The first thing she’d done after leaving the court room was to come to this pub, her pub, and sack the manager Nathan had insisted on hiring. He was quite possibly the worst pub manager she’d ever encountered, and she was sure he was on the take, too. Then she’d walked behind this very bar, her head held high, and served the next customer as though she’d never been away. It was like putting on an old, comfortable cardigan – all warm and snug, fitting her as perfectly as it always had. She was exactly where she was supposed to be.

Now the pub was thriving. Grace had built up a loyal base of regulars over the years. A combination of her dad’s old customers coming back once Nathan and his stooges were no longer running the place, and new clientele who were attracted by the changes Grace made to keep up with the times. The place was always busy. Even when some of the other pubs in the area had struggled, the Rose and Crown had always remained a firm favourite with the locals.

Grace wondered at the ease in which Nathan had taken it all away from her. How she had allowed him to take the only thing, apart from their son, that meant anything to her. Had she really been so afraid of him that she’d given him everything so willingly?

Yes.

Yes, she had.

But she wasn’t anymore. Grace would see her beloved pub razed to the ground before she allowed Nathan Conlon to take anything from her ever again. He was a disease. A cancer that consumed and infected everything he touched. The only way to be rid of him was to cut him out of her life entirely. But to do that, she needed to cut him out of Jake’s too, and that might prove harder than she’d expected.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The young waitress smiled at Grace as she took her coat. ‘Mr Carter is already waiting for you, Ms Sumner,’ she said as she led her to a quiet table near the back of the restaurant. The smell of basil, tomatoes, and garlic filled Grace’s nostrils as she walked between the occupied tables. Her stomach rumbled and she realized she hadn’t eaten since breakfast, almost twelve hours ago.

‘Grace.’ Sean Carter stood as she approached, and gave her a warm embrace.

‘Sean.’ She smiled at Michael’s brother, and returned his hug.

‘You look well,’ he said as they sat down. She smiled in appreciation. She’d lost a little weight, no doubt thanks to the stress and anxiety of having to deal with Nathan on a regular basis.