The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (31 page)

“
L
et’s just say t
here’s a
good chance I might lose my job.”

Concern
etched
his features
. “Why?”

S
he filled him in and
foun
d a n
earby stick to poke the fire,
sparks spiraling
sky
ward
. “Please keep this confidential.”

“Of course.”
He paused, the area
around his eyes wrinkling.
“S
omething else bothering you?”

Him and his sixth sense.
Whoever coined the term ‘woman’s intuition’ had never met Matt Tyler. But h
ow could she tell him about sneaking
into his brother’s office in the middle of the night?
She shook her head.
“Nothing I
care to talk about
.”

His lips pooched
bunched up
, and he nodded.
“Fair enough.
But you know you can tell me anything, right?”

Her guilt intensified
, and she lowered her head.
“Maybe some other time.”
She stood and stepp
ed to her horse, petting the mare’s velvety nose before mounting.

Matt chuckled softly
from his perch near the fire
. “G
uess this means you’re ready to leave?”

“I’ll be back
in a minute
.” Sh
e pulled the reins to the right until the mare faced the open field, and then prodded her into a trot. No, that wasn’t enough today. She needed more.
“
Hyeah
!”
With
a swift kick
the mare bounded over the ground in a full gallop
, the wind whistling in Grace’s ears. Combing
out the snarls
in her hair
would take forever, but at the moment she didn’t care. As the horse
pawed the ground benea
th her, sh
e relished the
moment, inexpressible joy po
uring over her worries
until they evaporated
.

When she returned to the
picnic spot a
half hour
later, Matt had put out the fire
and packed up the meal
. He stood near his
horse,
cinchin
g
up
the saddle bag
and look
ed up as she neared
, squinting against the noonday sun
. “
I was about to ask if you felt better, but
I can see it in your face.
Looks like
it wouldn’t hurt you to do this a little more often.” He mounted and clicked his tongue to urge the spe
ckled bay past her. “We’d best
get back so we can get the kid’s ponies ready to go.”

Grace
gave one last longing glance at their picnic place beside the gurgling creek before
she turned her hor
se around and trotted
after him.

They
saddled the last pony just as the first vehicle pulled up. Matt hurried to the van and greeted the woman wh
o emerged from behind the wheel
. Together t
hey moved
to the passenger
side, and Matt helped
lower a young boy in a wheelchair.
“Like to pop wheelies, Garrett?”

The boy’s face lit with a smile.
“Yeah.”

Matt pushed down on the handles
, raising the front wheels.
Garrett squealed as they raced up the ramp into the stable. Within five minutes, the boy sat atop his mount, wonder in his eyes
as he pa
tted the paint horse
.
His mom hel
d the reins while Matt spotted
,
and they moved around the arena.

A
lump of emotion
landed in Gr
ace’s throat as she watched
. Matt was perfect for this job.
Just a big kid himself,
his
compassion and i
ntuition resonated with
c
hild and
parent in a way she hadn’t foreseen.

One by one, other volunteers, parents
,
and children arrived, and Matt handled it all with his customary easy-going nature. He assigned Grace to a young girl named Sadie who had no physical
handicap. Though she
didn’t seem afraid of the horse, she didn’t speak or smile no matter how much Grace tried to engage her.
After several minutes of no verbal respo
nse, a thought lodged in her
brain. She brought the horse to a stop
. “Do you like to go fast, Sadie?”

At first her eyes widened, but then she nodded slowly.

Grace smiled. “It’s a lot of fun, but you’ll need to hold
on tight. Can you do that
?”

Again the girl
nodded.

“Okay, here we go.” She pulled on the rein, coaxing the horse into a trot and then into a lope, her eyes constantly on Sadie to make sure she was safe.

A smile broke out on the
little girl’s face, and she
giggle
d
.

When Grace brought the horse back down to walk a few minutes later, Sadie was all smiles.
“That w-was f-fun.” A laugh fell from her smiling lips.

Matt saunter
ed up, his mouth open in amazement. “Sadie, you’ve got a smile as big as Texas on your face.”
He faced Grace, his eyes flickering. For a
long
moment he said nothing, just studied her.

Her pulse quickened and she caught her lower lip between her teeth.

“Good work, Gracie.”

“Thanks.” She inhaled a shaky breath and turned her gaze back to Sadie.
“Ready to do that again?”

