Once again, I thank all you lovely readers and reviewers. Hope this chapter pleases.

Chapter 13

Grace leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms. She sighed deeply and a piece of dirty blonde hair swept into her eyes. She left it there.

She sat there for a good ten minutes, the frown growing more and more pronounced.

Grace was sitting at her kitchen table, glowering at the tequila bottle in front of her. The damn thing was half empty, and Grace was doing everything in her power to make sure it stayed half full.

This brought to mind an interesting question. Exactly how optimistic was she? Did she think the glass was half full or half empty?

Grace laughed at herself as she scrunched down. Once she was eye-level to the bottle, she decided that the bottle was just under half full. That, unfortunately, did not answer her question.

Optimist or Pessimist?

It's not a hard question, really. Optimist or Pessimist? Faith or No Faith? Idealist or Cynic? Hopeful or Resigned?

C'mon, Polk, she berated herself, are you an optimist or a pessimist? There's only two choices—an easy decision, and you know it.

Hm, now the bottle was only a third full. How odd.

"I am an optimist," Grace decided.

Silence.

"I am a pessimist," she asserted.

Ringing silence.

"Who the bloody hell cares?" she asked the kitchen.

The room spun slightly.

"When did I turn British?" she slurred. "Bloody wankers, the lot of them."

She giggled helplessly. She'd always wanted to go to Britain.

Grace awoke the next morning with only the haziest memory of her drinking binge. She decided to call that a blessing and went to work without a second thought.

xxxxx

"Dammit, Joan," Grace exclaimed before quickly lowering her voice, "what did I tell you about visiting me at work?"

"I am not to surprise you at work unless copious amounts of blood are outside of the body, I have won the lottery and am willing to share, or God Himself has asked me to come," she repeated dully.

"Is anyone bleeding?" Grace asked.

"No."

"Did you win the lottery?"

"Oh, no. I didn't even play this week."

"And did God direct you here?"

"Yes, Grace," she said sarcastically, "during one of our morning chats He asked me to pick up the newest Barbara Kingsolver novel. He hears it's quite good."

"I've never understood why you take so much offense to the idea that God tells you to come here," Grace said.

Joan didn't answer.

"Why are you here, Girardi?"

"I wanted to remind you to come to my dinner party thingy tonight."

"Your dinner party thingy?"

"Well, if you'd prefer I call it the Macaroni Meet 'n' Greet as Joe does…"

"Um, no."

"Alright, then. You'll be at my dinner party thingy?"

"I promised I would." Grace looked like she was seriously regretting the promise.

"Good," Joan said, "if you show up, I promise I won't surprise you at work for a whole month."

Well, damn. Girardi was smarter than she looked.

xxxxx

Grace had been living in Arcadia for four months. She worked as a third manager for the local Border's. It was an ideal job for her; she got to boss around idiot teenager and direct ignorant customers to books that might change their minds. It was a game to see if she could convince hard-core Republicans to buy the latest Michael Moore book. Plus, the hours were flexible and the pay decent. She liked her life in Arcadia.

Of course, nothing was perfect. Two weeks ago, Adam's dad suffered a stroke. He was fine now, but Adam still hadn't returned to Florida. In fact, he seemed quite prepared to move into the old shed. Grace smiled evilly, remembering the phone conversation she had overheard a few days ago. His girlfriend, Nicole, wasn't very happy about his prolonged stay. She had been especially upset when Adam mentioned Joan.

Grace had decided at that moment that Nicole was an idiot. Joan was still with her coffee house boy, despite Grace's insistence that their names didn't work together. Joan and Joe sounded like bouncy identical twins, not a twenty-something year-old couple. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Joe worked for a coffee house. It was disgusting.

Anyway, Nicole had decided to come out to Arcadia, causing Joan to decide that everyone should get together. She had convinced Joe (an excellent chef, even Grace had to admit) to cook something for them all. Grace figured the night couldn't be too bad; Joe did make excellent macaroni.

The thought of the macaroni was the only thing that got her through the rest of her day. When she got off at four thirty—almost an hour after she was supposed to—she hurried home to change.

Just as she was about to leave for dinner, she noticed the blinking light of her message machine. Fully expecting it to be Joan, she swore and smacked the 'play' button.

"Hey, Grace," Luke's voice said. Grace froze. "Um, how are you? I'll be seeing you tonight at the dinner thing, so you can tell me then. Just wanted to let you know I'd be there. Look, don't tell Joan I left this message. She said I was supposed to be a surprise. Oh, and don't kill her, please. Idiot she may be, she's still my big sister and I kinda like her. Uh… see you later. Bye."

Well.

That was a surprise.

