A Gift of Time (The Nine Minutes Trilogy Book 3) (35 page)

Chapter Sixty

Grizz

2002,
North Carolina

Grizz stiffened as
the father he’d never known invaded his
personal space and clung tightly to his only child. When he pulled back, he
allowed himself to meet the old man’s eyes, and what he saw caused him to look
away.

Micah Hunter
looked at his grown son with a love that was timeless. It didn’t matter that
they’d never met before today. There was acceptance, joy, and a certain
expectation in the man’s gaze, and Grizz wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about
any of it. He could only surmise that Ginny hadn’t told Micah everything about
him. No. There had to be things he wasn’t aware of because he certainly
wouldn’t be welcoming him with open arms.

Grizz cast a
wary glance over at Ginny and then at the people who’d gathered in Micah’s
yard.

As if
sensing his son’s discomfort, Micah told him, “My excitement got the best of
me, and I planned a pig roast to celebrate, but don’t worry, they know they’re
not allowed to stay. They’ve already cleaned up from supper and were just
getting ready to head out anyway, but hung around just long enough to get a
look at you-uns.”

Micah called
out to those gathered on his property. “I thank you all kindly for being here
to welcome my son and his family home.”

Ginny was
standing next to her children and chanced a peek at their faces after Micah’s
reference to family. Mimi and Jason were both grinning ear-to-ear.

“But,” Micah
continued, “like I told y’all when we sat down to supper, this is a bit much
for them. For me, too. So we’ll save introductions for another time.”

Grizz
watched with obvious relief as the guests, respecting Micah’s wishes, started
gathering their families. Smiling parents shooed their children toward cars and
trucks as they balanced paper plates covered in tinfoil. A few kids hung back,
and it was obvious they wanted to meet Ginny’s children. Eventually, they were
shuffled off, too.

“How many of
them do you think there are?” Jason asked his mother, eyes wide.

She shook
her head. “Too many to count.”

She’d been
watching as an older woman, almost mannish in appearance, seemed to take charge
of herding the guests toward their vehicles.

Micah was
now making small talk with Grizz, Mimi, and Jason, but Ginny wasn’t paying
attention. She watched as the older woman said goodbye to the last family and,
after slamming their car door shut, made a beeline for Micah.

“Don’t you
think for one single second, Micah Edward Hunter, that I am going to be sent
away before I get to meet my nephew!” the woman said in a loud voice. The
conversation stopped as Micah turned to face her. “My late husband was a
Jamison, so I have connections to this boy from both sides of my family, and
I’m not being run off with the rest of ’em!”

Ginny smiled
at her reference to Grizz as a boy.

Micah
sighed. “Jamison, Ginny, Mimi, Jason...” He gestured toward the woman who was
now standing with hands on hips, her gray hair pulled back in a severe bun.
“This is my sister, Matilda, and ever since her husband and my Margaret Mae
died, she thinks it’s her responsibility to take care of me. Thank the good
Lord she doesn’t live with me, but I’ve no doubt she would if I’d allow it.”

“I’m Tillie,
Aunt Tillie to the four of you,” she told the small gathering as she stared
into each of their eyes with a look that dared them to call her otherwise.
“Now. I want some hugs!”

After Aunt
Tillie got her hugs and headed for home, Grizz and Micah carried the suitcases
into the house, and Ginny realized the cabin was far larger than it looked from
the outside. They walked in through the front door and noticed a staircase on
the immediate right that led to a second floor. They walked further into the
house and found themselves in one large family room with a tall fireplace on
the right side wall. The ceiling was high, and above the massive glass sliders
there were trapezoid windows that showcased a spectacular mountain view. To the
left was a large kitchen and an island that separated it from the family room.
There was a small bath off the kitchen and a hallway that led to a master
bedroom.

Standing in
the center of the family room now, they looked up and could see an open hallway
fenced in with rustic mountain laurel railing.

“Hi, Mom!”
Jason waved down to Ginny. She hadn’t seen him remove himself from the group and
was a little embarrassed he’d run up the stairs uninvited. “You should see the
view from up here.”

“Jason,
please come back down here!”

“His room is
up there anyway, might as well let him take a look around,” Micah said,
smiling.

“Where does
that other staircase go?” Jason called down, pointing from the second story
open loft to another staircase in the kitchen. It was barely noticeable.

