Chapter 44: You Again

“Looking for you.”
“Why?”
“You need a place to stay tonight?”
“No, thanks.”
“I talked to Dolores. I owe you an apology. She is pregnant. And the baby is mine.”
Frustration welled up inside of her, making her grit her teeth. “The baby is not yours.”
“Why would Lors lie?”
“Zach, because you’re an honorable man who would do the right thing by her.”
“How you would you know that?”
She bit her tongue to avoid blurting out that she’d known him. He shouldn’t think she’s crazy. He was the one person who she needed to trust her. “I just do.”
“Whose baby is it?”
“I can’t tell you. It doesn’t matter. She’s going to lose it tonight anyway.”
“Oh?”
His brow knitted and she wished she could take the words back. “Never mind.” She brushed past him.
He grabbed her arm. She saw the vision again.
“You can’t make a statement like that and walk away.”
“Zach, I have to. You don’t believe anything I say. So why would you believe this.”
“I talked to her because I think maybe she is in trouble. Dolores hasn’t led a blameless life.”
“The drugs, I know.”
His mouth opened, but he snapped it shut. “You know about that?”
“Yes, go on.”
“Dolores and I lost touch for awhile after the divorce. Well, as much as we could since she was dating most of my coworkers. I heard . . . stuff, let’s say. Maybe she pissed someone off.”
“Do you think her capable of blackmail?”
“No, I don’t.”
Then this conversation is over.”
“Grace.”
“Stop, Zach. It’s a stretch for you and it isn’t good enough to get me in your bed. It’s just lip service.”
***
Celia Johnson was the last person Zach expected to invite over for dinner. But she was his sister and his dealing with Grace had made him realize that life could be short.
She showed up dressed in conservative jeans he didn’t know she owned.
“I know I don’t look like myself, but I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
He led her into his living area. She looked around and he realized she hadn’t ever been here. She was the only family he had and guilt streaked across his soul.
“Wine?”
“No thanks.”
“No?”
“I quit drinking. It interferes with. . . .” Her hands flailed as if trying to grasp a word. “My gift.” Her hands rested at her sides. “Why am I here?”
He smiled. “Cut to the chase, huh?”
“I’m a little too tired for a confrontation.”
“Sit.”
She settled on his oversized, leather couch. Crossing her leg she looked at him as if waiting for the wisdom of the ages. He didn’t know where his ability to forgive her came from. Maybe his time with Grace made him realize that Celia’s power wasn’t always a positive thing for her.
“I’m sorry.”
Celia’s black tinged mouth dropped open. “You’re sorry, huh? For what?”
He sat beside her, his jean clad knee touching hers. “For not being a very good brother.”
She chuckled her gaze never leaving his. “You have it bad.”
“Huh?”
“This Grace has you good.” She ran a hand through her unruly red locks.
“I don’t know what Grace has.”
“She had a gift. She may not see it that way.”
He leaned back on the cushions Grace’s face in his mind, her lips pursed in consternation.
“Believe her.”
“I’m trying Celia.”
He brushed a hair from her face. “Will you forgive me?”
“I had a long time ago. I knew you didn’t understand that I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I can’t control what I see, but I feel compelled to tell you.”
He nodded thinking maybe he did understand. “So what do I do about this woman?”
She laughed again. “If I have to spell that out, Zach, then you’re in worse shape than I thought.
***
Grace couldn’t sleep. She went for a run and ended up in Dolores’ neighborhood.
No lights were on either in Dolores’ house or the garage apartment. “I wonder if that guy is going to show up?”
He couldn’t because that was Mark. She sighed.
A scream catapulted her out of her reverie. She took Dolores four front steps in one jump. She knocked, then barreled through the unlocked door. “Dolores?”
With her eyes already adjusted to the darkness, she could navigate through the house to the bathroom. A light shone and illuminated a crumpled figure. “Dolores?”
Surrounded by blood Dolores didn’t move. She had a weak thready pulse. Grace dialed 9-1-1 then returned to monitor her patient. No one else had heard the scream.
Flipping open her cell phone, she dialed Zach’s number. “Zach, it’s Grace Harmony. I’m at Dolores’ house. She’s in trouble.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Come quickly.”
She disconnected, not wanting to explain. She wasn’t sure if Dolores had been shot or she’d lost the baby. Most likely this was the miscarriage.
A siren sounded in the distance, a welcome sound. The EMT’s arrived first and went to work. Two paramedics she worked with rolled on the scene. They loaded Dolores into the ambulance just as Zach arrived.
“She’s losing the baby,” Grace said to him. “I’ll drive.”
He followed, his face a study in disbelief. “The baby?”
“I think so.”
“She really wanted this baby.”
Grace just nodded grimly.
***
The scene of Zach pacing in the hospital emergency room was getting tired and stale for Grace. She went through the heartache with him three times now. Her strength ebbing, she wasn’t sure she could go through this again. She had to solve this during this rewind.
She brought him coffee, He held it, not taking any sips, as if he’d forgotten that it was there. “Drink.”
He looked down at the white Styrofoam cup as if he’d never seen it before this. “Can you find out what’s happening?”
“I can, but it’s better to let them work on her. They’ll let us know when they can.”
He nodded, obviously knowing that was the answer she would give. “I was just starting to wrap my brain around the idea of a kid. Never really thought about having one. When Dolores and I divorced I didn’t expect to remarry.”
“One never knows what life brings us.” She rubbed her head. “Sorry, that was trite.”