Chapter VI Part IV
Again a fiery feeling came over her, and this time she chattered her teeth. She was so tired and yet she panicked at the thought of going to sleep. Mr. Steel helped her to stand up, and they went back up the stairs, where he led her to the sofa and put a blanket around her legs. Then he went into the kitchen. Before long she heard the kettle beeping, followed by the clatter of cups. When Mr. Steel returned, he had taken off his coat and Grace noticed he was only in his pajamas. It was a strange sight.
“I apologize for my appearance,” said Mr. Steel, visibly embarrassed, “After you called, I came over straight away. I didn’t want to leave you alone for a second longer than necessary, so it made sense to just put on a coat.
“I’m glad about it, thank you. Every minute alone here was like a little hell of its own. I hardly breathed for fear of luring those up below.”
Mr. Steel put her mug down in front of her while he nodded.
“I can understand that very well. But I’m sure Ava will find out what happened. And I can sleep here on the couch that long. “
“I don’t think that’s necessary”, Grace replied, “My sister will come on Saturday. Then I’ll no longer be alone.”
“How nice to hear. But still. If you and your sister are uncomfortable, call me.”
“Promised.”
The two fell into silence while Grace warmed her hands on her mug while waiting for the drink to be cold enough to drink.
“Thanks again for getting here so quickly.”
As Grace spoke, she finally felt that she had some nerve back together. At least it didn’t seem like she’d burst into tears at every little thing.
“There is no need to say thank you. I am honestly angry and sad that something like this happened. I feel like I have to apologize to you.”
“There’s really no reason for that. You can’t stop it if someone decides to break in somewhere.”
“Not that, but I think if I had said nothing, you would have slept in the hotel.”
“Maybe. Then the shock would have been very great tomorrow morning.”
“If you want, I’ll sleep here the next night until your sister comes,” suggested Mr. Steel.
“Thank you Mr. Steel, I think I’ll accept the offer.”
“Very good. And please call me Björn.”
He smiled encouragingly at her. Grace sipped the tea, which washed her through with a pleasant warmth. At that moment, she hadn’t noticed how cold she was. Now that the shock was slowly creeping out of her limbs, she began to think.
“Mr ... Björn, do you think Kyle had something to do with it?”
Björn grunted softly before he rubbed his beard.
“He can be a hothead, you can’t deny that. But actually he loves the shop. It was his place in life, and Evellyn’s trust meant a lot to him. I’m not sure he would harm the shop.”
“Well, just when I’m going to sell the shop, he’ll lose all of that.”
“That’s true”, Björn sighed, “That means you’ve already decided?”
“I think.”
Grace bought herself some more time to drink.
“I mean ..... it’s the logical thing to do.”
“I see. Well, if you’re selling and Kyle actually had something to do with the destruction, then I hope you’ll be understanding. He had not a simple life, and even if that’s not an excuse for all that, Evellyn’s death left him deeply affected. We all make mistakes. “
“I’ll think about it. First, it has to be clarified whether it was him.”
“Right, innocent until proven guilty. I think we should lay down.”
“Probably.”
Grace finished the cup and then got up. She left the blanket there for Björn before saying goodnight and going upstairs. Shivering, she went into her room, changed quickly and disappeared under the covers. Contrary to what she expected, she fell asleep after a few minutes. Even if it was certainly not a peaceful sleep.
