“You didn't come all this way just to bring me chocolate. Why are you here?” Not that she wasn’t thrilled to see him, but she assumed he’d come by for a purpose and wondered if he had more questions about the case. Of course, she would answer anything he asked, nobody wanted Emmanuel caught more than she did, but she wanted him to come for her not just for the case.
“I heard through the grapevine that you wanted to learn to shoot, and I thought I’d take you to the range, give you a lesson.”
“Really?” Grace would have guessed Elijah, or maybe Ali or Laynie, would have wanted to teach her to shoot, not that she was complaining. An excuse to spend more time with Matthew? She’d jump all over that.
“Yep. Unless you don’t want to.” The uncertainty in his gaze made her want to smooth it away, reassure him. Grace had always been a fixer. Even though she had been spoiled and was a typical baby of the family, she had always been driven to help people. She’s helped out around the house when her dad’s health started to decline, looked after her mom after the stroke until she was abducted, helped friends at school however she could. The sight of someone in pain made her hurt too.
“No, of course I want to,” she said quickly, and the smile he shot her made her stomach go all warm and tingly. “I just need to change, you can come in if you want, it won't take me long.”
“I’ll wait here,” he told her.
Leaving the door open, Grace hurried into the kitchen where she found Jem sitting at the table. She went right to him, threw her arms around his neck, and hugged him, then kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“It’s not what I expected, but you seem to like him, to trust him. If I'm being selfish, I want you to come to me for comfort, for help, but I can't be selfish, not now. If he’s what you need then I won't ever stand in the way.”
“I love you, Jem.”
“Love you too, Gracie.”
Hurrying upstairs, she threw on jeans and a t-shirt, shoved her feet into a pair of sneakers, and quickly wrangled her wild mess of curls into a ponytail. Adding a little lip gloss, and even a touch of Laynie’s mascara, she decided she wasn’t going to analyze why she wanted to look pretty for him, and just leave it at the fact that she liked him.
Back downstairs, she grabbed her new cell phone, and a purse with a little cash and a credit card, and joined Matthew back on the porch. “I'm ready to go.”
“I thought we could have dinner after,” Matthew said as he took her hand and led her down the garden path to his car.
“So … like a date?” The idea didn't scare her like she thought it would. “Matthew?” she prodded when he didn't answer.
“I promised you I'd take things as slow as you needed, just be your friend.”
“So, not a date.” There was definite disappointment there which told her everything she needed to know about these growing feelings for Matthew that she had.
“A half date. A date but not a real date. A no pressure date. Hell, Grace, I want this to be a date, but I don’t want you to feel like I'm breaking my word to you.” His eyes took on a tortured look as he raked his hands through his hair.
“A date,” she said, reaching out to take his hands, easing them down to his sides, then touching a kiss to his cheek.
“Really?” His eyes which just moments ago had been dark and dull, now sparked with a brightness she couldn’t help but feel the same spark light inside her.
“Dinner and learning to shoot? I think that’s a pretty cool first date.”
He returned her grin and stooped to kiss her cheek, his lips brushing the corners of her mouth. “Definitely a cool date.”
The first of many she hoped.
Grace couldn’t help but feel like she was rocking this rebuilding her life thing. She was looking into registering for school and she had a job lined up. After saving a bit she could find her own place, she was going to get a dog, and she was going on a date with a guy she actually cared about and could see herself falling in love with down the road.
Now all she needed was for the nightmares, the need to keep checking over her shoulder, and the guilt every time she thought of the women who weren’t as lucky to survive Emmanuel’s fable games to go away. The fear that lingered deep in her soul, threatening to dig its claws into her and drag her down also needed to go. But maybe if she added enough positives, they could outweigh the negatives and she could become normal again.
* * * * *
8:41 P.M.
“I didn't do very well. Again,” Grace said with a sigh as she looked at the paper target.
“Hey,” Matthew said, taking her shoulders and turning her to face him. “The first round of shots you fired you didn't even hit the target. The second round you only hit it once right at the very edge of the shoulder. Third round you hit it twice. Fourth round you got four. This time you hit the target with every single one of your shots. I’d say that’s definite improvement.”
“You hit it every single time and look how all your shots are centered right in the middle, mine are all over the place.” She didn't look convinced, but in reality, she’d taken to shooting like a duck to water, that she’d managed to hit the target every time on only her fifth attempt was amazing.
“I’ve been doing this a whole lot longer than you have remember, honey. And honestly, you're doing great. You’re hitting the target, that’s the main thing. If you ever have to use a weapon to protect yourself, even if you hit your attacker in the arm or leg, you're going to slow them down, giving you a chance to get away.”