All or Nothing at All (Stevens Book 3)

Chapter 20

Grace was tired of trying to outrun her sorrow. She had finished the fall session at the university in New York then taken Clive up on his offer and was once again living in in England. It was odd to return to where it all started, but she had made the move quietly and so far no one seemed to be the wiser.

Grace was enjoying teaching and was working on a research paper focusing on what she had found in Atlanta. Cybil and Alec were still there, and they welcomed her back with a warmth that shocked her. They had married the previous summer and were expecting their first child shortly.

The University had been allowed to continue to search on Bryce's land and had finally been successful in finding a Pre-Roman site. Cybil had invited Grace out a few times to the dig site but she had always been able to find a reason not to go, although she did get to hear all of the details from Cybil whenever she made it back to the university.

No expense had been spared in the setup of the site. They had brought in portables for living spaces and it was a full time operation. Bryce had insisted on footing the bill. He didn't want the dig to linger on indefinitely.

Grace didn't know if she should be relieved that she didn't find anything or not. If she had it would have been a real feather in her cap, but she also would have had to stay until the dig was finished. Then again she was right back where she started so would it have really mattered?

Clive and Cybil had both commented on how different she was but they wouldn't specify how, they would only say that she seemed more quiet and less cheerful than she used to be, and she would joke and say that it was due to the loss of an important career making discovery. Clive had asked her to stay on through the following year and she was happy to do so, she had found that the fear of seeing Bryce around the next corner had eventually faded. That was until Cybil showed up in her office one day in tears.

"She caaaaan't, Grace! Clive is going to give it to her, and I won't get any of the credit!" It was the last week in May and Cybil had shown up in her office looking ready to pop and very upset.

"Slow down, Cybil." Grace said pushing her down into an uncomfortable, but functional, chair before she fell down.

"Clive said that he is going to have Melinda take over the dig site since you won't. She'll ruin everything. She doesn't know anything about Pre-Roman archaeology but she'll act like she does."

Cybil's normally bouncy hair was lank and he face was blotchy, pregnancy did not agree with her, and Grace was upset with herself for such mean thoughts. It wasn't like her and she knew that they stemmed from jealously.

"Can't Alec take over the site?" Grace asked.

"Noooooo, he has to be there when the baby is born." She burst into tears all over again.

"Please stop crying, Cybil. There has to be away that we can fix this."

"There is, you can take over the site for me." Cybil pouted.

"No." The thought of being in Kent again was agony.

"Did you and Rainer really have that bad of a falling out?" She looked over her tissue curiously.

"No, it's just not a place that I wish to revisit." Grace shrugged.

"Pppppplease!" she wailed, "I'll do anything."

Grace was silent.

"Look, we stay in the portable housing, I only go up to the house every once and a while to update the family, otherwise I'm in the field the entire time," Cybil pleaded.

Grace shook her head, it wouldn't work. She listened to Cybil crying softly and she felt herself cave.

"If-"

"Oh, thank you, Grace!"

Grace held up her hand. "If you let Melinda take over the administrative side of things, updating the family, being the face of the dig, so to speak. I will do the behind the scenes part. I will dig and record all of the information found, making sure it is all accurate and ready for you to resume as soon as possible. How long do you think that will be?"

Cybil stopped crying as she thought about it. "That might work. The baby is due in a few weeks so you would need to leave as soon as this term ends. I should be back by early August even if I have to carry the baby on my back." Cybil nodded as she thought. "Melinda will love dealing with the family. She thinks that she belongs in the upper echelons of society anyway. Bryce should be right up her alley."

Grace's heart stopped at his name. She doubted he would welcome her into his life readily, she would have to keep a very low profile. She turned in her chair to look out the window and bit back a groan. Why did fate keep throwing her back into his life, hadn't she been dealt enough already.

"Also, Clive comes up every few weeks and checks in on things. He could meet with the family as well." Cybil kept talking, relief keeping her from noticing Grace's sudden pallor.

"Why do you keep saying family and not Bryce?" his name was almost painful to say.

"Bryce hasn't been there that much, I think I've only seen him a few times in the last year. His mother and father have been the ones who check in more frequently. I think they are interested but not overly concerned about what we are doing. They do ask about you often though." Cybil threw in as an after thought.

"Do they?" Grace smiled weakly.

Cybil nodded with a smile. "They liked you."

"I liked them."

Grace looked pointedly at her watch, she had a class to get to she would have to think about the consequences of her actions later. "Since Melinda will be the one taking care of the business side of things we can keep my involvement on the down low."

Cybil looked at her curiously again. "If you like."

"Thanks." She forced her best smile. "I'm now officially late for my next class. We'll talk about the details later?" She held open the door for Cybil to proceed her.

"Oh Grace!" Cybil threw her arms around her. "Thank you so much!"

"No problem," Grace said accepting the hug as graciously as she could.

She had a feeling that it was going to be a very big problem.