The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (57 page)

He glanced
back at
Andy—
who stood behind his car door
with
his mouth
hinged
open
—
then turned his attention back to the couple
.
“
That’s me
. Is Graci
e here?”

The man shook his head. “
She’s
gone
back to Miller’s Creek. Got a phone call from a friend needing her help.”

Matt
half-
walked
, half-ran back to
the car
, his heart a-dance in his chest
, and called back over his shoulder
.
“Thank you, both
. I can’t thank you enough.”

“God bless!
”
The man
shouted
out
the words as Matt reached the car.

“You, too!
”
He
gave a final wave, then ducked into the vehicle and snapped his seat belt
into place
. “
Miller’s Creek, please, and step on it
.”

Andy looked
somewhat
dazed
as he backed out
and pulled the Z onto the two-
lane
d
road
, quickly picking up speed
. “
I’m not believing
what just happened. Think that guy was an angel or something?”

Matt shrugged, a grin spreading across his face
. “He was to me.”

An hour later they pulled up outside t
he Miller mansion, its giant two-story columns standing at attention like they’d guarded the place for him while he was gone. Never would he have imagined missing this place
so much
.
Matt jumped from
the car with
his bag
in tow
,
then
leaned in through the open window. “Thanks again,
bro
.
Go on to that family of yours, and give Trish and the kids a big hug from me
.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.”
His brother
smil
ed
and put the car in gear.
“
Are you s
ure you’re up to finding Gracie on your own?
”

“
You know it
.”
Matt slapped the top of
the car
as Andy
pulled away
.
He
looked up at the ever-darkening skies as fine pellets of ice began to fall, then
took the front steps two at a time and drop
ped his bag
to the marble floors in
the foyer
.
Time
to make a run into Miller’s Creek to find Gracie.

As he
made his way to
town, he
put in a quick call to
her
house.
Mr.
Soldano
answered again
, a
nd it soon became apparent
the man was surprised by the news that G
racie was back in town
. “She is not here, Mr. Matt, a
nd she hasn’t called.”

With a promise to call if he found her,
Matt
said
good-bye
. Where c
ould she be? The
old man
at
the church
had
said somethi
ng about her helping a friend.
But w
hich friend?
Jason?

Creekside
Park spread out in front of him as he left downtown Miller’s Creek.
A thin coat of ice already blanketed the telephone wires.
He
pulled in
to the
park’s
gravel
lot
to think th
r
ough his options.
O
ne by one,
street lamps flicker
ed
on
around him
.
He’d just about decided to
make his way
home
before the full brunt of the storm hit
when
three blocks ahead,
on the main highway
,
a familiar white pickup
drove by,
headed
toward Morganville
.

Matt
punched the
accelerator—hoping Ernie was no
where around—and maintained a
safe
distance
behind Gracie
. When she turned off onto a private drive a few minutes later,
he
pulled
onto the grass at
the side of the road. Now what?

He didn’t have to think long. The m
isery of the past few weeks
pr
oved
he cared about her too much to let her put herself in dan
ger. If nothing else, he’d make sure
she was safe. Then if she made it clear she didn’t want him around, he’d leave.

As he
traversed
the tree-lined drive,
Gracie
appeared in front of him
, silhouetted against an expensive-looking rock house
. She
held a hand up to shield her eyes from the glare of his headlights.

His heart thudded in his chest. He parked
quickly
and stepped from the car, holding back, afraid of making a fool of himself again.

“Matt!” Her face aglow with a giant smile,
Graci
e rac
ed toward him and wrapped him
in a big hug. “I’m so glad to see you!”

He stood there a moment,
unsure of what to do next. His resolve quickly melting
as he
glanced do
wn at her, he
put his arms around her, and
enjoyed
her nearness and
the scent of her soft perfume
, at least for
a brief moment
.

Gracie pulled back part of the way and studied his face. She gasped at the dressing on the side of his head, her face awash in compassion
, and brought tentative fingers
to the bandage. “Are you okay?”

Matt
battled
against losing yet another part of his heart to her. “Better now that I’
ve seen you. Whose house is this?”

