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“Not scared of them,” Olivia corrected, prompting Grace to narrow her eyes at her sharply. “And scared is probably a bit too strong a word, anyway. But I worried when I saw how furious you were, and realized you probably had the skills to hurt them both really bad.”

“I do. I could have.”

“Hmm. It looked like you almost wanted him to make the first move. To give you an excuse to beat the shit out of him.”

She was not wrong. Olivia wanted to know, which was fair enough, and Grace forced herself to admit it.

“I had a moment. It reminded me...” She lost the thread and stared with unfocused eyes across the room. Pristine white snow and darkening drops of blood. The strange metallic taste of it on her tongue. Rough knuckles smashing into her face.How’d you like that, bitch? Hold her down, guys!

“Grace.”When she shuddered, Olivia wrapped a steadying arm around her shoulders. Once again, bringing her back from the edge. “You know what?” she prompted.

“What?” Grace mumbled.

“I think you should tell me.”

???

“I’d been seeing this girl in secret. We were both seventeen and dead serious about the relationship. The plan was to go travel for a year, then move to New York and make it big. Me as a dancer, Miriam as a novelist. She was a fantastic writer.”

Olivia noted her use of the past tense. She grew a little tense but did not interrupt.

“We met on Christmas Eve to exchange presents. In Red Falls, in the park on Grandy Street. You know where that is?”

“Yes, I walk the dogs there often.”

“Mm. We expected to be alone there, but a guy Miriam had turned down several times when he asked her out showed up with his buddies. They’d been drinking, and they started having a go. The same way those guys started with us tonight.”

No wonder she’d reacted. Olivia could already tell this was going to be bad.

“When he tried to grab hold of Miri, I stepped in to defend her. One of the guys punched me in the face. They went for me aggressively. Believe it or not, Olivia, but I was the more butch of the two at the time. That set them off.”

“I can believe it.” Olivia nodded, prompting a faint smile from Grace.

“I told her to run. To get help. No cell phones in those days, you see.” Grace’s eyes darkened. “But she didn’t, bless her. She tried to defend me. To this day, I still don’t know which one of the men delivered the fatal blow. But they must have realized something had gone seriously wrong because, suddenly, they all legged it down the field. Miriam was lying on her back. They’d broken her glasses. Knocked them off her face. She lay with her eyes open, staring at the sky.”

Olivia exhaled. “Christ. Grace.”

“I shook her. Yelled at her to respond. I thought I knew she wasn’t just unconscious, but… I picked her up and headed to the nearest house. I don’t remember anything else after that. I woke up in the hospital two days later.”

“How badly were you hurt?”

“I had a skull fracture, smashed ribs, a broken arm. Miriam, she didn’t make it. Charlie was the one to tell me. She was there when I first opened my eyes... And every time after. She ate and showered at the hospital the whole time I was there to be with me.”

“What about your parents? Didn’t they come to see you?”

“Yeah. Once.” Grace curled her lip, though she looked more resigned than bitter now. “They asked if the rumors that I’d been fooling around with a girl were true.”

“Fooling around?”

“Yeah, that’s how they put it. And they made it clear they expected me to deny everything.”

“Why?”

“Damage control. Having a lesbian daughter just would not do for them. Of course, I wouldn’t deny it. I told the truth, that I was in love with Miriam. So, they cut me off.”

Olivia could not have said which part of the story shocked her the most. The attack, the aftermath, the consequences... All of it was horrendous. It sickened her.

“Grace, I am so sorry.” She clasped her right hand in both of hers. Tight. “And about tonight, too.”