Saving Gracie Read Online Free

people. One held a sign. He locked his gaze on the words painted in red letters.
    “Save El Centro! ”
    “Turn the volume up.” Jake’s words came out sounding more like a bark than a request. He’d been wrong to question Mitch earlier. This definitely qualified as must-see TV.
    It also qualified as the opening shot of a war over 1900 Gulfview Boulevard. How could Gracie have done this to him? He went to her school today to talk face-to-face. And this was how she repaid him? Public protests on a local newscast?
    “Carter, what is going on here?” Jake spoke to his friend without looking in his direction. “I thought you said Angela Ruiz was on board as long as I personally explained things to the owner of the school. I thought you were supposed to be helping me get through this.”
    “I am helping you, Jake. I brought your proposal before the City Council. I had enough votes lined up before Ruiz started asking questions. She’s just new and trying to prove herself. Things will work out. Remember the district championship football game our senior year? You threw that pass with just a few seconds left. It started to pop out of my hands, but then I locked it down and ran it into the end zone.” Carter clapped a palm of camaraderie on his former teammate’s shoulder. “This is the same thing. We’ve been friends for a long time. I’ve never given up on you, even when you went to Austin. Don’t worry, I’m going to score another touchdown with you on this one.”
    Carter’s reminder reassured him. Gracie’s little stunt would not keep him from the game-winning score Jake needed in order to ensure the success of the condominium project that would, in turn, ensure his confirmation as permanent CEO of Peoples Property Group.
    This was now war. Gracie Garcia’s students might be waving homemade signs of white poster board on television tonight, but Jake promised himself that before the next City Council meeting, they would be waving the white flag.

Chapter Two
    “Y ou’re not getting much work done, big brother.”
    Jake swiveled his chair around. When had Jenna walked into his office? “I didn’t hear you come in.”
    “I noticed. You’ve been leaning back in that overstuffed recliner you call a desk chair, just looking out the window at all the other office buildings downtown. I walked by earlier to have lunch with Mitch, but his conference call ran long. You haven’t moved for at least five minutes.” She walked around and perched on the edge of Jake’s desk. “Something wrong?”
    “No. Just thinking about the condo project.” He couldn’t tell his sister he’d really been thinking about Gracie Garcia. Ever since he’d seen her on TV last night, she’d consumed his thoughts with the determination in her words and the flash in her liquid-chocolate eyes. He respected her determination, even though it caused him problems. If he could figure out what made her tick behind those flashing eyes, maybe he could solve this issue with her sooner.
    “I heard you talking with Mitch about it at dinner last night. Don’t you two ever take a break?” She gave Jake a playful closed-fist punch to the shoulder.
    “Jenna, I can’t take a break. I decided to finally join the family company in order to prove that you and Nana can depend on me, no matter what our father always said. I know I’m not who he told everyone I was—and now I have to prove it to everyone else in this town.”
    He’d tried to get off the treadmill, to do something different. And look where that had gotten him. Right back to the same corner office, where he now had to work twice as hard—with no breaks—in order to make up for the one break that cost him almost everything. “Do you really think Dad, Grandfather and Great-Grandfather would approve if I took breaks from the company with their name on the door? With our name on the door?”
    Jenna’s blond ponytail bounced as she stood and folded her arms across her chest. Her stiff