Joshua's Grace

Chapter 6 (1)

"Yes, and it's your fault." Grace admonished as she pulled a chair out and sat on it.

"You'll love it." He flashed her a grin and then retrieved a jug of lemonade from the fridge, "Homemade stuff all right?" He put it on the table next to the glasses as he headed back toward the freezer.

"Don't tell me you guys make lemonade." She teased looking at the pale liquid.

He took it in his stride, "Riah does. She makes heaps, comes and ransacks the trees in the back yard and makes it like it is going out of style." Deftly he flicked ice cubes into the glasses, "Personally I think it's because she is such a lousy cook." He poured some lemonade into the tall glasses after the ice had nearly reached the rim of the glasses.

"Typical male." Grace chided good naturedly.

"Nah. " He looked hurt, "Really, she is a dreadful cook. My theory is that's why she married Stevie babe. He's a pro." Zac handed her a glass "Cheers." He grinned at her before sauntering over to the phone. "Mind if I play back the messages? I asked this cool babe to go with me to the boat thing tomorrow. Shelley, she said she'd let me know.

When? That's what I want to know? Two minutes before I leave for Hamilton?" He rolled his eyes in feigned disgust. "Women."

Grace had to laugh. "When did you ask her?"

"This morning." His tone implied that was ample time to make a decision.

Graced laughed louder. Zac looked sheepish.

"That's heaps of time." He flicked the machine on. "I mean, it's a yes or no decision, isn't it? What's there to think about?" He flicked Grace a look that she couldn't quite interpret, "I mean, you either do or you don't, just like you either love him or you don't, right?"

She didn't have a chance to reply to that rather cryptic comment, as the answer phone played the first telephone message, but somehow she got the feeling that he wasn't talking about his date anymore. Very strange.

The first message was from Mariah to tell her brothers she had made and left some more lemonade for them in the fridge.

"Listen to the next one, bet it's Riah." It was. A continuation of her message,- could some one let her know the plan for tomorrow?- "See she just rattles on." Zac chuckled and shook his head as the message came to an end. "The allocated time is never enough for her." Zac took the seat beside Grace and reached for his glass of lemonade.

The next message was from a man called Luke. There had been a Luke at Joshua's party, the man Joshua had told to shut up. Tall man, taller than Joshua, slimmer too. Grace couldn't remember much else about the man. Luke was apparently going to be with the party on the boat and wanted to know if they were driving down together tomorrow and if so whose turn it was to be the designated driver. Grace wasn't sure she could cope with an outsider who had been at the party and witnessed her debacle. Someone who had seen her practically devour Joshua.

The fourth message was from a woman to Zac, -could he ring her soon-. Zac looked sheepishly at Grace. Clearly that message wasn't from Shelley. The fifth message began to play just as Joshua pushed open the kitchen door. Neither Zac nor Grace saw nor heard Joshua enter, they were both concentrating on the messages and had their backs to Joshua.

"Josh, Cass here. Dinner tonight is fine. The flight rosters aren't . ..." Zac dived to switch off the answer machine, but the message was already broadcast, the damage done. He cursed himself under his breath. Why was he always rescuing his older brother when Grace was within earshot. And how the hell did Joshua hope to marry Grace if he kept shooting himself in the foot?

"That wasn't necessary." Grace told Zac. Her tone unexpectedly calm.

She was taking it remarkably well for a woman who had just heard a double date message. Zac threw her a placatory smile then turned and saw Joshua. Joshua scowled fiercely. Zac shrugged his shoulders.

"Err, that was for you." He said diffidently as he acknowledged his brother's presence "And there's no need to look at me like that." Joshua continued to glare at him. "How was I to know she'd be on." Zac responded as he rewound the tape.

"Thanks Zac." Joshua came into the room. He was wearing jeans and a T shirt, just like Grace. His hair was still wet from the shower and he smelled fresh.

Another opportunity blown. He was setting a great track record with Grace. The perfect strategy on how not to maintain a relationship. Hell what relationship, he was still trying to get one established with her. The long term goal might be marriage, but just getting to first base and a date was proving to be trickier than finding elephants in Antarctica. Joshua glanced speculatively at Grace, wondering if there was any chance that she was not going to take the last telephone message badly. It was a simple mistake. The question was, would she give him a chance to explain? 

"Sorry Grace." He apologised, wondering whether the situation was redeemable. She didn't look terribly upset. That was misleading. He was coming to know that closed off look. Her eyes were very adept at keeping her feelings hidden, but her body language signaled some of the hidden pique. The problem was, he was still learning to read her body language, and he wasn't sure just how angry she was.

"Sorry I heard, or sorry I'm second choice?" Grace remained seated but her back had stiffened and her head was held high. Her tone wasn't lost on him.

He was coming to recognize that tone too. To know that when she became that controlled, and that quiet and reasonable, there was trouble in store. Heaps of trouble. The prelude to the storm. He went for the honest approach.

"She called mid week to cancel."

"Right." She kept her temper in check "And you being at a loose end, thought, yeah, why not call good old back up, Grace? Right?" Even though she continued to swirl the ice in her lemonade with her index finger, her eyes remained trained on him, "She'll jump at the chance. After all her father goes around soliciting men for her, finding her dates." She quirked a brow at him, "Desperate, dateless, dumb, Grace, right?"