Stuck in the Middle (27 page)

Ken’s breath was starting to come hard with the exertion, but he smiled in her direction. “I think you’re right.”

A thrill shot through Joan at his words.

They rounded the corner and started down the next block. Ken trudged valiantly beside her, huffing heavily. By this point Joan was usually completely warmed up and at her peak speed, but she set a pace slower than normal. Even Trigger was starting to pant.

“But I don’t think . . . ,” huff, “. . . Mr. Carmichael was too thrilled.”

Joan laughed. “Did you see the terror on his face when we brought up the Bible study?”

“Nice guy . . . but . . .” Huff, huff.

“But he’s not a great teacher,” Joan finished for him.

Ken nodded.

“I know. He’s been teaching that class since he retired a few years ago. I’m sure he spends a lot of time on the lessons. He’s always telling us about the root meaning of this word, or the other uses of that one. He’s really into the historical and intellectual aspects of the Bible.”

Again, Ken nodded but didn’t speak. His face looked like he’d been sitting in a sauna for a couple of hours. Trigger no longer surged out ahead of them. Instead, he trailed along behind, panting heavily. A newspaper headline flashed into Joan’s mind.

DANVILLE DOCTOR’S DYING WORDS:
“I THOUGHT I COULD KEEP UP!”

Hiding a smile, Joan slowed to a brisk walk. “You know, they say walking is the best aerobic exercise you can do. It gets your blood pumping but doesn’t jar your joints.”

Casting her a look of gratitude, Ken slowed. “Guess I . . . wasn’t in as good . . . shape as I thought.”

At that moment, Trigger apparently decided enough was enough. He came to a dead stop and flopped into the grass, wheezing.

Joan laughed out loud. “Neither is your dog.”

~ 18 ~

“I’m home!” Joan let herself in the house and inhaled deeply. The scent of warm chocolate lingered in the air. “Mmm, what smells so good?”

When she came through the kitchen doorway, her heart skipped a beat. Gram stood tiptoe on a dining room chair, reaching up to the top shelf of the pantry.

“Gram!” She dropped her purse on the floor and rushed forward. “What in the world are you doing up there?”

“Getting these.” She extracted a package of paper napkins.

Pulse pounding, Joan held out a hand to help her down. She heaved a relieved breath when Gram leaned heavily on it to step to the floor. “Do me a favor? Next time, wait for me. I’d rather you not climb up on a chair.”

A frown added creases to her forehead, and she spoke irritably. “I can manage.”

“Gram, please.” Joan held her breath until her grandmother gave a slight nod. Relieved, she turned her attention to a tray of fudgy goodies on the counter as her pulse slowed to normal speed. “You didn’t have to make brownies.”

She resisted the urge to pinch a corner off one of them. No sense indulging in the extra calories. With Ken and Trigger now accompanying her on her morning
walks
, she wasn’t getting nearly the workout she was accustomed to.

“I can’t have guests in my house and not offer them something.” Gram looked askance at the suggestion of such blatant inhospitality.

Joan laughed at her. “Well, thank you. I just hate for you to go to any trouble, especially since we’re interrupting your Thursday night schedule.”

“Nonsense. I’ll watch
CSI
downstairs on your television.” She opened the package she’d retrieved and stacked some napkins beside the brownies. “And besides, what else do I have to do all day?”

“You can’t fool me. You do plenty just taking care of me and Mom.” Joan hugged her. “Now I’d better go change clothes before they arrive.”

Gram followed her down the stairs and into her bedroom. “Are you sure you won’t have something for supper?” Her voice cracked with worry. “Maybe a sandwich and a bowl of soup?”

“I had a late lunch,” Joan told her. “And besides, there’s no time. They’ll be here any minute. I don’t want to eat in front of them.”

She brightened. “I can fix them a sandwich too.”

Joan clasped her grandmother’s shoulders. “That’s not necessary. They’re just coming for a meeting.” She leaned forward and kissed a wrinkled cheek, reveling in the powdery smell she always associated with Gram. “Thank you for taking care of me, but I’m not going to wither away from lack of food.”

The doorbell rang. Joan glanced at her watch. The first person was five minutes early.

“Would you get that, please? Tell whoever it is I’ll be right up.”

