If he was being honest with himself, Marc was angry at Hailey for abandoning him. He
knew it was selfish, and she could have been abducted entirely against her will, but he couldn’t
help himself. Hailey was the love of his life, and she was gone, whether by her own volition or
not. Marc was alone, heartbroken, anxious, and taking care of a young child in a disciplinary way
he had never really had to before. He had certainly not prepared for such a circumstance, and
was entirely unequipped to handle it. Luckily, Lacey had stepped up to help him, but he was still
fragile and lost.
⧫
Marc left for work the same way he left for work every other day of his life. He’d kissed
Lacey goodbye, waving at his daughter and stepdaughters, and stepped out the door, his travel
mug of coffee in one hand. He’d started his car, opened the garage door, drove slowly through
the neighborhood, rolling through the stop signs, until he reached the highway, when he sped up
to match the speed of traffic. He’d sipped his coffee and thought about the day prior. It was a
good day. He had closed out a client’s case and they had been awarded a hefty sum, a sizable
portion of which belonged to Marc as compensation. Although there had been setbacks, Marc’s
life was finally back on track.
Marc still thought about Hailey often. She was his first wife, and he had loved her dearly,
and still missed her, but he had married Lacey and his second marriage was progressing. Lacey
liked to spend money more than Hailey ever had, and Marc hadn’t exactly planned to adopt two
additional daughters, but he was initially enthusiastic about the situation. Lacey had supported
him when Hailey died; she had commiserated with him, and upheld him when he was falling
through the deepest depths of despair. Unfortunately, it hadn’t taken long for the spark to fade,
and Marc had come to realize, after the pain from the suddenness of Hailey’s disappearance had
begun to subside, that he had married Lacey out of convenience, and they didn’t actually have
much in common at all. He had decided to continue trying, not wanting to give up on a marriage
so soon after its inception, but he could not deny that things were quickly turning south.
It wasn’t until Marc tried to decelerate that he realized something was wrong.
At first, he thought perhaps the brakes had slightly stuck. It didn’t make a whole lot of
sense, as the car was only a couple years old, but Marc told himself that was the problem
regardless. Pushing down anxiety, Marc slowly pushed down on the brakes. They went down
much faster than they should have, hitting the floor before he knew what was happening. The car
didn’t slow down.
Marc’s adrenaline started pumping as he tried to stay calm. A couple weeks prior, a man
opposing a client of his had threatened, after court, to cut Marc’s brake lines. Marc hadn’t taken
the threat seriously, as he was threatened regularly by people on the opposing side of court
battles, and the threat seemed hollow and par for the course. Marc had only told a couple people
about the threat, as they were so commonplace for him. Now, he wished he had told more
people. What if he crashed? He’d want them to check the brakes and track down the man who
had threatened him.
Panicking now, Marc tried to think of a way to alleviate the problem. He couldn’t crash
into a car in front of him--that would endanger the other driver. He sharply took an exit,
switching lanes and cutting off the car to this right. They honked at him, but they didn’t know the
situation Marc was dealing with. He would take this exit, and then he could slow down--dammit!
The exit went downhill! What kind of exit goes downhill?! He was accelerating against his will,
with no way to stop it.
As Marc haphazardly rounded a corner, he noticed a tractor trailer ahead of him. He
couldn’t crash into that--there was no way, it would be far too dangerous, what if it skidded into
other cars--He had to break away to prevent injury to any other drivers. With his heart in his
throat, and only half-conscious of what he was doing, Marc slightly turned the wheel to the right,
avoiding looking at the speedometer as he powered full-force into a concrete barrier.
Marc was blinded by a quick burst of energy, almost pain, but he had lost the ability to
feel--Then it subsided, and darkness quickly came barreling in.
“Hailey,” Marc breathed, before he was overtaken entirely.
Meet Ella Tremaine, who is hell-bent on discovering what happened to her mother, who disappeared nine years ago on Ella's tenth birthday. She lives with her wicked stepmother, Lacey Tremaine, her two stepsisters, and her cat, dog and mice. She is supported by her best friend, Jack, an enthusiastic but oblivious baseball player; her boss, Lorenzo "Lon" Accardi, a private eye whose enthusiasm outstrips his talent; and Dave, the intriguing and infuriating sunglasses-donning man who captures Ella's heart.
Grace takes place in a fictional, western country called Yaralta. On Ella's tenth birthday, her mother, Hailey Tremaine, disappeared, never to be seen again. The police believe she left of her own accord, and don't do much to find her, but Ella is not convinced. After her father, Marcus "Marc" Tremaine, remarries Lacey, Ella is quickly thrust into an unwelcoming and unloving household when Marc dies in a violent car crash. Ella, at nineteen, works as an assistant for Lon Accardi, a private investigator who mainly works cheating spouses and insurance fraud cases, in an effort to learn the skills necessary to find her mother, who she is convinced is likely dead.
Ella meets a young man originally known only to her as "Dave" when he runs into Lon's car in a gas station parking lot. Ella is furious, and Dave's arrogance and aloof attitude don't help. However, as Ella and Dave start spending more time together when Dave's father asks her to look into the garden supplies being stolen from his shed, they become much closer. Ella may be falling in love with Dave, and Jack may be doing everything he can to keep her away from him, but nothing can distract her from her ultimate goal: solving the mystery of what happened to her mother. Ella eventually realizes that nothing is as it seems, but by then, is it too late?
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