Chapter 38

After they left Ed, Rachel and Grace drove to Rachel's to switch cars. Grace's stayed in the driveway and Rachel drove them in her sporty car to Zoe's place to get Ed's stuff from the Drakos van. Seeing Ed's truck keys she asked Rachel if she could help her get their stuff from the house. She just needed someone to watch the truck while she loaded it. Rachel grinned and said she could do that.

Grace drove the van back to his office and switched over to Ed's pickup. Mr. Drakos met her in the parking lot and she handed him the van's keys. She mentioned that Ed would be on medication for a week which prevented him from driving. The man nodded and told her Ed could have the week as medical leave but he wanted him in the office on the following Monday. He'd have to juggle his appointments. Grace thanked him then drove the pickup to her house. Rachel pulled up to the curb in front of the house.

"It's smaller than I expected. Edward is so big! It's hard to think of him living in something small." Rachel said quietly as she gazed up the lawn at the building.

Grace grinned at her. "I'll be right back." Surprisingly her key still worked on the front door. She'd expected Shirley to change them out of spite. She breathed a sigh of relief until she realized that Shirley wouldn't want to do anything to complicate the sale of the house. She let herself in the front door and propped it open. She saw the house was empty. The rooms echoed eerily. She walked upstairs and discovered her key wouldn't fit in her lock. Taking a closer look she saw a broken key already in the hole.

"You fucking bitch." Grace growled. She stepped back and savagely kicked the door next to the lock, pouring her frustration and rage into the kick. There was a terrible crack sound and the lock mechanism tore off the door jamb inside the room. The door swung open and she stepped inside.

Rachel was standing beside the truck in the driveway and saw Grace come out of the house carrying a large duffle. "What was that sound?" she asked.

"Shirley fucked up the keyhole on my lock so I had to use an alternate method to open the door. I wasn't going to need the lock anymore so… no loss." She smiled at Rachel's impressed look as she dropped the duffle on the passenger seat. She went in for more. It took about thirty minutes but she salvaged everything she considered important. It all fit into the back of Ed's truck. She took no furniture as it wouldn't fit and Rachel said the rooms were furnished. She locked the front door and threw the key through the mail slot. She wasn't coming back.

They drove back to Rachel's place and Grace parked the truck in the garage.

"Let's go in and you can see your options." Rachel said with an excited smile.

She led Grace upstairs, pointed out where the master bedroom was and showed her the other three bedrooms, though one was set up as an office.

"This was my step-son's room. Ed might like this one. It's large, has a king sized bed, its own ensuite bathroom, a large walk-in closet, and a great view of the pool." Rachel said pointing out the features like a real estate agent. Grace was stunned at how large the room was.

"This is perfect!" she whispered and Rachel beamed.

"The next one is a guest room which has never been used. It's not quite as large as the last one but it is much more feminine as I got to design it." They went in and Grace's eyes went wide. The room was beautiful. The bed was queen sized but it had a canopy. There was another fully equipped ensuite bathroom in this room and a huge walk-in closet.

"Oh my god, this room is gorgeous!" Grace gushed and Rachel was very pleased. "If you don't mind I'd like to use this one."

"Of course!" Rachel exclaimed.

They went back downstairs to the kitchen. "Can I get you something to eat? Drink?" Rachel asked.

"Just some water, please."

"Chilled from the fridge?"

"Sure!" Grace grinned.

Rachel got two glasses of cold water and they sat at the table.

"I can't thank you enough for taking us in. This is so above and beyond generous! Ed and I can contribute. We clean and Ed's a terrific cook! We don't have a lot of money but we can pay rent."

Rachel shook her head. "You don't need to pay rent and I have a team of cleaners who come in once a week to take care of tidying up the house. I have had a breakfast Ed made for me which was delicious so I will take you up on the offer to have him cook from time to time. Truthfully, this house is far too large for just one person and it gets terribly lonely. I welcome the company."

"I suppose we should discuss the elephant in the room." Grace said.

Rachel nodded and looked down at her glass.

"I love Ed and I want to be with him." Grace began and she saw Rachel wince slightly, expecting bad news.

"Ed is a very special man as you know. He's sweet and innocent in many ways. I worry about how he'll manage out there in the world with his inability to comprehend some types of bad human behavior. He's not comfortable when dealing with dishonesty, greed, envy, or hate. Even sarcasm confuses him. But I've also seen him grow up quite a bit since he got his job with Drakos. I will be forever thankful to that man for taking Ed under his wing and I'm so glad Ed has found work that fulfills him. Ed is blossoming into an amazing adult."

Rachel smiled and nodded and Grace saw the woman's eyes were just a little bit glassy.

"Ed loves me. He said as much today but he's also strongly attracted to you. I can see it in his eyes." She grinned. "He gets a little dazzled every time he looks at you."

