Just For A Moment by Kate Carley

Chapter 21

Madalyn slippedinto a seat on the opposite side of the booth on Saturday morning. “Enough of this crap!” She rarely raised her voice, and her sudden outburst caused a hushed breath to cover Mickey’s diner.

Grace glanced over her shoulder and then back at her friend. “Geez, Madalyn!” She laughed.

“Well, as your friend, I think you’re being foolish about this situation with Aaron. And I decided this morning, I was going to give you hell today.”

“I texted him last night.” Grace felt her grin go wide. Things were going to work out for her and Aaron. The feeling in her gut said that tomorrow would be a new beginning for them.

“Tell me.” Madalyn shoved the menu to the side and leaned in eagerly.

“We’re getting together tomorrow to talk.”

Madge stopped at their table. “What can I get you ladies today?” With her red hair done up neat as a pin, the middle-aged woman waited for their response.

“I’ll have the burger special. Hold the fries,” Grace said. “And a chocolate shake.”

“I’ll have the same.” Madalyn handed both menus to Madge.

“That’ll be up in a few minutes,” Madge said.

“She didn’t write that down.” Grace’s eyes trailed Madge to the kitchen where she shouted their order to the cook.

“She never does.”

“Must have a great memory,” Grace said turning her attention back to her friend. “So, Aaron and I are going to hammer things out tomorrow.”

“Does that mean you’re really sticking around?”

Grace shook her head. “Why would breaking up or staying together impact that? I told you that I’m permanent here. I’m not leaving because of a guy.”

Their conversation turned to Madalyn’s plan for her classroom this coming school year and rolled right into Holland Designs.

“I have steady work that pays the bills. As soon as I finish one website, I get another referral or email to begin a new project. When I first got started, I worried it’d be feast or famine. But it’s been fairly solid.”

A woman from the next booth over, sitting just behind Madalyn, climbed to her feet and stepped over to Grace and Madalyn’s table. “Well, isn’t your life fucking perfect.” The woman glared at Grace.

Grace blinked up at the woman who appeared to be around her mother’s age, but she was unsure of her identity. She had dark hair with streaks of gray threading through it. Her glasses were on point for the current trend, and her makeup was meticulously, if not heavily, applied.

“I beg your pardon. You seem to have me at a disadvantage here.” Grace stuck out her hand. “I’m Grace Holland.”

The woman stared at Grace’s hand with a look of revulsion. “I know who you are, Gracie Holland. I know who your family is.”

“Grace,” Madalyn said quietly from the other side of the table. “This is Karen Jansson. Reagan and Raquel Jansson’s mom.”

Wishing she could disappear, Grace slowly withdrew her outstretched hand and clutched it together with the other under the table.

“I heard you were back, but until today, I thought I could ignore it.” Karen tapped her fingernails on the table. “But this? I can’t deal with this. I can’t deal with you bragging about your perfect life. Your perfect business. Your granddad’s old house and some stupid ass boyfriend. You disgust me.”

“Karen, that’s enough.” Madalyn shook her head. “You should leave.”

“I’m not leaving until I’ve said my piece. I’m not alone in this. No one wants you to stay in Oak Bend. Your presence in town has stirred up memories of the past. Not just for me. I swear to God, every time I look at you, I’ll think about my girls. About their death. All because of your sister’s recklessness.”

“I’m sorry for your loss in that accident, Karen,” Grace said in the politest tone she could muster, and all the while, Karen’s anger beat at her in pulverizing waves.

“How could you even think of staying in the same small town where your sister died a heinous death, murdering two other girls in the process? Your parents were so full of shame over what their child had done, they left Oak Bend. And now, no one wants you here, Gracie Holland.”

* * *

Even several hours later,Grace’s hands shook as she loaded her computer equipment into the back end of her car. Tossing all her belongings into a few suitcases hadn’t taken much thought.

Three reasons? Oh, yeah. She had at least three.

According to Karen Jansson, Grace wasn’t welcome here. Not by the mother of the twins killed with Caroline and not by the general population of Oak Bend.

