The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (13 page)

“At one time, someone probably paid a lot of money for this custom color.”

“I
sure
hope they got a good price.” She
eyed the beat-up car and the brown rusty hole in the back fender. Maybe no one would notice her in the car. She scrunched up her nose. Yeah, right
. It wasn’t the kind of car people
didn’t
notice.

“
All right
, little
Miss Perfect,
may I remind you that you drive around in a beat-up wh
ite farm truck from the sixties?
”

She glared at him. “That’s different.
Everyone in Texas drives a pick
up.”

“Not me.” He stood with arms crossed and his chin lifted.

Grace rolled her eyes and opened the door. “No, you drive the puke-mobile.”

Matt laughed and held the door while she climbed in. “Hey, I like that name!” He closed the door and moved to the
driver’s
side.

She
glanced around the
shabby
interior
. F
igured he was the kind of guy who
actually enjoy
ed
the
derogatory
nickname
.

A few minutes lat
er they parked
close to
Granny’s Kitchen.
Grac
e couldn’t help but smile
as she
cross
ed
Main Street
to
her hometown café,
where l
ight shone f
rom the plate glass windows. Sh
e could smell the
mouth-watering food from
outside
.

T
he bell above the door announce
d
t
he
i
r
arrival
,
and the
usual
crew
looked up and waved
.
As
Grace scooted into the booth she and Matt always occupied
,
a feeling of contentment washed
over
her. How she loved these people!

Mama Beth and Big
Bo sat at a
table with Steve and
Dani
, or “Mr. and Mrs
. Mayor
” as the townspeople
call
ed them.
A loud burst of
laughter echoed from nearby.
Grace knew it was Coot without even l
ooking. She turned her head their
direction. J.C., Coot, Otis
,
and the rest of the old geeze
rs congregated at a
booth
, most likely discussing the latest
gossip
.

One of the Grannies
zigzagged through the tables
to where
they
sat. “Hey,
kiddos, what can I
git
cha
?”

“Two h
ot chocolate
s
, please, and bring them in cups with lids.
”
As she bustl
ed away, Matt
made eye contact with Grace, his sandy brown eyes ap
ologetic. “Sorry I was late, but
I can explain.
I went to see
Trish, but
she
had to go pick up Bo. The baby was asleep and she needed me
to stay with Bra
—”

“
No excuses necessary
.”

“But they’re not excuses. I really did have to baby
sit.
”

Grace pointed a finger at him. “
Just
stop
already
.”

He raised both hands in surrender.
She could practically see
words slamming into each other behind h
is teeth, but
he kept his
lips clamped in a tight smile.

The Granny arrived with two
large cup
s of steaming hot
cocoa
and placed them on the table
, the chocolaty aroma
teas
ing Grace’s nose.

Across the table,
Matt grew
unusually quiet.
He stared at nothing
, his eyes glazed
.
Uh oh.
This couldn’t be good. Something was brewing in that head of his.

“Earth to Matt.”

He blinked and sat up straighter. “Sorry. Guess I
kinda
zoned out there.”

She
gingerly
sip
ped the cocoa
, careful not to burn her mouth.
Dare she ask? “What’s on your mind?”

As expected, he jumped on the invitation. “Remember how much fun we had two summers ago?”

It
had
been a great summer.
One of those rare times in her life when she’d
actually had fun.
“Yeah,
probably
because
we
wer
e just two crazy kids having a good time
.
I
sometimes
find myself wishing I was a kid again.”

Matt
laugh
ed
. “
You’ve never been a kid, Gracie Mae. Admit it. I’ll bet you acted like an adult when you were twelve.”

Memories of herself at twelve
moved to the front of her brain. S
he
leaned back and crossed her arms
.
“B
ecause I had to.”

“Sorry, Gracie, I shouldn’t have said that.”

She relaxed her
posture
and a
ttempted a smile
.
“It’s okay. It’s
the truth, like it or not.
Some of us don’t get to be kids.”

Matt
nodded
and
leaned forward, his eyes glimmering with
boyish
excitement. “Let’s be kids while I’m here.
”

While he was here
, implying that his time in Miller’s Creek was short-term
as she’d suspected
.

