Through His Grace (5 page)

“And look at that,” Eric said, spying the poster Grace had found at a discount store. “A long stretch of road straight ahead of you.” He turned to Grace. “It looks like NASCAR came and did your room for you.”

Grace looked around in satisfaction. The border on the walls showed race cars on a road, the poster on the wall above Jake’s toy chest was a shot of the legendary Route 66, and a checkered flag hung above the bed. The shelves still needed books and toys, but it had been a busy week.

“Mine next!” Lizzie grabbed Eric by the hand and led him to the next room. Lizzie’s walls, a shade of pale rose, showcased her oasis of girly frills to perfection.

“Wow!” Eric seemed a bit at a loss as his gaze traveled from the four-poster canopy bed to the dainty vanity.

“Isn’t it beyootifull?” Lizzie spun around in the middle of the room.

“Fit for a princess,” Eric agreed. He moved toward the empty bookcase/dollhouse and ran his hand along the sloping roofline. “Now this is awesome.”

“Auntie Grace says it’ll be a dollhouse, too,” Lizzie added sagely before giving in to her excitement. “I get to decorate all the rooms!” She pointed to the smaller sections walled off in the bookshelf.

“It needs a garage,” Jake pointed out.

“The house comes first.” Lizzie shot Grace a look that clearly said, “Boys. Hmph.”

At that moment Grace caught a shared glance between Eric and Jake, which she took to mean, “Girls are so weird.”
He should be able to share that type of look with his father
. The thought pierced her heart.

“What was that?” Lizzie’s voice broke through Grace’s reverie.

“It was Mr. Nichols!” Jake giggled.

“I’m afraid it was.” Eric shrugged. “My stomach thinks it’s lunchtime.”

Grace glanced at her watch. “Your stomach is right. Would you like to stay for sandwiches?”

“Bologna?” Jake queried.

“Peanut butter!” Lizzie squealed.

“Bologna and peanut butter?” Eric made a face so the kids laughed. “Yuk.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of grilled cheese with chicken soup,” Grace said. “But”—she snuck a look at Eric’s face—“bologna and peanut butter sound awfully tempting.”

“Yay!” Jake waved his hands in the air. “Can I help?”

“Can I eat something else?” Lizzie tugged on Grace’s arm.

“How ‘bout you help me make the grilled cheese instead?” Grace asked her.

“I’ll take care of the soup,” Eric offered. “No sense in children playing with fire.”

I’m no child
, Grace reminded herself.
All the same…I’d best be careful around Eric Nichols. There’s a possibility I could get burned
.

“C’mon, Brassy.” Nickels nudged his mount to the left, where a steer ambled toward a patch of dandelions too far away. They were moving this herd to another pasture for good reason—if they didn’t, there wouldn’t be any grass left to seed and spring back later.

“Arf!” Skylar yipped happily at Brassy’s side, jogging to keep up with the horse’s trot.

“Hey, girl.” Nickels kept an eye on the spunky cattle dog. Blue heelers were known for their incredible loyalty and herding ability, and Skylar was the best of the best. Her blackspotted, white barrel-shaped body jaunted along on four surprisingly dainty legs, her tail aloft as she headed for the errant cow. Nickels stayed beside her, glad for the presence of his trusted companions.

Brassy and Skylar may have four legs, but their willingness to follow his commands, coupled with their affectionate natures, made them more like family than work animals. Now that they’d caught the stray, Nickels reigned them in and looked beneath his dusty hat brim toward the horizon. Something was wrong, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

There
. The western fence was missing a post. Nickels urged Brassy forward, and Skylar pranced back toward her charges. When he reached the area of the breach, he dismounted, letting his horse scrounge for whatever tasty tidbits the herd had left behind.

Two posts had bowed under considerable pressure. Bits of hide were snagged in the barbed wire.

Hank, another ranch hand, rode up to join him. “What’d you find?”

“Two posts down—pressed out from the inside.” Nickels gestured. “Something spooked the steers.”

