The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (12 page)

Brady peeked up
at him
from the living room doorway, his ruddy cheeks and disheveled red curls p
roof that he’d recently awakened
from a nap.
Both times Matt had
been
to
visit,
Brady was already
in bed sound
asleep
. I
t was good to finally see him awake
.
“Hey, bud, how’s it going?”

Brady didn’t
answer.

Matt knelt to
his nephew’s level
. “It’s me, Brady. Uncle Matt.”

The four-year-old frowned.
“
Nuh
uh.
Unca
Matt looks
diffewent
.”

“I just have short
er hair now.”

“And hair on your face.”

Matt laug
hed and rose from his knees
. “Yep, but it’s still the same old Uncle Matt underneath.” He made a move
toward Brady to give him a hug.

His nephew
let out an ear-piercing scream and
bolted for the sofa. “Leave me alone!” He added another scream for emphasis.

“I
t’s me
, buddy
. I promise.”

A strange sound emanated from down the hallway, and Matt stopped in his tracks. “What’s that?”

“The bab
y.
You’re in
twouble
now
. You woke up the baby and my mama’s
gonna
be
vewy
mad.”

“Me? I didn’t wake her up. You’re the one screaming like a banshee.”
As Matt
made his way down the hallway
toward the sound
, chubby arms encir
cled one of his legs
.

“Leave my
sistew
alone.” Brady hung from hi
m like a koala on a eucalyptus.

“I’m just
gonna
check on her
. Let go of Uncle Matt
.”

“No!”

“Okay. Have it your way.” He somehow managed to
make it
to the baby bed with extra weight clamped to his leg.

His niece, her head wrapped with a piece
of shiny pink elastic, squirmed
red-faced
in the bed below him. How could such a gosh-awful racket come from someone so small? He patted her chest.
“
Shh
, little one.
Mama will be back
in a minute. I’d be crying too
if they wrapped that thing around my
head.” Her
cries intensified until
she
turned a scary shade of
purple.

Man, how did he get himself in this mess? Did he dare pick her up? He considered his options,
and then caved.
Anything to stop the noise
.
He cradled the baby’s head in one hand and her bottom in the other just as something sharp sank into his right hamstring. “
Ow
!” Matt flinched and looked over his shoulder.

Brady, still clinging to his leg in a bear hug, now had his teeth su
nk into tender flesh. The baby stopped crying and
peered up at him through tiny eyes.

Forgetting the pain radiating down the back of his leg, Matt smiled. “Hey, sweetheart
, it’s
Uncle Matt.” A
foul odor reached his nostrils.
H
is face wrinkled.
“Man! What’s that smell?”

A muffled answer came from his nephew.

“Can’t understand you with your mouth full, Brady.”

The teeth un
clamped. “She has a poopy
diapew
.”

Matt held the pink bundle further from him.
“You sure?”

“If it smells like poop, it must be poop.”

He
raised his eyebrows and
glanced
at his nephew.
“Pretty wise observation from a tyke like you.”

“I’m not a
twike
. I’m a boy.” He latched to Matt’s skin with his teeth again.

“
Ow
! Stop it, will
ya
?”

Bethany wriggled and screamed
again, her tiny fingers curled into flailing fists.

How was he supposed to handle this? He made his way to the changing table just as the front door slammed. Good. Trish was home. “Back here!”

A second later T
rish and his oldest nephew, Bo—now almost as tall as his mother—
appeared in the doorway. The incredulous looks on their faces were quickly replaced with smiles and laughter.

“Here, let me take her.” Trish made it across the room in a few steps, reached for Bethany and pulled her close, before making a face and quickly depositing her on the changing pad. “Brady, let go of Uncle Matt.”

His nephew obeyed and
moved to stand beside his
brother.

Matt scowled at him. “Hope you don’t have rabies.”

“I don’t have
wabies
, I have lice.”

Trish burst into laughter. “No you don’t.”

“That was last year
at preschool
, Brady.” Bo tousled his brother’s hair
then looked up at
Matt
with eyes that looked just like Trish’s
.
“
Wanna
go for a ride
, Uncle Matt
?”

Though his scalp started to itch, Matt resisted the urge to scratch.  Instead he bumped fists with his oldest nephew
. “Love to,
Bo,
but I can’t right now. I need t
o talk to your mom for a second
before I meet
Gracie in town.”

