Grace Read online

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 Christine Baena

  Formatting by Dallas Hodge, Everything But The Book

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, redistributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, print, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Author.

  Indie House Publishing

  Books by Chris Keniston

  Available on Kobo

  Farraday Country

  Adam

  Brooks

  Connor

  Declan

  Ethan

  Finn

  Grace

  Hannah

  Ian

  Aloha Series

  Aloha Texas

  Almost Paradise

  Mai Tai Marriage

  Dive Into You

  Shell Game

  Look of Love

  Love by Design

  Love Walks In

  Waikiki Wedding

  Surf's Up Flirts

  (Aloha Series Companions)

  Shall We Dance

  Love on Tap

  Head Over Heels

  Perfect Match

  Just One Kiss

  It Had to Be You

  Honeymoon Series

  Honeymoon for One

  Honeymoon for Three

  Family Secrets Novels

  Champagne Sisterhood

  The Homecoming

  Hope's Corner

  More on Chris and her books can be found at www.chriskeniston.com

  Follow Chris on Facebook at ChrisKenistonAuthor

  or on Twitter @ckenistonauthor

  Acknowledgments

  Some books come easily, some are a little more difficult. The turning point writing Grace came thanks to the lovely people at Sheldon Feed in Elk Grove, California. Yeah, this Texas gal had to go all the way to California to find a good old fashioned feed store. The gals let me walk around, take photos, and once Manager Susie figured out I wasn’t some crazy woman on a mission (well, maybe I am but we won’t tell her that), she showed me all around, roped in fellow employee Lindsay to answer more questions, and together they volunteered so much information I could hardly wait to get home and write more on Chase and his new career. Ladies you rock!

  I also have to thank my friends Kathy Ivan and Jana Deleon (both fantastic authors). Kathy for letting me sprawl out on her way more comfortable than mine sofa and Jana for sharing her primo chiropractor. Without the three of them I may never have finished Grace!

  I know I’m forgetting so many people, but please know every nugget of an idea, every suggestion, every word of encouragement, every photo for inspiration are all appreciated more than words can express.

  PS all mistakes on life and work in West Texas are all mine and not the fault of my wonderful advisors.

  Please enjoy Grace and the rest of the Farraday clan and stick around for more fun when cousins Hannah, Ian and Jamison come to town to play!

  Chapter One

  Propping the alley door open, Chase Prescott looked left, then right. No sign of his new friend. Dropping another bag onto the pile, he would have loved to shut down, remodel, upgrade, and reopen his new business, but common sense told him that in this small market he could not afford to lose even one customer to inconvenience. Within a week of signing on the dotted line, before opening the doors to customers each day, Chase had been doing his best to get in a couple of hours work cleaning out decades of worthless merchandise. Putting out the trash on his second day at the job, he noticed a stealth dog lurking down the side alley.

  Strong intelligent eyes had captured Chase's attention. Back in Manhattan, it seemed everyone he knew had small yappy dogs with polished toenails and ribbons atop their heads. Convinced this magnificent animal was foraging for food, Chase stepped inside and returned with a dish of leftover lunch only to find the dog had vanished as quickly as he'd appeared.

  The following day, having drawn closer, the prowling animal paused to regard Chase, as though sizing him up, before moving on. This same ritual had become part of Chase's routine the last few days. Now almost time to lock up for the day, he wondered where his daily visitor was.

  Peering around from behind the mountain of outdated dry goods along the alley wall, familiar amber eyes once again sized him up. "Have I not passed the test yet?" Chase crouched down on his haunches, waiting to see if today would be the day the dog would finally come close enough for him to check for any signs of ownership. Patiently balancing in place, he resisted the urge to fist pump the air when slowly the furry canine crept up in front of him.

  Scanning the dog from head to rump, he searched for signs of injury or starvation. Though the fellow looked pretty lean, Chase suspected it had more to do with a high metabolism. "Somewhere," he held his hand, palm open, for the dog to sniff, "in your family tree, I'd bet there's been a wolf or two." Or three. Odd patches of color indicated his maternal ancestors had more than likely been cattle dogs. Maybe border collie. More comfortable of the animal's friendly nature, Chase raised his hand to scratch behind the dog's ears, surprised when he leaned his head into Chase's touch. "Okay, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you do belong to someone."

  The old-fashioned bell over the front doors sounded. Not the obnoxious dong of modern electronics, but the delicate jingle of an era long gone by. Slowly, Chase pushed to his feet. "Sorry boy, I've got to take care of business." Every time that sound rang, a shot of adrenaline spiked, propelling Chase eagerly forward. Who knew a stupid bell could be so exciting.

  Four years at one of the best business schools in the country. Ten years on Wall Street making his mark on the world—and his bank account. Now the remainder of Chase's resume would be condensed to owner of a small-town farm and feed store—and God how he already loved everything about this place.

  The local police chief filled the doorway with a tall man cut from the same cloth beside him. "Hey."

  "Chief." Any other place or time and Chase would have assumed a visit from the local authority meant something somewhere had gone wrong. Very wrong. Here, he'd already learned, paying a social call was the norm.

