At Your Service

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When Grace had jogged up to the front of the hotel, she’d spotted Sarah at once. Her long, dark hair wasn’t teased high enough to fit in this area, the makeup too subdued, the skirt too long and the blouse not nearly tight enough.

I must have stuck out like a blinking neon light, too, she thought.

“I can’t believe you’ve been staying here, Grace. You’re braver than I am, that’s for sure,” Sarah said as she hustled them both up to Grace’s room and began a ruthless packing of her belongings.

“Are these sheets yours? I thought so. They don’t look dingy enough to belong to management. And the kitchen stuff, too, right? Although not this pot, obviously. What were you supposed to cook in that? A teaspoon of soup? How on earth did you end up staying here, Grace?”

Maybe it was the concern that ran so clearly through Sarah’s voice. Or maybe it was the guilt she felt, taking advantage of her help in folding up the scant contents of her closet. But either way, Grace found herself giving Tyler’s sister an honest, although severely edited, account of her recent history.

“I was working for my family. We all work together, but lately they’ve wanted to do some things with the business that I didn’t agree with.” Grace folded another pair of slacks and kept her eyes cast down, watching her hands work. “And I was, um, sort of involved with someone who thought my family was right and I was crazy to fight them. The only one who agreed with me was my grandmother, but then she died. And after a little while, I couldn’t take it anymore. The pressure.”

She looked up and saw that Sarah was watching her without a hint of judgment in her eyes.

“So two weeks ago, I just left. Packed up what you see here and decided to vanish for a while. To try and figure things out.” She blew out a breath and sat on the edge of the bare mattress. “You probably think I’m a total coward.”

“What I think shouldn’t matter to you, Grace. But just for the record, I don’t think you’re a coward at all. Sometimes you need to take a step back and look at the whole picture, and that’s just what you’re doing.” Sarah’s voice was firm as she zipped up the suitcase and took one last tour around the small room.

Satisfied that they hadn’t missed anything, she grabbed Grace by the hand and tugged her off the bed.

“Now let’s get out of here. Tyler will be chewing nails by the time we get back to the bar.”

And that had been all that was said about Grace’s history and hotel choice.

On the way back to the bar, Sarah made it clear that she’d meant her kind words when she offered up a spare bedroom in her apartment. Her roommate had recently moved out and she was in no hurry to find another one. If Grace wanted to stay there for a while, she said, they could work something out between them.

When Sarah emphasized that the arrangement would be strictly casual and wouldn’t involve anything like signing a lease, Grace agreed on the spot.

Finished with her glass washing behind the bar, she gave yet another heartfelt mental thank-you to this family that was taking her in as if she were one of their own. She knew it was callous to use them like this, but she couldn’t remember the last time someone had offered to take care of her. She was too used to doing it all on her own.

It took her a moment to realize that Tyler still stood behind her and that the words coming out of his mouth were about her.

“I pretty much picked her up off the street,” he was saying, “cleaned her up, and tonight I plan on taking her home with me.”

“What?” she shrieked and stood up so fast that the top of her head cracked against his chin.

“Ouch.” He rubbed his chin, and was pleased to see how quickly she rose to take his bait. “I was just saying, darlin’, that—”

“Not another word,” she threatened, turning and advancing on him with soapy hands ready to strangle.

“—you’d be coming home with me tonight. You know you need a place to stay.”

“I’m not going home with you, you moron.” She was shouting by now and it felt good. “I’m going home with your sister.”

When the wave of laughter from the happily eavesdropping customers broke over her, she realized that they’d gathered quite an audience. Good-natured catcalls and comments flew her way from the men seated at the bar, their girlfriends laughing along with them.

“Man, Sarah’s boyfriend isn’t going to be too happy to hear that!”

“Or maybe he’ll be twice as happy!”

“Get your minds out of the gutter,” she scolded the collection of faces at the bar.

“Don’t be mad, Gracie.” Catching her off guard, Tyler wrapped his arms around her and reeled her in close to him. “You’re too hard to resist.” With a wolfish smile, lots of teeth and a look of hunger in his eyes, he bent his head over her and she knew he was going to kiss her in front of the entire bar.