The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (38 page)

He shook his head, befuddled. Why was she acting
this way
?

Her odd laughter commenced again, but was quickly
silenced by
a half sob.

Matt grabbed both
her shoulders. “Gracie, talk to
me.”

She said nothing, but a stray tear wandered down her left cheek.

“
C’mon, Gracie,
let me in
. What happened?
”

For a
brief
moment she actually seemed to
consider his words, but then
shook her head. “There’s obviously nothing to
talk about.”
She snapped the words and threw
the blanket
into a heap on the floor
. “I’ll see you to the door.”

“Why are you doing this?”
Confusion
spirale
d through him
as he followed her
.

G
racie faced him with cold
contempt
. “I think you should know that you caught me
at a weak moment yesterday
. I
’m sorry if I made you think we had
any cha
nce at a relationship
.”

Her steel-fisted word
slammed into his gut, temporarily knocking the air from his lungs. This couldn’t
be happening.
“Gracie, please, let’s
talk
through this.”

“I’ve already told you, there’s nothing to talk about.” She yanked open the front door. “See you around.”

Be
fore he fully realized what happened
, Matt
landed
on Gracie’s front porch
with t
he door slammed behind him.
He
whirled around and
beat his fist against the door
. “Gracie, let me in. We need to talk.” No response. He tri
ed the handle
. Cold reality trickled over him
like acid. H
e turned, his jaw slack, and stared
into nothingness
for an unknown amount of time
before he
trudg
ed to the car.

He drove around town
for at least an hour
,
trying to figure out his options.
T
here
must be
a way to resolve this. Maybe
she’
d calm
ed down
enough
to
talk rationally. Matt pulled into the grocery store parking lot and pulled out his cell phone
. The phone rang, over and over
again. “Come on, Gracie, answer the phone
.” After twelve rings he gave up.
When he
at last
turned on the road
that led
to the ranch,
he’d
reached a decision
.

Gracie slammed the door behind Matt and immediately
slumped to the floor
, tears flow
ing freely
, her shoulders shaking with unvoiced sobs
. It had taken every ounce of
her energy to pull off the drama she’d
drea
med up
while Matt was outside checking the backyard.
Learning
that during the brief t
ime they
were indoors someone had carted off Millie’s
body had
had fueled
the m
asquerade, as she harnessed her
emotions
and used them to her advantage.

Matt pounded on the door and tried the handle,
sounding
hurt
and confused
.
A
nother
wave of
pain
slammed into
her heart and more tears f
rom some never-ending reservoir
spilled down her face.
How c
ould she survive without Millie and
Matt?

She
latched onto
the
door
kno
b to
raise herself
from the floor, tempted to swing open the door and
race af
ter him, but she couldn’t risk the chance that he’
d be in harm’s way.

A warning—t
hat’s what Millie’s death had be
en—a
warning from Elena that she’
d stop at nothing to get her way.

Grace stumbled to the sink and
pull
ed
off
a nearby pap
er towel to blow her nose, then ran
water
to wash her face
. After day
s of working at the DA’s office, she had no more proof
than
before
. Who’
d believe her without
any evidence—especially
after
the events of the past few days?
She wo
uldn’t
believe it herself had she not experienced it.
Or ma
ybe she really was going crazy. Had she
imagin
ed the
patio chair, t
he phone calls,
Millie
?

No.
It was all real.
She
cupped her hands
beneath
the running water and drank freely. Then she sloshed the rest over her face. It dripped down her cheeks and onto her shirt.

Father God, help me.

Forgive.
Seventy times seven.

The words rolled in her head like a nest of
scorpions. S
he raised
a tearful gaze to
the ceiling
.
I can’t, God. You can’t ask me to d
o this. She’s cost me so much
—peace of mind
, my rela
tionship with Andy
, and now Matt
.
Why should I forgive
?

Because I forgave you.

The thought chafed.
Yes,
Christ’s work
on the cross had r
emoved her sin as far as the east
from the west. But she’d never
intentionally hurt anyone, never murdered,
tried to
live
according to God’s Word. Surely unintentional sin wasn’t as bad as someone who sinned by
blatant
ly hurting others.

God,
You’ll
have
to
give me the strength.
I’m not capable.
She
stagger
ed to the bedroom, her thoughts jumbled
,
her
body weary
.

The phone rang
, and
adrenaline
surged through her
.
Grac
e
ripped the phone from the wall and
hurled
it across the room where it landed with a crash.
She had no choice but to go through with her original plan
to expose Elena’s
evil deeds for what they were.
Until her mission was
completed
,
she woul
dn’t quit
, no matter
the
cost
.

At work on Tuesday Grac
e kept to herself—
especially
avoiding Elena—and did all she could to
fo
cus
on her research
.
But h
er
tortured thoughts turned
often
to Matt
, and
s
he raised prayers to heaven
on his behalf
, pleading for an opportunity
to one day
set things right between them.
Late that afternoon
, she l
eaned back in her desk chair, satisfied with all she’d accomplished
. She’d
complete
the
horrific research list.

Grac
e glanced toward Elena’s office. The light was on
,
which meant she
was still here
.
Good. There was still time to launch part of her investigation before
her boss
left
work.
Several minutes
later, she pulled up outside
the woman
’s house, her
pulse
thudding in her temples
. This
move was a risk to be sure,
one she
had to take, but
she’d better put it in high gear before Elena arrived to complicate matters.
Sh
e
hurried through the beautifully-landscaped yard and
rang
the doo
rbell.

Consuela
opened
the door, h
er
smile
bright
. “
What a nice surprise! Please come in.”

She entered the
grand
foyer, her palms sweaty
as she
face
d
Consuela.

The
older woman searched her face, her
s
mile slowly fading
.
She lowered her head
,
and then
turned
a
knowing
gaze
toward Grace.
“I’ve bee
n expecting this day. I see
questions in your eyes. Let’s have a seat.
”
With weary eyes she
glanced at
a
pedestal clock
on the fireplace, its steady tick audible
in
the hushed silence of
the
space. “
We don’t have long
before Elena gets home, so we’d better cut to the chase. How can I help you?”

Grace
sank into the overstuffed sofa and leaned forward.
“I know Elena is under tremendous pressure, but . .
. ”
How could she confront this lovely woman with her daughter’s issues?

Consuela smiled sadly. “
It’s
okay, Grace. I, of all people, am most aware of my daughter’s shortco
mings. I can see
she’s hurt you, b
ut I can also see that you’re
try
ing
to live up to your
lovely
name. Thank you
for that
.”

“I want to help her, but I hav
e to know what’s going on
.”

The
woman shook he
r head. “I wish I knew. T
his job has changed her.
She wasn’t always so sharp-tongued
and bitter
.
”

Sharp-tongued?
That was like saying tigers had
a few claws.
“Have you ever witnessed Elena being cruel?”

Her eyes
darkened
. “Cruel?
In what way?”

“More than just her sharp tongue.
Th
ings that could be considered
threatening.”
Grace wanted to say more, but thought be
tter of it. No need to ca
use the woman anymore grief
.

Consuela
considered the question. “I’ve ne
ver seen anything.
” She paused mid-sent
ence and inhaled. “But we’re all
capable of
terrible things
given the right set of circumstances.”