Seven Days Grace (A Grace Rose Novel Book 1) (10 page)

‘
That
’
s not fair
,
Kate
,’
Grace said smiling. Then she stared at the man who stood before her
,
stunned.

‘
Grace
,
it
’
s m
e.
Jake
,
from America
,
remember?
’

She looked at him long and hard.
Do my eyes deceive me?
‘
Jacob?
’
she managed.

‘
You did like Jacob
,
didn
’
t you?
’
His smile was big.

‘
Hello? What
’
s going on here?
’
Kate asked.

‘
I can
’
t believe it
,’
Jake said ignoring Kate.

‘
You can
’
t believe it? What on God
’
s green earth are you doing here in my home town?
’
Grace asked
,
still reeling from seeing him again.

Kate interrupted.
‘
You two know each other?
’

Grace kept her eyes glued on Jake and said
,
‘
We worked together when I lived in New York. How long has it been Jacob? Two
,
maybe three years?
’

They hugged with some awkwardness
,
both spoke at the same time about
‘
What a coincidence
’
and
‘
I
’
m in shock
’
and
‘
You look exactly the same
’
.

‘
I didn
’
t recognise you with longer hair. You used to have a buzz cut.
’
He is sublimely good looking.

‘
Yeah
,
the time came when I left the force and could finally have some hair again. All happened around the big three o.
’

‘
It
’
s a milestone turning thirty
,
congratulations.
’

Jake nodded
,
‘
I guess so
,
thank you.
’

‘
Grace?
’
Kate asked.

‘
Jake was the police officer in the local precinct near my office. He would keep me up to date on the latest cases and provide information for my stories.  I was there almost every day during my year in New York.
’

‘
Oh
,
yes
,
I heard all about you and –
’
Kate said.

‘
What did you hear?
’
Jake asked.

‘
She heard nothing. It was all the incredible people I met while I was overseas
,’
Grace said as she stared Kate into a corner who agreeably said nothing more about it.

As they conversed
,
Grace considered Jake. She soaked in his presence. She let her mind lie to her
,
telling her she had no feelings in seeing someone who was merely a colleague in New York and nothing else. Truth be told
,
she was besotted with him. He had been one of those men who you would sense was in the room. There was something about his presence
,
he was strong and vibrant. Jake had a swimmer
’
s physique
,
he was tall and lean with broad shoulders. Brown tousled hair and deep brown eyes completed the picture. His smile was the clincher. She remembered it from her time in New York. It was one of those smiles only for you
,
as if there was no-one else in the entire world. His focus was on you and you alone. Those pearly whites gleamed from ear to ear.

‘
What are you doing with yourself?
’

‘
I
’
m a journalist at
The Sydney Star
. Same old
,
same old.
’

‘
Of course
,
you were great at it. Regular stories of court cases
,
political scandals
,
police reports
,
right? Are you still up to the same kind of thing?
’

‘
Yeah
,
not much has changed.
’

‘
You can say that again
,’
Kate said.

Jake smiled at Kate.
‘
I
’
m not surprised.
’
He turned his attention back to Grace.
‘
There
’
s nothing like covering the cheerful news to get you through the day.
’

Grace smirked.
He is beyond hot. Don
’
t forget your vow of no dating
,
ever. Get a grip
,
girl.
‘
True. Someone has to do it. So
,
what about you? What are you doing these days? Still policing and bringing justice to those who deserve it?
’
She thought she better be polite. She had developed such a crush on Jake in America
,
yet
,
he was engaged at the time so he was off limits.

‘
I have my own business now
,’
he said.

She paused as she took a sip of her drink and looked at him over the rim of the glass. She waited for him to continue but he stopped there. Finally to break the silence she said
,
‘
Doing what?
’

‘
I
’
m in private investigation now. Sorry
,
I
’
m shocked from running into you.
’

‘
It
’
s mind blowing. So
,
is PI work better than policing?
’

‘
Oh
,
similar but different. Work is work
,
however
,
there
’
s a little less pressure in this line of the day to day slog
,’
he said.

She knew what he was saying. Lately she had begun to tire of the constant deadlines
,
the stress and the pressure. It was time for a holiday. As much as she enjoyed taking flight with Kate
,
she wanted someone special to travel with on a holiday. It wasn
’
t a conscious thought and typically she soldiered on with her job.

‘
Sometimes PI work is interesting and other times it
’
s downright boring. There
’
s nothing worse than sitting in a car outside someone
’
s house for hours on end trying to catch a cheating spouse. It has its good side
,
too. Ther
e
ar
e
a lot of other cases we work on besides trying to catch people in the act of adultery.
’

‘
Otherwise you
’
d be likely to go insane. So
,
is your wife here with you?
’
She peeked at Jake
’
s wedding ring finger. It was without a ring. It happened in a heartbeat and she hoped no-one noticed.

‘
No is the short answer. It didn
’
t work out.
’

‘
Oh
,
I
’
m sorry
,’
she meant it though smiled inside her heart.

‘
Do you think I
’
m the kind of guy that would have a drink, with someone like you, if I was married?
’

‘
We
’
re old friends catching up.
’

‘
Like I said, with someone like you?
’

Grace polished the table in front of her with her napkin
.
‘
I don
’
t know how to answer that
,
’
she said
,
knowing he was staring at her and unable to bare it any longer.

‘
You
’
re off the hook
,
for now.
’

They talked for about an hour as others jostled around the table. She found out he was in Sydney for a few months
,
working with Christian on a case where he couldn
’
t discuss the finer details. It sounded clandestine and curious though she chose not to probe further as she had enough to think about with The Voice
.

‘
Christian
,
showing Jake the sights no doubt
,’
Grace said with a sideways glance to Christian who now had his arm around the shoulders of her friend.

‘
I
’
m actually from Melbourne so I don
’
t know Sydney much at all.
’

‘
Y
ou
’
re both newcomers to Sydney
,
how exciting. We can show you around
,
can
’
t we Grace?
’
Kate offered.

‘
We wouldn
’
t want to impose but we will if you insist
,’
Christian said.

‘
Perhaps
,
it
’
s all a matter of time though
,
with work and all
,’
Grace said.

Jake had a quick conversation with Kate and Christian about all the sights they should visit while he was stationed in Sydney. As they chatted at the table
,
Grace mentally removed herself from the situation and their voices drifted into the background noise of the bar. She became lost in her thoughts. Jacob Williams. She rolled his name around in her head again and again. She cast her mind back to New York and how they had a connection she hadn
’
t felt with anyone since she left the Big Apple. Is that why her love life had been a disaster? Had she been hanging on to the hope of meeting another Jacob? Her dating life in the States had been a series of jocks
,
not unlike last night
’
s episode
,
where they fell in love with her accent and desired a trophy on their arm. And that was the extent of it.

He had often reprimanded her when she
’
d called him Jacob. She loved his name. She found it to be strong and masculine like his character. He often tried to line her up with some of his buddies
,
as he called them
,
though it usually didn
’
t go well. He appeared devoted to his fiancé. Of course
,
she was magnificent. Hispanic background with wavy
,
dark hair falling below her shoulders
,
dark brown eyes like saucers you could lose yourself in and a waif-like figure to die for. She wondered why it hadn
’
t worked out. And here he was in Sydney. Could she go there? He was here for a mere few months and how would she ever recover from such a heart break. She imagined it already. It would be as if someone had taken her heart out of her chest
,
thrown it on the ground
,
stomped on it a few hundred times then put it back in expecting it to function as it had before.
I simply would not be the same
,
ever.