The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (23 page)

“But I—”

“No excuses.
You don’t get paid to drink coffee.
Do I make myself clear?”

Grace made the mistake of peering around at the others nearby. The men all stood with their heads lowered and their hands in their
suit
pockets. The wome
n cast
furtive glances at each other, g
lances that seemed to say, “H
ere we go again.” Grace
h
ad the distinct impression
she’
d be water cooler fodder after this.
Were they
already
placin
g wagers on how long she
’d last
,
or was that strictly
a game
the mail
room
workers
played
?

A flush of heat crawled up
her face, and tears stung her eyes.
She blinked hard to hold them at bay
. “Yes.”

Elena extended a stack of papers toward her. “I need you to file this brief and be back here no later than four o’clock.”

Grace
took
the papers and
stepp
ed toward
her desk to gather
her purse.

“And Grace.”

She
stopped in her tracks and
faced Elena again.

Her
face held cold contempt. “
You might want to avoid the break room. It makes you smell like a pool hall, and you look like you’
ve gained a few pounds
.
”

Snickers sounded from a group of guys standing nearby.

Grace
exerted considerable effort to keep her
jaw clamped shut
. She managed
to
exit the room
as gracefully as possible in spite of the
storm brewing
inside. All the way to the courthouse she
replayed Elena’s hateful words. T
hey slashed through her over a
nd over again, leaving her
more wounded with each pass.

How dare the
woman
publicly embarrass her in front of her new colleagues! Who did she think she was? Angry tears hovered just below the sur
face, but Grace refused
them
an exit
, stuffing them deeper and deeper.

Once at the courthouse, she sat in Papa’s pickup for a few minutes trying to gain control of her emotions.
The last thing she needed or wanted was the drama of yet another emotional scene. She had to make sure she was completely ready to face whatever and whoever came next.

Grac
e finally
slow
ed her breathing, knowing she’
d have to deal with
the
baggage she’d stuffed away at a later time. She rummaged in the glove box and found an old napkin. With that and the rearview mirror, she set to work to remove all traces of her rea
ction to Elena’s verbal barrage. T
hen she
trotted
f
rom the parking lot and
up the courthouse steps, a sudden realization dawning on her.
I
n spite of three years of
very expensive
law school she had no idea how to file a brief.

The heavy door squeaked as she entered the building and peered around. Was there a sign somewhere that said “File Briefs Here?”

“May I help you?” A
lady behind the desk
peered up at her
.

Grace smiled
sheepishly and approached
. “I don’t know quite how to say this, but I’m a new attorney and I—”

“
Let me guess, f
irst time to file a brief?”
She broke into a smile.

“T
hat obvious?”

A kind smile lit the woman’s face
,
and
immediately
set Grace
at ease.
The lady
patted
her
hand.
“Don’t worry,
hon
, I’ve been her
e
almost thirty-seven years and I’ve seen it time and time
again. You’d think they’
d teach this in law school, but for some reason they don’t. Come with me.”

Though the woman was sweet and helpful, she was also incredibly slow and thorough, going through every step
of the process in great detail,
and more than
once,
in an effor
t to help Grace
the next time around.

Almost
an hour later, Grace
expre
ssed her gratitude to the lady
once more and
h
urried down the street
to the pickup
. She eyed her watch as she inserted the key and buckled her seatbelt. There should be just enough time to get back
before the imposed deadline
. Sur
ely Elena would be pleased
she’d managed the task in the allotted time. She turned the i
gnition. The old pickup made it
s familiar grinding
noise, but then began to slow.

Lord, please not now.

She pump
ed the gas pedal and tried again. A
ll she heard was a
bit of the
same
noise and then nothing but a click. Grace let her head fall forward onto the steering wheel, longing to release a scream of frustration.
What was she supposed to do now? Calling Elena was out of the question. Papa would be gearing up for
the dinner crowd
at th
e restaurant. Normally, she’
d
call Andy, but somehow that
didn’t seem right
under the circumstances
.

Matt’s face flashed in he
r mind.
She
climbed from the truck, jogged to a nearby business in her stiletto heels
,
and asked to borrow their phone.
She
pu
nched
Matt’s number, pray
ing
she remembered it correctly.
Her heart fluttered when he answered.
“Thank goodness
.”

“Gracie?
You al
l
right?”

“Not really. I can’t get the pickup started and I need to be back at work as soon as possible before . .
. ”
She stopped hersel
f in the nick of time,
reminded of Elena’s warning. No, it wouldn’t do for her to bad mouth her boss. Not if she wanted to complete her mission and keep her job.

