Woodlands (7 page)

Leah gave up on the spinach and settled for a Little League frozen bean burrito. She leaned against the kitchen counter trying to remember what Brad, one of her friends, had told her last summer when she went to him for counseling. She had slumped into a state of depression when her parents’ house wasn’t selling. The house she had wanted to buy was sold before she could make an offer, and nothing seemed to be moving forward in her life.

Brad had told her, “Blocked goals lead to anger, and blocked anger leads to depression. Readjust your goals and find healthy ways to express your anger or you’re going to be one depressed little chickadee.”

Brad’s counseling methods weren’t always conventional, but his words had helped her. She readjusted her goals regarding the
house, and she confided her anger and frustration to Jessica, who listened without offering any advice other than “Let’s pray about this some more together.” Every Monday evening for four months, Leah had met with Jessica, and they prayed together.

Now Leah could look back and see how God had worked out everything better than her original plans. Her parents’ house sold for less than she had hoped, but her sisters had had a change of heart and agreed Leah should have all the profit from the house’s sale. The amount had been enough to buy this house outright, which meant she had no monthly mortgage payment. The house that fell through was twice the size and twice the price. If she had ended up with that other house, she would have been paying on it for at least fifteen years.

Leah had to admit God had been good to her. That didn’t mean she was ready to trust him completely, though. Over the past few years it had become safer to keep God nearby but at a bit of a distance. She was one of his children. She knew that. She also knew she wasn’t one of his favorites. It was best not to bother him too much but to take care of matters herself as much as possible.

With that in mind, Leah wondered if she should readjust her goals again.

Should I plan a trip to Europe? I don’t exactly have enough money at the moment. I could start a special savings account and try to put away two hundred dollars a month. In six months I’d have … No, I’d have to put away more than that!

Leah set to work dyeing her mound of Easter eggs since she did her best thinking when she was busy on a project. She knew she didn’t want to take off for Europe by herself; it would be much more fun to go with a friend.

But who?

Leaning against the counter with an egg in each hand, Leah
said to herself, “Go ahead; be honest. The only friendship you’re interested in developing right now is with Seth Edwards. And you have no idea if he feels the same way.”

In an effort to readjust some of her goals, Leah began to formulate a plan. First she decided she would make Seth feel welcomed in Glenbrooke by throwing a party at her home in his honor. Next she would make some cookies this weekend and surprise him at work on Monday.

Before she went to bed, Leah had a long mental list of wonderful things she could do for Seth. Giving was what Leah did best. It delighted her to fall asleep thinking of all the creative ways she could give to Seth.

The next morning, Leah caught a ride to work with her coworker, Mary. Mary showed up at 7:15 with a box of donuts on the passenger’s seat. “Do you mind holding those?”

“Only if I can eat one on the way,” Leah said.

“Sure. They’re for the lunchroom. They’re left over from my son’s band performance at high school last night. What’s wrong with your car?”

“Who knows?”

“Have you had your review yet?” Mary asked.

“No, I think I’m scheduled for next week.”

“I had mine yesterday. No raise. The wage freeze is remaining in effect for another six months. I’m so upset I could spit! How do they expect us to keep up with the cost of living?”

Leah nodded but was glad she had a bite of old-fashioned buttermilk donut in her mouth. She didn’t find her salary a hardship. She knew it had to be harder for Mary, who was trying to raise three teenagers by herself.

They were a block from the hospital when Leah spotted a PDS van. She perked up and leaned forward, trying to see who was driving.

“What are you looking for?” Mary asked.

“Oh, I just wondered if that was Harry,” Leah said. The van turned in front of them. It was Harry, not Seth. Leah waved, and Harry waved back. “Nice guy, that Harry,” Leah said awkwardly.

Mary gave her a strange look.

When Leah reached her desk, a note was waiting for her from Martin. She called him, and he said he had no idea what the problem had been the day before. The car started up for him on the first try, and everything checked out fine.

He told her to swing by after work to pick it up, which she did. After getting her car, Leah drove out to the PDS station and asked if Seth was around. One of the guys told her he was still on his route. She waited for half an hour and then left a note on his car’s windshield since she knew she had better get going. The note read:

She stopped at home for a few minutes and then hurried on to church. It was Good Friday, and the special communion service was scheduled to begin at seven o’clock. However, Leah wasn’t going to the communion service. She was working in the church nursery, as she did every Sunday. Several years ago, Leah had discovered the nursery was a safe place. She could keep going to church but didn’t have to participate in the service, which only reminded her how distant she felt from God.

When Leah arrived, Jessica already was in the toddler nursery changing Sara’s diaper. Leah told Jessica how the Blazer had refused to go last night but was running perfectly now.

Jessica stopped her task at hand and gave Leah a wide grin. “Do you know what I think?”

“No, what?”

“I think your guardian angel dislocated some wires just long enough for you to have to go around town with Seth.”

Leah laughed. “Do you really believe that?”

“Why not? You remember Teri Allistar, don’t you?”

“She used to be Teri Moreno, right?”

“Yes.”

“Of course I remember her,” Leah said. “She was my Spanish teacher my senior year. Is she still in Hawaii with her husband? What was his name?”

“Gordon. Yes, they’re still in Hawaii. He pastors a church there.”

“Oh, yes, Gordon. I liked him. He was a good match for her.”

“I think so, too. She and Gordon and the boys are doing great. Teri was the first friend I made when I moved here,” Jessica said. “She used to call unexplainable circumstances such as your experience with your car ‘pockets of grace.’ We don’t control them. We just fall into them, and God catches us and directs us in ways we never imagined.”

