GRACE

After a long, satisfying sleep- the kind I've not experienced since Ruby's breakdown- I slowly stretched my body to a sitting position, a loud yawn widening my mouth at the same time.

My eyes peeled open and they slowly compassed the room. I observed the features I didn't get to study yesterday. At the end of that tour, my gaze settled on the flower field which will always be a wonderful sight to wake up to and the urge to pee pressed me to get off the bed.

But as my feet touched the ground, I realised that there was a tiny problem.

There were two doors in the room and I have no idea which is the bathroom.

I should have followed Dominic to the shower last night. I shouldn't have let laziness lure me into staying still in bed even after sharing heated moments with Dominic.

As my eyes darted between the door that was a few metres away from the side of the bed and the one at the far end of the room, my legs took the chance and raced toward the closer door.

But opening that door caused a frown of disappointment to befall my face. The room was a little library that had a piano positioned in its middle.

Damn rich people and their musical instruments!

My legs danced as though burned by the hottest of fire and I rushed for the other door. Honestly, not being able to relieve oneself has to be one of the worst feelings in the world.

A lot of minutes passed and I had already taken a refreshing bath and gotten dressed. As I walked out of the room, I realised that Dominic was yet to show up.

I wonder where he went, I'm missing him.

A few steps more and noise from the kitchenette interrupted my thoughts.

"Dominic?" I called and I instantly pictured him standing over the cooker, dressed in an apron. That would be quite a sight and I'm sure I'll laugh for a few seconds.

"Grace, you are finally awake!" Janet's chirpy voice reached my ears as she came out of the kitchen, a teaspoon in her hand.

I was surprised to see her, but I think I was able to hide that emotion as I greeted, "Janet. Good morning."

She leaned closer and planted a kiss on my left cheek. "Morning. How did you sleep?"

"I slept well. Thank you." She hummed in response and her adoration for me didn't vanish even when she turned and headed for the kitchen. "Where is Dominic?"

"Oh." Janet came out with a tray of what I guessed was our meal. She motioned at the living room and we both approached that space. "He went to see Pops."

The tray was settled on the middle table and starting from the plates of fried egg, she proceeded to distribute the meal between us. Once that was all done, she asked me to dig in.

"Thank you for this Janet," I complimented the woman as I took a seat on the soft rug, my mouth ever ready to dig into the meal of pancakes and egg that was supported by sweet-smelling tea.

"No, thank you. I don't know how you did it, but getting the ever-stubborn Eliot to end his fight with Pops is just..." She gave a relieved sigh. "Thank you so much, Grace."

"I didn't do shit. We just talked and that was all." I brought the teacup to my mouth.

"Are you kidding me? They both went fishing this morning. You definitely did some shit." Her hand stretched to cover mine. I felt her gratitude and affection through that contact. "I really appreciate it."

"Dominic went fishing." Saying that out loud was weird and I just had to laugh.

Talk about things you would never expect but, you would love to see the classy Dominic Powers, doing.

As Janet downed the morsel in her mouth, a smile formed on her lips, it seemed she recalled a good memory.

"The strange thing is that fishing is the only aspect of farming he enjoys. He has always preferred sitting by the dock to tilling the ground."

"He did mention that farming was never his thing. I have a question though." I dropped the fork in my hand. "Back at the main house, I noticed a picture of a particular woman. She looks a lot like you, so I guess she is your mother. How come I did not see her at the dining table?"

"Oh." Her tongue pushed out the flesh of her right cheek. "She left."

"Left?" There are many interpretations to that word and that made my reaction a bit difficult.

As though Janet sensed my confusion, she continued. "She did not die or anything. She left us a long time ago."

With a little frown, I asked, "Why?"

Janet's eyes were not as perky as before. Feeling regretful that I caused her change of emotion, I was about to tell her not to bother when she replied, "I wish I knew why she decided to leave Pops after many years of marriage that yielded four freaking kids." Her fork started to create slightly vicious gaps on her pancake. "As far as I know, she left a note that was not explanatory at all."

Her head abruptly swung in my direction. "Didn't Eliot tell you about this?"

"No." I shook my head. "Not at all."

"Well, he was practically a baby when our sweet mother decided that she wasn't interested anymore." The way she aggressively shoved a small roll of pancake into her mouth was enough to gauge how angry she was becoming. "I mean," she continued while she chewed, " who freaking does that? She just left without saying anything solid."

"I feel like I shouldn't have asked a question about her at all."

She met my caution-filled eyes, her head giving a quick disapproval.

"No. You should know this, you are now part of our family."

Her words warmed me. In the past years, apart from Samantha and Kyle, I had no one to call family. Even the orphanage I grew up in was not filled with the family vibe. Heck, there was a lot of segregation in that place, it almost made me sick.

"How did your Dad take it?" I asked.

"Pops was hurt. But he had to be strong regardless. He had four kids to take care of."

"Do you hate her?"

"Honestly..." A certain expression flashed in her eyes, it reminded me so much of Dominic. "I want to. But Pops has taught us to not dislike her. I mean, how can he not hate her? She left him."

Even though I was aware that the question was rhetorical, I gave an answer anyway.

"I guess he still loves her despite what she did. There is this thing with love where it finds a way to overcome all situations, even the bad situations. It is a crazy thing."

She sighed. "You have a point." She motioned to our abandoned meal and we soon resumed eating.

"So, do you own this place?"

"Oh no. Eliot is the owner. I just stay here when I need quiet time. I am actually based in London where I live with my husband and son. Once in a while, when I feel the need to relax and take a break, you know, I stay here."

"Quiet times are the best."

"I know. Oh! I almost forgot." My brows jerked to question her. "We are having dinner tonight and you must come. You and Eliot."