Rachel smiled and blushed. She still didn't trust herself to speak.

"You make him happy and I want him to have all the happiness he deserves. You'll have to speak to Ed to see how he feels but I want you to know I have no issues with you continuing your relationship with Ed as long as you're not abusing him like my mother did. No coercion of any kind and no emotional manipulation. He's not up to it. I'd rather live on the street than subject him to that again," she said firmly, looking deeply into Rachel's eyes.

Rachel was stunned. She was expecting to be told that Ed was off limits. She looked at Grace with new respect. This was a strong, self-assured woman sitting before her!

"I would never hurt Ed!" Rachel gasped.

"Then we're good."

It had been a long day, night, and most of another day for Rachel. She was exhausted. She was elated! She was coming apart at the seams. She began to cry. Grace wrapped her arms around the woman and they shared their tears.

When they felt they were done they sat apart once more and dabbed at their eyes.

"If you don't mind I'm going to catch a few hours of sleep." Rachel said with a tired smile.

"Do you think we could get together with the others later tonight? They should know where they stand with Ed as well." Grace asked.

"I'll make the arrangements. THEN I'm going to sleep. I'll set my alarm for 7PM," the woman said.

"I'll bring some stuff in then I'll take a nap as well." Grace said. "Thank you again."

Rachel patted her hand then walked up the stairs.

Nine o'clock found Grace sitting in a comfortable chair in the family room of Angie's house with a plate of finger foods on her lap. Stephanie, Carolyn and Zoe were enjoying their dinner as well. Isabelle was doing babysitting duty for the children of the two ladies.

Zoe had just finished informing them that her daughter was going to be spending some time in prison for the severity of her crimes. She was being charged with Kidnapping and Assault and Battery, for drugging Ed as well as beating him. She had priors for violent altercations and drug possession so the DA wasn't in favor of being lenient. Zoe felt responsible and apologized once more but Grace assured her that Sophia was old enough to know right from wrong and to control her own actions. Her father had obviously had a much stronger impact on her behavior.

Once they finished their meals Angie and Rachel cleared the plates away and they all took their seats once more. Grace had the floor and their attention.

"Thank you very much for dinner and for hosting us in your home," she said looking at Angie who smiled and nodded. "I spoke with Rachel and I need to speak to you about Ed and I." Faces began to show some nervousness. "Ed told me he loves me and I love him. I want us to be together." More tension appeared.

"Ed is a wonderful man and I want him to be happy. He's had some bad things happen to him in his life but recently some really good things too. I want you all to know that I'm not in any way resistant to the idea of Ed continuing to visit you as he has been doing. You will need to speak with him directly to see how he feels about it. I will be letting him know that I don't object. One critical caveat to his spending time with anyone is that I will NOT tolerate Ed being used. He has to have a say in anything he's asked to do. My mother used him. Manipulated him into a relationship he was not happy with. Made him feel trapped and humiliated. That will NOT happen again." She looked into the hopeful eyes of the women around her and saw Zoe was struggling with something.

"You have something you want to say, Zoe?" Grace said.

"The first time I had sex with Ed, it was Saturday morning and he was resistant at first. I didn't know why he was acting that way but I was… insistent. He got this look in his eye and he finally took me. Hard! It was amazing! Then I goaded him, made him chase me, and the second time he took me it was intensely passionate and raw! I have never had better! But I don't think that is his normal way of having sex."

All of the women were squirming at the thought of Ed being aggressive during sex. Stephanie was particularly affected and moaned quietly. This caused the others to realize their own states of lust and a nervous chuckling erupted.

"You, especially, will need to speak with Ed about continuing your relationship with him. He has to know he has a say in the decision. If he isn't comfortable then it's done. It's as simple as that. Is that clear?" Grace said, pinning the woman with her eyes. Zoe nodded, biting her lip.

"When is Ed coming home?" Rachel asked.

"Mishka told me it would be tomorrow. He'll be off limits for about a week as he has to heal." Grace once more caught the eyes of the women and saw they all understood.

"I have to say Grace, I'm deeply moved, and thankful, for your trust. Most wouldn't be able to cope with the idea of another woman in their mate's life." Angie said with frank admiration.

"I love Ed. He loves me. As I said, he's a special man. Even after 'being intimate with you' as he called it he wants to be with me. He's not capable of being dishonest. That gives me strength. I want him to be happy. I see how much you all genuinely care for Ed. I saw how you were all there for him when he was hurt. I wouldn't deny him friends like that!"

"I feel a group hug coming on," Carolyn teased and they all laughed.

"We should have a barbeque tomorrow as a welcome home for Ed!" Rachel said with enthusiasm.

Faces brightened up. Everyone started speaking at once about what they'd bring. This turned into happy laughter.

"It's settled then!" Rachel said beaming at her friends.