Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Grace woke up to find the bed beside her cold. A rose and a note lay on top of Sam’s pillow. She swept the sleep from her eyes and held the note up to read.
You looked tired, and I didn’t want to wake you. I ran into town with Richard to help find a gift for Sarah. Why don’t you order room service and hang out by the pool. We should be back late this afternoon.
The bachelor party is tonight, so don’t wear yourself out. I was hoping you’d be my date. Maybe we can sneak out early and try some of those gravity-defying positions that you love to read about.
Sam
That’s just what Grace did. After breakfast, she slipped into her bathing suit, grabbed a towel and headed down to the pool.
She lounged poolside, beneath one of the umbrella tables, sipping on a margarita for several hours, just enjoying the day.
The sun and the sweltering heat could melt an ice cream cone in five seconds flat.
Ice cream trucks probably didn’t stick around these parts.
Kids bounced in and out of the water as parents scolded about running and keeping their voices down.
A few couples filled the chairs and the pool.
It seemed this was the only water source around that promised to beat the Texas heat.
Several shirtless cowboys wearing jeans and hats were in the distance, sitting astride horses while wrangling the animals she’d seen the other day.
Grace held the phone to her ear.
“Tell me again what possessed you to go to Texas,” her best friend, Chloe, said.
“I’m helping Sam.”
“You’re on a first-name basis with my competition?” Chloe shrieked.
“I can’t help that he’s your competition.” Grace frowned. “You know I’m a sucker for helping people in need, and he needed my help.”
“Have you ever thought that maybe he knows what you had planned about getting some inside information on his business? You can’t trust him.”
“Relax, Chloe. He’s not playing me. He needed a wingman, and I’m helping him. My sisters threatened him into canceling the contract. So….”
“So….no insider information.”
“Afraid not, but I’ve come up with a few ideas how to get your dating agency back on track.”
“Is this seat taken?” An older brunette woman asked while pointing to one of the empty chairs at Grace’s table.
“I’ve got to go, Chloe. Tell my sisters I’ll be back in a week.” Grace hung up before Chloe could press for more than Grace was willing to share. She glanced up at the woman and gestured to a chair. “Help yourself.”
“I didn’t mean to interrupt your call.”
“Oh, it’s okay.”
The woman sat down, slipped her big straw hat off her head, and set it on the table, just as a waiter appeared with an umbrella drink. The stranger smiled up at the server and slipped him some cash before he scurried off.
“I’ll never get used to this Texas heat.” The woman took a long draw from her drink while picking up her hat to fan her face.
“It’s similar to Florida,” Grace said.
“Oh, you’re an out-of-towner. What brings you to these parts?” There was a hint of Texas twang in the woman’s words.
“A wedding.”
“I’m Annalise.”
Annalise was beautiful. A southern lady that looked like she could dine with royalty in one breath, and in the next, could be just as comfortable out on the range with a bunch of cowboys.
The fine laugh lines around her eyes and mouth showed that she’d spent several years enjoying life. She was nowhere near as snobby as the bridesmaids that Grace had met.
“I’m Grace.” Grace shook the woman’s hand.
“Friend of the bride or the groom?” the woman asked.
“Neither,” Grace said, sipping the last of her wine. “I’m here as moral support for the groom’s brother.”
“Does he not like weddings?” Annalise asked.
Grace shrugged. “I’ve known him for less than a week, but it was long enough to know that the bride royally screwed up when she screwed him over. He’s a good guy. Decent, sexy, and he makes me laugh. What more could a woman want?”
“What more indeed,” Annalise said. “If you don’t mind me asking, what do you do for a living, Grace?”
“I’m a medium. I talk to dead people.”
Annalise covered her mouth as she started choking on her drink.
“Is your drink too strong?”
“No, dear. Your answer just caught me off guard. I’m sure that you’re the first medium I’ve ever met.”
“Not what you were expecting, right? I get that a lot. We don’t all wear cloaks and gobs of mascara.” Grace grinned, leaned forward, and clasped her fingers together. “I’ve got some time to kill before Sam gets back. Would you like a reading?”
