Chapter 1

"Ms. McKenna, what are you doing in here?" Gracie looked around the small room and then back at the man standing over her. She asked him if this was the break room or not. "You know very well that it is. However, I asked you a question first. What are you doing in the breakroom at…" He looked at his wrist, which didn't seem to have a watch on it. "It's too early for you to be sitting down for a break. So, for the third time, what are you doing in the breakroom at this hour?"

"I'm not trying to be smart or anything, but I'm on break. And it's not too early for me to be having one. I've been here since four o'clock yesterday afternoon. It's now four o'clock—twenty-four hours later, and I'm taking my first break. I don't need to point out to you that I'm entitled to thirty minutes during each eight-hour shift, so that gives me at least two hours." She put her phone away and picked up her lunch, which was now old and yucky. "I'm also off the clock now, and I was eating something before I took myself home."

"You didn't clock out, did you? I hope you haven't, for your sake." She said that she had, that her shift had been over sixteen hours ago. "Well, I guess it sucks to be you. I need you to cover another shift. You'll need to take your timecard to your supervisor and have them fix it so that you're still on duty. Which means you're very lucky that I'm not writing you up for taking a break when you should be working. In case it has escaped your knowledge, you're not in charge here, I am."

Gracie put her lunch things back in her bag and stood up. She loved that she was able to tower over the man, Mr. Gardener, about a foot. It had him stepping back, and of course, an added bonus that it was pissing him off as well. It was like an extra perk that she'd not been aware that she was going to get. As she headed to the front door, having had enough of working four days in a row with only eight hours off, she was going to go home. For all she cared, they could fire her if they wanted.

"Did you hear what I said to you, young lady?" She stopped at the front door and turned to look at him. "If you walk out that door, so help me, I'll fire you. And we'll see about you getting paid for all the work that you supposedly did, too."

Without a word, and there were so many that she could say right now, she turned again and headed out the door. Of course, he followed her, yelling for security as he came out the door right behind her. Even as she made her way to her bike, wondering if it would start again, Mr. Gardener grabbed her arm and swung her around. If not for the sign saying that she was in the motorcycle parking lot, she would have fallen back on her ass. As it was, he gave her a shove, and she hit the hard sidewalk anyway.

Gracie saw security holding back Mr. Gardener from kicking her. He had his foot poised and his body in a position that told her had he been able to connect with her head, he might well have hurt her badly. Sitting up, she asked what had happened.

"He kicked you while you were down, the son of a bitch." She loved Marty, the only female and the toughest security personnel that she knew. "I saw him chasing you, too. Threatening you with firing you for not staying over another shift. Did you tell him that you'd been there for an entire thirty-six hours already?'

"I was here for only twenty-four this time. Marty, I don't think that I'm feeling all that well." Lying down on the hot concrete, she felt her belly lurch up. Leaning over into the grass, Gracie threw up everything that she'd just eaten. Holding her head, she noticed that her hands were covered in blood. "I think he really hurt me."

Whatever went on after saying that, she didn't know. Bits and pieces were there for her to see but she couldn't have commented on anything even if she could have. There were bright lights, questions being hurled at her, and someone screaming. That part she was able to figure out. Mr. Gardener was the one yelling.

She couldn't find her phone when she woke up again. It had been in her lunch bag to keep it from being lost, and of course, that didn't work. The sucker was about eight years old; the screen was broken in about five places, and it wouldn't hold a charge for more than a few hours. Even if she wasn't using it. Someone handed it to her, and she had to work hard at focusing on the person before she could make out who it was. Lucky for her, the man spoke before she tried to make guesses as to who had answered. Then everything went black.

Waking up again, she knew that she was in the hospital. And that there was someone, someone that she thought that she knew, in the room with her. Not being able to see anything, there was something over her eyes. She asked who was in the room. Then, when her head started to explode in pain again, she asked them if they would please be quiet, too.

"It's Jenson, honey. Jenson Strong. Your friend, Marty Simon, called me when you got here. How are you feel—"

"Too many words." He told her that he understood and was no longer a shadow over her. Or he was a good deal shorter than she had ever thought. "Where am I? I think that I was hurt. By that man, Mr. Gardener."

"Marty said that he literally kicked you while you were down. Also that he grabbed you, knocking you over in the first place." She started to nod and thought better of it. "She's been calling here every twenty minutes since you were brought in. making sure that you were taken care of and that you filed a report against him. I did that for you. I didn't want him getting away with hurting my buddy like that."

