The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (7 page)

“No. You’re too
wrapped up in your job and
family.”

Andy nodded. “True. But let’s pretend your supposition is correct. Why should we care
if
Gracie’s falling for him? He’s a nice guy and could provide a great life for her . . .” His words dwindled away, and he cocked his
curly
head slowly to one side, revelation dawning on his f
ace. “You’re in love with her
.”

A comment, not a question.
“I wouldn’t go that far, but I care about her, and I don’t
wanna
see her get hurt.”

His brother eyed him in a way that suggested he didn’t completely believe him. “Whatever. The question is, what are you
gonna
do about it?”

“Keep my eyes on
him
, and make sure he doesn’t do anything to hurt her.”

“That’s it?”

Matt shifted in
the booth
and sat up straighter. “What do you mean, that’s it?”

His brother
shrugged.
“S
eems to me
if you really cared about her you’d make a play for her yourself.”

“Me? What do I have to offer
? Besides, you’re the one who
always said I need
to find out what I want to do with my life before I go looking for a relationship.”

“Yeah
, but that doesn’t mean you shou
ld ignore how you feel
. Maybe
God brought you here
, not only to figure things out, but direct your path toward Gracie. That’s how it worked for me.”

God, please let it be true.
“
Think about it,
b
ro
. The guy looks like a movie star or a model.” He sighed and shook his head. “
I can’t compete with
him
.”

Andy gently laid down his fork, his face and tone sincere. “You don’t have to, Matt. In my
opinion, Jason
can’t compete with you.”
He paused
a long minute, as if struggling to find the right
words. “I know it’
s
no
t easy, e
specially with our background. Every chance at a relationship carries with it the risk of going through
what we went through with Mom.”

An immediate pain sprung to his throat, and
Matt swallowed again
st it
.
His psych books would label it as “abandonment issues,” a technical term that somehow les
sened
what he often felt. “I think I’ll always struggle with truly opening myself up to a woman, even though I know in my head that fear doesn’t come from God.”

“
That’s how y
ou’
ll know
you’
ve found the right one. Y
ou’ll love her so much the fear goes away.”
He picked up his fork and resumed eating, the seriousness of
the moment
dissipating. “And d
on’t sell yourself short
. I don’t know an
yone as talented or as
good-hearted as you. I
still feel bad about taking that
money.
”

Matt raised a ha
nd.
“Stop.
I owed you
for all the times you helped me out during school.”

“I never expected it back. It was an invest—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know . . . a
n investment, not a loan.” He sent his brother a grin. “And I appreciate the sentiment. But your baby brother is a grown-up now. You don’t have to keep blazing a trail for me. I can do it on my own.”

“Now you sound like my wife.
” Andy took another bite
. “So you’re doing okay? Financially, I mean.”

“Yep.
H
ave
the royalty money for
those two songs I sold
saved up and
spoke with a guy from Nashville this morning who’s interested in a few ot
her
s
.”

“Way to go
.” Andy held up a hand for a high five.

Matt
slapped his brother
’s hand then focused on his food, adding a bit to his mouth
.
“I appreciate you letting me hang out
here while I figure out where God wants me next.
”

“
No problem. Glad to have you around. In fact, Trish and I were wondering if you might be interested in
taking over
the equine ministry while
she takes
care of the baby
.”

His radar we
nt up. Since Andy and Trish
started the ministry two years ago, the number of people they’d helped undoubtedly reached into the hundreds if not the thousands.
“Sounds li
ke it would be right up my alley
, but I can’t promise I’ll do it on a permanent ba
sis at this point. What all
does the job entail
?”

“Trish has a great band of volunteers who help the kids
while they’re on the horses
, but yo
u’
d need to be there to supervise
. We have some
kids that
would really benefit from counseling
.”

His heart did a q
ueer flop within his chest. Counsel
ing hurt kids would be just the sort of work he’d love to do. A
way to offer others the
help he’d
needed
as a kid.
“Sounds interesting, but I need to pray about it
first
.” Even as he spoke the words he knew this was a ministry he could be passionate about.

“The pay isn’t
great, but we could give you the top floor of the old Miller mansion to live in free of charge
, and you could pro
bably pick up a few clients in
the area
.”

Big brother to the rescue once more.
Matt tossed the idea around in his head.
“The Miller mansion?
You mean that ginormous house on the ranch you showed me last time I was down?”