Despite Luke's plea, Grace considered killing Joan. Or, at the very least, giving her a broken bone. Honestly, who would blame her?

Grace shook her head slightly and left the apartment. Time to face the music.

xxxxx

Adam and Joan were sitting in the living room when Grace showed up. Adam seemed a bit shell-shocked, and Joan gave him a warning look. With a resigned sigh, he got up to greet Grace.

"Rove," Grace said.

"Polk," he answered.

"Girardi," Grace directed at Joan.

"Hi, Grace," she said brightly. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"A Coke would be nice," Grace said.

"I'll go get it." Joan hopped up and practically ran to the kitchen.

"What's with Girardi?" Grace asked as she settled herself on the sofa. Grace suspected she knew already, but was curious to see what Adam would say.

"She's worried about tonight," Adam said tightly.

"Why should she be?"

"She doesn't think Nicole will like her," Adam said, "which I keep telling her is ridiculous."

"Oh, come on, Rove, you know Nicole will hate her."

"Why do you guys keep saying that?"

"Look, you and Girardi have this connection, you know you do, and any sane girlfriend would be jealous of it."

"Now that is ridiculous."

"No it's not," Grace said with a patience that surprised both of them. Silence fell over the old friends.

"What's taking Joan so long?" Grace asked eventually. "I'm thirsty."

"Oh," Adam smirked, "maybe Joe needed some help?"

"Joe's in the kitchen?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Oh, God," Grace moaned. "I'll never get my Coke."

"It's not looking good," Adam agreed.

"How much you want to bet he lets the garlic bread burn?"

"Why would he do that?"

"Last time Joan stuck her tongue down his throat he managed to ruin the meatballs," Grace explained, "he doesn't take distractions well."

"I love garlic bread," Adam whined, "he better not burn it."

"Go interrupt them, then," Grace dared.

"You could not pay me enough to go into that kitchen right now."

Grace's laugh was cut short by a knock on the door. Adam answered it, and pulled Nicole into a hug. Grace's shoulders slumped in relief. She wasn't ready to see Luke yet.

"Hello, Grace," Nicole said.

"Hi."

"Nice to finally meet you," she said politely, "I've heard so much about you. Seems you and Adam grew up together."

"We go back a ways," Grace agreed. Okay, she didn't seem too bad. Overly polite, maybe, but Adam could have done a lot worse.

"Um, I brought some wine for us all," she said hesitantly. "Should I go put it in the fridge?"

Never mind. That girl was an absolute bitch. Grace glared at Adam.

"Nicole, honey," he said, stepping between the two women, "why don't I show you were the kitchen is. Grace, we'll be right back."

"Bring me back a Coke," she said testily.

Grace glared at the couple as the walked toward the kitchen. Adam was whispering something into Nicole's ear and she was nodding sadly. Grace didn't want to know what he was saying.

The doorbell rang, but before anyone had a chance to react, Kevin and Beth invited themselves in. They joined Grace in the living room. A few seconds later, Adam returned with sodas for everyone.

"Where are Joan and Nicole?" Kevin asked.

"They went to Joan's bedroom," Adam said.

Kevin raised an eyebrow.

"Shoes were mentioned," Adam explained.

Kevin chuckled slightly. Beth glared at him. Grace rolled her eyes.

Joe popped his head out of the kitchen and said hello to everyone. They all said hello back and fell into small talk. Joan and Nicole appeared and joined in.

Grace didn't really pay attention to the conversation around her. She was going to see Luke that night. Any minute he could show up. She didn't know how to feel about this. A large part of her was pissed at Joan for the whole thing, but another part of her was happy at the thought of seeing Luke again. Then there was the part of her that was ashamed of her behavior the last time they met. And then, because she wasn't confused enough already, a part of her really wanted to break down and tell Luke everything. But she couldn't do that, not with everyone watching.

Oh, God. A terrible thought occurred to her. What if she started crying when he showed up? No, she wouldn't. She couldn't.

The bastard, she thought viciously, how can he late?

A timer went off in the kitchen and Joe ran to the stove. Beth and Joan got up to set the table.

"I wonder when Luke will get here," Kevin said. "He's not usually late."

"Joan's going to die," Grace muttered. Luckily, only Nicole heard her. Grace smiled brightly at Nicole, who decided to remain silent.

"He probably just lost track of time," Adam said.

"Well, he better get here soon," Kevin said. "I'm hungry and you know Joan won't let us start without him."

"Well, aren't you the nicest big brother in the world," Nicole joked. Grace really didn't know what to make of that girl. One minute she seemed scared of her own shadow, the next she was teasing Kevin.

Joe walked in from the kitchen, still wearing potholders.