“Wolf?”

“Or a coyote. Time to circle around—see if we can find tracks.” It was late summer—too early in the year for wolves or coyotes to be eying such big animals as cows. “Pickings must be scarce for ‘em.”

“I reckon. Most land’s fenced off now. A coyote’s like to be shot as soon as looked at these days. I’ll take a look around— you’ve been out all day.”

“Thanks.” Nickels stood up, clapping the dust from his gloves. “It’ll give me a chance to repair these before the sun sets.”

“When you go back for supplies, tell Rusty to check the herd.” Hank shifted in the saddle, eying the ground. “There’s some blood on this wire—we don’t want infection.”

“I know.” Nickels nodded. “The blood is fresh, so the scratch happened recently. We can get to it before infection sets in.”

With that, they set to their work. Nickels positioned the posts upright and banged them deeper with the mallet he kept in Brassy’s saddlebag. Tomorrow he’d need to come back and restring the barbed wire—bent and slightly bloodied, it needed to be replaced so it didn’t attract crows. If the wild dogs were that hungry, they’d come back for birds.

“‘Those living far away fear your wonders; where morning dawns and evening fades you call forth songs of joy.’” Nickels drank in another look at the pinks and oranges splashed across the clouds, citing a psalm as he marveled at the beauty God created.

The colors brought Grace to his mind. The curls that had escaped from her clip to frame her face had caught the light like this, reflecting hues of gold and red. He found himself thinking about the Willards a lot lately—Grace, in particular.

Lord, You know what—or should I say who—is on my mind. Grace’s lovely face is only the outward adornment of a loving heart and beautiful spirit. Lizzie’s a regular little mother to Jake, always trying to guard her brother. And Jake…
Nickels paused.
Well, he’s like the son I never had
. He pushed aside his regret.
That little tyke has the courage and liveliness every young boy should, but he’s still struggling. They all are
.

Father, I want to get closer
. He wanted to support Grace, make sure there was a man in Jake’s life and see that Lizzie didn’t take so much upon herself. But he was just one step above a stranger, and they had a lot to deal with. They don’t need him pushing his way in—their fragile family needed time to stabilize.

Grace had risen to the challenge of taking on the kids—her welcoming nature and selfless decision made him admire her even more. But all three of them were grieving the loss of close family members—and their previous way of life. Things were confused enough for them.
I don’t have any right to intrude, and I’m asking that You guide me on this
. He kept thinking of reasons why not to get involved—but he didn’t want to listen to a single one.

“Don’t go!” Jake sat on Grace’s foot, wrapping both his feet and arms around her legs.

“I’ll come back.” She tried to maintain a soothing voice, but it was hard when she was limping along with a barnacle the size of a six-year-old boy attached to her leg. She stopped.

“Please.” Jake’s tearstained face nearly broke her heart.

“Come here.” She leaned down and held out her arms. Like a baby koala, Jake untangled from her ankle and jumped into her embrace. Lizzie pressed up next to her, burying her face in Grace’s hip.

Lord, give me strength
. The three of them hadn’t been apart since she’d picked them up from Lawton. The only time they were even in different rooms was nighttime. And then, more often than not, she would wake up to find Jake in Lizzie’s room or vice versa. She knew today would be difficult. She had started preparing them days ago. She had told them she needed to go to work—that Mary would stay with them until she got home. How could she reassure them their lives wouldn’t completely change again?

“Lizzie, do you remember what we talked about? How you’re going to be Mary’s special helper today? Jake, aren’t you looking forward to the park?” Grace threw in one last enticement. “You’ll have your favorite lunch.”

“Hot dogs?” Jake scrutinized her carefully, obviously weighing the options.

“That’s right. And when I get home we’ll play any game Lizzie chooses.” Grace gave Lizzie a conspiratorial grin. She guessed Lizzie didn’t want to show it, but she probably didn’t want her aunt to go for a whole day either. By enlisting her “help” for the day, Grace hoped to offset the difficulty for her.

