Through His Grace (9 page)

“Home.” A tear slid down his soft cheek, and that one drop dashed Grace’s stern front.

Home. He called this home. They aren’t misbehaving because they’re willful. Punishing them is the wrong approach
. Grace sat down on the bed next to them.
I was listening with my head, not my heart. They’re simply children afraid of yet another change
.

“Home will still be here when you get back.” Grace gave them each a hug.

“How do you know?” Lizzie’s voice sounded tiny and far away, a dim echo of the loss she’d suffered.

What do I tell them, Lord? They know firsthand that bad things happen to good people. Lizzie and Jake were part of a happy family one morning, went off to school, and didn’t have a home or family to go back to. One tornado whirled away the only life they’d ever known, and their world hasn’t stopped spinning yet
.

“Truth of the matter is, I don’t.” Grace refused to deceive them, though her gut wrenched as they gasped and huddled closer. “But here’s what I do know. First of all, we have each other, and that’s not going to change. Second, even if something happens to the house, I don’t work at home. I’ll be in Lawton with you. That’s part of why it’s so important you go to school—I’ll be nearby.” She gave them a reassuring squeeze. “But first we all need to get ready!”

Miraculously, her words had calmed the children. The next half hour was filled with cereal, outfits, missing shoes. Finally they settled into the car.

“Contact!” Grace clicked her seat belt into the holder.

“Contact!” Lizzie’s clicked back, and she reached over to help Jake.

“Contact!”

“Then we’re ready for a great new day at school?” Grace turned and smiled at the kids. A long pause stretched while she waited for them to smile back.

“What if”—Lizzie was wringing her hands—“what if we don’t feel ready at all?”

“You pray.” Grace knew the answer to that one. She stretched her arms so they held hands, forming a circle. “When you think you can’t do something on your own, when you need to remember God is always with you, helping you be strong, you pray. Go ahead.”

“Dear God,” Lizzie began, “I don’t want to go to a new school, but Auntie Grace says it’s important. Jake will be there with me since he’s old enough now. Please keep us safe—and Auntie Grace, too.” Her voice grew stronger. “And bless Mommy and Daddy in heaven. Amen.”

“Amen.” Grace continued holding their hands for another moment. “That was beautiful, Lizzie.”

“Okay.” The little girl sat up straight. “I think I’m ready now.”

The smell of fried chicken filled the cab of Nickels’s truck as he drove. Thursday nights were his time to visit his grandpa. At seventy-two Aaron Nichols had a spring in his step untouched by his many years. Nickels watched him walk to the driveway.

“Lookin’ good, Gramps.” Nickels swung his door open and grabbed the bucket of chicken.

“Smellin’ good, Eric.” Gramps sniffed appreciatively.

“I thought so.” Nickels grinned. “What do you say we sit on the porch and eat like kings?” They climbed the three short steps to the porch and settled into a pair of rocking chairs, their smooth surfaces attesting to many fine nights such as this.

“I’d say pass the bucket.” Gramps accepted the drumstick— his favorite piece—and they ate in contented silence for a while.

“Stars are out in force,” Nickels noted. “Seem even brighter than usual.”

“Oh?” Gramps lifted his brow.

“What?”

“Stars don’t often change their outlook, son.” The older man observed his grandson intently. “But we do. What’s got you seein’ things in a whole new light?”

“Good company and a full belly make the world a brighter place.” Nickels hoped to distract his grandpa with flattery. No sense delving into things better left alone.

“So who’ve you been keepin’ company with?” Gramps saw right through him.

“Lasso’s a small town, Gramps.” Nickels knew he was being evasive, but Gramps had been on him for years about how it was—

“High time you found yourself the wife God planned for you. Man wasn’t meant to walk this earth alone.” He cast a glance toward the copse of trees to the east. “My Rosie Lou made my days brighter and my faith sweeter and fills my future with the anticipation of bein’ at her side again.”

“She was an incredible woman.” Nickels put his hands behind his head. “You were blessed to find her.”

