Swimming out of her deep sleep, Grace stretched and saw Jack slumped in a chair across from her."Welcome back, sleeping beauty," he said quietly.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"Almost midnight."
"No!" Grace sat up, holding her head. "Then Sebastian knows I didn't come home."
"I suspect so."
"I have to..."
"Grace, wait!" Jack said, coming to sit beside her on the sofa. "Let's talk."
"I can't believe I did this with no more planning than..."
"It's okay."
"What? How can you say that? I haven't even told you why I'm here."
"I can guess, but I would rather you tell me about it."
Grace pulled back to take a good look at Jack's face. "You know something, don't you?"
He nodded. "I've sort of kept up with you over the years."
"Me? Why?"
"Because we knew the man you married, and we were worried about you."
"We? We, who?"
"Sebastian and Mike and I."
"Sebastian?"
"Oh, sorry, Sebastian Compton. Friends in college, remember? Not your Sebastian."
"You're telling me that someone I barely remember has been worried about me? That doesn't make sense." Grace lurched to her feet, with Jack right behind her.
"Grace, take a deep breath and listen for a minute." Jack raked his fingers through his tousled hair, wondering where to start. "We have files on your husband, files that could send his sorry ass up the river, but we sat on it until ... until ... you chose to leave him." Jack lowered his face to hers. "That is what you've done, isn't it?"
Grace closed her eyes. "I don't understand any of this. I didn't even know I was coming here until I was already in the taxi. Who are these people, Sebastian and Mike?"
"Have you totally forgotten my old college buddies? We used to hang out together, then Mike became a cop and Sebastian went to law school. Me? I'm ready to take over my dad's business when he retires, but mostly I'm the guy still trying to watch out for you, just the way I've done since kindergarten."
"But the others?"
"They think I'm crazy, but they're my friends," Jack said. "And we are so ready to take on your husband."
__________
Next nominated writer: Catherine of Still Standing on Her Head
6 comments:
Oh, Bonnie, this is good. You've taken it on nicely ... and you were so speedy! Brilliant. I like this little twist, which adds to the suspense and the intrigue. Nice way to flicker off from the previous part. :-)
Ooh, brilliant Bonnie, you've picked up the threads and continued the story really well! Well done! I was hoping the next person would bring the story back to Grace. I like the multiple strand thing that is now going, and the multiple POVs - keeps it interesting and intriguing.
Thanks, Seamus and Vanilla. I tried to figure out where in the world all those threads could take us ... and this is what seemed possible to me.
Oh I'm so glad my comment turned up, my ISP has been on the blink and I thought I'd have to try again this morning.
By the way, I've nominated you for a "nice" award! ;-)
Bonnie!
I didn't know you had this until today, I thought Moon Topples was supposed to be writing until I checked in at the circle page.
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I LOVE *LOVE* love what you did with it! How wonderful!
Thank you, excellent work and nice turns.
Now off to the next writer!
Scarlett & Viaggiatore
Great segment, Bonnie!! I've never read an online multi-author story before, but this one is getting me hooked. It's starting to read a bit like a mystery, it seems.
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