Gram’s brow cleared as she scooted out of the room, intent on her mission. Joan grinned as she donned jeans and a blue shirt. By the time Joan got upstairs, she’d be stuffing brownies into whoever had just arrived, regaling them with the history of her recipe and the story of the first time she made them for Grandpa.

As she mounted the stairs, the doorbell rang again.

“I’ll get it,” she shouted.

Eve and a familiar-looking brunette stood on the stoop.

“You remember Marissa?” Eve nodded toward her friend. “She’s been to church with me a couple of times.”

“Sure.” Joan stepped back so they could enter. “Hi, Marissa. Glad you could come.”

“Thanks.” Marissa returned Joan’s smile with a shy one.

Behind her, Gram said, “Come on in, girls, and tell me what you’d like to drink. I have lemonade, sweet tea, milk, and 7UP. Or I could make coffee.”

Joan turned in time to see her step into the living room with a tray of cheese and crackers. Apparently the brownies weren’t her only project. She had prepared a full buffet of snack food. Joan chuckled as she swung the door closed. Leave it to Gram.

An arm shot through the doorway. She pulled the door back open and looked up into Ken’s smiling face.

Would her stomach ever stop fluttering at the sight of those breathtaking green eyes?

“I’m not late, am I?”

“You’re right on time.” She stepped back to let him inside. “I’m glad I finally get to hear your secret idea.”

All week long during their morning walks, he’d been hinting that he had a great idea for the group but wouldn’t tell her what the project might be. He slipped inside and stood looking down at her, his face barely six inches from hers. Definitely inside her hula hoop, but Joan had no desire to step back.

“I hope you’re not disappointed after all the buildup.” Disappointed in anything to do with Ken? Not likely.

By 7:40 everyone had arrived, and they had to bring extra chairs from the dining room. Joan did a quick count. Eight, counting herself. Not bad. All the Sunday morning regulars had showed up, and Brittany called Crystal, who attended sporadically. Joan realized there were a couple of others she should have thought to call and made a mental note to do that before their next meeting.

Gram’s brownies were a hit, and she was obviously enjoying herself, flitting in and out of the room refilling everyone’s glasses if they got more than three sips low. Joan realized she would have to get things going. She felt like they should begin with a prayer.

She had never prayed in public! Blessings before family meals didn’t count. Praying wasn’t something that came naturally to her, not prayers like the one she heard from that preacher at the Open Bible Church. Or Ken, even. When he had said the blessing at dinner, he made it sound so easy. Not professional, like Rev. Jacobson’s, but more like a normal conversation. Maybe he would do it, if she asked.

No, this was her idea. It was up to her. She cleared her throat. “We ought to get started, you guys. I, uh, guess I’ll open with prayer.”

The chatter fell silent and everyone bowed their heads. Joan gulped a breath. Just talk to him. “Dear God, thank you for the great turnout tonight. We’re here because we’re hoping to come up with ways to support each other, and also to do some good in our church and maybe in our town. We hope you’ll give us some ideas and that, uh . . . ,” her eyes squeezed tighter, “that your Holy Spirit will lead our discussion. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

A huge wave of relief washed over her. That wasn’t so bad. In fact, it felt sort of good, especially the part about the Holy Spirit leading them. Ken must have thought so too, because he smiled at her.

“Okay,” she said, looking around the room. “Has anyone come up with any brainstorms?”

On the sofa, Brittany raised a hand. “I thought we might paint the Sunday school classrooms. It’s been years since the last time anybody did it.”

“I wondered about planting fall flowers around the churchyard.” Eve glanced around the room. “And in another month we could rake leaves for some of the elderly people in our congregation.”

Beside her on the love seat, Ryan laughed. “There are plenty of those, that’s for sure.” He ducked his head as Gram made another pass through the room with the tea pitcher.

“What a shame it’s not closer to Christmas,” Brittany said. “We could do the Angel Tree.”

“What about volunteering at the food pantry?” Crystal absently swirled her soda, ice tinkling against the glass. “They need help all year-round.”

Gordy’s head swiveled toward her. “Does Danville even have a food pantry?”

She shrugged. “If they don’t, Lexington does. Or maybe we could start one here.”