"Thank you, Jenson. The fucker wanted me to work another shift." He asked her how many she'd worked before today. "I'd have to look at my notebook. The fucking prick said that he wasn't going to pay me either if I left. I've finally had enough. Where am I? Did you tell your parents?"

"You're in the emergency department and have been since yesterday afternoon. They waited until I could be reached before they decided to move you to your own room." He handed her the notebook that had all her shifts in it, but she was too sick to read it even if she could see it. Jenson took it from her with a short laugh. "You've been working…Christ, Gracie, you've been working around the clock for the last thirty-six days? What is the matter with you?"

"My head hurts, and I feel like my ribs have been kicked around. And I know about how many hours…he said he wasn't going to pay me any overtime." Jenson snorted, telling her that he'd take care of him. "Are you still helping out homeless women and the working class, Jenson? Didn't I tell you that you need to have a home life, too?"

"Look who's talking. How much of a home life do you have working all the time?" He laughed a little harder. "My parents are both here. Also, my wife. You knew that I was married, right?"

"Yes, I read about it in the paper, Mr. Congressman . She must have been very desperate to have married you. I'm guessing since you're all married up by now, so where does that leave me? Broke and lonely, that's where." She had to stop cracking jokes, or she was going to be sick again. "Did you call in anyone else?"

"No. I didn't call them. No one knows that you're here but some of my family." She nodded, then cried out. "They've put some stitches in your head and cheek for you. It didn't improve your looks, by the way. Still as ugly as you've always been, you know."

"Jenson Strong. What a thing to say to someone. Especially one of your oldest friends." Gracie knew the voice, but it was the wonderful scent of lilacs that told her that it was Mrs. Strong. "Oh honey, even with the stitches in your cheek, you're still a beautiful woman. Jenson, introduce your friend to your wife. Then, I'm going to tell stories. These two, Jade, were like two peas in a pod growing up."

Before any stories were told, someone else came into the room. Mr. Strong. He had always smelled like Old Spice to her. She didn't know if he actually wore it, but that was what he reminded her of. When he kissed her on the forehead, he whispered that he wouldn't allow Lisa to tell the embarrassing stories. She was grateful for that. There were some really embarrassing ones of the two of them. By now, her head was pounding harder than she thought it ever had before. And that was saying a lot for her.

"They said you can have something for pain if you want it." She said that she did before she puked on him. Jenson laughed and told her that he'd have Jade take care of her. "My wife is a doctor, too. I hit the jackpot with her. I can't wait for the two of you to get to know one another. I'm going to make sure you stick around this time."

She knew as well as Jenson did that she'd not stick along more than she needed to. Now that it was out there that she was around here, back on her own stomping grounds, she'd have to move on, or her uncle would come around her friends as well. Not that she didn't think that Jenson and his brothers could handle themselves, they could. But she knew that her uncle wouldn't stop at just knocking her around but spuing nasty lies about Jenson and his family.

"I'm giving you a little extra, Gracie. I know how redheads can be." She felt the pinch and then the mellowing out of her body. "There you go. Don't let it get ahead of you. When you need meds, don't be shy and not ask for them."

If Jade said anything else, she didn't hear it. Gracie not only felt her head stop pounding, but also, her body didn't seem to be screaming in pain either. Christ, she was happy that she'd been in the hospital if simply for the better, quicker drugs.

When she woke up this time, she wasn't in the emergency department. While she didn't know how she knew that, she also had a feeling that she'd been in her room for more than a couple of hours. Looking around, being able to do it because her eyes weren't covered up again, she saw Jenson in one of the chairs reading something and Mr. Strong sitting in the other.

"What's a seven-letter word for stockpile? It starts with the letter ‘h'?" Gracie answered Mr. Strong before thinking about it too hard. "That's right. Hoard. Thank you. How are you feeling, dear?"

"Like I've been kicked to the ground. Why are you guys still here? I thought for sure that you'd be bored to death watching me sleep." Mr. Strong said that he was enjoying the quiet, and Jenson said he'd been able to get a bit of work done. "What day is it?"

Mr. Strong got up to leave, and she was worried about that. She liked the other man, had always liked him but she was very intimidated by him. Just as much as she was his entire family. With the exception of Jenson. They really had been friends for a very long time.