  "This isn't official business. Call me DJ."

  "Very well. DJ it is."

  DJ's almost-clone stuck out his hand. "Finn Farraday. Nice to meet you."

  "Same here." Before agreeing to buy out the feed store, Chase had done some checking around and knew the Farradays owned one of the largest ranch operations in the county. From what little information Mr. Thomas had shared after the sale, the Farradays had always been one of the store's best customers.

  "I see you're not changing the name?" Finn waved a thumb over his shoulder indicating the storefront behind him.

  "Not—"

  "Well, look who's here." DJ took a few steps forward and squatted down. With its tail wagging, the stray eagerly trotted up to him. "Don't you look happy." The police chief began a two handed under-the-neck rubdown. Had the dog been a cat, he'd be purring.

  Grinning, Finn leaned over to scratch the dog's back then suddenly stopped, cocked his head, and squinted. "Does Gray look a little taller to you?"

  Tilting his body back a bit, DJ shook his head. "Nope."

  "You've got a nice dog." Chase thought the strong lithe dog suited the man.

  "Not mine." DJ continued to stroke the animal.

  Chase looked to Finn.

  "Nope." Finn shrugged. "Not mine either."

  "Hmm. Sure looks like he belongs to somebody."

  "That's what we all thought." The chief patted the dog and stood upright. "
If you figure out who he belongs to, make sure to let us know."

  Chase nodded and wondered who we all referred to. "Sure thing."

  "Well," Finn stretched out his hand again, "I just wanted to introduce myself and give you a welcome to town. I've been late getting around to it, but things have been a bit hectic." He sprouted a grin even wider than when he'd spotted the dog. "Just got myself engaged."

  The pieces fell together. Staying at the B&B until he figured out long term housing of his own, Chase had heard a good deal about the Farradays. Already having met Adam, Meg's husband, and DJ, the police chief, it shouldn't have been such a surprise for Chase to discover the family resemblance extended to more of the siblings. Now he'd also been surprised to realize the strapping man in front of him was the recently engaged youngest brother. "Congratulations."

  Frowning, DJ stepped aside. "Another door open?"

  Chase nodded. "Yeah, that's how the dog followed me…" He looked around. "Where did he go?"

  "That's what he does. Just disappears." Finn shook his head and took another step toward the rear.

  The bell over the door sounded and, like a shooting star, Gray sprang up out of nowhere, bolted past the three men and lunged forward.

  "Shit," three male voices echoed.

  Visions of wolf fangs sinking deep into an unsuspecting customer had Chase sprinting after the animal. Damn it. Finn on his heels, Chase saw the chief reach for his holster and his heart skipped a beat. He didn't want to see the dog hurt, but friendly or not, strays could turn. Just what he needed. Less than a week in town and already Chase would be making front-page news for all the wrong reasons.

  A loud howl pierced the panicked silence. In a simultaneous blur, a tall brunette closed the door behind her—arms stiff, DJ raised his gun toward the door—and the lightning-quick dog leapt up, knocking the lady off her feet and into a display of garden seeds.

  Arms and legs flailing, packets flying left and right, the woman let out a stunned yelp. The police chief and his brother came to a stop silently on either side of her.

  "What the…?" Rather than find a bloodied victim, Chase saw the dog standing over the prone woman, licking her face.

  The two brothers burst into laughter. The chief holstered his gun and Finn turned, slapped Chase on the shoulder, and grinning, muttered, "Here we go again."

  ***

  Flat on her back, Grace took a few extra seconds to process what the hell had just happened. Eyes squeezed tight she finally figured out the new owner's dog was the reason her brothers were laughing at her. What she couldn't figure out was why in the name of all that was holy was the animal slobbering over her like a long lost relative. "Would someone please call Rover off of me?"

  The man she assumed was the new owner of the feed store let out a piercing whistle. Much to her relief, the animal took off in his direction. At the same time, two arms appeared in front of her from either side.

  "You okay, sis?" DJ's voice tumbled over Finn's.

  On her feet and brushing off her clothes, her embarrassment, and the crash landing, Grace honed in on the man now escorting the furry beast out to the rear storage area. "You seriously need to teach that animal some manners."

  DJ swallowed a smile, but Finn made no effort to hide his mirth.

  "About that." Finn scanned her from head to toe, reassuring himself she was not injured, and folded his arms across his chest. "That's Gray."

  Squinting in thought, she looked from Finn to DJ.

  "The dog," DJ explained, as though she'd forgotten how to speak English.

  "Should be penned where he can't hurt the customers." Even though her jeans held no sign of damage, she brushed at an imaginary speck of dust.

  "No, sis," DJ repeated, "the dog."

  "Whatever," she waved him off, turning to the direction the store owner was returning from, "all it takes to go out of business before you get started is for one customer to sue you for trying to kill them. One very pissed-off customer."

  "In all fairness, before you speak," DJ looked to the store owner, "I should warn you. She's a lawyer.”