“
I know we can’t be kids all
the time, but l
et’s try to do something fun at least once a week.
”

A surprising flicker of hope lit inside her
at the thought of repeating the fun they’d had two years ago
.
“Sounds good.”

He held out his right pinky finger. “Pinky
swear
.”

A
belly laugh burst from her lips. “You weren’t joking about being kids again, were you?”

Matt
just sat there with a lackadaisical expression and his pinky at the ready.

She
gave a quick
scan of
the room to see if anyone was watching them, then
joined her right pinky with his, her elbow at rest on the table.
“I canno
t believe I’m doing this.”

“Repeat after me
, killjoy
.”

A giggle escaped. “Okay.”

“I, Gracie Mae
Soldano
.”

No way would she use that name.
“I, Grace
Soldano
.”

“Do solemnly pinky swear.”

Her
brows wrinkled. “Can you do a pinky swear solemnly?”

“Quit over-analyzing everything, Gracie. That’s not kid stuff. Do solemnly pinky swear.”

“Okay, okay, do solemnly pinky swear.”

“That I will do kid stuff with my BFF, Matt Tyler, at least once a week.”
He finished with a wink.

She groaned. “Honestly?
BFF?”

He feigned a hurt expression.
“I am your BFF, aren’t I?”

“Good grief!
All right
.
I’ll do kid stuff with my BFF, Matt Tyler, at least
once a
week.”

Matt released her pinky and s
at back,
victory
plastered on his face. He looked ready to crow.

Grace
gave
her head
a shake
. “I’m convinced you have Peter Pan syndrome.”

Matt laughed. “And you harp on me for diagnosing your quirks.”
He slurped hot chocolate and sma
cked his lips
, then scooted out of the booth.

“Where are you going?”

“Time for a little of that fun we just promised to have.”
As they passed the counter, Matt paid the tab.
“Thought we could walk to the park. Is that okay?”

“Nothing like a walk on a pretty day to clear your head.”
She followed him out the door and waited while he retrieved something from h
is car. He held up a Frisbee, and a
smile landed on her
face. “I haven’t played
Frisbee in forever.”

They me
andered through the heart of
town toward the park. Matt gave her a sideways glance.
“
We
haven’t
had a chance to really talk much this week
. Anything eventful happen?”

“As a matter of fact, ye
s.
Andy might put me on my first cas
e
with Jason
.”
Was this a good segue point into the “let’s-just-be-friends” speech?

Matt’s face paled momentarily, but he sent a congratulatory smile. “Way to go, Gracie Mae.”

Why did he feel the need to call her that? “Have I ever mentioned how much I hate that name?
”

His eyes held a teasing gleam
as they crossed the street to
Creekside
Park, the gurgle from the creek a siren’s song, beckoning them to play
.
“Which one?
Grace or Gracie
Mae?”

“Well, since you asked, b
oth.”

He looked somewhat taken aback
. “I can understand the one, but what’s not to love about Grace?
It’s a beautiful name.
”
He motioned her to one end of an open area in the park and
tossed
the Frisbee.

She caught it and returned it.
“And
impossible to live up to.
I
have a hard time
just
wrapping my brain around the concept, much less putting it into practice.”

Matt chased
the disc
.
“
Difficult maybe, but not impossible.
And don’t sell yourself short
. I’
ll admit grace is pretty hard for us
to
comprehend
.
Just about the time I think I have a grasp on it, God shows me a little bit more. It’s like a bottomless supply.
”

The same thought she’d had earlier in the week. She marveled.
Yet another drop of grace.

“
I used to think
mercy and grace were the same
, but
I don’t feel that way
anymore
. T
he difference
between them
is actually astronomical
.”

She cocked her head to one side.
“How?”

“
G
race is getting something wonderful, something you could never earn or get for yourself, something you don’t deserve. Mercy is
not
getting what you truly deserve.”
Matt sailed the Frisbee high.

“
Still sounds the same
to me
.”
Grace waited for the hovering Frisbee to drop.

“Not really.
Say you’re driving home and
get
stopped
for speeding.”

Grace
caught the Frisbee, held it above her head like a halo, and
intentionally donned an angelic look.
“I don’t speed.”

“I know you don’t,
Miss Perfect, but pretend
. If the cop gave you a ticket
,
that woul
d be justice. You know,
that concept you wear li
ke a badge of honor.”