Grace Anne Read Online Free PDF

piece, I won’t be able to
either.” Joey handed her a plate of cake and sat down beside her.
    “Thank you, Mrs. Cunningham. It’s delicious.
And thank you for allowing me to come here today.” Grace took a big bite of the
cake.
    Joey watched her eat. She was
happy to see that she didn’t pick at her food, but ate with gusto. She looked over
at her son before she decided to dig a little information from her. The last
that Joey had heard, this woman had made Michael very mad, and now here she was
at his son’s birthday celebration.
    “Call me Joey. And thank you. My
daughter-in-law made it. To be honest, I think she buys it, but she won’t say.”
Joey took several bites before she continued. “I hope the two of them didn’t
force you into coming today. It was lovely that you’re… I’m going to be honest
and snoop. What is the relationship between you and Michael?”
    Grace laughed. It was a beautiful
sound and Joey noticed that Michael turned to the sound as if drawn to her and
it. She smiled. Curiouser and curiouser.
    “Ask your son, Mrs. Cunningham or,
better yet, your grandson. I’m just here because I’d been backed into a corner.
After this party I’m sure that you’ll never see me again.” Grace looked over at
Trace and the other children. “Do you ever wonder what they think about when
they play together? What could be going through their minds when they get up in
the morning?”
    Joey looked at the children and
then back at Grace. “Mostly I just enjoy them. Their laughter and their antics.
Trace is such a joy and I see him more than any of the other grandkids. He and
Michael lived here with us until about six months ago. Michael now has a house
closer to town and Trace comes to the offices when he gets out of school. It
works out well for the both of them.”
    Joey waited for her to ask about
Trace’s mom. When she didn’t, Joey wondered about it. But then she didn’t have
a clue what the relationship was between them, and it didn’t look as though she
was going to get any information from her. She watched Michael as he talked to
his brothers. He seemed to keep his attention on Grace as well. Joey thought
about Trace’s mother.
    Victoria Hamilton had been a force
to be reckoned with. Joey had never thought that Michael and she suited. They
fought constantly and, when they were not fighting, they were arguing. Michael
had told her there was a difference in the two, though Joey had never been able
to figure out what it was. There was still loud voices and name-calling. But
when Victoria had told Michael she was pregnant and was getting an abortion he’d
made arrangements to keep the child.
    He’d paid her a great deal of
money to not terminate the pregnancy and if she delivered, then he would pay
her a million dollars. She’d agreed and had even signed over all rights of the
baby to Michael. Eighteen months after Trace was born she had been killed in a
boating accident that took the lives of two others. It had been nothing more
than an accident.
    “I really should be going,” Grace
said as she stood up a little while later. “I’ve called a cab. I have a lot to
do tomorrow.”
    Joey was about to protest her
leaving when Marshall, the butler, came to say there was a taxi at the gate for
Miss Waite. Smiling, Joey thought she’d just let her go and not tell her son. Walking
Grace to the door, she told her that she was happy to meet her and wished she’d
come back soon. With a firm handshake and no reply, the girl left. She was just
shutting the door behind her when Michael came into the hall.
    “Where’s Grace? I looked around
and couldn’t find her.” He continued to look around as he continued. “I thought
maybe I’d ask her to spend the night so that Trace could spend more time here
tomorrow.”
    “She left,” Joey said as she walked
away. “She said she had a lot to do tomorrow and she—”
    “What do you mean she left? How?
And why did you let her get away?” He grabbed