Grace never failed to keep him on his toes.
You’re welcome. Take care of yourself, okay?
Don’t worry about me.
He set his phone on his coffee table, knowing there would never come a day when he didn’t worry—or think—about Grace Danvers.
Chapter Nine
Two weeks after Thanksgiving, Grace hadn’t seen nor spoken to Jaime. That had been a fairly difficult task, given the size of the town they lived in and Jaime’s connection to her family. But Grace had wanted to honor his wish to stop whatever it was they’d been doing, although in actuality, she’d been too frustrated with him to see his face and not shake him until his teeth rattled.
She’d had an idea forming in her mind since then. If one of the main reasons they couldn’t be together was because of this ridiculous investigation, then perhaps Grace could do something to prove Jaime’s innocence. At first she dismissed the idea as too ludicrous. What could she do? She had an art degree, not a police badge. But as the days passed and she longed for Jaime just as much as ever, she felt like she had to do something. It was better than waiting around, hoping things would change.
On a bright, chilly day in early December, Grace awoke to a light snowfall. It was the first of the year, and it covered the world outside in a bright white blanket that hurt to look at too long. She’d never been much for snow, but she had to admit, it was pretty. But snow or no snow, she had a mission to accomplish.
She put on her snow boots and her coat and set off for River’s Bend. It was Sunday, and it was early. No one would be there—specifically Adam, who had taken to staying at Joy’s most nights and wouldn’t be leaving her warm bed to sit in his office at the vineyard. One of the many good things that had resulted in her brother’s engagement: he actually acted like a human being who didn’t work every hour of every day.
Grace had snagged the key that her father always had on hand. Going to the back of the vineyard’s main building—which made her heart pound, because it was close to where she’d spilled her guts to Jaime that night at the wedding—she unlocked the door, careful not to track snow everywhere.
She shivered. They kept the heat low when no one was around, and she guessed it was close to sixty degrees in here. She kept her coat on, stuffing her hands into her pockets. She’d forgotten to bring gloves. Darkness coated the inside of the front room, and she experienced a feeling like this wasn’t really River’s Bend at all, but some alternate reality version of it. She shook it off. If she were going to do this, she couldn’t stand here and stare at the wall like an idiot.
She walked back to Adam’s office, using the same master key to unlock it. She had no idea what she was even looking for, and part of her wanted to go back home and abandon this crazy scheme. But she was here for Jaime, wasn’t she? She shut the door quietly behind her before sitting down at Adam’s desk. Papers were scattered across it: financial reports, printed emails, bills, other kinds of correspondence that meant little to Grace as she scanned them. She had to smile at how often her brother printed emails. Didn’t he know he could save them in a folder on his computer and save a few trees?
She shook her head. She looked through the papers on Adam’s desk, but she knew he wouldn’t leave something particularly important on top of his desk like that. She logged onto his computer, and then realized she’d need his password. Cursing, she tried all kinds of combinations, but nothing worked.
Sitting back, she drummed her fingers on the desk. Well, this wasn’t good, was it? She began opening drawers, looking at pens and pencils, and then saw a yellow post-it attached to the inside of one of the drawers.
Username: ADanvers
Password: 1122Grapes
Grace laughed out loud. Her brother really needed to work on his computer security. She input the password, and it let her in without a hitch. Seeing all of Adam’s things on his desktop, she sighed, beginning to open anything that seemed important. Guilt curled in her stomach, realizing that this wasn’t exactly something Adam would be happy about if he found out. Then again, she was just looking, right? She was