“Before what?”

“Never mind, it doesn’t matter. Let’s
just say I need to be there five minutes ago. Can
you come rescue me?”

Matt chuckled. “You can’t have it both ways, Gracie Mae. I can’t be the scum of the earth one minute and your knight in shining armor the next.”

“I don’t have time for this.” Panic escalated her words to a near scream.

“Okay, okay. Sorry. Where are you?”

“In a parking lo
t
down the street from the
courthouse.
Where are you?”
She pelted out the words like they were bullets and he was the target.

“You’re in luck, fair damsel. I’m headed into Morganville to run a few errands for Trish. I’ll swing by there and help you out first.”

True to his word, Matt arrived a few minutes later, quickly diagnosed the dead battery, and produced a set of jumper cables. In no time, the pickup cranked right up.

Grace engul
fed him in a quick hug. “Y
ou’ve saved my life.”

“Well, I wouldn’t
exactly
go that far.”
Matt removed the cables and folded them.

“I would. Sorry I ca
n’t stay, but I’ve
gotta
run.” A
lready fifteen minutes late, but
hopefully
Elen
a would understand. S
he
wiggled her fingers at him
and sped out of the parking lot.

She
rounded the corner of
Fourth Street,
the DA’s o
ffice
within sight. A
siren
sounded
behind her. Grace glanced in the rearview mirror
at the
red and blue flashing lights.

Her heart fell to the ground
. Was this really happening?

Grace pulled over, her
heartbeat
hammering a hole in her head
. The officer took
an eternity
in coming t
o the window. She watched him from
the side
view mi
rror as he slowly sauntered up like
he had hours to
squander
.

“S
orry, officer.
I work for the DA’s office and
needed to run an errand for my boss and I’m running behind and—”

“D
river’s license, insurance
,
and registration, please.”
He drawled out the words
, his jaws at work on a wad of spearmint gum
.

Grace retrieved the
requested documentatio
n, then watched in
agony as the patrolman sauntered slowl
y back to his car. F
ive minutes tick
ed
by on the d
ashboard clock before he
made his way back to her.

“Ma’am, I clocked you going fifteen miles over the speed limit. In addition, I’m ticketing you for not having your seatbelt buckled.”

She
fumbl
ed for the seatbelt
in dismay. How could she be so stupid?
Grace took the
ticket
and tried to listen to his instructions, but
with
the roaring in her ears,
his words
meld
ed
into a mou
nd of indecipherable gibberish.

When
he finally finished his spiel
and pu
lled around her, her
tears unleashed
in force
.
They
backed up in her throat, and s
he sobb
ed all t
he way
to the office.

Thankfully the building was
empty as she made her way up the stairs to Elena’s office
. A
t least
she didn’t have to deal with stares or questions
.
Hands shaking,
and feeling like a worn-out dishrag,
she turned the knob of the office door
, prepared to offer her resignation if necessary.

Elena, every hair perfectly in place, sat behind her desk writing on a legal pad
, a pleasant expression on her face—as though she hadn’t a care in the world. She didn’t
look up as Grace entered
, but continued to write as she spoke
. “It’s
certainly
about time.
In fact, it’s past time.
Did I not give you explicit instructions on
when to be back
?”

“Yes.”
Grace’s
voice quavered. She
chomped down hard on
her lo
wer lip to distract her from yet more
threatening tears. “
My pickup wouldn’t start
,
and then I got a tick
et trying to
make it back
on time
.”

Elena laid down her pen, almost too calmly, and
finally
looked up, searching Grace’s tear-stained face. Her upper lip curl
ed in contempt.
“Tears
?
Really?
I
credited you with so much more spine than
this
.
”
S
he
rose to her feet
and moved from behind her desk.
“I gave you those clothes to give you a hand up, but you’re obviously not interested in looking your best. Your hair and make-up look like a
schoolgirl
playing dress-up.”

A scene from junior high bubbled to the surface of her memory. Several girls from her class, standing around her i
n the gym, listing her faults—o
ne’s she’d
have to overcome before they’d
consider being her friend
.
Sh
e struggled to keep the hurtful memory
locked out, but she couldn’t help but notice the similarities. The only difference was
she and Elena
were
grown women.
She
inhaled
the
biggest breath she could
gather in her lungs
and sent
up a cry to her Maker.
Lord, help me
pull it together
.