Grace: A Christmas Sisters of the Heart Novel (18 page)

Katie hesitated, then murmured, “Not every man is cruel and violent, Melody.”

“I know that. But the men I know don’t seem to know what to make of me.” Because she didn’t want to sound quite so pitiful, she said, “I do have an English friend named Leah. We’re close.”

“I’m glad.”

“She was disappointed that I was coming here, but she said maybe it was what I needed.”

“She sounds smart.” Katie sipped her tea once more, then stood up with a yawn. “My Jonathan will wonder what happened to me if I don’t get to sleep. I’ll regret it tomorrow, as well. The clock keeps ticking, you know.”

Melody took the mugs, threw away the teabags, and rinsed them out. “Thank you for staying here to talk to me.”

“No, thank you for offering your help. It was nice of you.”

“But you didn’t need anything.”

“You reached out to me. That, I needed; I’m grateful. Good night, Melody. I’ll save you some muffins, so please try and sleep late.”

“I might just do that,” Melody said as Katie headed upstairs.

Alone now in the kitchen, she made sure the flame on the range was extinguished, then turned off the overhead light. In the dark, she walked down the short hallway to her own room and crawled under the covers as best she could.

Another wave of cramps flew through her stomach, but they weren’t too bad.

December 24, 3:00
A.M.

“I can’t believe I brought you out in this storm,” Leah told Zack wearily as they watched the snow swirl onto the highway from the fast food restaurant they had taken shelter in. “Every mile seems worse than the last. The roads are really treacherous.”

“They’re bad, but I’ve been on worse. It’s just snow.”

Leah was slowly coming to realize that very little seemed to upset Zack Littleton. The whole time, his manner had been relaxed and easygoing.

She, of course, was anxious enough for the both of them. And was starting to feel guilty about the journey he was accompanying her on. “But it’s a lot of snow. We
should have arrived at the Brennemans’ hours ago. Now I don’t even think we’re going to make it to a hotel tonight. I’m so sorry.”

He raised a brow. “Why are you apologizing? You can’t control the weather.”

“You know what I mean.”

Reaching out, he took her hand and pressed it between his palms. “Please don’t worry so much. I’m fine, and so are you. We’ll get there.”

“This isn’t what you signed up for.”

Zack’s lips twitched. “How do you know that I didn’t sign up for this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Leah, don’t you get it? The only reason I volunteered to take you is because I wanted to spend time with you.”

The warm feelings that he gave her challenged the confusion she was experiencing. “But … I thought you felt sorry for Melody?”

“I do. I feel very sorry for her. But I don’t know her.” Gently, he squeezed her palm. “I do know you. And I wanted to get to know you more. This trip is allowing me to do that.”

“For better or worse,” she grumbled. And, she had been on the “worse” side for quite a while now. All she’d been doing was worrying and fussing and complaining. “I’ll try not to make you crazy with my worries.”

“Worry all you want. I can take it.” Before she could reply to that, he looked out the window again and frowned. “Besides, if we’re going to start blaming people, we’d have
to blame me. If I hadn’t insisted that we needed to stop to help those women on I-275, we might have gotten a whole lot farther.”

“But that isn’t you.” In her heart, she knew that. Even though he worked for the state of Kentucky and not Ohio, none of that seemed to make a difference when he saw someone in need.

Zack looked intrigued by her statement. “It’s not, huh?” Something warm and inviting entered his eyes—making her want to be closer to him. “So, do you already know me that well?”

“Maybe. Well, I
want
to know you that well.” She smiled, enjoying their light flirtation—as they’d been flirting for quite some time now. “I know you’re the kind of man who helps girls in traffic accidents.”

“That’s my job.”

“… And who doesn’t mind taking me to a movie on a snowy day. And who likes puppies, and people you meet on the side of the road.”

He winked. “Only redheads.”

“I know you don’t mind doing dishes.”

“My mother would have killed me if I hadn’t washed dishes.”

“I know you are the kind of guy who offers to drive complete strangers to see a friend.”

“You’re not a complete stranger.” He dropped her hand as he leaned a little bit closer. “You’ve never seemed like a stranger to me. From the moment I first talked to you on the side of the road, there was something special about you that caught my attention.”

