The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (33 page)

“In fact, I’d also like to know why you went out with Jason Dent l
ast night
.
”

A tight frown knotted her brows
. How would Elena
know
unless she
was
having her followed
?

The woman
lit into her, hot with a
nger, her razor-sharp words slic
ing through Grace time and time again, until when she at last finished her tirade, all that was left of her
psyche
was a
wounded
mess.
“You
’d bett
er watch your step, missy
. You don’t know
who you’re mess
ing with.”
Elena
ended
her outburst
by bang
ing
the phone against the receiver.

Grace
sat
unmoving
for several minutes, tryi
ng to
piece together
her emotions so she could
figure out what to do next. She wandered to the window and looked out at the once pretty day. Now it had turned dark and blustery. Was Elena out there
somewhere
just waiting for her?
Did she dare meet Matt as she’d promised?

The phone
shrilled and Grace
jumped,
one hand to her chest to slow her racing heart
.
If it was Elena c
ould she emotionally handle another scathing round of abuse? She
squar
ed her
shoulders
and moved to the phone. “Hello?”

No answer.

“Hello?”

Still nothing
.

Sh
e hung up
and backed aw
ay. Then
sudden d
etermination straightened her spine. She refused to let an emotional terrorist keep her captive in her own house.
Besides,
she needed
Matt
, n
eeded
the comfort of his
arms and
his words of wisdom.
Without further consideration,
Grace grabbed her purse and headed for the pickup, locking the
back
door behind her.

Intermittent tears meandered down Grace’s face as she dro
ve to
the lake
, her mind rehashing Elena’s hurtful words
. Why did she let
the woman
get to her like this?
She
angrily brushed tears from her face
, but s
ome
managed to escape
and
slid to her lips, leaving
salty residue
.

Grac
e
riveted
her eyes
to the road, which grew
more difficult to see in
the
sheets of pouring rain, b
ut she
also
checked
her rearview mirror
frequently
, just
to make sure she wasn’t being followed.
A swift
wave of fear
splashed over
her
,
pulling her beneath murky torrents,
and she slammed on the brakes, screeching and sliding to a halt on the wet pavement
. What was she doing? Hadn’t Elena made it perfect
ly clear that she was to stay away from
Matt? And here she was running straight to him.

She buried her head in her hands.
O
h, God, help me.
How can I help Elena get
through this
without losing my sanity
?

Forgive her.

But how?
How can I forgive
when she’s been
so hurtful
without reason
?
The woman’s words were
poisoned arrows, a
nd God expected her to forgive?
The answer hammered its way into her head.
Yes.

With a shaky breath, Grace resumed the
drive
,
battling a constant threat of tears
. Thankfully, the
Tyler cabin
soon appeared
, bringing with it a
rush of comfort.
She pulled her coat
over
her head and made a run for it,
water soaking her feet as she sloshed through puddles
.

Matt met her at the door. “There you are. I was starting to get worried. I sure didn’t expect the
weather to do
this.”

Grace released
the coat from around her head, but kept her gaze lowered to hide
her swollen eyes.

He gently lifted her chin with his finger and
immediately swept her into
his arms. “What’s wrong, sweetheart
?”

Tears were unstoppable. Like the torrents of rain that bucketed from
the sky, she sobbed uncontrollably
.

“Hey,
” said Matt in a soothing tone, “
it’s
okay.” He rubbed a
hand across
her back
. “Let it out, Gracie
.”

After a few minutes, h
er tears
finally
spent, she
backed up and
wiped away
tears with her fingertips. “S
orry, Matt. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

He tipped her chin
with one hand and
used the other to whisk
away more
tears. “No apologies necessary. I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to let it out.”
A tender smile crossed his face and lingered in his eyes
. “F
rom the looks of it, you’ve been h
olding that in
for a while.”

Grac
e laughed through misty eyes then
scann
ed
the room. A floral-designed
box
of tissues sat on a table near the couch.
She
scurried
across the room to grab one before her nose dripped.

Matt
followed close behind
,
his eyes full
of concern. “Y
ou feel comfortable enough to
tell me what that was all about?
”

A shivering sigh fell from her lips. “There’s something wrong with
Elena
, Matt. I know she’s needy, and I want to help. I want to be God’s grace to her, but . .
. ”
Her voice cracked, and another wave of tears flooded her face.