“Yes!”

B
y the time the afternoon
ended,
Grace’s heart was lighter than it had been in a long time. She unsaddled the las
t horse and moved her out to
pasture.

Matt waved at
a departing car and
made his way
toward
her, the same
indecipherable
light flickering in his eyes. “Just so you kn
ow
,
you made great headway
with Sadie. She’d all but closed up on e
veryone, including
her grandmother who
looks after her.
”

“Glad I could help, but
I think I gained far more than I gave.
” She fell into step
as they made their way to the pickup.

“I always leave here feeling that way. It’s
therapeutic to help these kids, and
I’m
gonna
miss it over the next few weeks while we take a break for the holidays.”

“When you start back up
, please keep me in mind
.”

His smile ignited a flame in his eyes.
“Will do
.”

They reached the driver’s side of
the old truck. Grace
looked up at him, her heart pounding curiously.

Matt ste
pped closer and took hold of
both her
hands. “Thanks again, Gr
acie.” He peered into her eye
s in
a way that
left her
exposed and vulnerable, but also completely unafraid. “You’re going to make a wonderful mother someday.”

The words lit a longing inside her that she’d never voiced
until
now
. “I hope so. It’s something I’ve wanted even longer than wanting to be an attorney.”

His sandy
eyes searched hers once more, digging deeper until she felt
her heart would burst. He
step
ped closer, then
reached around her and opened the pickup door. “See you
later
.”

Disappointment
engulfed
her, but she found he
r voice. “Okay.” Grace climbed
in the truck and
turned the key
. As she pulled away, sh
e checked the rearview mirror.
Matt stared after her, frozen in one position until he
at last
disappeared from view.

Grace puzzled over her f
eelings,
to decipher what had just happened. In one minute she thought he
would kiss her, but something s
topped him at the last minute.
Then it hit.
In
a few minutes
she had a date with
Jason
. Though she’d let it slip her mind, M
att had remembered. Sh
e punched the accelerator pedal. Unless she wanted to look
and
smell
like
a wild woman
on tonight’s date, she needed
get home to
shower and
remove
the knots
from
her
snarled
hair.

Papa glanc
ed up from his recliner
as she entered
. “Did you have a good day?”

“Very much.”
She hurried past.
“Sorry
I don’t have time to talk
right now, but I have to get ready for my date
.”

He
didn’t reply, which was a good thing.
No response meant
no
objection.

After a quick shower
and fixing her face and hair
, she careful
ly removed the hot pink
dress
Elena had given her from its
hanger and
slipped it over her head
, the
floaty
fabric dancing at her knees
.
Her eyes caught a glimpse
of her reflection
in the mirror
while she buckled the dainty straps of her shoes
,
and she was
amazed at the transformation.
The
day at the ranch had given her a glow that flushed her cheeks and brightened her eyes. Must be the fresh air and exercise
, or was it something else?

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach
as she reached for her
brush and pulled it through the
snarls
. This
evening
felt different than the business lun
che
s she’d shared with
Jason
, but
no
matter how
attractive he was
,
she had to remember her
underlying
purpose—to
uncover
his relatio
nship with Elena
. The doorbell rang, and
the bu
tterflies dance
d
faster.

Papa answered the door, and t
hrough the paper-
thin walls of the
house
, she heard
him speak
.
“You must be Mr. Dent. Graciela has mentioned you. Please come in.”

Grace
steadied her nerves with
a slow breath
,
snatched the sparkly gold evening bag that matched her shoes from the bed
,
and stepp
ed down the hallway
with a forced smile on
her face
.
She’d hoped to have time to do something with the file she’d confiscated
earlier that day
, but it would just have to wait.

As
she entered the room, t
he con
versation between Jason and her father
came to an
abrupt
stop
.
Papa’s mouth hung open
, but Jason
, dressed in a black suit,
made his way to her, lifted her hand by
the fingers, and planted a kiss
not on the back, but in her palm, then curled her fingers around it
. “You look lovely, Grace.”

The butterflies moved to her heart, racing helter-skelter between the beats of her pulse.
“Thank you.”

Suddenly
Papa
was all motion
. “You two will have a beautiful evening.
Buenas
noches
!”
With his parting word
s
z
inging
in flight
, Papa hurri
ed
her
and Jason
through the doorway and into the chilly night air.