“Gracie?” Trish
eyed him with a knowing look, and then
scooped the baby
up to her right shoulder and cast
a quick glance at Bo. “Why don’
t you take Brady for a ride?”

“Mo-o-
om
. .
. ”
One swift look from Trish was all it took to still his objection. “
Yes, ma’am.”
He turned to his younger brother. “Come on,
Brady,
let’s go get your boots on.”

With a hoot and a holler, Brady took off down the hallway, a reluctant Bo right behind him.

“
You’ve done a great job with Bo
, Trish. He’s turned
into a fine young man.”

She
smiled.
“Thanks to Andy.
I couldn’t have done it without him. Bo has come such a long way.” Her voice choked a bit, but she quickly regained control. “Now what did you want to talk about?”

“
W
hat’s your opinion of Jason Dent?”

Her
eyes widened
. “I sure wasn’t expecting that
question
. He’s a great guy. Why do you
ask
?”

“
J
ust curious
.”

Tr
ish
moved the baby to
cradle position in her arms.
“
Andy
said you might stick
around to help
with the equine ministry.
”

“
Another thing
I wan
ted to
discuss
. I’m
torn about what to do.
I only
wanna
say yes to the job if I’m doing it
for the right reasons.
Right now, I feel like I’m only
here to see if . .
. ”

“If things work out with Gracie?
”

Matt nodded uncomfortably. Gracie nee
ded him. S
he
just
didn’t know it.

Trish sent a sympathetic look. “
L
ook at it
this
way. It’s a chance
to use your degree and help so many hurting people.
And it’
ll give you and Gracie the opportunity t
o really get to know each other
.
But
we realize that what we want
might not be what God wants
for you
.
”

Bingo
. She’d just hit the proverbial nail on its proverbial head. This was God’s call, not his, n
ot theirs, not Mama Beth’s. “I
just
want to follow His plan
.”

A
smile
landed on her face
. “I totally understand. When I
first
met your brother,
I struggled with that very thing.
God will reveal His plan to you in His perfect time.”

“It’s like I have a bunch of puzzle pieces, but I can’t quite figur
e out how they all fit together.
”

“And you’re wondering how Gracie
fits in?”

Gracie!
His pulse zoomed to cheetah speed as h
e
glanced
at his watch. There was no
way he’d make it by 3:30. “S
orry, Trish, but
I’ve
gotta
run. I promised Gracie I’d meet her for hot chocolate.” And her pet peeve was people who were late.

Trish laughed and followed him to the front door. “
Maybe s
he won’t kill you
.
We’ll
talk later.
H
ope
your time together
help
s
you figure out
at least
part of
the
puzzle.”

From Trish’s
mouth to God’s ears.
Matt hurried to his car
with a
final wave to
his sister-in-law
. A
s
he pulled
onto t
he ranch road
,
he prayed
Gracie had chosen to wait for him
.

5

G
race stationed herself at the front window
to wait
for Matt. With every tick of the clock, the look in Papa’
s eyes morph
ed
in
to a triumphant “I told you so!”

The
comment
he made when he learned
Matt was picking her up for hot chocolate replayed in her brain. “He is not the kind of m
an you need, Graciela
. Imagine what everyone will be saying and thinking about you for hanging out with his type.”

She’d argued her case for Matt with every tool she had in her attorney arsenal—
accused him of
judging Matt
by his appear
ance
, reminded him
who’
d thrown the
surprise party
—but now she couldn’t help wondering if Papa was right.

Grace checked the time again. 3:45. Matt was staying tru
e to form,
and without
knowing it, giving v
alidity to Papa’s opinion
.

One way or an
other, once he arrived, she had to
find
a way
to let him know
she was only interested i
n
friend
ship.  I
t would b
e hard, but it was the
right thing to do.

Just as s
he
began
to lay down her
things
,
a yuc
ky green car pulled into the driveway. Matt?

Rather than embarrass him with Papa’s rude treatment, she opted to
let herself out the front door
and met
him
as he climbed from the pea-green car. “
Where’
d you
get this
?”

Matt squinted against the sun. “
I gather
from the look on your face that you don’t like it?”

“The color is
. . . um,
rather institutional, don’t you think?”
Grace moved to the passenger side, and Matt followed.