  "She hasn’t taken the bar yet," Finn countered. "So technically…"

  Grace shot her slightly older brother a venomous glare. Wasn't it bad enough she'd just taken a fall suitable for a slapstick vaudeville routine? She did not need her brother emphasizing technicalities. "I am a lawyer. And if you hadn't noticed, I have a sister-in-law who is not only an extremely skilled and feared litigator, she's licensed to litigate in Texas."

  "She does have a point." DJ shrugged at his younger brother before looking to Chase.

  "I am sorry—" Chase started.

  "You should be." She cut off the attempted apolog, brushing at an arm for good measure before waving over the mess beside her. "Your dog is a menace."

  "Except he's not my dog." The man had an irritatingly appealing smile.

  She didn't need to notice a good-looking man when she was spitting mad. Or his sparkling eyes. "Are you laughing at me?"

  "No, ma'am." His eyes widened. "I'm just pointing out that I am not the owner of the dog."

  Grace took a step forward and Finn slid in front of her. "We told you, sis. That's the dog."

  Furious at her brother for blocking her path, it took longer than it should have for her to realize her siblings were trying to get a point across. One she was clearly missing.

  With his right hand, DJ tapped on the ring finger of his left hand.

  And she got it. "Oh, hell no." She spun on her heel and climbed over the splattered mess all around her.

  "I think I'm missing something,.” The store owner glanced from sibling to sibling.

  Finn and DJ exchanged looks and smiles, followed by casual shrugs.

  "Let's start with introductions." DJ looked to his sister. "Grace, this is Chase Prescott. He's the one who bought this place from old man Thomas." With a half spin in Chase's direction and a wave of his arm toward Grace, he continued. "And Chase, let me introduce you to my sister, Grace."

  Finn chuckled. "And according to Gray, your future wife."

  Chapter Two

  "I thought Grace and Finn would be back by now. Shall we play another hand?" Eileen shifted her attention from the view of Main Street to her friends of well over twenty years sitting at the table.

  "I'm in." Dorothy picked up the deck to her side. "I wonder what's holding them up. Wasn't Finn just stopping in to meet Chase?"

  "Well, the man is single." Sally May cut the deck.

  Ruth Ann waved her hand under her chin. "Don't forget good looking."

  "Very." Dorothy dealt the first cards. "Maybe he's caught Gracie's eye."

  "Better not let her hear you calling her that. She'll slap you with a defamation of character lawsuit." Eileen looked at her next card. Grace had been all of ten when she'd announced she was too grown up to be called Gracie, and heaven help the brother who forgot. She might have been the youngest and a girl, but damn she could keep those boys in line.

  The memory of her family young and carefree and cute and occasionally brawling made Eileen grin from deep down. She missed those days, more than she ever would have imagined when she'd come to help her sister with Grace, and their entire world had shifted off its axis and plummeted into another dimension.

  The original plan had been to stay on while Sean found the right housekeeper. Of course, no one had seemed good enough to Eileen, and sooner than she thought, she'd found herself thinking like her sister and playing mama. And she was okay with that. Singing was something she'd always loved. But not anywhere near as much as these kids.

  "Eileen? You in?" Dorothy stared at her.

  "Oh. Yes." She had no idea what cards were in her hand, but she tossed a chip into the pot, quickly shuffled her cards around and discarded the most useless. "Three."

  "Well, I think it would be nice if Grace stayed in town."

  So did Eileen, but she'd given up on talking her niece out of conquering the world. Hadn't she felt the same way at
that age? "Not happening." At least not yet.

  Sally May shrugged. "You never know. Twelve months ago, I would have bet all the cows in Texas not one of the Farradays would be married by the end of the year."

  "And not just one but three down and three on deck." Dorothy shook her head and tossed her cards down. "I'm out."

  "Would be nice to marry Grace off too." Ruth Ann tossed in a chip. "All the cousins would start popping out around the same time."

  "We are talking about Grace Farraday?" Sally May almost choked on her iced tea. "The same Grace who babysat for the Rankin's youngest and parked her in the high chair in front of the fish tank for two hours so Grace could watch A Few Good Men uninterrupted?"

  Nodding, Dorothy pulled her cards to her breast. "And charged sales tax at the lemonade stand with a premium surcharge if folks wanted a maraschino cherry?”

  Ruth Ann chuckled. "Okay. Okay. I give. What was I thinking? Our Grace is going to be the country's first female former CEO to be elected president."

  All the heads at the table bobbed.

  Smiling, Sally May laid down her cards. "Two pair. Queens and tens. Besides, the dog hasn't shown up yet."

  "Oh, Lord. Don't tell me she's got you waiting for the dog too?"

  Sally May shrugged. "You have to admit, no one else in town has seen the dog except the single Farradays."

  Ruth Ann laid down a pair of aces and leaned back in her seat, shaking her head at another lost hand. "And their future wives."

  "You too?" Dorothy's eyes widened at her friend. "You're all nuts."

  “Well, considering one of the people to see the dog was your granddaughter, soon to be Rebecca Farraday." Ruth Ann shrugged. "You should be a believer too."

  "There is no way anyone is convincing me that a stray dog is playing matchmaker."