He took
hold of her hand
and pulled her to the couch. “We need to talk
about it
, but first you need to get dried off
before you catch pneumonia
. Sit here while I get a towel.”
A few seconds later he
returned
, but rather than hand her the towel, he bent low and dried
her hair
.
Then
he knelt in front of her and removed h
er puddle-soaked shoes, wrapped
the towel
around each foot, and massaged
gently.

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the couch, breathing deeply, relishing the relaxation that flowed throughout her stressed-out system.
The next thing she knew, she awoke i
n a prone position, safely tucked beneath
a thick quilt. A thin streak of light peeked from beneath the door that lead to the kitchen, and tantalizing aro
mas wafted in the air
. Grace
tuned her ears to the p
opping and sizzling
sounds
from
the kitchen, as well as Matt’s
happy hum that soon broke into word
s. “Oh-oh-o
h, we’ve got to love one another.”

Grace threw back the covers and stood. How long had she slept? She peeked through the blinds
, startled that
night had
fallen, and
mov
ed to the kitchen,
intrigued by
the catchy tune
.
Not wanting to interrupt, s
he quietly opened
the wooden door and watched
as he cooked and crooned. A
smile worked its way to her face
. There was more to Matt Tyler than most people gave him credit for. More than she’d recognized. “What song are you singing?”

He wheeled about, a happy glow on his
face. “You’re awake!”

“Sorry I fell asleep on you.”
Grace
stepp
ed to the stove.

His eyes
soft
ened and he swept her hair behind one ear
. “You’re exhausted, Gracie. I’m glad you got the rest. Hope my singing didn’t disturb you.”

“Not at all.
W
hat song is i
t? I do
n’t recognize it.”

Matt shrugged slightly. “A little something I wrote.”

“Really?
I’d lov
e to hear all of it sometime.”

A boy
ish excitement shone from his features
.
“Maybe after dinner?”

“Sure.” Her heart did a queer flip-f
lop in her chest
. T
ime with him felt so natural
. “Speaking of dinner, it smells delicious.” Her stomach rumbled in anticipation.

“A
lmost done.”

“Good, I’m famished.”

He cast a s
ideways glance while he manned the
skillet.
“Remind me to add that to the list of things I
wanna
talk to you about.”

Normally, she
would’ve taken offense to the
statement, but for some reason, tonight she welcomed it. Relying on her own insight d
idn’t appear to be working well, and
any advice he could give would be appreciated.

Grace
retriev
ed plates and glasses from the cabinets and
set
the table. W
ithin a few minutes,
she and Matt
sat
at the small table, now loaded with grilled fish, roasted potatoes, and steamed asparagus.
S
he
surveyed all the food and
shook her head in disbelief. Matt had always cooked well, but when h
ad he learned to cook like this?
“You’ve outdone yourself.”

In an unforeseen
move, he took
her hand and brought it to his lips, planting a soft kiss.
“For you, my lady.”

Her pulse quickened, and she quickly averted her eyes so he wouldn’t read her traitorous thoughts. What was happening?

Matt jumped
up from his chair
, one finger in the air
.
“Forgot something.
Be right back.
” He moved to the living room, and a few minutes later a bluesy music sounded from the stereo. He
reappeared, and after blessing the food,
ladled food on
her
plate,
and
then fixed his own.

She tried to make sense of the emotions twisting throughout her
insides, but to no avail. “I lov
e this music. Someone you know?”

He looked up,
eyes wide
. “Guess you could say that. Someone you know, too.”

“Who?”

Matt
leaned his head
to one side.
“Me.” His eyes searched
her face.

There was no containing her shock. He was good. Not just okay, but really, really good. She felt the need to say something, but words escaped her, so she focused her attention on the foo
d and took a bite of the fish, m
oist and flaky on the inside, with a slight crunch on the outside. Grace closed her eyes, her mouth savoring the food and her ears
savoring the music, as realization slamm
ed into
her. She’
d misjudged him, not
just now, but two summers ago,
and
h
ad actually
believed
he was
somehow
beneath her.
Her breath stuck
in her throat. How had she been so wrong?