Grace Matters

Chapter Thirteen

The lead up into waiting for the council to turn up, had everyone in the household stressed. They only had a week to wait for the meeting, yet an argument had arisen between almost everyone, especially with Ant putting subtle words of accusation towards Grayson, which didn't go down too well in the slightest. Grace, of course, took Grayson's side, even though there was a hint of doubt in her mind, she wanted to believe his word over everything else, yet there was a part of her that was suspicious, something lined him in with the murders. The same part of her did suspect that she was playing naïve and leading with her heart but that was the way she had always lived her life for all those years and was a habit that she wished she was able to get rid of. She had received a text through the week from her father, giving the all-clear that he would arrive for the meeting, and he was sorry that he hadn't been in contact recently, though he had promised to make up for the lost time in the extremely near future.

The time had come, and Ant received a message that the council would be arriving in the next hour everyone apart from Michael had made themselves as comfortable as possible in the foyer. Grace was sitting on a large armchair in the corner of the room, twisting a strand of hair nervously in between her finger while looking out the window into the distance as if she wished that the world would be able to take her away from what was about to come. Her gut feeling wasn't good, and she felt as if something was going to go wrong one way or another. She glanced back into the room to the other, almost getting a hit of reality when seeing the worried expressions on the people she cared most for. Ant was pacing the floor, back and forth all while looking to his feet and huffing to himself as he did so. Laura was huddled in next to the large doorway, seeming as if there was a sudden chance, she would be able to make their escape, yet Grace knew that they would both get the wrath of Ant, and no one wanted that when he was in his anxious frame of mind. Grace's brows knotted as she caught a glimpse of Grayson leaning against the fireplace while chewing his nails. It was a habit that she had never seen him do before, sending another wave of doubt in her mind but she tried to push it into the back of her mind. He seemed as if he didn't dare to look anyone directly in the eyes, looking as if he would either break or rage out at any given second.

The entrance doorway opened causing everyone to stop in their movements as ten eyes immediately linger on the foyer entrance, the whole room was silent and the tension was extremely thick, it was almost possible to taste the staleness. Michael peered around the wall with a more than confused expression covering his feature before a cheeky smile pulled on the corners of his lips as his eyes landed on Grace. "If I knew I would get this kind of welcome I would of at least made a speech." He said calmly before entering the room, rolling the sleeves of his white shirt up over his forearms, seeming more relaxed than the others that were already in the room.

Grace didn't hesitate and jumped to her feet and moved in the general direction of her father, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as she pulled him into a needed embrace. She needed a source of comfort, and her father knew that at that moment when feeling the body crashing against his own. His large arms cocooned around her smaller frame, looking at the others with a slight hint of confusion as it seemed that the others knew something that he didn't know. "I got you, sweetheart." He whispered into the shell of her ear, regretting the fact that he hadn't arrived sooner.
Grace felt as if she could fall into a never-ending waterfall of tears when hearing Michael's words, yet with what was arriving anytime soon, she felt as if she needed to hold back and not look like a guilty party, even though she had been one of the people to cause a couple of deaths that had happened previously. She inhaled a deep breath before finally pulling away from her father, giving him a fake hint of a smile, she didn't want him to worry about what could or couldn't happen in the next few hours. "After today I think we deserve this catch-up we have been meaning to have...it would be a much need experience with everything we have been through, and I may have a few lingering questions to pick out of your brain," She said with a shrug of her shoulders, thinking that the both of them should have a real father and daughter day.