“Funny thing about finding things, Eric.” Gramps rocked forward, planting his feet on the porch and fixing his grandson with a steady stare. “It’s hard to keep your eyes open when your heart’s closed.”

Nickels sucked in a slow breath. “My heart’s not closed, Gramps.” Things’d be easier if it were.

“Too closed for my comfort.” Gramps clapped his hands on his knees. “Every woman out there isn’t like Cassandra.”

“I know.” Nickels rolled his shoulders to ease the tension her very name caused inside him. How could she? Over five years had passed, and he still didn’t understand.

Lord, why? Are the lives of others worth so little that she could destroy mine without a single regret for possibilities denied?

“I know the subject touches a nerve for you, but I’m gonna have to ask. After half a decade you’ve yet to move on. Does she still carry part of you?”

“No.” Nickels swallowed his bitterness. “The memories remain, though.”

“That’s the nature of memories, m’boy. They remain. The question is, do they fester?”

“Time heals all wounds.” Nickels felt his jaw clench.

“Ah, but there’s the problem. You’re putting your faith in the wrong place.”

“I’m a believer now,” Nickels reminded his grandfather. “And by now you should’ve figured out the truth. Time doesn’t heal an aching heart, Eric. Only one thing can manage that miracle.”

“And what is it?”
I’ve prayed. Worked hard. Lived right. And I’ve waited for
—

“Love. Love is the heart’s healer, Eric. And all pure and beautiful things come from God Himself.”

“I love,” he said.
What kind of monster does my own grandpa think I am?
“I love God. I also care for you…and Dylan and Sondra…”
and Grace, Lizzie, and Jake
.

“I know that, Eric. Still, love goes both ways. You love, yes—but do you let yourself be loved?”

“I—” Nickels bit back his hasty response and mulled it over. He took his time while his grandpa rocked quietly, patiently. “I never thought about the difference.” When the admission came, it seemed as though he’d found something he hadn’t realized he’d lost.

“I guess it’s high time you got to thinkin’ on it then.” Gramps gave him an approving nod. “Between now and then I’ll keep on prayin’.”

“Thanks.” His voice sounded gruff to his own ears, and he wondered if Gramps heard the wealth of appreciation behind that simple word.

“Always.” Gramps’s own voice echoed the powerful emotion, and Nickels smiled at him before looking back at the sky.

“Stars seem brighter than ever.”

“You two wash up while I help Mr. Nichols take his chicks back to the truck.” Grace made sure the kids were headed toward the restroom before catching up with him outside.

“Long time, no see.” Humor tinged his words when she met him in the driveway.

“I know.” Grace grinned at him. “But I wanted to ask you something.”

“Shoot.” He leaned against the hood, his long legs crossed.

“You know the kids and I are meeting their grandfather for lunch today and looking over apartments so he’ll be close by.” She waited for his nod before she plunged ahead. “He’ll be spending the night with us and coming to church tomorrow morning…and it’s all right either way, but—”

“Sondra and Dylan would welcome him over for lunch, too.” He gently touched her arm. “So would I.”

Warmth raced up her arm. “Thanks. We’ll look forward to it.”

“As do I.” He plunked his hat on his head and swung the truck door open. “You might want to try Briarwood—I was at Chris’s the other day for an oil change, and he mentioned someone’s movin’ out.”

“We will.” Grace waved as he backed out of the drive. That tip made three possibilities to check out this afternoon.

Lord, let one of them be right for Uncle Carl. Not only is it important for the kids to have him near, but I think it’ll do him a world of good
.

“Ready?” She grabbed Windbreakers for herself and the kids, just in case it got chilly later. There was no telling when they’d find the right place.

“Uh-huh!” Lizzie and Jake rushed out the door to the car.

Grace knew they were eager to see their grampa. They’d had a talk the night before about how much he wanted to be a part of their lives, even if they couldn’t live with him. She’d explained that he loved them so much he was leaving his home to be closer. After leaving three homes in as many months before finally settling in with their auntie Grace, Jake and Lizzie set great store in their grampa’s determination to move.