“That’s the
basement. It has two more bedrooms and two full baths,” Micah said.

“This sure
is a lot of house for one person,” Grizz said to nobody in particular.

“I thought
so, too, when I first built it, but Margaret Mae told me we’d be filling it up.
Obviously, it didn’t happen that way. Almost sold it ten times over, but
something told me not to.”

He winked at
Ginny and told them where their rooms were.

A few hours
later, their bellies full and their luggage unpacked, Ginny and Micah were
standing on the deck overlooking the expansive back yard. If it could even be
called a back yard. Micah’s property went on as far as the eye could see and
gave the optical illusion that it dropped off before butting up to the
mountains.

They watched
as Mimi swung lazily in a hammock reading a book. She was now wearing
sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Spring in the mountains could still be pretty
cool. Grizz and Jason were a little further off. They had set up some tin cans
they’d found in Micah’s barn, and Grizz was teaching Jason how to use an old
slingshot they’d come across on one of the shelves. Ginny could tell that
Grizz’s posture seemed relaxed. He was enjoying himself.

Ginny had
been talking to Micah about the layout of the town. She had met him last year
at a diner and was wondering where it was in relation to Micah’s property.

“If you’d
kept going straight instead of turning off at the old schoolhouse, you’d have
run right through the center of town.” Micah pointed. “The diner would be on
the right, right before you got to the crossroads.”

The four-way
stop sign was considered the center of town and referred to as the crossroads
by the local folks.

They went
inside, and Micah started a pot of coffee. Ginny sensed he wanted some alone
time with Grizz, and she told him she wanted to take Jason and Mimi into town.

“I’d like to
make dinner tomorrow night. I’m pretty sure I remember where the one grocery
store is. I passed it the last time I was here,” she told him.

“Yes, ma’am.
If you make a right at that stop sign and go down just a-ways, it’ll be on your
left.”

**********

The next few days passed by in
a whirlwind of new faces. It would be impossible to remember all of the names,
but little by little, Grizz’s extended family showed up to introduce
themselves. Some would drop in with a homemade pie or something they’d canned.
Others stopped by under the guise of helping Micah repair some piece of farm
equipment or to return a borrowed tool. Eventually, they all came, and it was
amazing that the visits never went too long or overlapped into someone else’s
stay. If she hadn’t known better, Ginny would’ve guessed that Aunt Tillie had made
up a secret schedule and passed it out to Grizz’s relatives.

Ginny
watched in awe as Grizz let down his guard and chatted with his cousins about
everything from NASCAR, hunting, and farming to homemade remedies for wart
removal and toothaches. Grizz’s extended family was full of homemakers,
teachers, business owners, farmers, mechanics, professionals. One cousin was a
deputy with the local sheriff’s office.

It was
obvious the people who lived in this tiny mountain town were in no way ignorant
of the fast-paced world that surrounded them. They’d seen it and deliberately
chosen the quiet solitude and fierce loyalty of family over the noise of the
world, and Ginny was moved by their love for one another. How different would
Grizz have been if he’d been raised here? She wondered more than once.

“I won’t
remember all their names,” Grizz was telling Micah one afternoon. One of
Grizz’s cousins had stopped by to borrow something from Micah’s barn, and he
was loading it up in the bed of his truck. He’d brought his two sons, who were
off somewhere on the property with Jason. His teenage daughter was Mimi’s age,
and the two girls were sitting on Micah’s porch swing laughing about something.
Ginny was inside tidying up.

“Yes, you
will,” Micah told him, patting him on the back. “Yes, you will.”

They were
all invited to hear Micah preach that Sunday and, of course, Ginny, Mimi, and
Jason went to the service, but Grizz didn’t. When they returned, they found
Grizz in the barn tending to an injured dog.

“How’d you
get your hands on that one?” Micah asked. “I’ve been trying to get him to come
to me for months.”

“I don’t
know,” Grizz said. “He just came to me.”

After a big
breakfast, Micah took them on a tour of the small town. The kids were amazed
that Pine Creek only had one school, and it was for children in kindergarten
through twelfth grade.

“We only
have about two-hundred kids in the whole school, and you’re related to most of
them,” Micah said as he looked at Mimi and Jason.

“Cool!”
Jason grinned. “Do you have sports here?”

