Chapter Ten

"Boss, is there a reason you haven't been answering your calls all week? I haven't received a single phone call, text or email."

"I'm sorry, Patricia. I've had different priorities this week," Vince replied as he ran a comb through his thick black hair. It was Saturday and Vince had plans for Grace.

Meg had closed the diner for the weekend because she and Ben had made arrangements to go out of town and so Vince was going to make sure that Grace relaxed and had fun.

Over the last week, Vince had realized that Grace was extremely overworked and she wasn't just tired--she suffered from sheer exhaustion. She not only worked two jobs while taking care of her daughter and grandmother but she also did everything else that she could for everyone. From organizing talent show to working with the PTA, Grace took absolutely no time for herself.

"Different priorities? Your job is your only priority. It's all you have ever cared about," Patricia argued.

Vince's hand stopped suddenly during his brushing and he stared at his reflection in the mirror. Patricia was right. For his entire life his only priority had been himself, his business, his job. Vince had never made any attempt to truly care about anyone or anything else.

"Sir, are you still there?" Patricia questioned.

Vince cleared his throat. "Yeah, I'm here."

"When are you coming home, sir? The office is falling into complete and utter disrepair without you here."

"I haven't made any plans to come home just yet," Vince admitted.

Patricia slammed something on the other end. "That's it! Something very serious is going on with you and I deserve to know what it is. Me telling you that the office was falling apart should have had you rushing back here on the quickest plane!"

"My priorities are changing," came Vince's simple reply.

"Does this have anything to do with a certain mountain mechanic?" Victoria asked with a smile in her voice.

"It has everything to do with her."

"What about the resort you had planned?"

"It's on hold," Vince replied and then he frowned. "Actually, it's cancelled."

"Cancelled, sir?" Patricia questioned with amusement.

"Yes," Vince said with certainty.

Grace did not ask anyone for anything. The only thing she wanted in the world was for her town to be fixed up but remain otherwise unchanged. Vince was willing to do anything to give that woman exactly what she wanted, even if it meant taking money from his own pocket to get it done. Nothing was too much for Grace.

"I want you to look into the camping and lodging that we talked about before," Vince informed her.

Patricia sighed. "Yes sir. Can I ask you a personal question?"

"You've never asked permission to do so before."

"Are you in love?" Patricia demanded. "I know that I told you to get laid but I certainly never expected you to fall in love."

"Love?" Vince asked, glancing at himself in the mirror. Was he in love? "I told you that you could ask but how often do I answer?"

"Never sir," Patricia grumped.

"Exactly. Now look into those things and then email them to me. I won't have my phone today."

Patricia laughed. "Are you avoiding your mother and father, sir?"

"Why yes, yes I am," he replied. "And I haven't had a single headache all week."

"You're such a grown up."

"Goodbye Patricia."

"Goodbye boss."

***

"Vince!" Cadence cried happily as Vince climbed from his car and she came running from Grace's small yellow house. She jumped into Vince's arms and he hugged her tight as his throat swelled. All week, Vince had spent every spare moment that he could with Grace and her family and he had fallen head over heels for Cadence. Having children had never been something that Vince had thought much about but Cadence had certainly begun to change that.

Almost as much as Grace had changed his mind about women. Honestly Vince had always seem women as a type of parasite. They were creatures that latched onto men with fat wallets and wanted rich things and fancy surroundings. Yet Grace was different. She did things on her own and refused to ask for help. While that was a trait that Vince admired in her, it also infuriated him because it caused her to work herself into the ground.

"What are you doing this morning?" Vince asked the girl as he sat her down on her feet.

"Nothing," she replied with an exaggerated sigh. "Mommy is busy."

"Busy?" Vince asked. "Doing what?"

Cadence wrinkled her nose. "Cleaning."

"Good morning, Ester!" Vince called out when he saw the elderly woman watching him from the porch.

"George, I told you no. You are beginning to look desperate," she stated with exasperation.

Vince simply chuckled and shook his head. For some reason Ester had been calling him George all week and seemed to believe he was a jilted lover from her past who was once again desperately attempting to rekindle the flames.

At first Vince had been unsure about how to respond but Grace's laughter at instantly put him at ease. Grace had a lighthearted way of looking at the world and Vince found it rubbing off on him. No matter what was going on around her, Grace tended to deal with it with laughter. She was truly an inspiration.

"But Ester, you're just too beautiful to stay away from," Vince lamented as he covered his heart with his hand. Cadence giggled loudly.

Ester sighed. "I know."

Vince found himself laughing again. Laughing was something he'd been doing nearly nonstop this week. "You know my granddaughter is single and she's a real looker. She likes you," Ester winked.

"Grandma, that's enough!" Grace scolded as she stepped out of the house with a flush covering her cheeks.

Vince took one look at her and fell all over again. And by falling he meant tumbling headlong off a cliff and into a bottomless pit. She was wearing gray lounge pants and a pink tank top. She was in her bare feet and her toenails were painted red. Her face was make-up free, as usual, and her auburn hair was pulled back in a sloppy ponytail. Her cheeks were flushed and her beaming smile brightened up the morning.

"Can I let you in on a secret, Ester?" Vince asked as he stepped closer to the porch and smiled up at Grace. "I really like her too." Grace's smile widened and her blush deepened. He more than liked that woman but knew she wasn't the type to simply take his word for it. She had been abandoned and let down too many times to have any faith in words alone. Vince didn't blame her. He had been raised around fakeness and had learned not to trust only words as well. There was pure joy on Grace's face and that told Vince all he needed to know.

"Thank goodness!" Ester exclaimed. "I was worried my husband would have to put his foot down with you."

