AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He pulled from her driveway and turned the truck right on Sunset Beach Road. Then he turned right on Main Street. Looking at the Garage as he drove past, he noted all looked well, which he was both grateful for and thought was weird. Why focus on Grace? Except, she was likely considered his Achilles heel. And that wasn't far from the truth. He was growing incredibly fond of her. He looked forward to spending time with her.
He swallowed the lump that grew in his throat and turned right onto Classified Drive. He should have known something was up with Classified Drive. All the other streets here had simple names. First Street. The alley between Main Street and Classified Drive was named Alley. Nothing here was overly complicated, which was one of the things he enjoyed so much about this town.
He turned right again as Classified Drive swept to the right and there it was. A huge house at the end of the street. He'd never looked before because it was largely concealed by palm trees. But, now that he'd driven past those, the large white house stood out as a masterpiece on a canvas.
Grace sat forward. "Holy cow."
"That's what I was thinking."
"You didn't know he had this huge house?"
"Nope."
He stopped at the base of the steps leading up to the front doors. Massive double doors painted white to match the house were adorned with brass knockers.
He swallowed, not sure he knew what to think with this revelation. He'd always known Jace to be down-to-earth and carefree. This place must take an enormous amount of effort to keep up.
Shutting the truck off, he jumped down and walked around the front of the truck to open Grace's door. As soon as she stepped down, she turned to stare once more at the house, then moved to let Chiefy out.
He opened Chiefy's door for her, Grace grabbed Chiefy's leash, and as soon as Chiefy jumped down, she sniffed around looking for a place to pee.
Sid shook his head and chuckled. This didn't look like a place that anyone would pee, but then again, Chiefy was really quite special, and a dog.
One of the front doors opened and Jace stepped out. He held his arms wide. "Welcome, friends. Welcome."
Chiefy barked and Grace bent to pet her and soothe her. "It's okay, girl."
Sid pulled Grace's backpack out of the truck along with Chiefy's food. The three of them walked up to Jace, both in awe and grateful for a place this nice to sleep in.
Jace laughed. "Welcome to my place."
Jace stepped aside and waited for them to walk in, then he stepped in and closed the door.
"This is incredible, Jace."
"Thank you. This used to be the home of a former governor, who lived here before he went to Tallahassee to govern. He was wealthy and he had grand taste. He never came back to live here after he stopped governing. Instead, he moved out of state, to places unknown. There was a bit of a scandal here before he left that he was having an affair with one of the daughters of one of his big-time donors. So, he was afraid to come back. At least, that's the rumor people love to tell. But, it sat empty for a number of years by the time I got here. It needed a ton of work, but I liked the location and the story behind it, so I bought it. To this day the townspeople call it the Governor's Mansion."
20
Grace patted Chiefy. "Sit."
Chiefy sat and Jace chuckled. "She's good here. You can let her off the leash."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. Come on in and make yourselves comfortable."
Grace looked up at Sid and he nodded.
She unhooked Chiefy's leash and she started sniffing the floors, rugs, furniture, everything. Grace chuckled, "That will help her sleep."
Jace nodded. "Good. I'm just about ready for bed, so let me show you your room."
Grace shrugged. “I’m sorry it’s so late.”
Jace chuckled. “It’s not late for me. The bar closed at two, then I do some cleanup to take the edge off. I’d just gotten home when Sid called.”
There was a large, curved staircase that swept along the wall to the right. Jace started up the staircase. Sid waited for her to follow him, then he followed behind her. Chiefy was close behind.