She pulled from his arms, turned her gaze away, and
pulled
her coat hood around her face to protect it from the freezing rain
.
“Elena’s.”

“What? Are you crazy?” Had she learned nothing?

The
all-too-familiar stubbornness
revealed itself in
her eyes and the tilt of her chin. “Her mother called. She needs me.”

“Why? So she can chew you up and spit you out again?”
Matt
reached for
her fingers
, ice-cold in the freezing weather
. “
She hurt you over and over
and then threw you under the bus to protect
herself
. Haven’t you had enough?” The look on her face proved the theory he’d just spouted was true.

Surprisingly, Gracie didn’t pull
her hand
away. Instead she looked him square in the face
, her eyes lit with conviction. “I’m doing this
because i
t’s the way of grace. It loves and forgives even when there’s no reason to do so.” She
blinked rapidly, on the verge of tears
. “At one t
ime I
couldn’t fath
om how I was supposed to show grace
, but now I know
.
I can’t go back to how I used to be no matter how much my earthly side would like to.”

He had no answer.
Nothing to refute her
heartfelt
words.
Clearly t
he recent ordeal had strengthened her faith.

Sh
e stepped closer and raised a
palm to his face
, her eyes soft and pleading in the light of the nearby lamp
. A wisp
of smoke drifted
from her mouth in the frigid air
. “Remember
all our talks
about grace?”

He nodded.
How could he forget?

“I
think
part of grace is doing for someone what they can’t do for themselves.”

A frown pulled his eyebrows together
.
“Even when they’re your enemy?”

A tender smile lit her face from the inside.
“
Especially then.
Isn’t that what we were to God when he demonstrated
His
grace
to us at the cross
?”

Matt lowered his gaze, drawing a circle in the dirt with the toe of his shoe. She had a point, but
just how far was she willing to go to demonstrate grace to someone who probably only throw it back in her face?

He looked up to see Gracie
peering into the darkness and
followed
the direction of
her gaze. Jason’s jet-black car sat almost obscured from view behind a giant oak. What was he doing here?

She tugged her hand away and
stuffed it in her coat pocket
, her gaze not meeting his.

“Do what you want, Graci
e, but I’m coming with you. I ca
n’t stand idly by while Elena or Jason or anyone else stomps all over you.”
If that comment didn’t let her know how much he cared, nothing would.

“Jason? Why bring him into the conversation?”
Her dark eyes smoldered.

Matt puzzled over the
question.
She’d seen Jason’s car and knew he was here, but for some reason wanted to keep the information from him. How could he get the point across that the man she fancied wasn’t what she believed?
If
he
brought
up that
his name
wasn’
t
Jason
Dent, he’d
also reveal that he’d had the guy investigated. Better to play it safe, at least to begin with.
“I know you don’t want to hear this, Gracie, but I believe with everything in me that Jason has a serious
problem
.”

“What are you talking about?”

He
pressed his lips together and searched for words that wouldn’t incite her Latin
temper
ment
. “
There are several pathological disorders that—
”

Grac
i
e laughed. “Oh boy, h
ere we go again.”
Her
full-lipped smile
faded as she peered into his eyes, almost as if she were seriously considering the possibility.

Please, God.
He wanted to say more, but didn’t dare. Instead he had to trust that the Lord would take care of it. “Just please be careful around him. Are you . . . ?” He swallowed against the fear that crawled up his windpipe. “Are you still seeing him?”

She looked away for a long, silent moment. Finally she faced him, her eyes lit with determination. “Yes. We’re pretty serious. I think he might propose.”

His heart crumbled, and he sucked in a gulp of
the
ice
cold
air
until it
burned in his lungs
. So this was how it felt to be totally broken. He
felt the need
to say something
to
end
the awkward silence
, but what? Finally he simply nodded, unable to make eye contact
for fear of breaking down
. “Well, I guess I’d better be going.”

“Yes, that would probably be for the best.” Her voice hitched in a strangled sort of way.

Without another glanc
e
in her direction, he turned and walked away
, his feet crunching the frozen grass
. H
e reached his car,
not quite sure
how he got there
,
then crawled in
and drove away.
Only as he neared the trees that line
d
the driveway did he
find the strength to look in the
rearview mirror.