A/N: Whoever reads please review and give me your honest opinion, and tell your friends!!! :)
Chapter 4:
(Wayne's point of view)
I stepped outside of the house to the enormous backyard that was now packed with Grace's family. There were a few people who had the same of Grace's long beautiful hair. It was hard to find her in the swarm of people that were roaming around aimlessly. I finally found a picnic table that contained some of Grace's family that I had already met and talked too.
"Hi there baby doll." said one of Leanne's friends, Mary Sue, before I could get to the table.
"Oh hi Mary." I said uncomfortably trying to walk away from her, but she wouldn't give up.
"Ya know, I got me a room at the hotel near by if you wanna go take a look at it, if ya know what I mean." She said winking and laying her hand lightly on my chest.
"Well I think that that's a great idea." I said. Her face brightened and she smiled at me in excitement.
"Meet me at the hotel in ten minutes, I'll try to trick Grace into giving me the keys to her car." I whispered and smiled at her. She let out a girlish giggle and went running into the house. When I looked up again I saw Grace standing next to me glaring through her long dark eyelashes.
"So you're going to ditch me and leave with that skank?" she asked, looking as if she was on the brink of tears.
"No of course not." I said trying to comfort her.
"I just said that so she'd get away from me. Imagine her surprise when she gets stood up probably by the first guy ever." I said laughing.
"So you're implying that she gets any guy, saying that she's beautiful." Grace crossed her arms and composed her face so it didn't reveal anything.
"No, of course not! I was just sick of her always hanging around me, and I thought you hated Leanne and all of her friends so I did it for your satisfaction as well." I threw my arms up exhausted by having to explain myself all the time.
With that she smiled and hugged me slightly, only to be reminded that the rest of her family was around. She pushed me gently but still let me hold one of her hands. She led me forward towards a picnic table were Yolanda, Leanne, Chad, Gerald, Derek and Grace's dad Jeff were sitting. Everyone moved slightly trying to fit us all in. The table grew quieter, as it always did when I joined. I could tell by the look on Jeff's face that Derek and Chad had filled him in on the whole bedroom fiasco. He glared at me as if to say "You do that to my daughter and I'll send you to the darkest pits of hell." I squirmed a little in my seat, obvious to everyone how awkward I felt. I guess Grace saw the look her dad gave me since she murmured "Dad" and looked at him through angry eyes.
"Where are my manners? Wayne would you like a hamburger?" He asked plastering a fake smile on his face and setting a burger onto my plate before I could answer. I smiled in politeness but didn't know what to do next since I suddenly felt very queasy. I looked around the table trying to find someone to pick up a conversation with. Yolanda sat at the far end of the table picking at her nails, also obvious to the unpleasantness of the table.
"So Yolanda, Grace tells me you're a physic?" I said picking at the coleslaw salad that was on my plate.
"Oh yeah, I have a little shop in Las Vegas." She said bobbing her head. From the looks of almost everyone except Grace, they obviously disapproved of her work.
"When are you going to stop all that mambo jumbo you call 'looking into the future'?" Jeff said. Yolanda's nostrils flared as she looked at him with her mouth set in an ugly frown. He slathered ketchup onto his hamburger and reached passed Leanne to reach the jar of pickles' unaware of Yolanda's expression. Grace's brothers nodded in agreement, probably too scared of say something to upset their father. They bent their heads over their plates and ate their food in silence.
Out of nowhere a tall beautiful woman walked up behind Derek and patted him on the back. Her wavy blonde hair was tied into a messy braid that was slung carelessly over her shoulder. She wore a purple tank top with white shorts that showed off her long tan legs. As she looked at Derek her light blue eyes sparkled from the sun that shined on her face.
"Macey needs a diaper change and I have to get Liam something from the car." She said.