“I … I felt the same way.”

“In fact, I feel like we’ve gone from strangers to acquaintances to friends to maybe even something more.” He swallowed. “I mean, we’re getting to know each other really well.”

She couldn’t deny it. And wasn’t even sure if she wanted to. “Perhaps.”

His eyes sparkled. “Ah-hah! Caught you. You have to admit we’re not strangers.”

A lump felt like lead in her belly. No, that wasn’t how she was feeling about him at all. Fact was, she was falling hard for Office Zack Littleton, and she didn’t fall hard for anyone. He was like her perfect catalog guy. Handsome and tall. He was patient and had a sense of humor. And he was kind to everyone. Puppies, old ladies, his mom.

And yet … he didn’t seem like a marshmallow, either. Back at a gas station, he’d held his own against a couple of guys who were giving the cashier a hard time.

She trusted him. Completely. So completely, it didn’t even make sense, not rationally. The fact was, she felt more at ease with this man than with some men she’d dated in the past months. What did that mean? Did things like this really happen? This … instant infatuation?

What was worse, she didn’t even care. All she wanted to do was be around him. And hold his hand.

Because just a few miles back, they’d started holding hands in the truck and it had been nice.

“You’re right. We’re not strangers at all. I guess we’re closer to friends.”

“I think so.”

As she continued to reflect how nice it was to be with him, to hold his hand, a sudden, awful thought floated forward. “Hey—you don’t have a girlfriend, do you?”

He looked horrified. “Do you really think I’d be asking you to stay in Louisville … asking you to spend so much time with me if I did?”

“I … I don’t think so.”

“Leah, I promise you, there’s no other girl in my life.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“I had a girlfriend a year ago. We broke up. I’ll tell you about it sometime. But I want you to know that I haven’t been looking for anyone. Hadn’t even really been thinking about it, until I saw you.”

“I’m not dating anyone, either.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “I hope not. I mean, I did show you Trixie’s pups.”

Pleased the mood was lighter, and that he’d told her more about himself, she teased right back. “It’s only because of those puppies that I trusted you enough to drive me around.”

“Leah.” His voice was softer now, gentle. He drew out her name sweetly, giving her goose bumps. “I don’t want to scare you, but I promise, you’re special to me. I’d never hurt you.”

“Well, I hoped you wouldn’t. I’m sorry, Zack. I want to trust you, but I’m afraid, you know?”

“I know.” Softly, he said, “Years ago, I got my heart broken, too.”

She stared at him in surprise. “How did you know that happened to me?”

“I noticed the signs.” Standing up, he held out his hand to help her hop off the stool. “I think we should get on our way again.”

She zipped up her coat and followed him outside. It felt completely natural when he wrapped an arm around her waist and walked by her side. Ready to catch her in case she slipped.

And then, when they reached the passenger side door, he wrapped his other arm around her and drew her to him.

There, in the dark—with the snow coming down and layer upon layer of down coats between them—they hugged.

She felt his lips press against her brow. “Leah, you’ve got to know that I’m falling for you. I like you a lot.”

As she felt his lips brush her brow again, she exhaled and snuggled closer. Taking a chance, she lifted her chin and stared into his eyes. Pure happiness reflected in them. Very slowly, he brushed his lips against hers in a sweet kiss. Then he stepped back and opened the door for her.

Sliding into the cab, Leah knew what was happening between them was a once in a lifetime thing. The man was special; she liked him. But what she really liked was how open he was. He was offering himself in such a generous, easy way. No games or lies.

And he was patient with her, too. From the moment he’d asked if she would wait to be rescued by the tow truck, Leah had known that he would have immediately backed off at any time she wanted to.

During their whole trip, he’d been letting her set the
pace, she realized in surprise. He’d offered suggestions, but had let all the decision making fall to her.

As the silence in the cab lengthened, he relaxed his grip on her hand, and noticeably gripped his steering wheel harder. Waiting.

“I like you, too, Zack. Actually, I like you a lot. I would hate it if this was all one-sided.”

