Not a Flower - A Novel

Chapter 1

The first call was a hang-up. Licking dry lips, she pressed play again. At first there was silence-Grace began to breathe a sigh of relief, thinking it was another wrong number-then a deep familiar voice spoke.

"Grace?" There was a small sound, like someone exhaling. "It's Duval. I hope this is still your number. Please pick up if you're there." Another couple of seconds went by. "Grace? Please call me when you get this message. It's important."

A crazy jumble of emotions went through her as she listened to the message. It took only seconds to write down Duval's phone number onto her notepad. But it took her at least an hour to finally decide that she would call Duval back.

It was a local number. She didn't know what that meant since it was already July and he would most likely be at La Mer by now.

The phone had barely run for a second before someone picked up.

"Hello?" He answered the phone curtly.

Her stomach rose and dropped like a roller coaster. She licked her lips and tried to speak but couldn't. Competing emotions clamored inside of her. She cleared her throat and tried again. Nothing came out.

There was a brief silence, then, "Who is this? I can hear you breathing." His voice hadn't changed much. It was deeper maybe. Less gentle.

"D-Duval?" She finally forced out. "It's Grace. Grace Madison."

"Grace!" His tone abruptly gentled. "Is it really you?"

"Yes." She said with a calm she didn't feel. "It's me."

At that moment, Grace realized just how much she had missed Duval. Just being around him had always seemed to make her day sunnier. Filled with color and life. Somehow she had forgotten that at one point, he had been one of her closest friends as well as the love of her life.

"Are you at home?" Duval asked suddenly.

She faltered. "I-yes."

"Don't go anywhere, Grace, I'm coming over."

"You're in Minnesota?" She was in shock. Duval was here?

"I'm at the Hilton downtown. It'll only take a couple of minutes to get to your house." He sounded as if he were moving about. She could hear clothes rustling, mild swearing as he thumped into something.

She made a fast decision. "Ah-Duval? I don't know if you should come over. Actually, I was just on my way out." She was in no shape to be facing him.

He was briefly silent. His next words were quiet.

"Still avoiding me Grace? So is that really how it has been for the last five years?"

Stunned, Grace didn't know what to say. In all honesty, she had never thought that he would have cared that much. It had been so long since she had seen him last.

"I haven't been trying to avoid you." Grace finally replied. What a lie. Her knuckles were white on the phone. "I've been working." The excuse was lame. She knew that.

"Grace." He exhaled slowly. "We need to talk."

Determinedly Grace refused. "I-I should just tell you right now. I won't be able to come to Wales for the wedding. I can't get the time off."

He surprised her with a sudden slightly bitter laugh. "You've never forgiven me have you, Grace?"

"What are you talking about?" She asked warily.

His voice was emotionless. "You know Grace."

She bit her lip hard.

A memory surfaced of entangled bodies, passionate murmurs and the guilty look in Duval's dazed eyes when he had glanced up to see that she had been standing there while he had been making love to a strange woman only weeks after Elizabeth's death....