A Little Bit of Grace by Phoebe Fox

Author:Phoebe Fox [Fox, Phoebe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780593098356
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-08-11T00:00:00+00:00

Seventeen

Millie’s hands were solid on the wheel of the CruiseBeast as we pulled out of the hotel grounds twenty minutes later, but I could see the toll all the evening’s activity had taken on her. Pouches I hadn’t noticed under her eyes made her look tired, her customary bright lipstick had worn off, and for the time since I’d met her she looked her age.

“Did you have fun, Gracie?” she asked, her voice slightly hoarse.

“I did, actually.” I heard the surprise in my tone, and Millie must have too, because she smiled.

“I was so glad you met Bridget . . . she’s one of my favorite people. And you and Jason seemed to be enjoying your chat,” she added. “Chats.”

“He’s . . . nice,” I said carefully.

My phone was in the beaded clutch Millie had loaned me—I hadn’t touched it all night, but now to avoid her searching gaze I found myself unsnapping the clasp, pressing the screen light, glancing surreptitiously down at it.

I stared dumbly at the screen.

“Brian called.” I didn’t know I’d said it out loud till I heard my own voice. “Just a few minutes ago.”

Millie shot a glance at me as I wrangled the phone all the way out of the small bag, the rubber edges of my OtterBox catching on the silk lining. “Brian?”

“My—” I caught myself. “We used to be married,” I said.

“Oh.”

She sounded surprised, but I didn’t bother to elaborate as I hit the voice-mail icon and pressed the phone to my ear.

“Grace.” Silence followed the single syllable of my name, and I pulled the phone away to glance at the screen, thinking that was the end of the message. It was still playing back, I saw, just as I heard him speak again. “I guess it’s late and you’re probably . . . well, I don’t know what. Or where, actually.” He laughed, the manufactured one he used when courting new clients. “But anyway . . . just . . . let me know you’re okay, okay? It’s weird not to know where you are, and I wanted . . . Well. I hope you’re having fun. Or whatever. Can you just let me know you’re okay?”

My heart was racing, my hands shaking as I dropped the phone to my lap, staring out my window at nothing, all the pleasure of the evening blown away like dandelion fuzz. The silence in the fancy electric car was total.

“I should probably tell you I could hear that,” Millie said gently.

I bit down hard, clenching and unclenching my jaw. Jason was wrong—it didn’t make anything feel less bad.

“It’s a weird situation,” I managed finally, still staring at the blackness outside the passenger window.

I didn’t want to talk about it. Didn’t want the eternally upbeat Millie trying to cajole me over to the bright side. I didn’t even know what bright side there was at the moment. Why did he call? Why the hell did he think he had the right to know where I was?

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