soul.
After that, Gracie spent every weekend with John at his home. It was beginning to feel like her home, too. She had clothes there. And a toothbrush there. And Coke in the fridge.
He loved her.
She loved him.
It should have been so simple. But there was a feeling within Gracie that made her uneasy. Like the world couldn't inhale. Like it was holding its breath.
Some nights it left her sleepless, almost afraid to close her eyes. Like something was too good to be true.
The feeling usually faded with the sunrise, but it was never really gone.
James Dunham was a shadow of his former self.
He'd lost nearly fifty pounds in the months since his mother's death. He took sleeping pills to knock himself out at night. He couldn't face the torment of his dreams. Time, and the legal system, had come close to breaking him as he went through the steps to finally become the legal owner of the family ranch.
Five hundred acres of land in Texas cattle country, with a going rate of over $3,000 an acre was a nice chunk of change, and without an inheritance tax for anything less than $5.4 million, it was all his.
And then he sold it.
The day that money finally hit his bank, he went home and cried. It was over. Done. Now he had to find Gracie. And that meant talking to Darlene.
He sat down on the sofa with a beer in one hand and his cell phone in the other, then called her. She answered, and as always, sounded pissed that he was bothering her.
"Hello."
"Darlene, it's me. Don't hang up."
"I already know it's you... Caller ID and all. If I didn't want to talk to you, I wouldn't have answered. What do you want?"
"I need Gracie's address."
"Why?"
"Because I finally sold the ranch, and I need to give her the money."
There was a long moment of silence. "You mean her share."
"No. All of it," he said, and heard Darlene gasp.
"You're serious? What about Daphne and Mamie?"
"Daphne called it blood money and rejected it the day of Mama's funeral. Mamie and Joel rejected it, too. And I can't keep it. I don't want to keep it." His voice broke, and he began to cry. "I think I'm dying. Daddy is in my dreams, shouting at me. Mama looks at me from the foot of the bed with tears on her face. I can't sleep. I’ve lost weight. I need to make all this right. Gracie is the only one who stayed. We all walked away from home and Sweetwater years before Mama got sick. But Gracie stayed. We deserted Mama and Gracie when they needed us most, and Gracie still stayed. The money is hers—by everything that's good and holy. I just need a way to get it to her."
For the first time in years, Darlene felt sorry for him.
"I know where she is. I have her address. And I do know the name of her bank because she mentioned it a couple of times. But that's all. And I don't want to be in the middle of this, but I also don't want you injecting yourself into her life to assuage your guilt."
"Don't worry. I have a lawyer. He'll know how to get the money deposited in her account. I'll write her so she'll know where the money came from. She has to take it. She's the only Dunham who deserves it."
There was dead silence. And then, "Do you have a pen and paper?"
James put down his beer.
"Yes."
Darlene began talking, giving him Gracie's home address, the place where she worked, and the name of her bank.
"Normally, I wouldn't help you across the street," Darlene said. "I'm doing this for Gracie, because she deserves it."
"Is she okay?" James asked.
"Mostly."
"Is she happy?"
"She's damn sure trying to be," Darlene said. "Don't go and fuck this up for her. If you do, your mama and daddy won't be the only people haunting your sleep. Do you understand me?"
James shuddered. "Yes, ma'am."
Darlene ended the call without saying goodbye, but it didn't matter. All he wanted now was to get that money into Gracie's hands before God struck him dead.
It was late September. A heatwave had been hanging over the area for days, highs close to the nineties, with enough humidity to soak the clothes on your back within minutes.
Even the tourists filling the city were either at Table Rock Lake and in the water, inside the music shows, choosing air-conditioned entertaining, or lining up for the water rides in