Ginny saw
Micah’s face light up as he answered, “Our school has every sport except for
football. Don’t actually have enough boys in the right age group to make a
team, but we have everything else.”

I hope
Micah’s not getting his hopes up that we might live here one day. She couldn’t
imagine her children or even Grizz wanting to be removed from the city life
they’d all been accustomed to.

Ginny had
been invited to a ladies’ night at one of Grizz’s cousin’s homes. At first,
she’d been a little reluctant to go, concerned mostly about questions she
wasn’t ready to answer. But after some gentle prodding from Aunt Tillie, she
decided to accept the invitation. Mimi had been invited as well, but after
learning there wouldn’t be any cousins her age, she’d elected to stay at the
cabin with the guys.

Driving up
Micah’s driveway on her way home from the gathering, Ginny reflected on the
evening and how much she’d enjoyed being around people that accepted her as
family. A delicious white chicken chili had been the main course, and the women
had played a game called Bunco. She was made to feel at home among the ladies,
who had welcomed her without hesitation. Apparently, Micah had a lot of family,
and he was dearly loved and respected by everyone. That love and respect was
trickling down onto Ginny, and she basked in its warmth. She would’ve stayed
longer but Aunt Tillie announced that there was the possibility of a spring
snowstorm, and since Ginny had no experience driving in snow—especially
on dark mountain roads—they all thought it best to call it an early
night.

Ginny let
out a sigh of relief as she pulled up to Micah’s cabin. It had started snowing
on the way home and, like Aunt Tillie had said, she wasn’t used to driving in
it. It had been a good call to go home early.

After
letting herself in the front door, she felt like she’d interrupted a private
moment between Micah, Grizz, Mimi, and Jason. A fire was blazing in the hearth,
and they were seated around a large coffee table that held some kind of board
game. They all just stared at her.

Jason broke
into a wide grin. “Hi, Mom!” Ginny noticed Mimi gently elbow his side, and he
told her, “I wasn’t going to say anything, Mimi.”

“Say
anything about what?” She laid her purse and jacket down.

“Nothing,”
Grizz said. “He was just excited about the snow.”

“Yeah,
that’s it. I’m excited about the snow. We’re going to go out in it tomorrow,
aren’t we?”

“I think we
need to get some warmer clothes, or at least the right kind,” Ginny said. “We
didn’t come prepared.”

“Write down
all your sizes, and I’ll have Tillie make some calls. Everything you need will
be here tomorrow. Don’t need to find a store when we just need to ask some kin
to send the right clothes and boots over,” Micah said.

“How was
your hike today?” Ginny asked, trying not to yawn. She was exhausted.

“Best hike
ever,” Grizz said, giving the kids a wink.

Chapter Sixty-One

Ginny

2002,
North Carolina

I couldn’t help
but feel there was some joke I’d missed out
on, but the day’s activities and the fresh mountain air must’ve caught up with
me. I yawned and excused myself. I wanted to turn in early.

My eyes
popped open at exactly 2:47 a.m. I’d gone to bed maybe a little too early and
now found myself wide awake. I looked over at Mimi, who was sleeping next to
me. I gently pulled the covers back, found my robe, and made my way downstairs.

I was
standing in the kitchen making myself a cup of hot chocolate when I sensed him.
I didn’t turn around, but leaned back into him as I felt his arms come around
me. He bent low and softly kissed the side of my neck. My hot chocolate
forgotten, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the heat that radiated from him.

“How did you
know I was up?” I whispered.

“I didn’t. I
couldn’t sleep and thought I heard someone up here. Didn’t know it was you,
Kitten.”

Grizz had
been sleeping in one of the bedrooms downstairs. I was sharing one of the two
upstairs bedrooms with Mimi. Jason was across from us in his own room.

I turned
around then and looked at him. He looked sexier than I could’ve imagined or
remembered, and I had to swallow my intense and immediate reaction. He was
wearing camouflage pajama pants and a dark T-shirt. His hair was tousled, and
his normally bright green eyes appeared dark and smoky.

I could tell
he read the need in my eyes. He took my face in both his hands and kissed me.
Not a small feathery kiss that teased. A kiss that took my mouth, hard and
unrelenting with its bold claim of ownership.

I welcomed
it and hungrily kissed him back, grinding my body against his. His need was
apparent, and I felt my own need making my panties wet.

