The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (54 page)

The man
lightly
cleared his throat
. “I am very touched by y
our words
.
The next time I speak to her, I will
tell
her you called.
”

His chest raised and lowered
.
“Thank you so much, sir.”

“
De nada
.”

Long after
the phone
call
ended
, Matt puzzled over the chang
e in Juan
Soldano
. What could’
ve happened to cause such
a drastic difference
?

In a short amount of time, his
thoughts
returned to Gracie. H
earing her voice
wouldn’t happen now, and h
e had no idea how to reach her. All he c
ould do was pray,
do
everything
he could to get better, and then
make his
way to
Bellview
to find Gracie.

22

E
arly Friday morning before work, Grace
leaned back against
the small sofa
and closed her
eyes
,
her heart
heavy
.
Lord,
o
pen my eyes to see
Your
goodness all around me.
Help me
get past this loneliness and
to be patient with the process of living in a new town.
Show me how to put the past behind me and move forward.

In spite of her desire to get on with her life
, her thoughts turned to Matt and h
ow
much
she missed him
. She’d
almost phon
ed
several times, but changed her mind at the last minute, fearful of interrupting a rehearsal or waking him too early after a late-night concert.
Maybe
he’d
be back in Miller’s Creek over
Christmas, but would he have anything to do with her after the way she’d treated him?

She
took a sip of
coffee
and then
sat her cup on the box she used as a coffee table
, reflecting
over the
first week in
Bellview
.
Mr. Thomas
had
proved to be short-tempered. If something she
said or did
didn’t suit him, he hollered about it
until tears threatened
.
Thankfully, he
r
new
boss
was out of the office more than he was in.

The still-unnamed cat jumped to the box
and
sent
her
cup crashing to the floor.
Coffee
splashed
onto her skirt and
qu
ickly soaked
floral-design scarf
Grac
e used as a tablecloth
. The
pesky animal then leapt to the floor and
licked up the rest
as though the heinous act was intentional
.

Grace
hurriedly
snatched up the scarf and
ran
to the
sink to rinse it before it stained. The scarf was one of only a few items she had that once belonged to Mama. After draping the wet scarf over the countertop to dry, she stepped to the bedroom to change.

Her
cell phone
rang
.
That would be Jason.
At least he’
d been fait
hful in calling to check on her, though she hadn’t yet
garnered the courage to ask
why Consuela didn’t know him. It seemed too personal a question to ask
for some reason
.
She
answered
the phone
and
infuse
d
her tone with a cheerfulness she didn’t feel
. “Good morning.”

“How’s my girl
? Is Thomas
treating you well?”

How was she supposed to answer that question
without sounding like a total ingrate
?

Jason interrupted her thoughts. “Can’t talk long this morning—busy day ahead—b
ut I did want to let you know I won’t be calling tonight or tomorrow.”

The news fell on her ears like an aft
ershock to an earthquake kind of week
.
Great
.
Now she had an extra twenty minutes of twiddling her thumbs over the weekend.
“
How come?”
Grace hated the neediness
in her voice
.

“I
can’t really say, but I
pro
mise to make it up to you
. Trust me?”

Good question. Did she
?
She shelved the thought and turned back to the conversation.
“Of course, but I’ll miss talking to you
.”

Jason’s soft laughter filtered through the phone. “Have
a
great day, love.”

“You too.”
The
deep aching loneliness returned
. Was it because
the weekend
stretched
ahead of her like
a
lonely gaping hole and
no way to fill it?

Snap out of it, Grace.
A determined
deep breath
bolstered her flagging spirit.
She
rush
ed to change clothes
so she could get to work on time. It wouldn’t be wise to anger her cigar-chewing boss
on payday
.

The day flew quicker than she expected
. Mr. Thomas was out most of the day—
only at the office
long
enough to give her a stack of work
and a lower-than-expected check
.
During
the
lunch hour, she allowed herself the luxury of daydreaming about how she’d spend her first weekend in
Bellview
, refusing t
o sit around and mope
.

As soon as the cloc
k hit five, she was out the door
, eager
to be free of the confines of the smelly office
.
She traded her skirt for
a
favorite pair of blue jeans.
Her first stop would be
the thrift store on the opposite corner
to pick up a few things for the apartment
.
And tomorrow she’d visit the public library.

After feeding the cat,
Grace moved
to the stairs that exited the building in the back. She’
d
just
c
lomped down the rickety steps when
a fancy black car pulled into the overgrown alleyway.
Her heart
bounded
to her throat.
Jason?

The car screeched to a stop
and the door swung open. It
was
him. She hurried over as he unfolded his tall frame from the sports car.
“Jason!”

Though h
is face held a frown
its familiarity instantly boosted her spirits. He returned her embrace. “Where were you going?”

“I thought I’d explore the town. What are you doing here?”

He
planted a kiss on
the tip of her nose. “
Here to make sure
you stay out of trouble.
It appears
I arrived
at just the right
time.”

Now
Grace frowned.
Why did she get the distinct impression that he hadn’t intended the comment as a joke?

Jason treated
Grace
to
a nice dinner
Friday evening
,
driving several
miles to a well-known steakhouse.
They pulled into a gravel parking
lot
full of vehicle
s. Though the unassuming building
and middle-of-nowhere location
gave no clue to the quality of food within, t
he heavenly smells brought a rumble to her stomach as soon as she exited the car
.
A private plane landed on the restaurant’s airstrip as they entered, yet another tribute to the delicious menu.

Determined to enjoy this brief
respite from her lonely life, Grac
e scarfed down her chicken-fried steak and creamed potatoes
in short order
, most like
ly
the after-effects of a week of rationing her meager supply of food.
In sharp-contrast to her jolly mood, Jason
stared into the distance throughout their time together, lacking
the warmth he’
d exhibit
ed
on previous occasions
.
Instead he
alternated between
bored and demanding, like being here with her was the last thing he wanted
.
At other moments, he
clung to her
and refused to let her out of his sight
.

On the way back to the apartment, G
race gnawed the lining of her cheek. Had she
said
or
done
something wrong? Several times during the course of the evening, she
’d
tried to bring him around, but to no avail.
Why was he acting so strange? The confusion
t
hat plagued her steps during the
last few weeks in Miller’s Creek
returned,
a heavy fog
which envelop
ed
her brain and heart.

Jason
jer
ked to a
quick
stop
in front of her building. “I’ll pick you up in the morning for breakfast.” He made no attempt to
kiss her or to come around to
open the
door, nor did he wait until she
safely
reached the top step
of the worn stairs
before he spe
d off into the night.

After breakfast
at a local pancake house
Saturday morning,
they
drove
to Abilene
for a day of Christmas shopping.
Though it was pleasant to stroll through the mall decorated in
fragran
t
Christmas greenery and to sing along with familiar carols,
she had no money to spend
on gifts
and was too embarrassed to tell him why she made no purchases. Finally they
both
agreed to end the day early.
Mid-afternoon
Jason
deposited
her at the
exterior staircase
with a quick
peck on the cheek
. “I have to get
back to Miller’s Creek
, but
I’ll
try to
call tomorrow.”

The
tail lights
of hi
s car
disappear
ed
around the curve in the road,
and an overwhelming sense of relief came over her. She rolled her head in a circle to relieve the tension that had built in her neck and shoulders from trying to please him.
Was it wrong to be
glad
she had at least one d
ay left in her weekend to enjoy?