"Dinner," he announced grandly, "is served."

"It is not!" Joan stood in front of the dinning room with crossed arms, daring anyone to enter.

"Dinner," Joe corrected just as grandly, "will be served shortly."

"Oh, my God," Grace breathed. Would this night never end? And where the hell was Luke?

There was a knock on the door, and Grace almost laughed at the timing. Joan rushed to the door, flung it open and threw herself into Luke's arms.

"Hey, Joan," he said, "long time, no see."

"What possessed you to move to California, you dork?" she asked him.

"Why didn't I get that greeting when I came back from Florida?" Adam asked quietly.

"Don't start the wounded puppy act, Rove," Grace warned, "it's beyond annoying."

Adam might have responded to her, but Grace wasn't paying attention. Luke's eyes had caught her's.

Kevin, completely oblivious to the tension in the room, rolled over to his brother and gave him a slap on the back.

"Good to see you again, Luke."

"You, too, Kev," Luke managed to spit out.

"When did you get in?"

"Last night, around eleven," he answered, eyes never leaving Grace's. Kevin finally seemed to realize he didn't have Luke's attention. He shifted around, caught the look between Luke and Grace, smiled widely and headed toward Beth.

Grace got up, hands shaking only slightly.

"Hello, Grace," Luke said hesitantly.

"Luke," she said quietly.

Nicole looked like she was about to say something, but Adam shushed her. Joan was looking back and forth between the two, her forehead creased in worry. Joe looked confused.

"How are you?" Grace asked.

"I'm good," he answered. "You?"

"Pretty good."

"Oh, for God's sake," Beth burst out, "would you please hug or cry or… or do something."

Everyone in the room stared at her. She blushed deeply, but held her head up high.

"C'mon, guys," she said in a calmer tone, "I barely know the both of you, but even I can feel the tension between you. One of you has to give."

"My money's on Luke," Kevin said with a smile. "He was the pansy in their relationship."

Luke shot him a look of pure loathing.

"I'm not sure," Adam said, "Grace always did like him more than she let on."

Grace rounded on Adam. Looks like both Joan and Adam were dying tonight. Shame, really.

"No, it'll be Luke," Joan said. "Grace is too stubborn."

"It's gotta be Grace," Nicole said. Grace grit her teeth; this was unbelievable. "Look how pale she is. She's about to do something big."

"I don't know," Joe said, "from what I've heard, Luke's the one who did all the work when they were together. Anything big will be done by him."

"Exactly what have you heard?" Grace snapped.

"Nothing," Joe lied quickly.

"I'm sorry, but do I know either of you?" Luke asked.

Joe and Nicole shook their heads sheepishly.

"Um, Joe, this is my brother, Luke. Luke, that's Joe, my boyfriend," Joan said quickly.

"And, uh, this is Nicole," Adam said. "Nicole, this is Joan's younger brother, Luke."

"Nice to meet you," Luke said civilly. "Now, can we please eat? I'm starving."

"I like you," Joe said. "Hurry up, everyone. It won't taste as good cold."

All things considered, the meal went pretty well. Grace and Luke, of course, were forced to sit next to each other. They didn't talk much, but what they did say was pleasant enough, if a bit forced. Grace mainly talked to Beth, who was sitting across from her. Turns out the newest Barbara Kingsolver book was pretty good.

In fact, if Grace had left as soon as dinner was over, she could have called the evening a success. Unfortunately for all involved, Joe let it slip he had made cherry pie, and Grace never left without some of Joe's cherry pie.

"Oh, I forgot," Nicole said suddenly as they were eating dessert in the living room, "I brought wine for us all."

Luke and Adam exchanged panicked glances.

"That's okay," Joan said quickly. "We'll drink it another time."

"Oh, no," Nicole said, "it's a perfect after-dinner wine."

"I don't care if it's freaking Cakebread," Luke snarled, "we'll save it for another time."

"Luke, calm down," Adam snapped.

The silence stretched. Tension grew. Finally, Grace couldn't take it anymore.

"Nice seeing you all," she choked out as she gathered her things. "Dinner was delicious, Joe. Good-bye."

And with that, Grace left the apartment. Luke followed her.

"We were so close," Joan said sadly, "to getting through the evening without a crisis. So close."

xxxxx

xxxxx

This is the first time I've ever tried a cliff-hanger. You're dying to know what happens after Luke follows her, right? Right? Well, you should be; it's quite important. (ooh, I think that may have been a teaser)

I'm fairly certain the above paragraph is proof I've lost my mind. I'll find it before finishing the next chapter, I promise.

FYI: Cakebread is a wine company. It's very expensive and, from what I've heard, one of the best.