Joan tapped a finger against the arm of her chair, listening to the ideas being thrown out. These were some good projects, but she was holding out to hear what Ken had come up with.

“I like the idea of doing something for the community,” Ryan said. “The church I went to in St. Louis when I was a teenager used to print labels with John 3:16 and put them on cold bottles of water. Then we’d go out as a group and pass them out to homeless people.”

Eve sat up in her seat, her face brightening. “What a terrific idea.”

“Except I don’t know of any homeless people in Danville.” Gordy reached for a handful of peanuts from a dish on the coffee table. “We could maybe go to Lexington or Louisville, though.”

Joan’s gaze slid to Ken, her eyebrows arched. Was he ever going to speak?

He caught her looking at him, and grinned. “What do you know about Shadow Ridge?”

“The housing project?” Gordy scowled. “It’s a place for low-income families, most of them on welfare. And it’s a dump.”

“Yeah, some scary people live out there.” Brittany shuddered. “There’s a high crime rate. I hear a lot of drugs are sold in Shadow Ridge.”

Ken nodded slowly. “I figured that. A couple of weeks ago I met a boy who lives there. He’s not a bad kid, but if the only role models he has are the people selling drugs in his apartment complex, where’s he likely to end up?”

Silence fell on them as everyone considered the question. Joan looked at Ken. “What did you have in mind?”

“I’ve been out there a couple of times. You’re right.” He nodded at Gordy. “It’s a dump. Trash everywhere, beer bottles all over the place, even on the playground. And the equipment is broken down and dangerous.” He leaned forward, his forearms resting on his thighs as he looked around the room. “I thought maybe we could clean it up, make it safe for the kids who live there.”

Ryan shook his head. “It’s not a bad idea, but I don’t see how cleaning up their playground will help keep those kids off drugs.”

“Maybe it won’t, but doing it says somebody cares about them.”

“You know,” Crystal said thoughtfully, “I’ll bet some of those kids have never had an adult take the time to do anything just for them.”

Ken stared at the floor in front of him. “If we demonstrate Christ’s love in a real, practical way, it will make a difference. I know it will.”

Joan watched him, saw a muscle in his jaw flex. She felt certain he was speaking from personal experience. Had someone done something for him as a kid, something to influence his life? Maybe after his parents died?

A smile brightened Eve’s face. “I like the idea.”

Joan caught his eye and grinned. “I do too.”

She saw nods around the room.

“But are we allowed to go in there and do a cleanup project?” Ryan’s eyebrows drew together as he looked at Ken. “I mean, are there permits we have to get or permission or anything?”

“None. I spoke with the complex manager a few days ago.” Ken held up a hand to forestall any argument. “I didn’t commit us to anything, not before we decided as a group, but I asked him what we’d need to do to get permission. He seemed thrilled.” His lips twisted as he caught Joan’s gaze. “But he wanted to make absolutely sure we understood the complex couldn’t pay for anything.”

“I work for a hardware supplier.” Ryan cocked his head sideways. “Maybe I can get the owners to donate at least some of the material we’ll need.”

“Hey!” Brittany clapped her hands together. “I can call some other businesses in town and see if they’ll help too. I’m good at that.”

“You know what we might do?” Marissa blushed as everyone looked at her. She ducked her head and swallowed, but continued. “We could put up a notice in advance. Maybe some of the parents would want to help us if they knew what we were doing. That way we’d have an opportunity to work alongside them, to get to know them.”

“That’s a great idea,” Eve said. “There are bound to be caring parents in that complex, people who are just down on their luck. Maybe this will help them too.”

Excitement vibrated throughout the room as each of them voiced enthusiasm for their first project. Joan couldn’t help grinning at Ken.

“I don’t want to forget about the other ideas we’ve discussed,” she told everyone. “We’ll keep a list and do some of those things later. But it sounds like we’re all in agreement that our first project will be the Shadow Ridge playground?”

They all agreed.

“Good. Let’s start ironing out the details.”

Joan went to the kitchen for a calendar and a notepad. Time to make a list. She might be lousy at calling people for donations, and she didn’t know what good she’d be repairing broken playground equipment. But details were her forte. She could organize anything.

She didn’t bother to hide an excited grin. Allie said she needed a goal. Looked like she was right.

~ 19 ~