Grace Mason

Significant other
 Team Affiliation(s)
 Core group of friends
Nathan (brother-in-law) & Bailey Hampton (sister-in-law) (brother Joel)
Ryder (brother-in-law) & Felicity Sinclair (best friend, sister-in-law)
 Other family
 Career

## Biography

### Early Life

Grace and Logan meet in 10th grade, when she became his history tutor. They grew friendly and were close.  Grace's mother didn't like that Grace spent time with someone of "Logan's ilk," and threatened to ruin his Army plans if Grace didn't stop tutoring him. Grace put an end to their sessions as a way of protecting Logan.

At a football game, someone spilled their drink on Grace. Logan, who was watching from a few rows away, noticed, yelled at the clumsy boy, and led Grace to his car. He gave her napkins and an extra t-shirt, which she changed into. It was then Logan realized he had feelings for her. That was the last time they touched before he left.

When Logan left for the Army, he promised to write to her as soon as he arrived at basic training. She promised to write back. They briefly discussed starting a relationship and shared a kiss.  Grace wrote letters to send to Logan when she had his address, but she never received communication from him. She didn't know what happened between them, but after a year of writing, she realized he either wasn't interested in her, or had decided that she "wasn't worth the effort."

### Career

Grace attended college in Denver, but continued to live at home with her parents. At 21, Grace graduated with a degree in office administration. She began working at her parents' business, Mason Architectural Firm, while she figured out where she'd go next. At 22, she told her parents of her intentions to get a job in Denver, but her mother yelled at her until her father handcuffed her to a chair. For a solid week, they only let Grace up to use the restroom. Finally, she externally relented and agreed to stay, while internally began planning her escape.  At 23, Grace's parents allowed her to have a small apartment close to their house. They continued to guilt her into attending parties, visiting them at home, and working for them. To give herself a small measure of freedom, she regularly arrived at work an hour before her coworkers, who were coerced into giving her parents information about her every perceived indiscretion.

Before she met Felicity, Grace attempted to secretly move into an apartment building in Denver. Margaret contacted the landlord and squashed the deal. As punishment, Grace's parents had her committed to West Springs Hospital, as she "obviously [wasn't] in [her] right mind." Grace took advantage of the break from her parents, asking the physicians to extend the 72 hour M-1 hold into a full month. Grace's time with people who were "legitimately" mentally ill scared her into complying with her parents' demands.

Grace's primary bank account was closely monitored by her father, who often grilled her about her expenditures. On the side, she saved money to a bank account in Denver, to house her escape fund. With this money, Grace bought a cell phone that her parents didn't know about. The bill for the phone went to Felicity's address.

### *Claiming Grace* (2017)

The only ones Grace has opened up to about the situation with her parents are Felicity and Cole.

## Characteristics

* Doesn't like coffee, but needs to have caffeine in the morning
* Quiet, reserved
* Felicity considers her "pure" and "honest"
* Friendly, happy
* Drops everything to support others
* Considerate, caring
* One of her favorite movies is *Cinderella*

## Physical Description

* Has a few "extra pounds" ; curvy
* 5'8"
* Has "lily white" skin
* To the public, she keeps herself well-groomed, with styled hair, polished fingernails, ironed clothing, and high-heeled shoes.  When she has autonomy, she is much more casual; for instance, at the blacklight party, she wears a tank top, jeans, and flip-flops.
* Light brown hair (often worn in a bun, to appease her mother)
* Has a tattoo that can only be seen under a blacklight. It features two sparrows flying

## Relationships

### Romantic

* Grace's first romantic partner was the son of a business associate of her parents. They had dinner and had sex at his place. Grace was grateful to no longer be a "virgin," but was overall underwhelmed by the experience.
* Grace had two other unsatisfying experiences.
* Logan Anderson (husband)
	+ Grace met Logan when she became his history tutor in 10th grade.  He nicknamed her "Smarty."  They grew close, and even considered starting a relationship as soon as Logan got settled in the Army,  but she never heard from him again. Ten years later, when he moved back to town, they ran into each other at the grocery store, but Grace left before they could talk.  After months of
	+ Children:
		- Ace Blake Anderson (twin son)
		- Nate Bradley Anderson (twin son)

### Family

* Walter (father) & Margaret Mason (mother)
	+ Grace's parents were manipulative and controlling. They constantly talked down to her, belittled her, and guilted her into doing their bidding. When verbal tactics were ineffective, they became physically controlling, restraining her at their house until she came around to their way of thinking.
	+ Grace's father often criticized her lack of ambition.
	+ Grace's mother appeared to be more controlling of her. She often criticized Grace's appearance, worried that what Grace looked like would reflect poorly on the family. Margaret kept a close eye on Grace's every movement.
	+ Margaret's main ambition seemed to be for Grace to get married to Brad and provide them with a son, who Margaret and Walter would raise as their own.
* Blake Anderson (brother-in-law) and Alexis Grant Anderson (sister-in-law)
* Nathan Anderson Hampton (brother-in-law) and Bailey Hampton (sister-in-law)
	+ Joel Hampton (Bailey's brother)
* Ryder Sinclair (brother-in-law) and Felicity Jones Sinclair (sister-in-law)
	+ Grace and Felicity met when Felicity and Cole came into Grace's parents' business to discuss remodeling what became Rock Hard Gym. While Felicity complains about giving Grace's parents any money, Grace is grateful for meeting Felicity and forging a friendship with her.

### Other Friends

* Cole Johnson and Sarah Butler Johnson
* Bradford Grant (Alexis's brother)
	+ Brad worked as an architect at Grace's parents' firm. Grace's mother attempted to set them up together, but neither was interested. They were friendly with one another.

## Appearance(s)

* *Claiming Grace* (2017) - main character
* *Claiming Alexis* (2017)
* *Claiming Bailey* (2017)
* *Claiming Felicity* (2018)
* *Claiming Sarah* (2019)
* *Shelter for Penelope* (2019) - mentioned (not by name)

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 *Claiming Grace* (2017), chapter 1
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 *Claiming Grace* (2017), chapter 5
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *Claiming Grace* (2017), chapter 8
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 *Claiming Grace* (2017), chapter 2
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 *Claiming Grace* (2017), chapter 4
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 *Claiming Grace* (2017), chapter 3
7. ↑ *Claiming Grace* (2017), chapter 7
8. ↑ *Claiming Grace* (2017), chapter 6