"Yeah sure." He agreed to willingly, which created an expression of confusedness across her face. She smiled showing of a pair of perfect white teeth that shined just as much as her eyes. Grace hit me lightly on my arm, obvious to how much I was gaping at the woman that stood before me. She looked up and met my eyes smiling and walked towards Grace and me.
"Oh hi, you must be Wayne, Grace's new boyfriend. I've heard so much about you." She said shaking my hand.
"It's nice to meet you too." I whispered too in awe of her beauty. She turned abruptly and walked around the house with her car keys swinging in her hand. I was shocked at how a guy like Derek could get a girl like that. He wasn't a model but he wasn't that good looking either. I was surprised of his looks, since most of Grace's family was pretty good looking. On the drive over Grace told me that ever since he was twenty, he started putting money in the stock market, and had pretty good luck ever since. Just like his dad, both women probably married them only for there money. I felt bad for them, but that feeling soon went away as I remembered how crudely they were treating me.
I looked over at Grace who was quietly nibbling on a piece of her hot dog. Everyone had put so much food on the table that they kept on urging her to take more and more. I put my hand on her knee under the table and moved my thumb in slow circles.
"Yolanda, did Grace tell you about Jane?" I asked. Grace spun her head quickly towards me and made hand motions as if to tell me not to talk.
"Why not?" I asked surprised at her reaction.
"Who's Jane?" Yolanda asked Grace, crossing her arms in annoyance.
"Um… Patrick Jane is just a consultant on our team." She said quietly not making eye contact with anyone.
"Grace?" Yolanda asked in an unapproving voice. I could hear her foot tapping under the table in irritation.
"Well he can sort of know things about people just by looking at them and talking to them for a little bit." She said.
"Oh! And don't forget the smelling." I said. Everyone looked at me as if I was insane.
"No, no, he sometimes smells the victims at the murder scene. I know it's weird but he closes cases." I chuckled remembering Lisben saying that all the time.
"There's something you're not telling me." Yolanda said.
"I can feel your scared, go ahead and say it already. I won't bite."
"Well he doesn't really believe physics exist." Grace said looking away from Yolanda.
"What!" she screamed standing up.
"How can he even say something like that? Of course we exist! I'm here aren't I?" She said storming off. As she walked she mumbled under her breath that if she ever see's him she'll teach him a lesson. Grace looked over at me frustrated and angry. She massaged her temples and rested her head on her hands. I could tell this trip was making her angrier by the second. I shut my mouth not wanting to say something to annoy her even more.
"Oh my, this family get together has made everyone go crazy!" Leanne laughed as everyone sat stoned faced and unmoving.
"Well since this party ain't any fun, I think I'll just head over to the spa to get me a facial! Darling I need money." She said sticking her hand out in front of Jeff's face. He pulled out a worn leather wallet from his back pocket and pulled out three hundred dollar bills. Leanne grabbed them quickly and left the table. Chad and Gerald obvious to the fact that almost half the table was gone, took the chance to go as well.
"Were gonna go get some beers dad, you want one?" Chad asked. Jeff nodded his head in agreement and off where the brothers to creep as far away from their family as possible. They were gone before I could even ask for one myself. I knew if I did ask they would probably "forget" to bring it any way. It was just Grace, her dad and I left sitting in silence. I looked around at the kids in their bathing suits jumping over the sprinklers. There were about a dozen of them, all sizes playing together. The yard led into a forest that seemed to go on forever. Grace told me that she had once actually got lost in them, and nobody could find her for hours. I imagined myself running in aimless circles inside the forest not knowing how to get out. What scared me even more was the idea that it was Grace stuck in the forest instead of me. My mind wandered on as I imagined all the scenario's Grace could have been in when she lightly tapped my hand.
"You want to take a walk? I could show you around the neighborhood?" Grace asked.
"Yeah sure." I said standing up and saying bye to her father. He looked up slightly, but went back to the pile of food that still sat on his plate. I turned and followed Grace to the side of the house and onto the brick path we had come from when we first got to her house.