"You've been here for a little over a week now. Counting the emergency room where you spent three days. Your head wound isn't healing like they had hoped it would, and they took you into surgery the day before yesterday." Jenson moved closer to the bed so that she could see him better. "How many times did he hit you, Gracie? And when was the last time?"

"If you remember, it wasn't him on the recent beating. Plus, you know my story, Jenson. I have a shitty life." He nodded and asked her when the last time she had seen her uncle. "If I've been in here that long, then it's been about two weeks. He caught me off guard coming out of the grocery store a couple of days before that. Why?" Her uncle Bradon Shipley hated her with a passion. He had since the day she'd been born. For reasons that she couldn't understand.

"You have a concussion. Not to mention a nice deep wound on the top of your head that no one noticed until now. You should also be aware that Jade ordered a body scan for you, and they found your broken ribs. Six total that aren't from the last time. You have a fractured femur that hasn't been taken care of, as well as two fingers that have been broken. How are you even getting around?" She asked him what else. "What else? Are you expecting more?"

"I always expect the worse. You know that." He nodded, and she had to look away. "Why are you hanging around here? I'm serious, Jenson, you should go home and make babies or something. Getting laid will help you be in a great mood." He told her that he had a son now and was taking care of him better than she was taking care of herself. "I'm fine. I swear. So long as I'm diligent and watch out for him anyway."

"Where is Danny?" She hurt then. The mere mention of his name would send her into a spiral. She told him that Bradon had killed him last month. "Oh, honey. I'm so sorry. I know how much you loved that dog."

"He was my best friend when you had to go away." He told her how sorry he was. "It's all right, Jenson. He was a good dog and kept me aware of my surroundings, too. I miss him every day."

Danny had been her support dog for more years than she could remember. The poor old thing had been getting old, and it broke her heart when he was murdered. Even if she thought of how he'd been killed, it would make her want to go out and find Bradon and give the same to him. However, she never saw him until it was too late for her to react.

"I've come to a decision for you. I know that it's going to piss you off, but I'm taking you home with me when you get out of here. As I said to you—you might not remember—Jade is a medical physician and can keep you from hurting while you recuperate. And I think you need that more than anything right now." She didn't say anything knowing that he'd just piss her off arguing about it. "Also, your boss? Mr. Gardener? He's been arrested too. I told you that I pressed charges for you, but Marty came to the station with the recording of the two of you in the lunch room and into the hallway leading to the doors. I hadn't realized that he'd demanded that you work another shift when you'd been working twenty-four already."

"I needed the money." He asked her what she had needed money for that badly if she was going to be working all the time. "Because if I don't have money on me when Bradon comes after me, he hurts me worse."

"Oh, honey. I'm so sorry." She told him not to call her honey. "I will call you what I want. And you're going to behave yourself, too."

She was hurting too much to argue with him. Not that it wouldn't do her any good. Arguing with him had never gotten her anywhere, but she was happy that he told her to rest after the nurse came in and gave her some more medication. Whatever they were giving her, she was sure that it was costing more than she made in all the hours that she worked. And right now, she thought it was well worth it.

~*~

Maverick decided that he loved living in a house. He'd been staying at a rental house while he'd been away for the past seven months, going to college as a refresher for the family. While he was happy to be home, he didn't care for the condo that he was living in anymore. It was too small, too tight—too everything. But he didn't have time to go and look at places today or, for that matter, the rest of the week. He wanted to catch up with his family and meet the new additions, too. Picking up his phone when it rang, he did want to talk to his dad today.

"You can't be seriously thinking of giving up your condo life." Maverick had to smile, loving how his dad answered the phone like they'd been talking for an hour already. He asked him why he'd say that. "You've been living in that same place for all your adult life. I believe you still have the same furniture you had when you moved in at eighteen, son."

He looked at his furniture and told his dad that he was probably right. "I do have a new mattress, however. It's still in my old bed frame, but it's a different mattress. And I think that I might have new silverware too. The last set I had was some of yours and Mom's old stuff that I took with me."

"Yes, with the strange swirly design on the bottom of it. I remember that. I think there wasn't even a full set of them when you took them." He said that he'd only had one fork when he'd finally gotten rid of them. "What am I going to do with you, son? You're the financier with our money and you won't spend a dime unless you absolutely have to. I'm surprised at times that you don't have any new clothing in your closet. You do buy new underwear on occasion, don't you?"