“I promise, it’s not. Already, I want to make plans for this weekend and next and the week after that.”

“Really?”

“Really. Leah, for the last hour, I’ve been sitting here, trying to figure out a way to ask you the same thing. You know, ask if I can come visit you again.”

“You shouldn’t have been worried.”

“Why is that?”

“Oh, because I am seeing someone. But he’s a nice guy.”

“What?”

He looked so stricken, so bummed, she couldn’t tease him any longer. “My boyfriend’s name is Zack Littleton. He works for the state highway patrol and lives in Louisville, Kentucky. And just for the record, he’s a really nice guy. I can’t imagine what my life would be if he hadn’t stepped into it.”

“I can’t imagine, either.” When she reached for his hand, he took it, curving his fingers around her own as if they were the most precious thing he had held.

After a moment, Zack very gently, very carefully, brought her knuckles to his lips. He barely kissed them, but the sensation caused a buzz of awareness through her
body. Leah had shared far more intimate kisses that had affected her not near as much.

“Hearing what you said, it made my day.”

Leah looked at their joined fingers. Thought about how comforted she felt. How safe and special.

Oh, she felt so lucky. “When you say things like that, I hardly mind the snow at all.”

She knew God had pulled them together. She knew he was watching them from afar, guiding them, watching over them.

Oh, at that moment, she felt like the luckiest woman in the world. Right there, in a snowstorm in the middle of the night.

On Christmas Eve.

December 24, 10:00
A.M.

Melody was in labor. A few hours after she’d told Katie good night and fell asleep, the pains had intensified. Now she knew without a doubt that she’d been experiencing labor pains for quite a while.

She’d been pacing the room, trying to pretend the pains were going to vanish soon, when her water broke. Now she knew she had no choice but to face reality. She was going to have a baby soon, and she was going to have to tell the Brennemans.

As she walked to the kitchen, another band of pain gripped her hard. Closing her eyes, Melody leaned against the wall and breathed slowly. She had learned that the pain eased somewhat if she didn’t fight it so much.

As soon as the contraction subsided, she opened her
eyes … and found Levi by her side. “I was walking by when I saw you standing here,” he said by way of explanation. “Melody, are you all right?”

“As well as I can be. The baby is on its way.” She exhaled as the pain dissipated.

Concern and relief flashed across his features, then were replaced by sheer horror. “We need to get you out of here. You must go to the hospital.”

“I don’t know if that’s possible. The storm is fierce outside.”

“Perhaps it’s not that bad.”

She almost smiled when an answering knock of wind slammed against the windows. The winter storm had arrived with a vengeance, and seemed certain to hold them hostage. “I think it is.”

Tenderly, he brushed the back of two fingers along her cheek. “Let’s hope not.”

She felt strengthened by his touch. By his concern. So glad he hadn’t shied away, she said, “This sounds strange, but I’m glad you’re at the inn, too. I feel better when you’re nearby.”

For a moment, Levi looked ready to run—ready to escape—but then some inner resolve rushed through him. “If you need me, then of course I’ll be here for you.”

“Danke.”

“All right, then. Let’s go tell everyone else.” He wrapped a reassuring arm around her shoulders and led her into the kitchen. “Everyone, Melody here is going to have a baby.” His words were jerky. Stilted.

Melody almost smiled. She knew he was
naerfich—
nervous. She knew her being in labor brought back difficult memories. But here he was, doing the best he could.

He really was a kind man, she thought … just as another contraction came.

From across the room, Katie watched Melody’s eyes close in pain and felt her stomach sink to the floor. “Melody?” she cried out. “When did everything start? Just a few hours ago you seemed fine.”

“I’ve been trying to ignore the pains, I’m afraid.” Visibly shaken, Melody licked her lips and tried again. “I don’t think they’re going to stop.”

“Then I guess you’ll be havin’ a baby here,” her mother said matter-of-factly.

Turning to her mother, Katie silently pleaded for her to take charge.
“Mamm?”

But her mother had already rushed forward. “I think we will need to get you settled into bed, dear,” she told Melody as she pulled her from Levi’s side and guided her to the hall. “It’s going to be a long day.”