“Do you have your pictures?” Grace checked before turning on the engine.

“Yeah!” Lizzie handed them to her.

“These are wonderful—I know Grampa will love them.” Grace popped in a children’s CD, and they passed the hour- long drive singing along to favorite songs.

“Jesus loves me, this I know….” They were all warbling enthusiastically, if off-key, when Grace pulled up to Danielle’s Diner.

“Grampa!” Jake spotted him first, dashing over and all but tackling him at the knees.

“Easy there, buddy!” Uncle Carl had to take a step back to steady himself, but Grace could tell how pleased he was at Jake’s welcome.

“We love you, Grampa.” Lizzie’s hug, though more sedate, matched Jake’s in warmth.

“I love you, too, Lizzie-girl.” He planted a kiss atop her brown hair. “What do you say we get a bite to eat?”

Before their hamburgers and sandwiches arrived at the table, Lizzie and Jake presented him with their pictures.

“It’s you and me and Jake and Auntie Grace.” Lizzie pointed to the figures she’d drawn. “And here in the clouds are Mommy and Daddy, smiling at us from heaven.”

“I bet they’re smiling right now.” Uncle Carl beamed at his granddaughter.

Now this is the way it should be
. Grace sat quietly, content to watch the reunion.

“It’s Queenie!” Uncle Carl chortled at the lopsided orange ball—complete with tail—in the picture Jake proudly passed down the table.

“Yep.” The little boy swung his feet as he sat in the booster seat, connecting with Grace’s shin. She winced but let the accident go without comment.

“She misses you two.” Uncle Carl grabbed a napkin and blew his nose. “So have I.”

“That’s why you’re moving!” Lizzie broke in excitedly. “These pictures are for your new house!”

“I’ll hang them up before I do anything else,” Uncle Carl promised. “Just as soon as we find the place.”

Finding the place proved to be more difficult than Grace anticipated as they walked into the first apartment.

“It’s already furnished.” The landlady unlocked the door. “Let me know when you’re finished looking.” With that, she stomped up the stairs and banged on another door.

“It’s…” Words failed her.
Awful
was the closest she could manage.

“Cozy.” Carl was obviously determined to make this work. “Stinky.” Jake wrinkled his nose. He had a point; the place smelled like an ashtray.

A quick tour revealed a brown kitchenette without a dishwasher, a dingy bathroom with a leaky shower, and a bedroom with a musty bed pressed along one wall, and nothing else in sight.

“We’ll have a look at the other places before we make any decisions,” Grace informed the owner after she rattled off a grossly inflated rent rate. “We’ll let you know.”

“You do that.” The woman smirked. “Aren’t too many places available. You’ll be back before long.”

“We’ll see.” Grace ushered everyone back to the car.

“I didn’t like it,” Lizzie announced with a child’s bluntness.

“Me neither,” Jake seconded.

“I’ll make it work if I have to,” Carl maintained.

The second choice was an upstairs apartment with no elevator.

“I’ll make…it work…if…I need…to.” Carl wheezed as he made his way up the stairs.

I don’t think so
. Grace kept the thought to herself. “Let’s try Briarwood.”

The manager of the grounds led them to a single-story building, made to look much like a cottage.

“There are two units in this building. This one’s just become available.” He looked a bit surprised. “Haven’t even listed it yet. Keep in mind it’ll be cleaned before the new resident moves in.”

Cream walls brightened the place, making the most of the light let in by well-placed windows. The tan carpet seemed practically new, and the wood-toned kitchen boasted an oven, a dishwasher, and a microwave. Vertical blinds were already installed in every room.

“Thank You, Lord!” Grace said aloud.

“I like it.” Lizzie twirled around in the middle of the living room.

“Me, too.” Jake grabbed her hands, and they danced around in a wide circle.

“Are cats okay?” Uncle Carl seemed suspicious of the perfect setup.

“No more than two per unit.” The manager shoved his hands in his pockets.