Page 19 of His Saving Grace

The phone rang a fourth time and the answering machine kicked in. “Hi. This is Steve at the Golden Saddle. Someone needs to come and get Mason before he does something stupid.”

Shit, shit, shit. This wasn’t good.

She grabbed the receiver and fumbled to press the answer button. The phone almost slipped out of her trembling fingers, but she was able to pull it to her ear. “Callahan residence.” Her voice had an annoying shake to it.

“Oh, hey.” A thread of relief wound through Steve’s voice. “Someone’s gonna have to come and get Mason, or I’m gonna have to call the cops and have him dry out in the drunk tank.”

“Umm, okay.” Grace glanced around the empty kitchen. Like wishing hard enough would make someone else appear. “Someone will be there as soon as possible.”

“Okay, then.” There was a click and the phone went dead.

Grace hung up and chewed on her lower lip. Someone needed to go get Mason. She couldn’t do it because she didn’t have a car. Or a license, for that matter. At least not a valid one.

She should call Steve at the Golden Saddle back and tell him to dump Mason in a cab and be done with it. Except, she had no idea how much a cab from town would cost, and she didn’t know if Mason even had any money. She could pay for it, but that would cut into her savings. Would Mason pay her back?

The back door swung open, and Simon stepped into the kitchen. Grace was so relieved she could have kissed him, right smack on the lips. Bella trotted over to him, her tail waving fast. He smiled at the dog and then at Grace and went to remove his hat.

Grace shook her head and made a negative sound. “Someone has to go into town and pick up Mason. I just got a call from what I assume was the bartender at the Golden Saddle.”

“Of course, you did.” Simon sighed and rubbed his eyes. Eyes that had deep, dark circles under them. “Is anyone else here? Mom? Jake?”

“I don’t think so. I know Eloise is out and I haven’t seen or heard anyone else.” She shrugged. “Sorry.”

He sighed again, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling. His chest rose with a deep breath and he lifted his head. “Do you want to come with me? Make sure I don’t fall asleep at the wheel? Or possibly kill my brother?”

She should decline, apologize, grab her laundry and hightail it back to the guest house. It was the smartest thing to do. Instead, she nodded. She would feel terrible if she didn’t go and something happened to Simon.

“Come on.” He turned and pulled the door open, holding it for her.

She turned to Bella. “Stay.” She pointed her finger at the dog. Bella plopped her rump on the floor and hung her head. But she stayed.

Thanking the universe for small favors, Grace turned and slipped past Simon and out into the balmy evening. Now that the sun had set, it was no longer blistering hot. She followed him around the house to his truck. He pulled the passenger door open for her and she climbed inside. He strode around the front and got in. The engine roared to life, he pulled u-turn, and they were headed down the driveway.

“Do you mind?” Simon indicated the radio with a wave of his hand. He turned onto the road at the end of the driveway.

“Not at all.” She smiled to let him know she meant it and wasn’t just being polite. He flipped on the radio and the strains of a popular country and western song filled the cab. Her smile widened, her toe tapping along with the tune. This was one of her favorites.

The half hour drive into town went by quickly. It helped that Simon entertained her with the tale of the night they’d lost a very drunk Jake. Jake had just turned twenty-one and he, Simon, and Declan were visiting Mason, who was on leave, in Virginia. They’d taken Jake out to get plastered. At some point in the evening, Jake wandered off—something about a bachelorette party and a mechanical bull—and Mason freaked out about having to tell their mother he’d lost her baby. Thankfully, Jake turned up a couple hours later, passed out on the bottom of the slide, in the schoolyard down the street from Mason’s townhouse, wearing someone else’s pants.

Grace howled with laughter. Simon was a fantastic storyteller. And before she knew it, they were pulling into the parking lot of the bar.

It was a pretty seedy looking place, with a shadowy parking lot and a pair of broken lights in the patched and precarious neon sign perched overhead. There were a handful of motorcycles in the lot, along with a couple of pickup trucks, including Mason’s.

Simon parked next to Mason’s truck, and she jumped out before he could come around and open the door for her. Because he absolutely would have. If nothing else, the Callahans were gentlemen. Most of the time.

They made their way across the parking lot, Simon walking a step ahead of her. Grace was glad he was with her. The thought of doing this by herself was petrifying. No doubt she would have chickened out once she got a look at the place, hightailed it back to the ranch, and left Mason to his own devices.

Simon held open the door for her, indicating she should go ahead with a sweep of his arm. She nodded and entered the darkened building.

The smell of stale beer, body odor, and something she couldn’t—and didn’t want to—identify assaulted her. Simon touched her lower back and ushered her forward.

“Look, everyone. The cavalry’s arrived.”

She scanned the dim room, and all the faces that had turned toward them, until her gaze landed on Mason. He was sitting on a stool at the far end of the bar, the half-full glass in his hand raised in her and Simon’s direction. His hair was disheveled, like he had run his fingers through it a time or two. Or possibly a thousand.

“Come to save poor Mason from himself.” The words were slurred. Apparently, he’d been at it for a while. He downed the rest of his drink and slammed the glass down on the bar. The thud of the bottom of the glass hitting the wooden bar sounded over the heavy beat of the music playing in the background. He was lucky the glass hadn’t shattered. “Another!”

“I think you’ve had enough.” Simon walked over to him. Grace had no choice but to follow. “Why don’t we take you home?”