"Okay ma'am," I replied teasingly as I brought the fork to my mouth.

"Good."

**********

"Oh, my God! Jasmine! You brought pie!" Janet was the most excited at the table. While we ate the meal she prepared, she kept complimenting the cook as if she was high on something. "You should have called, I already made one."

"Janet, the kids can have one of the pies." Stephen stopped whatever complaint she was about to spew.

"Yeah, it is very appropriate for you to tell me to shut up." Janet scowled at her brother as she sat down.

At the same time, Jasmine got up and began to ration her pie.

"Are you good?" Dominic asked as he leaned in, his breath fanning my ear in a way that made me recall the day before and the way he handled me.

It was very different from other times. Different in an extremely good way.

"So, Grace tell us a little about you." Their father finally broke the partial silence that accompanied Jasmine in serving us dessert.

"Uh..." What was there to say? His question is not one I am asked a lot, so I had to take some seconds to think about my response.

"I studied Journalism in college. I guess I have always been interested in the world of writing since childhood, so it helped a lot in choosing my career path.

After college, I got a job at this Publishing Company, but I don't work there anymore for certain reasons. But overall I am doing just fine for myself."

I flashed a short smile at my audience before paying attention to the piece of the pie in front of me while the sound of the kids playing in the room next to us filled my ears.

"That is wonderful," the grey-haired man said, his smile on full display. "Your parents must be so proud of you, yes?"

"Uh... Dad..." Dominic tried to stop his father but with a slight shake of my head, I assured him that it was fine.

"My parents are dead."

"Oh." I felt the awkward silence that filled the room. Why does that happen every time? It's not as though they were the reason my parents died. The older Mr. Powers wore sympathy in his eyes and said, "You must miss them."

"Hmm." I made sure to fully chew the piece of the delicious pie in my mouth before replying. "I never knew my parents. They died when I was a baby, so I have no memory of them. All I know is their names and that they have a company named, uh... Habits? Yeah, Habits. That's all I know about them."

"Your parents are the owners of Habits?" Dominic interrupted his father, his eyes trained intently on me.

"Yes. I think it is my father's brother that is running the company presently, Stanley..."

"Sands," he completed, the cutlery in his hand dropping onto the plate loudly. "I know that man." Dominic was looking so serious, you would think he was sealing a huge business deal. "So, Stanley Sands is your uncle."

I shrugged, "I guess so."

"You guess so? Grace, you are meant to be the owner of that company."

Slightly surprised at the direction the issue was being stirred, my eyes darted across the length of the room as I replied, "But I don't want the company."

"Why not? It is yours. That company has always been yours, Grace. So, giving it all to just your uncle is quite... bizarre."

"I just said I don't want the company. I don't want to have anything to do with it."

"Dominic, drop it already." His father cautioned him.

"Sorry Dad," Dominic threw a cautioning hand at his father who did not look any bit taken aback by his son's motion, "I can't drop it." I could see, with my side eye, Janet shaking her head. Dominic, whose eyes were still bored into my seated self, continued, "Why don't you want a company that is clearly yours?"

"Dominic." I adjusted in my seat, my eyes meeting his squarely. "That company might be my father's, but it can never be mine because I did not grow up as my father's daughter. I was not raised in my father's environment. Heck!" My hands went up in severe gesticulation. "I have never even met this Stanley of an uncle before."

"You..."

I immediately glared at him. "What do you even expect me to do? Walk into that Tech company and go all; Hey Uncle Stanley, guess who? Grace your freaking niece. Yeah, my Dad owns this place, so I am back to take back what's mine. Who does that?"

I questioned the entire room, my eyes catching their gestures telling me to try to keep calm. "To those people, I will be an imposter with a silly claim of being the rightful owner of Habits. So," my gaze went back to settle on Dominic's pointed ones, "I don't want to have anything to do with it."

The room maintained a prolonged silence which was coupled with a lot of awkward eye contact. I didn't wish to think about a fraction of the issue Dominic had successfully roused so, I let out a deep, shaky breath so that my entire system could experience some peace.

"I am sorry for my sudden outburst." My apology broke the governing stillness.

"No, it is fine. Dominic here just tends to be... extra." His father threw me a soft smile that found a way to warm my heart.

Dominic didn't stop. "I am just saying, a DNA test would prove you to..."

Damn it!

I pushed my chair back and got up. "I need to get some air. Please excuse me."

I didn't spare Dominic a glare. I know he means well, but his persuasion is annoying. And I think it can be safe to say that I can relate to his father with whom he was angry with for three years.

As my legs led me past the living room, I suddenly remembered that I needed to briefly call Samantha to let her know that I was fine. But my phone is tucked away in some tech lab back in Manhattan, I have no choice but to get Dominic's own.

With reluctance, I walked back into the dining room, the voices that were talking before shutting up as I entered.

"Do you need something?" Janet asked, caution and concern, lacing her voice.

"Uh... not really." I faced Dominic. "I just need his phone."

As he handed the device to me, our eyes met, and the little anger I had towards him disappeared with that little contact.

I could have just sat back and continued with my pie, but I had a call to make, so outside I went.

After punching in Samantha's phone number, the cool breeze of the exceptionally bright night hitting my face continually, I brought the phone to my ear.

After the first ring, the call was picked up. 'Hello?'

"Hey, Sam. It's me, Grace."

'Grace?'

"Yes, I am the one. So sorry for not..."

'Thank God! I have been trying your Goddamn number!' Her voice was weirdly hushed. If I wasn't paying attention to her words, I might have not heard anything.

"Why do you sound so distraught?" I asked carefully.

'Grace.' A troubling scuffle filled the background. 'Help!'

AUTHOR'S NOTE

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