I pulled
back, breathless. “We can’t here. Micah is sleeping right down that hallway.” I
nodded in the direction of the master bedroom. “We need to go downstairs to
your room.”

He stepped
back then and gave me a look that told me he had something to say. I knew what
it was, and I responded with a small, knowing smile. I knew I’d surprised him.
We hadn’t taken our relationship to the next level, and I was grateful he’d
never pushed it. But I was now letting him know I was willing and
ready—and that I could certainly make my way back upstairs and slip into
bed with Mimi long before the rest of the household woke up.

I watched as
the vein in his forehead throbbed.

“No,” he
said quietly.

I shook my
head as if to clear it, not thinking I’d heard him right.

“Wha...what?”

“No. Not
now, Kitten. Not tonight. Not here like this. No,” he said again in a voice
that didn’t sound too confident.

I was
shocked and maybe even a little hurt.

“No?” I
whispered a little too loudly. “Are you sure, Grizz? Because your mouth is
saying no but your pants are saying something different.”

He inhaled
loudly and looked at the ceiling. He didn’t say anything. He finally looked
down at me and, letting out a long breath, he shook his head and lightly kissed
my forehead.

“Goodnight,
honey. I’ll see you in the morning,” he told me with a frog in his throat.

And then he
was gone.

I know my
mouth hung open as I watched him walk away. I turned back to the kitchen
counter and finished making my hot chocolate with shaking hands.

What had
just happened? Or rather, what had not happened?

I carried my
mug over to the couch and looked out on the most beautiful scene. Micah’s back
yard was a blanket of white, and the full moon cast just enough light for it to
look almost heavenly. I don’t remember eventually setting my empty cup down. I
don’t remember lying down on the couch and grabbing one of the throw blankets
to cover myself.

I woke up
the next morning staring into four pairs of eyes looking down at me. They were
all smiling, and Jason was almost hopping with anticipation.

“We didn’t
wake you up, did we, Mom?”

Before I
could answer him, he told me one of Micah’s nephews was bringing over some of
his kids’ winter gear for Jason and Mimi.

I shook the
sleep from my foggy head and sat up, the smell of coffee finally reaching my
nose. I yawned and stretched, all of a sudden very aware that I was in a
nightshirt without a bra. I grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to cover my
chest. Being the perfect gentleman, I noticed Micah had already looked away.

I stood and
grabbed my robe, excused myself to go shower. I poured myself a cup of coffee
and was getting ready to carry it upstairs with me when I caught Grizz’s eye. I
looked away, a little embarrassed by last night’s rejection.

A little
while later, I told the kids to enjoy the snow while I cleared away the
breakfast dishes. Micah’s nephew had shown up while I was showering with some
spare winter clothes and boots and, surprisingly, everything fit the kids
perfectly. Micah, Grizz, and both kids were now digging through the barn for
sleds.

Beds made,
dishes washed, and one load of laundry later, I stood with a second cup of
coffee and watched them in the snow. Micah had set Grizz to work clearing a
path to his henhouse. Micah’s henhouse wasn’t what I’d pictured a henhouse to
look like. I’d imagined a small structure surrounded by wire. But Micah’s
henhouse looked like a small house that, if cleared of its feathered occupants,
could probably sleep several people. We’d been collecting eggs every morning.
Well, I’d been collecting them. I thought at first that I wouldn’t be able to
do it. I had a real fear of disturbing the hens, but after getting the hang of
it, I loved it. It was just something different, and it made me happy.

After
shoveling a path, Grizz gave me a signal to get a coat on and come outside. I
laid down my coffee and grabbed one of Micah’s winter coats that he kept on a
peg. I had on my own boots. They weren’t for winter, but I wouldn’t need to be
sloshing through snow. I made my way toward the henhouse and realized that
Mimi, Jason, and Micah had stopped what they were doing and were walking toward
me. I waved and grabbed a basket from its hook. Then, after going inside, I set
about checking each hen for eggs.

At one point
I stopped and turned around, surprised. The four of them had followed me in and
just stood there, watching.

“It’s really
cold out,” Jason said, his cheeks a rosy pink.

I thought it
odd that they all needed to follow me into the henhouse, but without giving it
anymore thought, I shrugged and went back to collecting eggs.

I reached
under one particularly feisty mother and felt something hard. It undoubtedly
wasn’t an egg.