“Sam. Is that the groom’s brother?”
“The whole reason I’m here.” Grace smiled.
“I’ve never had a reading,” Annalise answered.
Grace tried her best to block out the other people around the pool and concentrate on the woman. She could feel the uncertainty rolling off Annalise in waves. “It’s a bit hard to concentrate with the crowd, but let’s see what I can get.”
Grace took a deep breath, inhaling the calm and exhaling the chaos. She’d taken several before one of the woman’s relatives showed up.
“A man,” Grace said. “Dark hair, liked his suits and ties. Very distinguished. Says his name is Samuel.” Grace met the woman’s gaze. “Do you know a Samuel?
The woman’s mouth had parted, and she snapped it closed. “I do.”
Grace nodded and turned her attention back to the man to decipher what the man was showing her.
“Ah.” Grace smiled. “He was your dad. I see things in terms of a home movie. Sometimes they just give me symbols and sometimes complete pictures. Every now and then they’ll talk to me.
But your dad showed me you as a little girl, and he was pushing you on a tree swing. You were a cute kid.”
“He used to do that a lot when I was young,” she answered.
“Perfect.” Grace glanced up at the apparition. He held up a coin and flipped it.
“He just flipped a coin and held it up. Both sides are heads. Is that significant for you?”
A tear trickled down Annalise’s cheek as she laughed.
“That’s funny. He used that coin to make me think that it was fate calling the shots.
It wasn’t until I was older that he came clean and told me he’d just worded the questions for the outcome he thought was in my best interest and then would flip the coin.
There was no arguing with the coin when he’d do it several times in a row to make his point. ”
“Sneaky.” Grace grinned and smiled at the apparition. “I like him.”
“He would have liked you too,” Annalise said at the same time Sam’s Aunt Annie appeared.
Grace’s brows dipped in confusion as she looked between both women, they shared the same cheek bones, the same styled hair, the same smile and the same looking necklace. “If Annie is your sister, that means you’re—”
“Mom,” Sam said from behind. “We weren’t expecting you for a few more days.”
“I came in early, dear,” she said, rising and letting Sam kiss her cheeks. “I’m glad I did. I was just having a wonderful chat with your date, Grace.”
Grace’s mouth parted as words escaped her. She snapped her mouth closed and rose. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Grace picked up her empty wine glass. “I bet if Sam hadn’t shown up, you would have pulled out the coin.”
Annalise outright laughed. “No need, dear. You’ve told me everything I need to know.” Annalise glanced at Sam. “I like her, Sammy. When are you marrying this one?”
Grace stepped back quickly, knocking over her chair. “Mrs. Stone, it’s not like that. I’m sorry if I gave you that impression.”
“Oh, you didn’t, dear. I have a sense about things,” she said as Sam righted the fallen chair.
“I understand why you’re here, and I think Sammy was smart for bringing you.”
“He didn’t really need a date. I have faith he could have handled it.”
“I didn’t say a date, dear. I said he was smart to bring you.”
Grace’s cheeks heated as she gave Sam that I’m-sorry look.
Grace had fallen for this woman, thinking she was just a hotel guest trying to get out of the heat.
She’d told her things, including why she was here.
Annalise was one to watch out for. The woman seemed to have a secret agenda and a way of making everyone spill their secrets.
Or it might have been the third margarita that had loosened Grace’s lips.
No, she was sticking with the secret sucking powers that Sam’s mother wielded. No one could prove it wasn’t so.
Grace smacked Sam in the abs. “No need for a story.” She glanced up at him and smiled. “She already knows the truth.”
Sam’s eyes widened as Grace picked up Annalise’s drink, along with her own glass. “Let me get you a refill.”
“Don’t worry, dear. It’s our little secret.” Annalise winked at them both before Grace hurried off in hopes of getting Sam’s mother completely drunk so she’d forget everything she’d heard.