The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (68 page)

Her pulse pounded in her temple as she fingered
the promise ring
.
No. Not yet. She wasn’t r
eady. Not until she could walk—no, make that run—into his arms. He deserved at least that much. Not someone confined to a
wheelchair
.
Her hands twisted in
her lap as she pleaded
with her eyes.

Matt took a
nother step
, his eyes revealing his determination. He
went down on both knees, hel
d her trembling hands, and planted a kiss on each one.
“Gracie—”

“Don’t do this yet, Matt. Please.”

He lowered his head a moment
t
hen looked up at her once more
. “Remember when I didn’t want you to go see Elena and Jason?”

Yes, but this was different.
She nodded
hesitantly
.

“And you told me it was something you had to do.”

Her e
yes closed slowly
the
n
reopened as she nodded again
. “Yes, but—”

He placed a finger on her
lips
.
“
Shh
, sweetheart
.
Hear me out.
” Matt moved his hand back to hers.
“
I love you more than life itself and I want you to be my wife
.” He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the ring, holding it up for her to see. “Will you marry me, Gracie?”

H
er pulse hammered in her head, as s
he eyed
the ring
,
her upper lip
t
ucked
between her teeth.
Lord, help me through this. I don’t want to hurt him.
She pinched her
lips
together and
lowered her head
in total torment
.
A
half cry
tore from her chest
,
and
she peered up at him,
tears
tracing a path down her cheeks.
“I can’t, Matt. Not until I can walk.
You deserve at least that much.
”

Matt’s
lips
pooched
out
,
and
he
nodded. “I understand.” He
pivoted and
pocketed the ring
, then
head
ed toward his puke-green Pinto
.

Her heart cratered. No. She couldn
’t lose him like this. H
er eyes blurred by tears,
she
gazed up into the gn
arled arms of the oak tree. “Go
d, help me. I don’t want to lose him.” She choked out the words. “Show me what to do.”

Walk.

I’ve tried, Lord. I can’t walk.

Try again.

Gracie lowered her gaze to Matt’s still-retreating back, his shoulders slumped. It was worth a try.
“Matt!” She screamed his name.

The picnic crowd quieted, as though holding their collective breath, and gathered to watch the scene playing itself out in their midst.

With
her arms, Gracie lifted each foot
from its perch and sat them on the ground,
then bent
low to lift the flaps. Next she used her arms to pull herself to the edge of the seat.

A murmur rose in the crowd behind her as she
stood
. Andy and Papa stepped
out of the crowd
, but she waved them back. “
Stay away
from me
.
”

Papa’s eyes pleaded with hers. “Let me help you,
la
hija
.
”

“No, Papa. I have to do this.”

Andy shook his head, his expression grave. “Don’t you understand yet? Matt doesn’t want perfection. He wants you. You don’t have to try so hard, for him or for any of us. We love you just like you are.”

“You’re the one who doesn’t understand. The perfection I once strived for was for me.
But it’s different this time.
I don’t
wanna
walk so I can be
perfect. I
wanna
walk for Matt
.” Graci
e glanced
at her tingling legs that at least
for the moment
supported her
weight
. Would they work or would she fall on her face in front of
all
of Miller’s Creek?
“Matt, wait!”

He
kept walking
.

Pure agony exploded inside, worse than any pain she’d ever
experienced
, as if her heart were being excised from her chest.
“Please, Matt
!”

He
stopped,
fr
oze
n
in position, his head down. His shoulders rose and lowered as he
turned back to face her.
When he saw her standing,
Matt lifted one hand and started toward her. “No, Gracie, don’t try it without help. You might hurt yourself.”

Sh
e gave her head a shake
, tears dripping off her cheeks to the ground
. “Stop right there
, Matt Tyler
. Don’t you dare come any
closer.
”
Sh
e willed her legs to work.
Please, Lord.

What do you want
Me
to do for you?

She looked into the bright blue sky. “I want to walk.”

Then walk.

Her forehead knotted as she gritted her teeth to pull her right foot forward. A tiny sliding
step
, but a step all the same. Gracie released a gut-wrenching cry as she forced the left leg to do the same.

Voices began to sound behind her.

“You can do it, Miss Gracie.” J.C.’s soft words made it to her ears. She cou
ld almost see his kind eyes urg
ing her forward.

“Yes,
la
hija
,
you can.”

“C’mon, Gracie girl.”
Andy added his words of encouragement.

She glanced o
ver at her boss
, his face beaming. Behind him, Mama Beth swabbed at tears. One step, and then another, as the crowd began cheering her on.

“Atta girl, Gracie!”
Coot bellowed above the crowd.

Gracie focused her
gaze on Matt.
His
cheeks
wet with tears,
he stepped toward her,
his eyes tender and soft. Her feet
started to give way
, but in a heartbeat, he
raced forward
and caught her up i
n his arms, swinging
around
in a circle
so that her legs flew out behind her. “You did it, Gracie, you did it.” His joyous sobs and laughter sounded in her ears.

When at last
he stopped spinning
in circles
, she took a moment to gather her bearings
and smiled at him flirtatiously
. “I’ll take that ring now
.”

He laughed through the
tears. “Oh, you will
, huh
?
Well
,
what if I’ve changed my mind?
”

She held up her hand with the promise ring
and wiggled her fourth finger
. “Guess
I’ll have to take you to court. When it comes to love, verbal agreements are binding, you know.”

“I
n that case, I guess I’d better finish the job.”
With one arm clasped tightly around her waist
to keep her from falling
,
Matt fished around in the pocket of his wrinkled shorts, and then w
ith all of Miller’s Creek as
witness
es
, he placed the ring on her finger and sealed it with a kiss.

Book Club Discussion Questions

1.
       
How does Gracie’s trouble with perfectionism reveal itself in the story
? Why do you think
people struggle with wanting to be perfect?
Is perfectionism
dangerous to our spiritual health? Why or why not?