Read Online Sticks and Stones by Kerrie Dubrock - Free Book Online

bring
down the swelling and speed the healing process. Now behave while I get the
pain reliever.”
              “Can you also
bring me a candy bar? They’re in drawer next to the phone.” She spotted
Reginald from the corner of her eye. “She’s a pushy old woman.” 
              “That she is,
but she means well, dear,” he soothed.
              Tilda returned
with a glass of water and two small white pills, along with a candy bar. “Here,
take these,” she commanded, placing the pills on Grace’s palm. “So…tell me
about him! How did you meet?”
              Grace swallowed
the pills and placed the empty glass on the side table. She rolled her eyes as
she tore the paper wrap from the chocolate bar. “I’ll tell you everything but
you have to keep quiet until I’m finished. Deal?”
              Tilda sat up
straighter and grinned. “Deal!”
     
    *        *        *
              Blake pinched
the bridge of his nose at the barrage of questions Rick threw at him from the
back seat. “I’m getting a migraine!” he mumbled.
              “Don’t be such
a douche bag and answer my questions,” Rick taunted.
              Max breathed a
sigh of relief when he pulled up to the parking garage. He’d heard enough of
the two brothers bitching at each other.
    When he
slowly pulled away he noticed Blake giving Rick the finger. He shook his head.
“Nice, Blake.”
              Blake shot him
a glare. “Do you or don’t you agree that he shouldn’t hook-up with Grace?”
              “There are
worse people than Rick. Hell, he’s a nice guy and I happen to think he’s
sincere,” Max replied, easing into traffic.
              “I know he’s a
nice guy! But he’s the wrong guy for her. He’s young and not ready to
settle down.”
              “Ben called me
today,” Max said softly.
              Blake twisted
in his seat and frowned. “And?” he prompted.
              “He told me he
made a mistake and wants Grace back. Wants me to file divorce papers.”
     
    *        *        *
     
              “How romantic!”
sighed Tilda.
              Grace snorted,
“Romantic? That I’m a klutz?”
              “Heaven’s no,
child. But the kiss on the elevator?”
              Grace dipped
her foot in the cold bucket and hissed. “Are you sure this is supposed to make
me feel better?”
              “Yes, yes. Why
are you so hesitant?”
              “Aunt Tilda,
he’s young ! It’d be my luck to fall for him and have him dump me for
someone his own age or younger.”
              “Age is just a
state of mind, Grace,” Reginald stated. “Look at me! I’m over eighty years old
and still feel like I’m sixty!”
              Grace rubbed her eyes,
exasperated. “I don’t need heartache, okay?”

 
     
    Chapter Four
              Rick drove home
and pondered driving back to the south suburbs to see Grace. He didn’t want to
be a pest, but damn, he wanted to spend time with her. To find out why the hell
he was so infatuated with her.
              He hadn’t felt
this strongly about a woman since Taylor. He frowned momentarily. As much as he
wanted to put her in the past, he couldn’t. The pain on her face when he ended
things haunted him still.
              He’d just been
drafted by the New York Rangers and was going places. He knew it. Felt it .
But Taylor still had two years before she finished school. He was only being
realistic. Was it easy? Fuck no! But he also knew he wouldn’t be monogamous. It
was hockey, baby!
              And after all
these years, he still felt like a shithead.
     
    *        *        *
              Reginald
watched as Tilda lit candles around her pad. She nodded to him and recited a
spell from her Book of Shadows. Afterwards