Saved By Grace (Grace Walker Series Book 3)

Chapter 2:

I got to Jaxon's a little after 8 and Darcy opened the door.

"Grace!" She exclaimed and gave me a big hug.

Darcy was a beautiful, but well-mannered, quiet girl. She was about to be a freshman this year at Preston. This past spring, I attempted to introduce her to Reni's sister Sierra. Sierra was the spitting image of her sister looks wise, but not the attitude to match. Reni was from one of the wealthier families in our town, but you'd never know. She, her parents and her baby sister Shayna were very down to earth and didn't act like they had a lot of money. They enjoyed family time and did a lot of it. Sierra used to be a sweetheart. She was a little nosy at times and a brat, but what kid wasn't either of those things. Their parents found out this past winter that they were expecting, a baby boy. Once the news came out, it seemed as if Sierra went off the deep end. She was hanging out with the wrong crowd from school. These kids had little regard to anyone around them, including themselves. They were always in trouble and expected their parents to bail them out of trouble, just because they had the means to do so. At the gender reveal party, Sierra caused a scene and thought it was rather funny. So, Jaxon made the decision that Darcy wouldn't be around her anymore. Darcy got upset and wouldn't talk to him for a while. But, she's better now. She hasn't really mentioned Sierra since.

"Hey kiddo. You ready?" I said hugging her back.

"Yep. Just waiting on Jaxon to quit primping in the mirror." She laughed.

"I am not!" Jaxon said walking down the stairs. He walked up and gave me a kiss and playfully punched his sister in the arm. "Mom, we're headed out!" He yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

His mom, Jennifer, walked down. She was putting a pair of earrings in and looked like she was getting ready for work.

"Hey, Grace. Thanks for taking Darcy out today." She walked over and gave me a hug. I really liked his mom. She was very down to earth and reminded me a lot of my mom. She was a single mom making ends meet for Jaxon and Darcy. She was a  drug rep for a pharmaceutical company. She did a lot of her work in Griffin. It was a bigger town and had a lot more clinics there.

We all said goodbye and I waited while Jaxon locked up. We headed for his truck and Darcy climbed in the back seat and I rode shotgun. We headed to the go-kart park in Griffin. We decided to stop off at Sherry's to get some to-go sandwiches, chips and some drinks. We left there and headed to the gas station to get ice for the cooler Jaxon packed in the back of his truck.

Darcy was chatty on the way there. A couple of times, Jaxon ribbed her for talking too much, but she didn't seem like it bothered her.

We got to the go-kart place a little while later and got out and stretched our legs. Jaxon slid the cooler into the cab of the truck, out of the heat of the day. It wasn't too bad outside but if it sat in the sun too much, it may melt the ice.

We walked up to the entrance and Jaxon paid the fees for all of us. He grabbed my hand and Darcy walked ahead of us looking around. She hadn't been here before and was anxious to see everything they had to offer. The biggest attraction of course was the go-kart course. She just became old enough to be able to drive one of them, so she was rushing us along to pick one out. We all got in a kart and raced a few times around. Jaxon was very competitive, so of course he beat the pants off the both of us.

We were all getting hungry, so we walked back out to get the cooler and found a picnic table to sit out by the Koi pond. There were a few other families there, feeding the ducks that liked to camp out beside the lake. We finished up with our food and found some vending machines with duck food and fish food and walked around feeding them.

"Everything okay?" Jaxon asked when Darcy ran ahead to feed some ducks.

"Yeah, I'm having a good time. " I said.

"Wedding plans going okay?" He asked.

"Of course. Mom and I have a fitting soon for our dresses." I was going to be her maid of honor. She asked Deb  to be her other bridesmaid. She was friends with Reni's mom, but she wasn't sure if she'd be up to it, since most likely she will have just had the baby. Mom's wedding was in October and the baby was due in September. Mason was his dad's best man and his other groomsmen was another lawyer at his firm.

"That's good. I'm glad you invited us. Mom is excited. She's trying hard to make friends in this town." He said.

Darcy ran up and told us she seen a few kids from school, and asked if she could go talk to them. We weren't paying attention to who it was, but Jaxon said it was okay.

We continued to talk for a little bit until we heard someone scream. It was Darcy.

We ran over to where she was and seen who the kids were. It was Sierra and a couple of the cheerleaders from school. The mean girls. Especially to unsuspecting people that is.

Darcy was in the water on her butt. She kept looking up and expecting some of the kids to get her up out of the water, but they were too busy laughing.

"What the hell is going on?" I said, angrily.

"Sierra dared me to take my shoes off and try to touch one of the fish with my bare feet. When I did she pushed me in. I fell because it's muddy." Darcy looked devastated. She probably spent hours picking out the outfit she was wearing and now she was soaked and muddy.

Jaxon held out his hand to help her out. I got pissed and walked up to Sierra. "You're unbelievable anymore aren't you. I wonder what your sister is going to think." I said.

"Who cares!" She said. Her friends thought she was comical, they nearly fell over from laughter.

We went back to Jaxon's truck and searched for something we could wrap around Darcy's shoulders, so she wouldn't get chilled.

I started to call Reni and it dawned on me. They were in Florida, so why was Sierra here?

I tried calling Reni and got no answer. I left her a text to call me as soon as she could.

"I'm sorry we ended up having a rotten time." I turned to look at Darcy in the backseat. I could tell she'd be secretly crying but didn't let anyone know she was. My fury raged again, but I didn't let anyone know.