He didn't tell his dad that he still had some of the clothing that he had in high school and college. In particular he still had his tee shirts from the chess team as well as his football jacket that he'd gotten himself his senior year. He was sure if he looked, he'd still have the long socks that he wore with his uniform. But he did have new underwear. His mom still bought them for him when she was out. Maverick knew that he'd never live it down if he told anyone that.

"Did you hear that there is an estate auction tomorrow? I'm going to go with Barton and his son, Sherm. You've no idea how much I love saying that. When are you going to have me saying that about you, Maverick? Just putting it out there for you." He told his dad that he'd only been back for one day to give him some time. "All right. You know that I'm only teasing you a bit, don't you? But anyway, if you're looking for a house, there is one at this auction. I've done the specs on it. It'll need some loving and some repair work, I would say, too, a major update on the kitchen, but it's a well-built house with a lot of potential. I thought about getting it for the foundation, but I'm sort of intimidated by the amount of land that comes with it. Also, it has a lot of bedrooms."

"How many bedrooms? And are you expecting me to fill them anytime soon?" His dad laughed, just what he wanted him to do. "I'll go. If for no other reason than to hang out with you and Barton. I've missed you guys."

"Your mom is going to have you and the others over for dinner. She told you, didn't she?" He told him that she had and had said to him that she'd be making all his favorites. "Oh great. Then, I'll be getting a few favorites of my own. All right. I'll pick you up in the morning. Unless you want to drive. I don't mind either way, but we'll be bringing Warren with me. Warren Dutch. He's Toria's father and grandda to Sherm. You heard about his other daughter, didn't you?"

"Only what I was able to catch up on with the news last night. She's a character, isn't she? I mean, the fact that she tried to get her nephew and sister killed off is enough for me to be glad that I wasn't around when she was." Dad told him that she was saying that it wasn't her fault. "Don't they all say that? I mean, come on. You told a lie so that they'd react. She got that and more for her lies."

He and his dad talked a little more, setting up a time for in the morning as well as what he had to give them in the way of information that he'd gotten taken care of while away. After hanging up, he sat down on his couch and decided that it, too, had to go. It had lost all its cushiony in it about ten years ago. Now, it was like sitting on a steel frame and nothing more.

Pulling up on his phone where the auction was being held, he was excited to see that it wasn't too far away. About three miles from where he lived now. Which, by his estimations, it would be about eight miles closer to his parents and the rest of the family. Calling Barton, telling him there was a preview going on now about the house he was going to tomorrow, they decided to head there now and see if they could scope out some information before the morning. Even Dad, being at Barton's house then said he'd like to do that.

The drive was made longer because of the road work that was going on. That was another thing that he'd not missed while being gone was how much traffic there was to deal with. The little college town that he was in didn't have much in the way of places to look around in nor did it have but one stop light. He supposed that he'd have to get used to driving around again.

The house was situated about a thousand feet from the street that went by it. Driving up the long drive, he was unhappy with the amount of people who had the same thoughts as he had but it was all right. The house wasn't being looked at as much as the things that were strewn out all over the front lawn, ready for a sale tomorrow.

"It's a lot bigger than I thought." Maverick told his dad that he thought it was, too. "My goodness, it looks great from the outside, but I told you, the land had me a bit off it."

He asked the people there where the auctioneer was and they pointed to a woman directing where to put boxes. He could tell that she was stressed, so he was as polite as he could be when asking her about the house and the specs on it.

"I have the ones that came with the announcement of the sale. But do you have anything more detailed?" Dad showed her what he had, and she was nodding without giving the papers much of a look over.

"I do. It's in the…I'm going to give you my keys. But can you return them to me quickly? They're my car keys, and I don't know that I can afford to have that fob thing replaced again. I can't believe they charge you so much for one of those." Dad told her that he'd bring them right back after getting the front door opened. "Thank you for that. We've been using that door since we arrived and have started on the back door for the rest. It's a huge house."

He wondered allowed if it was a huge house, making fun of his dad and the realtor. When he opened the front door, waiting for his dad to return so they could look it over together, he whistled when his dad returned, and Sherm opened the door for them.

