Saved By Grace (Grace Walker Series Book 3)

Chapter 1:

Darkness. It was all around me. I could barely see my hand in front of my face. I started walking to see if could get out of the maze of trees I seemed to be lost in. I suddenly heard a muffled scream and on instinct, starting running.

I eventually emerged from the trees and figured out where I was. I was by the lake outside of Mason's house, now mine. All my friends were there and so was Sierra and Darcy. I couldn't figure out what was going on. Next thing I knew, I seen Darcy in the river.

"Help me Grace! Sierra pushed me in!" She screamed.

"No, she did not!" Reni cried out.

I looked between the both of them and ran to help Jaxon get Darcy out of the water.

"Reni, why would you let Sierra do this?!" I exclaimed.

"How dare you pick them over me!" Reni said. "Sierra is a good kid!"

I couldn't believe the sight I was seeing. Mason and Gretchen were standing in the distance, not offering a bit of assistance to anyone. Everyone seemed in a daze. What on Earth was going on?

Why was Sierra pushing Darcy in the lake and why did Reni get so angry with me.

"I CAN'T SAVE EVERYONE!" I exclaimed.

Jaxon started tapping me on my shoulder. I kept asking him what, but no matter what I asked he just kept tapping.

I woke up to Mom tapping me on my shoulder. "Honey, are you okay? You yelled out in your sleep."

I looked outside and everything was pitch black. I must have had a nightmare.

I didn't want to worry Mom, so I didn't tell her what the dream was about. "I'm sorry, Mom, just had a bad dream I guess. I'm okay."

"Okay, Punkin. If you need me, come get me." She said and gave me a kiss.

I got up out of bed and went down to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

She and I moved into our new home, Mason and Mark James' house a month or so ago. Mark and Mom were getting married and they wanted to go ahead and get us moved in since one, their house was much bigger and two, they both had demanding careers and they had to take advantage of some time they had in the Spring that they probably wouldn't have had during the summer.

They were getting married in the fall. Mom and I shared a room for now. She didn't want to give the wrong impression by sharing a room with Mark before they got married. She was just old-fashioned like that.

I tiptoed back up the stairs to get back in bed. I peaked at my phone under my blankets so I didn't disturb my mom. It was 3:30 and I had to get up at 6. Ugh, I hope I can fall back to sleep.

               **************
I got up a few hours later. Mom had already headed to work. Her bed was already made. That's the first thing she always did in the morning after her shower.

I walked downstairs and into the kitchen. Mason was a heavy sleeper, so he was most likely still asleep. Mark was sitting at the bar, in a bar stool, looking over some paperwork.

"Morning, Grace. Heard you had a rough night?" He said.

"Yeah, just had some weird dream. Is there more coffee?" I asked.

"Yeah, help yourself. I'm about to head out the door." He said. He got up and put his manilla folders in his attaché case and zipped it up. He poured the rest of his coffee in the sink and stuck it in the dishwasher.

They were both bachelors before my mom and I came. Mark had been married to an awful woman, Olivia, and they had gotten divorced after many years of unhappiness and verbal abuse, that unfortunately Mason fell victim to. So, because they were bachelors, they didn't keep much food in the house, unless of course you could grill it. I searched the cabinet for something to eat. I finally found a box of cereal. I laughed, it was a kid's cereal with marshmallows. Mason used to love this kind as a kid. I poured a bowl and grabbed the milk. I sat down at the bar and ate my cereal and flipped through my social media page. There were a lot of people on vacation, since it was summer break. Reni was in Florida of course, and literally just left a couple of days ago, so she'd be gone for a few weeks. Gretchen and her family never take vacations, but her dad finally took some time off from the church and took her brother and her to Nashville and the Smoky Mountains. Mason's dad and my mom were paying for a wedding, but promised by Christmas break, they'd take us on vacation somewhere. So, this summer, we would just have to find ways to entertain ourselves.

I would be spending a lot of time with Jaxon and his sister Darcy. Mom was fully staffed at LE, so she told me to enjoy my last summer before my senior year started. Now that we lived with Mason and Mark, she didn't worry so much over money. I didn't usually ask for too much anyhow.

I finished my cereal and put the bowl in the dishwasher. I washed my hands and dried them on the towel hanging from the stove. Although they lived alone for a bit, they still managed to keep the house clean.

I walked upstairs and decided to jump in the shower. I wanted to be able to head to Jaxon's around 8. He and I were going to take Darcy to the go-kart park today. The weather was acting decent and it wasn't too hot just yet.

I got out a few minutes later and brushed my teeth and hair. I found some shorts and a T-shirt to wear. I heard Mason banging things around in the next room.

I got dressed and went and knocked on his door.

"How's it going?" I said when he answered his door.

"Dude, I don't know why I'm up so early. I can't fall back to sleep." He said, rubbing his eyes.

I couldn't believe that just this time last year, Mason and I were actually dating and in a twist of events, we were now exes and about to be brother and sister. It felt a little weird, but we managed. We had decided long before our parents got together that we were better off friends. Good thing.

"I'm headed to Jaxon's for the day. What are you up to?"

"Not sure. I'll probably just stick around the house, maybe go swimming." He said.

I thought about my dream this morning. It was Darcy and not Mason, so I tried not to freak out.

"Alright well I'll let you get to it then. I'm about to leave. I'll be back later. Maybe we can hang out or something then?" I said.

"Sounds good." He headed downstairs and I grabbed my keys and my purse and headed downstairs myself.

I had to get a new car because the Jeep finally decided to quit working on me. I got a Chevy Cruze. It was black with gray cloth interior. It was a lot newer than the Jeep. Mom and Mark decided I deserved a newer car, since she ended up getting a new one and Mason's Jeep was less than a year old. I didn't need all the bells and whistles, so my Cruze was perfect for me.