen to make coffee.
“We read about her engagement,” my father says and I look at him
“Why did she come all the way here? Start something with you and she leaves?”
“She wasn’t planned like that,” I say
“What do you mean? They say that the engagement was on for years. She came here to play with you and then what?”
“Dad please the things are not like that”
“I know that you don’t want to hear it but she fools us all”
“Dad you don’t know” I yell at him. Is the first time I raised a voice to my father but I don’t accept anyone talking like that for my Grace especially now that I know why she left.
“Steven please your father try to....”
“You don’t know anything about her and why she left. So talk about her like that again and I’m out of your life” I say and they sit down. We didn’t talk much after they left. My dad looks at me like he doesn’t know me. He will know soon. Kayla called me after a few hours to tell me the same as Janet said to me. Grace talked to Kayla and she was supposed to call me, to tell the truth, but she hasn’t called yet. She hasn’t called Kayla too and that makes her worry. At least she told me that that guy Patrick doesn’t want the marriage either and they work a plan to avoid it. That’s good. I said to Kayla if she talks to Grace tell her that I’m waiting for her.
It’s late almost midnight and my phone rings. I don’t know the number but I decided to answer.
“Hello?”
“Hello. Is Steven Campbell?”
“Yes I’m Steven Campbell”
“I’m sorry for the hour. I’m Patrick Jonshon. I’m calling for Grace”
What the hell?
- Writer