"That won't be necessary, Ester. I'll just settle on Grace since I arrived to late to get you," Vince replied with a wink that had Cadence giggling, Grace laughing and Ester blushing furiously.

"What are you doing today?" Grace asked once the laughter had quieted.

Vince shrugged. "Where else would I be? I'm on vacation, remember?"

"What about your job?" Grace demanded quietly as she stared down at her feet. "Don't you need to be getting home?"

Vince wondered what was going on in her head. It was clear that she was trying to distance herself and that surprised him. Over the course of the last week Vince had spent every moment he could with Grace and her family. He could remember how surprised she'd been when she had come home Monday, wore out from work, and found her house clean and dinner already cooking. Vince had thought for sure she was going to cry before she'd excused herself to the bathroom to clean up.

Vince knew he was probably moving far too fast but watching Grace run herself into the ground was not an option for him. And he could see a difference in her today. She didn't look nearly as tired as she had a week ago and the circles around her eyes had faded.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" he teased. Teasing? Since when did Vince tease? If Patricia could see him now she'd probably think he'd been kidnapped and replaced with a vincebot. Vince didn't care what anyone thought. For the first time in his thirty-two years of life, he was happy and he intended to keep being happy even if it meant that no one from his past would recognize him.

"Cadence, go inside with your grandma. Mommy needs to talk to Vince," Grace stated firmly as she pointed toward the door.

Vince didn't like the way that sounded and he could tell that both Cadence and Ester knew Grace meant business when they both rushed into the house without argument. "What's wrong?" Vince asked cautiously.

Grace simply rolled her eyes and moved past him toward the woods and the mountainside her house sat beside. "You have to stop this," she warned as she crossed her arms over her chest and focused her gaze just above his shoulder.

Vince knew she was avoiding looking at him on purpose and so he moved himself into her line of vision and gave her no choice. "What do I need to stop?"

"Being so damn perfect!" Grace exclaimed.

Vince frowned at her sudden snap of temper. "I'm not perfect, Grace," Vince assured her. He was uncertain about what was wrong with her and not at all used to opening up or having conversations about emotions and feelings. He was even more unaccustomed to beating around the bush. He was more the type to take a problem by the horns, tackle it to the ground and fix it.

"Yes you are!" Grace insisted. "You showed up in town like some knight in shining armor and suddenly you're here everyday and helping me with everything! Cooking, cleaning...."

Vince held up his hand. "Why don't you tell me what's really wrong with you? I'm not good at playing detective."

Grace sighed as she chewed on her bottom lip and looked down at her feet. What she wanted was to throw herself into his arms and let him kiss her senseless. She wanted him to teach her what it felt like to truly be made love to by a man and not a teenage boy in a hormone fueled lust. She wanted to place all her faith in Vince and let him take all her worries away. But none of those things were things she could allow to let happen. Not when Vince could pack up and leave any moment.

"You're temporary," she finally managed to whisper around the lump in her throat. Vince was quiet for so long that Grace wondered if he'd even heard her at all. She found the strength to look up at his face and the look of uncertainty in his green eyes took her breath.

"You uh..." Vince cleared his throat. "You don't want me to stay?"

"No! No, it's not that!" Grace assured him as she reached out and laid her hand on his bare forearm. Vince looked so good today. He was wearing a black t-shirt, a worn pair of jeans and scuffed boots. He looked like some kind of movie star but it was more than just his looks that had Grace falling in love with him.

She loved his warm and caring spirit. She loved the way he treated Cadence and the way Cadence loved him. She loved how calm and understanding he'd been toward Ester, even when her grandmother insisted on calling him George.

And then there was the way Vince was toward Grace herself. He was spoiling her, plain and simple. He'd been cooking her meals, helping with the cleaning, going over Cadence's flash cards with her and watching Jeopardy with Ester. And he'd been doing all of that just so Grace would have more time for relaxing. Grace had rested more in the last few days than she had in the last few years.

Every night when Vince would leave, Grace would walk him to the door and he would spend several long moments simply studying her face as if trying to memorize every inch of it but he had never once tried to kiss her.

Grace was terrified. Falling in love and needing someone was a very dangerous and scary thing and Grace was beginning to find herself doing both.

"Then what do you mean by temporary?" Vince asked quietly, his voice an eerie sort of calm as if he were just waiting for a storm to hit.

"I mean you're on vacation," Grace replied. "And that means you'll be leaving soon and I.. I don't want to get too used to you being around."

Vince swallowed hard. "What if I told you that I'm here for as long as you'll keep me around?"

Grace blinked several times and shook her head. "But you own a company! You have to get back to it!"

Vince shrugged. "I built my company from the ground up and I have a staff in place that is very capable of running it without my daily presence. And there are always e-mails, instant messages and video chats for those times they need my input. I have several employees who are fully capable of taking over my office and I would still be within reach if something too serious came up."

"What are you saying?" Grace gasped. "Are you saying that you want to stay here? In Clifton?"

Vince grinned that half grin that put those lines around his mouth as he ran his knuckle across her cheek gently. "I'm saying you need to get Ester and Cadence ready and come to the park with me for a picnic."

Grace was left reeling by his sudden change of topic and she glared at him. "That law school background is showing itself again," she scolded. Vince simply chuckled quietly. Grace sighed. "What do you want to take on our picnic? I'll go pack it."

"Already done," Vince countered. "I told Meg yesterday that I was taking you on a picnic today and she got everything ready and it's in the car waiting. All you have to do is bring yourself."

Grace smiled and threw her arms around his neck, feeling more cherished than ever in her life as he held her tight. She put her lips to his ear and felt his grip tighten. "You are amazing," she whispered, knowing that it was the truth and being scared to death of it all at the same time.