Leah had been raised with the philosophy that God helped those who helped themselves. She tended to be leery of the inexplicable being credited to angels or labeled miracles. “I think the car problem was a fluke, and it turned out okay. A loose wire or clogged something. I’m sure it was nothing more than that.”

“I used to think that, too,” Jessica said, finishing up with Sara and letting her crawl over to the play kitchen where Emma was making pies. “When I came to know the Lord, I started to see all those coincidences actually were his interventions. His ‘pockets of grace.’ I know now that he was doing
those things to get me to turn to him and trust him. I remember one time, right after I moved to Glenbrooke, I came home and found groceries on my front doorstep.”

Leah looked away, pretending to flick a speck of lint from her shirtsleeve.
That was my first secret delivery! I’ve never heard Jessica mention it before. She doesn’t know I was the one who left the groceries, does she? Nah, she couldn’t have known
.

“And in the bag,” Jessica continued, “was a box of Dove ice cream bars. I love Dove bars. Nobody in Glenbrooke knew that.”

Leah remembered how she had stood by the freezer section with the grocery cart already full with everything she thought this new teacher in town might need. Leah, who had worked as a volunteer at the hospital before being hired fulltime, had been there the day Jessica was brought in after being run off the road by a logging truck. Leah still didn’t know why she had progressed from May Day bouquets on Mr. Madison’s porch to buying groceries. But she did know she had felt compelled to buy the Dove bars even though she didn’t think she had enough money and was afraid the bars would melt. She had headed toward the checkout stand and then went back, returned the large package of peanut butter cookies, and bought the Dove bars instead. Leah remembered it all like it was yesterday.

“Teri was with me that afternoon,” Jessica went on. “That’s when she told me about God’s pockets of grace. I know those groceries were a gift from God; his own little miracle to me because no one knew it, but I had no money and absolutely no food.”

“You’re kidding.” Leah felt goosebumps run up her arms.

“No.” Jessica shook her head and lowered her voice. “You know how I told you I left home secretly when I moved to Glenbrooke? I didn’t have enough money with me, and I
couldn’t get any more until my first paycheck. For more than a week I lived on this giant zucchini from the garden and some noodles I found in the cupboard, left by whoever lived in the house before me.”

All these years Leah had felt so foolish for taking groceries to Jessica after finding out how wealthy Jessica was. Now Leah felt as if she simply had been a delivery person for God. She leaned against the counter, stunned at the insight.

“Pride can make a person do very stupid things,” Jessica said softly.

Leah could hardly move. Maybe a greater plan really was unfolding in people’s lives. In
her
life. Why else would she have felt so compelled to give the groceries to Jessica and especially to go back and pick up the Dove bars? Leah wanted to blurt out that she had been the one God had used to cushion that little pocket of grace in Jessica’s life. But it was better this way. Jessica didn’t need to know.

A mother with two toddlers showed up at the nursery’s half-door and greeted Jessica and Leah. Jessica gave Leah’s arm a squeeze and rose to receive the toddlers. She said, “Trust me on this one, Leah. The car problem yesterday could have been orchestrated by God. I’m not saying that’s how it was for sure, but just consider the possibility and be thankful.”

“Thankful,” Leah repeated under her breath.

For the next hour, Leah did what she loved to do. She played with the youngest citizens of Glenbrooke and let their innocence and whimsy fill her emotional well. Ever since Seth Edwards had walked into the Snack Shack two nights ago, Leah had felt as if her life was changing. Her routine was the same, but she wasn’t the same. She was changing.

Maybe Jessica is right. Maybe I’ve just fallen into a pocket of God’s grace. If I have, I don’t think I want to get out
.

T
he Good Friday service lasted an hour, and the parents came for their toddlers right away. Leah was almost finished cleaning up when she heard a voice at the open door say, “So here you are.”

She turned to see Seth standing there in khaki slacks and a light blue oxford shirt with a button-down collar. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. Leah felt as if everything else around her blurred like the pastel background of a Monet painting. All that stayed in focus was Seth’s clean-shaven face and his steady smile.

“I thought that was your car I saw in the parking lot,” Seth said. “What was the problem with it?”

Leah couldn’t stop smiling, thinking of Jessica’s explanation. “Apparently it’s a little miracle. It’s running fine now.”

“That’s good,” Seth said. “I got your note. You don’t have to thank me. I was glad to help out. Anytime. Really.”

Leah put down the basket of toys and walked over to Seth.
“I had an idea last night. I thought it would be fun to throw a welcome party for you. Nothing fancy. Just a little get-together at my house so you can meet other people from Glenbrooke.”

“I don’t know,” Seth said. “I’m not big on social events. I appreciate the thought, but no thanks.”

“Oh,” Leah said, feeling a surge of rejection rising inside.

Seth leaned closer and said, “Actually, I was going to ask you something. This may be short notice, but do you have any plans for Easter Sunday?”

“I’ll be here,” Leah said. “I’m watching the toddlers.”

“I mean early Easter Sunday. Sunrise, to be exact. The last few years in Costa Rica I went on a sunrise hike to the top of this hill behind our camp. I thought I’d try to keep up the tradition.”

“Sounds great,” Leah said. “I love to hike. When and where?”

“I was hoping you could help me figure out where.”

Leah thought. “Only two hills are around here. Madison Hill, where Kyle and Jessica live. And a hill at the end of Camp Heather Brook. No one ever goes there, but I would guess some old logging roads lead at least partway up.”