Grace on Fire

---

I wasn’t the only one with secrets. Grace was uneasy when I confessed my love for Raj, and her hands began to tremble. I could only assume that her reaction was that of judgment (Carmen mentioned she was uptight), but then the next thing I knew… Grace was bawling inconsolably.

We tried to comfort her – holding her in our arms, feeding her sips of champagne, and handing her tissues from a box – but then she spilled forth, like a damn that had broken, telling me of her fraudulent lover, and how he had taken all of her money. 

Carmen had informed me that Grace’s father had passed recently, but she had failed to disclose this major, and incredibly pertinent fact! More than losing everything, and a broken heart, Grace was embarrassed and ashamed. Carmen was the only one she had confided in, and she had sworn her to secrecy. 

How one might expect to travel across the country, by automobile, after experiencing a traumatic event like that and then not talk about it the entire time – or even mention it – was beyond me. And Carmen could never keep a secret when we were kids, especially from me, so I was shocked that she had kept this from me. To be quite honest, I felt a little betrayed. 

The only good that came out of Grace’s revelation was the fact that it minimized my confession. My affair with Raj was not the headline story. I was thankful for that.

“Why are you letting him get away with that?” I snapped.

It may have been callous, but I was not willing to stand by and let Grace do nothing. There was still a chance that some of her money could be recovered. Besides, this guy needed jail time. He’d just do it to someone else. She simply had to report it. 

It took a lot of convincing, and even more alcohol, but Grace eventually conceded. We hunkered down with our devices and scoured the internet, digging up all that we could on this so-called Jason. I made a call to a friend in Happy Valley, who was married to a high-profile attorney, and the ball was set in motion.

By the evening’s end, and in spite of all that she had been through, Grace was on top of the world. Her aura had changed completely. She was feeling empowered… and there was a fire in her soul.

TO BE CONTINUED

In case you are new to the story (A NaNoWriMo Novelette), HERE is the beginning.

I don’t have any big notes this evening. The image was a real challenge and it started messing with my writing (and attitude!). At some point I need to stop that!

It’s day 9 and I’m at 2,542 words – not too shabby! That’s an average of 282 words a day… so still on track.

Anyway, I hope you are enjoying the story!! Another realization I’ve had is that if I really want to write, I need to learn how to write dialogue. I’m not going to practice that on this story – but definitely the next.

That’s about all for now! I have a Zoom class in an hour…

Until later,

Peace & Love!!