Grace was appalled by her own assumption that people had been happy to see her. They must’ve been talking behind her back. No, she wasn’t sticking around to figure this out. Maybe if her relationship with Aaron had been strong and healthy, she would fight to stay, but nothing in Oak Bend was holding her here.

Other than the house she’d inherited, she had no connection. And her granddad himself had said to sell it if she wanted to buy a home someplace else.

That was probably what she would do. Yes, she would still have to come to town a handful of times to finish the process of clearing things. But that didn’t mean she needed to live here.

Grace did a final walk-through of the house, ensuring everything was in order and all the lights were off. Then, she stepped out onto the porch and locked the door behind her.

She had one stop to make to wrap up loose ends. She wasn’t looking forward to it, but she wasn’t going to sneak out of town without talking to Aaron. Inside the car, Grace glanced in the rear-view mirror. All she could see was the mountain of belongings stacked high in the back end of her CRV.

Just like when she’d arrived.

But this felt lonelier.

Coming into town several weeks ago had seemed heavy and monumental—a return to her hometown after her family had scurried away from the memories that had haunted them here. Or at least, that’s what Grace had believed. But once she’d arrived in town, she’d realized that those memories weren’t all so horrible. Honestly, they were no different than the memories she carried with her every day.

Yes, she’d loved and lost her big sister—a sister she would always remember no matter where she lived.

Coming back to Oak Bend had opened her eyes and offered some clarity around her past. In her mind, Caroline’s accidental death had always been inexplicably tied to the disastrous end of their parents’ marriage. While it wasn’t unheard of for a marriage to end in divorce after the death of a child, it was possible her parents had been destined to divorce regardless. That concept was something that the teenage Grace had never considered.

So today, throwing all her belongings back into her suitcases and hauling them out to the car without a thought felt more final. While the situation with Aaron was still up in the air, they’d gotten close. And she adored Piper.

If Grace examined her feelings too closely, she would say she loved him.

Pretty certain she did. And now, she had to tell him she was leaving town.

If the situation weren’t so strained, she could almost imagine him teasing her about her three reasons for leaving. But unfortunately, all her reasons were wrapped around Caroline’s death—the same reasons her parents had left and never returned.

She pulled up outside his house and grabbed her handbag off the center console—the only place it would fit—and climbed from the car. She beeped it to make sure it was locked. All her electronic items, including her laptop, were all clearly visible, and she couldn’t take the chance of losing them.

She scurried up the driveway to the backyard and climbed the three steps of the porch. At the door, she lifted her fist to knock and then waited. There was no sound, and after a moment, she pressed the doorbell. And still no answer.

“No, Aaron. You’re supposed to be here. How can I leave without saying goodbye?”

She checked her phone. No calls. No texts. She’d texted him more than an hour ago, telling him she needed to talk and that she was stopping by. He hadn’t made any comment.

She pulled up his contact with that silly picture from the day they’d gone up in Win’s plane. God, that had been one of the greatest moments of her life. Not the flying. But the connection. She’d never felt like that before.

She pressed the call button and waited for Aaron to answer. Immediately, it rolled to his voice mail.

“No!”

She marched back to her car and scavenged for a paper notepad she’d shoved into a tote bag in the front seat. With a pen, she jotted down what she would say to him if he were there.

Aaron,

I wanted to talk to you in person. I’m leaving. My car is packed, and I’m headed out of town right now. I wish you were here so I could give you one last kiss. And hug you one last time. I’m sorry. I didn’t plan for this. I know things were rough between us at the end, but I didn’t want to disappear like this without clearing the air. I’m going to miss you. I’m going to miss Piper. But me living in Oak Bend isn’t going to work. For so many reasons I can’t explain. Just for a moment, I thought it was all going to work out for us. I really care about you. I’ll be in touch.

Love, Grace

Grace brushed at the annoying tears that kept falling. She wanted to smooth things over with him and have a true reason to stay. How could she be so selfish? She never should’ve gotten involved with Aaron.

With the note folded neatly, she retraced her steps to the back door and tucked the note between the door and the door jamb. Then, Grace stumbled back to her car, barely able to see through the tears. She turned her car toward the big city, far, far away from Oak Bend