Maverick didn't get any further than the front stairwell when he wanted the house. The double staircase that went up to the second landing and separated, he decided that he'd find a way to get the house simply for the front tile work and the stained glass window at the top of the separation. As his brother and nephew went to the left, his dad to the right, Maverick found himself wanting to explore the upper floors more than anything else.

He was in the third bedroom when the realtor found him. "Mr. Strong? My name is Katelynn Huston. Do you have any questions for me? This house has been on the market for nearly five years now and I know that the family is desperate to sell. I'd not tell anyone else that, as I'm sure that it would take a person with money to be able to afford this place." He said that the cost of heating alone would be huge. "Not really. That's the only great part of this place. It has its own natural gas line coming to it. And it also sells what it doesn't use to the nearby plant. The family told me that heating it wouldn't be an issue, but cooling it in the summer, because the walls are so tight that is where the cost is."

As she told him some of the finer and not-so-fine points to the place, he looked in the last two bedrooms on this floor. There were ten, she told him but only one bathroom at each end of the hallway they were on.

"The third and fourth floor was added on much later and there are four bedrooms and four bathrooms on those floors. Also there is air conditioning that only takes care of those floors each. Each bathroom up here is fitted with a linen closet as well as a washer and dryer on both floors so as not to have to carry linens up here. You might have noticed too that all the rooms have natural gas heaters in them. I believe that was what he'd been talking about when he told me that each room has its own heat." Maverick made his way down the stairs, not needing to see the fourth floor of the bedrooms, as she told him that they were the same. "The master suite is on the second floor. It, too, has its own heat and cooling, the only room that does on that floor. There are two more rooms on the second, them being a nursery, a playroom as well as a nanny's room. I believe the previous renters used those two rooms, the playroom and the nanny's room, as their exercise room and office." He asked if they were the owners or renters. "Family, but they paid rent. It didn't settle over them well when the family decided to sell it out from under them. That's why the bank has taken it over so that there is no one person making anything off of the sale of everything. You could, if you wanted head to the bank and purchase it from them at a more reasonable price. I'm only telling you this, Mr. Strong, because you're the first real interest that we've had in this place. The family keeps coming by, wanting to have a look around, but no one is able to purchase it without the say-so from the bank. From what I've been told, they don't have good enough credit to purchase anything on credit. I believe that they'll come and bid on it just to make the price higher, knowing full well that they can't purchase it."

He thought that he could afford to buy the house outright but didn't think that would be fair if there was anyone other than him going to try and purchase it. Having his dad call the banker at home, no less, he was surprised to find out that the banker only wanted the back taxes on the place as he didn't figure that anyone in the family could afford that either.

"They've been in a pickle, you might say since Grannie passed on. She was the only one who had any money, and she didn't have all that much. When the house sat empty for so long, they were going to live in there together and see about buying it as a family and staying here until the others could afford to buy out the last man standing. That only worked for about a week." They both laughed. "As you can imagine, they took to living together like I would if I had to live with my mother-in-law. Hard and vicious. You would have thought that they'd get along for just a day, but they were fighting from the first hour."

"Why didn't the grannie leave it to anyone? I mean, you mentioned that she had passed." The banker, Mike Melville, said that she hadn't left the house to her children but that of a scam that had gone belly up before she'd passed away. "Poor woman. And to have kids like these to boot."

"Exactly. So the bank took over the house until the creditors were paid off and it turned out they didn't want anything to do with all the drama that was going on and cut their losses by putting it on the market for the taxes." Dad asked him what the taxes were to be paid. "Less than you'd think." After giving him the amount, he told him that he could have the house for that. If he'd want it. "My son does."

Maverick nodded at his dad and told him that he'd be by the bank in the morning before the auction started. The banker, he was sure he just wanted to get the house sold, said he'd fill out the paperwork on it first thing and that anytime Maverick wanted to stop by and sign the paperwork, he'd be ready for him.

"I just want it off my books. I'm sick of dealing with…you might want to be prepared for the family, young man. They'll be hounding you to death about whatever is bothering them. Just to give you a heads up." Maverick thanked him and told him that he'd be ready. "Also, you might not realize this, but everything that is or was in the house is yours too. It's an ‘as is' sale. I'll call the realtor now and give her a heads up."

And just like that, Maverick not only had a home, but it was filled out too. All he needed to do was have it cleaned from top to bottom then start on the renovations. Piece of cake, he told himself.