“Yep.
Trish’s
dad
used to live
there, but
he moved to town
when he
married Mama Beth
.
Now w
e use the bottom floor as
ranch headquarters and the
equine therapy office
.”

Mama Beth. He hadn’t thought about her until now.
“How’s Mama Beth doing?”

A wry grin lifted one corner of Andy’s mouth.
“Unstoppable as always.”

Matt’s lips
involuntarily curved into a smil
e at the thought
of
t
h
e matriarch of Miller’s Creek,
her
heart bi
gger than Texas. How many times
had he been the recipient of her
wisdom
?
A waitress hurried by with a tray of fresh food, the aroma wafting their way.
His thoughts returned to the Miller mansion.
“As I recall
that place
had a bathtub
big enough to swim in.”

And
y let out a laugh. “Huge. You could have a bubble bath any time you wanted.” He waggled his eyebrows
and winked
.
“
Anyway, we’d lov
e to have you stay on
long-term.”

Long term?
A sudden flash of clarity lit his brain. There was only one way he would be
in Miller’s Creek long-
term, and it all depended on Gracie. He couldn’t be
ar the thought of staying
around to see her build her perfect world
with someone else
. He attempted to clear his throat of the knot that had grown there. “We’ll see where God leads.”

As they finished up the last few bites of lunch in
silence, a
policeman swaggered
to their table
, his
Billy stick
wagging at his side
. “How’s it going, Andy?” He spoke the words with a friendly smile that curled his caterpillar mustache into an inverted rainbow.

“
Good, Ernie.
How ‘bout yourself?”
Andy shook his hand.

“Can’t complain.”

Andy held
out
an arm in Matt’s
direction. “This is my brother
Matt.
Ernie’
s the chief of police for Miller’s Creek.
”

Ernie gave him a quick look
and
brief nod
then turned his focus back to Andy.

Typical
reaction.
Small-town people always treated him
that way. S
ized him up with one
glance then dismissed him as unimportant.
He
’d known when he came here
peopl
e probably wouldn’t accept him
bec
ause he didn’t
act like them.
Fine by him.
He wasn’t about to change
w
ho
he was to please anybody
.
Matt
picked up
the check
and
excused himself from the table
,
headed to where Gracie’s dad stood
at
the register.
“Hey, Mr.
Soldano
.
G
ood to see you again.”

“Was everything satisfa
ctory?” Juan
Soldano
rang up the
ticket without looking his way.

“Great as usual.”
Matt laid down a twenty. “Saw Gracie earlier. You must be very proud of her
and her accomplishments
.”

The man plopped the
change down on the counter and glared
back
at him from beneath bushy black brows. “I would appreciate it if you stayed away from my daughter.” Withou
t another word, he scurried
from the c
ounter and through the
stainless steel doors that led to the kitchen, his final words knifing through Matt’s heart.

Apparently
Mr.
Soldano
had the same opinion of
him as Gracie
and the rest of the town
.

3

E
veryone wanted justice unless they were the one on trial. Then they longed for mercy to rain down on them—even to the point of being willing to pay for it.

G
race ran a hand down her neck
to smooth down
goose bumps
.
Thank goodness
this first week w
as almost over. Maybe next week
Sandra would be back, an
d she could become an at
torney at last
.
O
utside
a blast of thunder boomed
,
and
a storm
unleashed its
fury
on the
Miller County
courthouse.

Today even the warm
-toned wood
panels
encas
ing the cou
rtroom seemed cold and austere, most likely
because of her close proximity to the
man on trial.
A
shudder
rippled through her body
. Her first time in a court
room since
she’d passed
the bar
, but not at all the ki
nd of case she would’
ve preferred
.
A
t least it would give her a chance to see
up-and-coming prosecutor
Elena Delgado in action. She’
d pick up some pointers
and
make herself known in the
legal community
at the same time
.

She inhaled
in an attempt to steady her nerves
, the musty scent of the old building tickling her nose
.
If only it were a different case.
Andy
had
insisted
she attend the
trial, though she couldn’t fathom why
, es
pecially since she wasn’t involved with the case, and Sandra was still
on sick leave
.
While s
he appreciated the
invitation
,
the
subject matter
threatened to
resurrect
memories
she’d rather leave
buried
.