“Yeah.” The little girl straightened up and pried Jake from his aunt’s arms. “We’ll have lots of fun, and we’ll have tons to tell Auntie Grace when she gets home.” Lizzie pasted on a brave smile.

“And I’ll be home before you know it.” Grace planted a kiss on each one’s forehead. “I promise.”

“All right now.” Mary came out of the bathroom. “Let’s get you into your sweaters and out to the park!”

Grace gave her a small wave and headed out the door before Jake and Lizzie could start worrying again. Mary could handle them. After all, it was only for a couple of days. They’d be off to school next week.

A different school
. Grace sighed. When Jim and Lisa died without leaving a will, Lizzie and Jake were left without a thing except their parents’ Social Security. Grace had tried to be a good steward. She’d saved up for her house, bought a sensible car, had a 401K and a retirement account. But she couldn’t take care of Jake and Lizzie, pay the bills, and afford to send them back to the private academy. A wave of guilt crashed over her.

“Lord,” she said aloud, “Lizzie and Jake lost their mother, their father, and their home in the course of one day. Shortly after, they were wrenched from their grandfather when he didn’t care for them properly. Now they’ll face a new school where they don’t know anyone. Making friends in a new place is always tough.” She knew first days at school were trials in general. Lizzie and Jake could barely handle her going to work. How would they all manage when the children were in school and she was working? She hadn’t even gotten the list from their new teachers telling her what school supplies they would need. Their schedules would be all right. She could drop them off and pick them up, but another transition would be difficult for them. She sighed. “I’m in over my head here, Lord. Please help me!”

She pulled into the Lawton High staff parking lot. Today she and the other counselors would coordinate the school schedules of the students. Grace had the sophomores this year—the same kids she’d had last year as freshmen. They would be considering huge grids, class size allotments, required instruction, special education needs, sports games, and requested electives. Creating the schedules of hundreds of students bore much in common with a giant, multifaceted, endlessly changing jigsaw puzzle.

And somehow it seems simple compared to how complicated my life has become
.

“Waffles,” Nickels muttered as he swung his cart into the frozen foods section and scowled at the list in his hand. “Blueberry frozen waffles.” Dylan had been out at a cattlemen’s association meeting, so Sondra enlisted Nickels to fetch “a little something for her and the baby.”

When I agreed to do this, I was thinking she wanted ice cream or something. Mmm …
Nickels thought longingly of a mound of vanilla bean ice cream.
But no. She smiles and snookers me into saying yes before I ask what she wants
.

He glanced from the now-crumpled list to the contents of his cart. Not the basket he usually grabbed and carried when he set foot in a supermarket. She had added on a whole grocery list to boot! He made a face as he perused the items and fervently hoped he wouldn’t be invited for dinner if she planned on combining any of them.

Orange juice, salsa, key lime yogurt, garlic bread, peach jam, bananas, pickles, and
—he peered into the freezer case—
blueberry waffles
.

“That’s quite a list you’ve got there.” The voice behind made him realize he’d read it out loud.

“Well.” He turned around, expecting to find a store associate who might be able to help him out. He pulled up short at the sight of—“Grace!”

“That’s right.” She gave a slightly tired smile. “Good to see you, Eric.”

“This stuff isn’t for me,” he blurted out. “It’s for Sondra. She’s pregnant, and she has these weird cravings.”

“Oh.” Grace seemed taken aback.

“She’s my boss’s wife,” Nickels added, gratified to have caught her looking at his ring-free left hand.

“And you didn’t know what you were getting yourself into, eh?” Grace relaxed a bit. “I’m taking advantage of having my friend Mary watch Jake and Lizzie so I can pick up a few things. I went back to work today, but the kids don’t start school until next week.”

“You know, I never asked.” Nickels leaned against one of the doors and shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. “What do you do?” What could have taken her away all summer? Did she travel a lot? He left these more personal questions unasked.