Grace woke up again but this time there was no nightmare to rouse her from her sleep.

This time it was simply her own body waking her naturally.

However, when she turned her head to the other side, it was empty.

Harry wasn't there.

She felt her heart constrict as memories of the last few hours came flooding back.

Lucy.

James.

Harry.

What a fucking shitstorm.

Grace threw an arm over her eyes and sighed.

"I really am starting to lose my mind," she huffed.

She suddenly felt like she was on a train that was gradually gaining speed as it approached a junction and she had no power to choose which set of tracks to divert it to.

The thought of Lucy betraying her in such a way and for what?

Everything you have is supposed to be mine!

Apart from Tilly and Dottie she had nothing.

Sure, she was surrounded by wealth, nothing but the best for her even though she'd never asked for it.

She had nothing else.

Or did she?

She thought for a moment to think what she had that Lucy didn't.

Harry.

Did she have Harry?

Is that what Lucy really wanted?

Grace narrowed her eyes at the thought.

Even if nothing more transpired between herself and Harry, there was no way she wanted Lucy to sink her claws into him.

He deserved better and not some hoe bag that had been ridden so many times she should rename herself Malvern Star.

But the thought of her had Grace's stomach churning and anger washed over her at the actions that couldn't be undone.

Lucy had drawn a line in the sand.

But instead of choosing to simply step over it, she'd thrown a bomb at it and blown it up.

She'd essentially started a war.

However, as Grace threw the covers off the bed and stood up she resigned herself to one thing.

She was not going to go down without a fight.

No one pushed her around and she wasn't about to let anyone, let alone Lucy, start doing it now.

Grace showered and dressed, feeling full of determination as she took one last look at herself in the mirror.

In her reflection, a small bottle next to her bed caught her eye.

She felt her determination slip a little as she bit her lip.

She walked over to the side of her bed and picked up the bottle and although it was small, it weighed heavily in her hand.

Grace felt that she hadn't needed to take them, but after last night...

Just to keep the boat on an even keel for a little bit.

Grace shook one out of the bottle and swallowed it.

There was a storm brewing and she needed to be ready for it.

~~~~~~

Grace walked into the kitchen and was instantly greeted by two very excited little girls.

They asked if she was feeling better as Rosie and Harry had told them that she was feeling sick in the tummy and it would be best if they let her sleep until she felt well again.

Grace smiled appreciatively at both Rosie and Harry before assuring the girls she was feeling much better.

Harry watched Grace with the girls and she did appear to look like her normal self again.

Rosie watched Harry watching Grace and saw the admiration in his gaze.

He watched her every move and it was then that Rosie noticed he had more than admiration in his eyes.

This was not good, she thought.

Rosie placed some toast in front of Grace and encouraged her to eat, giving Harry a raised eyebrow, which just confused him.

Then again, he knew he'd spent a fair bit of his time feeling confused around this place though things were slowly becoming clearer for him.

"Daddy!" Tilly suddenly yelled as James entered the kitchen, "are you hungry?" she asked, holding up a piece of toast for him.

"Thank you, sweetheart," he said as he took it from her, "morning everyone," he offered as he took a cup of coffee from Rosie.

Harry nervously met James' gaze, only for the older man to offer him a smile and a nod.

Now it was Rosie's turn to be confused.

"Grace?" he said, turning his attention to his wife, "would you care to have breakfast out on the veranda with me?"

"Can I come too?" Dottie asked, grabbing her plate in preparation.

"I really need to talk with mummy," he said to her, "how about we all have lunch out there today?" he suggested.

"You're not going into the office?" Grace asked in surprise.

"Not today," he shrugged, "thought I might take the day off and spend it with my girls," he said.

"But Joan-" Grace started.

"Can go and take a flying leap," he smiled and shrugged his shoulders again.

Rosie almost dropped the plate of fresh toast she was holding.

What on earth was going on?

Grace stood up and followed James outside, bringing her breakfast with her as they settled themselves outside to watch the morning sunrise.

Harry's gaze followed them both outside until the door shut behind them and as he turned back around to his plate, he made the mistake of looking at Rosie who stood there with her hands crossed over her chest as she silently demanded answers from him.

He decided that the toast tasted particularly good this morning as he focused on it.

"Girls, why don't you go and clean up?" Rosie suggested as she cleared their dishes away from the table.

Harry took the opportunity to try and sneak away with them but not before he felt a tea towel hit him in the back of the head.

"Not so fast," he heard Rosie say, "you know something."

"I...uh..." he mumbled as he turned around to meet her intimidating gaze.

"If you want brownies, you best start talking," she glared at him, "now."

Shit.

He really liked Rosie's brownies.

But was it his place to tell her what James had disclosed to him last night?

"Harry?" Rosie's tone held a warning to it.

"Alright," he frowned, "do you know of anyone named Mason?"

Judging by the shocked look that appeared on Rosie's face and how she suddenly seemed to pale a little, he concluded that she did indeed know who he was.

"Who told you about him?" she asked.

Harry paused for a moment.

"James," he finally answered.

"What?" she replied, "Mr. James told you that-" she stopped herself, "wait, what do you know?" she asked.

"What do you know?" Harry countered.

Rosie narrowed her eyes.

"I know everything," she said.

Harry reasoned that she probably did.

"James told me who Mason is...to him," he raised his eyebrows to indicate for Rosie to read between the lines, in case the girls should overhear him.

"He what?" Rosie replied, shocked that he would tell Harry such a thing, "wait, why would he tell you that?"

Harry shrugged, trying to appear innocent.

"Harry..." Rosie warned him again.

"Ugh," Harry let out a frustrated groan, "Lucy caught us kissing and she purposely told."

Rosie looked at him.

"When you say Lucy caught 'us' you mean..?" she trailed off.

Harry's eyes widened.

"Grace! Grace and me! Not...no..." he shook his head.

"You're not ugly Harry, man or woman would find you attractive," she shrugged her shoulders.

"Anyway," Harry went on, "Lucy caught Grace and I and told James and then he told me about Mason and he also said he previously encouraged Grace to find someone else but that she wouldn't but he thinks I'm good for her and he also told me about her medication and that she had stopped taking it and I think that's it," he paused, "oh and that his mother is as nutty as a fruitcake," he finished.

Rosie stood looking at Harry for a moment in silence before she walked over to the fridge and took out a bottle of wine.

She took off the cap and took a swig from it before putting the lid back on.

Frowning to herself, she took the cap off and took another swig before replacing the lid and putting the bottle back inside the fridge.

Satisfied, she walked back over to Harry who was trying his best to keep a grin from spreading onto his face.

"Harry," Rosie patted him on the shoulder, "this tells me that Mr. James trusts you very much, to share this information with you, he has never done this with anyone," she paused, "he has accepted you into his family, especially with his Grace but," she stopped and nodded as she gathered her thoughts, "be careful with his family, particularly his mother...she is capable of many things, terrible things...be wary of her Harry."

"I understand," he replied, "I think the same goes for her daughter."

"Don't get me started on that one," Rosie replied, "there are not enough hours in the day," she moved around to the kitchen and began tidying up from breakfast, "now, Harry love," she went on, her face serious, "when did the two of you kiss and why did no one tell me?"