Loving Jack(18)

"We're still a couple of kids making out in strange places." He backed  away, linking their fingers again and led Grace into the market.

Jack explained that the market didn't officially open until nine, so  most of the vendors were still closed or just putting out their stock of  fresh goods for the day. Grace stared around wide eyed while he led the  way. There were several bakeries that were already open and doing brisk  business. They stopped at a vendor called Daily Dozen Donut Company.  There was a strange fryer that created perfect mini donuts. Grace's  mouth watered and her stomach growled.

Jack chuckled, "I thought you'd enjoy this." He ordered a dozen cinnamon  mini donuts and a chai. Grace opted for a dozen mixed mini donuts so  she could taste them all, and café mocha. The donuts were delivered hot  in brown paper bags. It was delicious and she knew she'd be back for  more before she left Seattle. Breakfast from a paper bag on a bench with  Jack looking out over Elliot Bay was just about as good as it could get  in Grace's book.





****





Grace shut off the light as she exited her temporary office at Artifex.  After a week in the office analyzing the company's finances, reviewing  their expenses, and researching their various vendors she felt like she  had a solid picture of where the company stood, what changes could be  made to optimize the profits, and she had suggestions as to where some  of that profit could be invested to grow their overall fiscal health.

She'd also spent time in nearly every department in the newly secured  office building. Artifex was larger, with more employees than Grace had  imagined for such a young company. Jack and Rachel had taken the company  from a seedling office in Jack's home, to a thriving and very lucrative  business with hundreds of employees in five short years. The employees  were hard working and well paid for their efforts. She hadn't met a  single person who didn't sing Jack and Rachel's praises.

"Is there anything else I can do for you today, Ms. Yates?" asked Nina,  the assistant who had been assigned to Grace. Nina was actually Jack's  assistant, but he'd been out of the office all week. Jack tasked Nina  with making sure Grace had everything she needed, and Nina had done an  exemplary job.

"No, Nina, thank you. And thank you for smoothing my way this week. I  would have been lost without you," Grace said as she slipped on her  sneakers. She'd decided to walk the distance to the hotel since it  wasn't raining. The rain was another thing she'd have to adjust to if  she moved to Seattle. Grace was used to walking or taking the train  everywhere she had to go. This week of being driven around was making  her feel lazy.

"You're most welcome, Ms. Yates. Enjoy your weekend," said Nina as Grace  left the office and headed down the long corridor toward the elevator.

She was joined by Rachel while she waited for the elevator to arrive.  Rachel and Grace had worked together throughout the week and Grace had  gotten to know the striking woman a lot better. They'd developed a very  comfortable rapport that Grace believed could very easily develop into a  lifelong friendship.

Grace wanted to prod Rachel for information on Jack's whereabouts. After  their breakfast date on Monday Jack had delivered Grace to the office  and left her in Nina's capable hands. She'd hoped to see him later that  evening. They needed to talk. She had to know what was happening in his  personal life. As much as she didn't want her past with Jack to affect  her decision to take the partnership, Grace knew it would. She'd been  determined to keep things completely professional between Jack and  herself. All of that changed when he pressed her against his car and  kissed her with all of the longing she'd been feeling for him. Then Jack  had just disappeared. No call, no explanation, nothing. And it had  actually hurt Grace's feelings.         

     



 

Rachel was all smiles when she saw Grace. "What are you doing tonight? Do you have plans for dinner?"

Grace hadn't thought past getting back to The Fairmont. Every night she  left Artifex she went straight to the hotel in hopes that Jack would  show up to make good on his promise to show her how much he'd missed  her. Every night she had dinner at one of the nearby restaurants and  returned to her room to sleep alone. Every night she woke in the middle  of the night with her hand in her panties and Jack's name on her lips.  It was disgraceful. She was working during the day by choice, but she  was technically on vacation.

"No, I have no plans. I was just going to find someplace for dinner and  maybe a few drinks. I thought I might do some sightseeing tomorrow,"  Grace replied.