I pulled it
out and looked at the small box in my hand. A box?

“Are you going
to open it?” I heard Jason ask.

“Shhhh!”
Mimi giggled.

Without
turning around, I opened the tiny box, and my hand flew to my mouth. It was a
ring.

I turned
around and saw Micah, Mimi, and Jason leaned up against the back of the
henhouse. They were all smiling.

It was then
that I realized Grizz was down on one knee. He reached for my left hand and
brought it to his mouth.

Kissing the
inside of my palm, he said, “I messed this up once before. I’m not going to
make the same mistake.”

I held my
breath, hopeful and yet fearful of what his next words were going to be.

“Ginny.” He
swallowed. “Let me say first that I already know I don't deserve you. But, I
know there is no one else in the world for me and if you'll have me, I promise
you won't regret it. Please give me another chance."

My right
hand flew to my mouth. I watched him swallow again before asking, “Will you
marry me?”

I started
shaking, and tears started to form in my eyes. I thought about Grizz’s rebuff
the night before, and how I’d finally drifted off to sleep resigning myself to
the fact that he was probably right and had saved me from myself. I couldn’t
see how a future for us could ever be in the cards.

He was still
holding my left hand in his large one, and I gently pulled it away and replaced
it with the ring box. Avoiding his gaze and not chancing a glance at the
onlookers, I ran out of the henhouse.

As I left, I
heard Micah tell the kids, “Stay with me. Let him go after her.”

I could feel
Grizz behind me as I stumbled down the path he’d shoveled. I made it to the
house and went in through the side door. I realized I still had the egg basket
dangling from my right arm.

“Ginny.” He
shut the door behind us.

I laid the
basket down and started to take Micah’s coat off.

“Ginny!”

Ignoring
him, I put the coat back on its peg. My mind and heart were at war with each
other. I couldn’t fathom my feelings, so I gave into them.

I turned to
face him then. Tears were silently making their way down both my cheeks. I just
stood there and looked up at him. I was begging for something, but for what I
didn’t know.

He pulled me
to him, wrapping his massive arms around me. My face was buried in his warm
chest. I inhaled the scent that was uniquely Grizz. It felt so normal, so
natural. What was I afraid of? His jacket was open and I could feel his heart
beating through his shirt against my face.

“Say yes,
Ginny,” he whispered while stroking my hair. “Give me another chance.”

“How?” I
asked sniffling. “The kids, our neighbors, people in general? How can we ever
carve out a life that doesn’t involve our past? How do I marry a man who was
executed almost two years ago? How could it ever work?”

He pulled
away from me then, took my face in both hands. Bringing his face close to mine
he said, “I wouldn’t have asked if there wasn’t a plan that took all of that
into consideration.”

I stared at
him, my heart in my throat. Words would not come. A plan? What plan?

“You already
know I’ve been in love with you for as long as I can remember, Ginny. And the
years before you came into my life were nothing but darkness. Please, baby.
Please, say yes. Say it’s not too late for us.”

It was then
that we sensed them. Slowly, we turned our faces toward the glass sliding doors
that led onto Micah’s huge deck. Huddled together against the cold, wearing
huge smiles and giving their thumbs-up, were Mimi and Jason. Micah was standing
behind them. He wasn’t smiling, but I saw the approval and optimism in his
eyes.

Grizz gently
pulled my face back to his.

“It’s okay
if you’re not in love with me anymore, but maybe you can find it in your heart
to just love me.”

His eyes
were warm, sincere, and hopeful. Was his proposal why he hadn’t tried anything
beyond kissing me, always being the first to pull back when it seemed as if it
could’ve gone farther? Was this a Grizz I’d never seen?

The man I’d
originally fallen in love with used to bulldoze his way over people and their
feelings. My first marriage to him was pretty much thrust upon me in the back
of Eddie’s tattoo parlor in 1975. He was now trying to do it the way he thought
would be most respectful of me.

I felt a
bubble of emotions rising in my chest and I realized that bubble was ready to
burst with newfound hope. I started laughing then.

“Yes!” I
shouted, grinning like a fool. “Yes! I’ll marry you. I don’t know how we’ll do
this, but yes.”

The kids
couldn’t hear me but obviously had read my lips. They started cheering and
dancing. Micah just gave a small nod, and winked at me.