"Why don't you let me run you over to the hotel to change into something  more comfortable? Then you can have dinner with me and the family."  Rachel's eyes lit up whenever she spoke of her family. Grace hoped one  day to know that kind of joy. "It's nothing fancy. Tony's making his  mother's homemade pasta sauce."

"That sounds great actually. I haven't had homemade spaghetti sauce  since my last trip home. I'd love to meet your family." Grace wanted to  meet the man who'd captured Miss America's heart. And the more they  spoke of Rachel's kids, the more Grace's heart ached to have her own.

"Wonderful! I'll just call Tony and let him know we're having company."  She did that as they rode down in the elevator. After a quick stop at  the hotel they were off to Rachel's home on a tree lined street in a  quiet suburb neighborhood that reminded Grace of her own hometown. The  houses were the picture of the American dream with manicured lawns and  big front porches. Rachel pulled her minivan into the drive and a little  face pressed itself against the glass of the storm door.

"Mommy's home! Mommy's home!" The little boy's voice was muffled by the  door but the joy it brought to his mother's face could not be muted.

Rachel introduced her husband with the pride of a woman who knew she'd  married well. Tony was equally as handsome as his wife was gorgeous.  They were nearly exact opposites in every way other than their good  looks. He was a tall man where she was short. His hair was as light as  his wife's was dark. His clear blue eyes were a contrast to Rachel's  nearly black. And in spite of the differences, or maybe because of them,  they fit together like yin and yang.

Grace was treated to a front row seat of what life with a four year old  and an infant was like at meal times. Tony stirred his sauce with one  hand and held his infant daughter in the other. Rachel got little  Anthony washed up and wrestled him into his booster seat. While the  couple got dinner on the table, Anthony animatedly explained his busy  day to his mother.

Over the meal Tony told Grace his version of the story of how he met his  wife and the difficulty he'd originally had with Rachel and Jack's  close relationship. Once he got to the part of the story when he  proposed marriage the deep love reflected in both of their faces as they  looked into each other's eyes made Grace feel the need to look away. It  was too personal, too pure, and nearly too painful for her to watch.

After a delicious dinner, Grace and Rachel went out onto the veranda and  reclined in a pair of lounge chairs. Rachel held baby Rebekah and  Anthony ran around the yard chasing a soccer ball back and forth. When  Rachel tugged up her shirt to feed the fussy baby Grace was shocked for  the amount of time it took her to take in the beautiful sight of a  mother with her baby, the baby's tiny hand wrapped around her mother's  finger, the mother nuzzling the top of her daughter's fuzzy little head.  It was moving to behold and again, Grace felt like she was watching  something too beautiful to be witnessed by an outsider. This was not  something you saw in corporate New York. Busy, successful women like  Grace and Rachel had nannies that did much of the child care. This  evening with Rachel's family gave Grace some hope that she too could  have it all, the career, the marriage, and children.

"I've been doing my damnedest not to pry, but I'd really love to know  what you did to Jack," Rachel said and brought Grace back from her  visions of the future.

"Excuse me?" Grace asked a little stunned. "I didn't do anything to Jack."

"Hmmm … So nothing happened on Monday that would have caused him to tuck  his tail and run home to work this week?" Rachel raised an inquisitive  eyebrow.

She was blaming Jack's disappearance on Grace? Did that mean Jack wasn't  out of town? He was home hiding from her? Maybe he just didn't want to  see her. Maybe he felt like kissing her was a mistake. Maybe it was a  mistake. Grace supposed she had her answer to the question of whether  Jack wanted to reconnect or not. She hadn't seen him in years. As soon  as they saw each other their intense attraction had sparked to life in  an instant, just like when they were in college. She was in town for a  few short weeks and Jack was avoiding her. Grace's heart collapsed in  her chest. That was fine. She would give him his space. Would this  affect her decision to take over as CEO at Artifex? She wasn't sure yet.