The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (16 page)

Frustration mounted like
steam in a pressure cooker
. He turned toward the barn wall
and looked
for something to punch.
A
s he moved
toward the weathered wood, his fist raised,
he came to his senses.
He lowered his hand and
breathe
d
deeply, putting into practice one of the tech
niques he’
d
teach
the
kids he’d b
e working with
later
—if he decided to stay
.
If nothing else, t
his afternoon
’s session
shoul
d give him a feel for the work.

The horse whinnied and stamped her foot impatiently.
Ma
tt mov
ed ba
ck
to brush her down
, determined
to put th
e situation out of his mind. T
he best way to do that was
bury
himself
in the mound of unfinished p
aper work and mail that had
b
uilt up
since
his niece
was born
.

A
little while
later, he sat behind the massive wooden desk
in the equine ministry office
and
sorted through the stack of papers
. He’d only been at work
fifteen minutes when his cell-phone played a tune at his side.

“This is Matt.”

“
Yo
, Matt.
Derek. How’s it going?”

A smile spr
ang to
his face. “Hey, man! G
ood to hear from you.
You on the road?”

“Just got back
.
H
ave a couple of weeks
of
break before we hit it again. That’s why I called.”

The hair
on the back of Ma
tt’s neck snapped to attention.

“Jack
’s taking at least a month
off to take care of some
business, and I wondered if you might be
interested in filling in
.”

Ma
tt stared at the stacks
. Push papers or play with a band?
T
he
pull of that lifestyle beckoned, b
ut what about
Andy and Trish?
What about Gracie?
“Interested, y
eah
, but not sure about able.
I’m
helping my brother and sister-in-law with their equine therapy ministry
.”
He jotted a quick note
on his to-do list
to come up with a better name.

“Yeah, but does it have the potential to be a full-time gig?”

“Full-time? T
hought you a month.”

“I said at least a month.
” Derek cleared his throat.
“C
an’t really
go into too much detail, but Jack
’s s
tarting to flake out on us
.
We’ve told him to fix it or else.”

“Man,
wish I could say yes right now, but I have to pray about this and talk to Andy. I can’t back out of my commitments unless there
’s someone to cover me
.”
In a few weeks the horse rides would stop for the holidays, but would that be
to
late?

“
That’s one reason the band
want
s
you. You
’ll hang in there no matter what. T
hink you could
call me back later today?”

“You know it.”

Matt sai
d his good
-
byes and
pocketed the
phone in a
quandary
.
H
e couldn’t just run off and leave
Andy and Trish hanging.
And
there was Gracie to think about.
A smirk slid onto his fac
e. Not like it really mattered.
She’d made it perfectly clear
how she felt. An exasperated breath huffed out of him
. How was it
possible
that he was already thinking about her again? W
as
this was God
showing the way
?

H
e set back to work on the papers, his mind half on the work in front of him and half on how to broach the subject
of the band
with Andy
.
Lord,
Y
ou
know
Andy and Trish
need me
here, but
You may have someone else for
this
work.
I
need to make a decision
, but I
want
Your
will
to
be done.

The weight in his ches
t lightened
. God would take care of it.
As
Matt
scribbled a
note to
talk to
Andy
later
that
day, h
is phone sounded again, this t
ime with the Perry Mason theme.
Andy
and his impeccable timing
.
“Hey,
b
ro
.
I was just thinking about you.”

Andy
chuckled
. “What a nice sentiment. Warms my heart to know you think about me. Now tell me why.”

Matt
frantically
searched for words
, but none came
. He
should’ve thought
through this a little more
carefully
before
bringing
it up. “
I’d
rather
talk about
it
in person.”

“Okay.
Wanna
do lunch?”

An hour later, Matt
hunkered down
across
the table
from his brother at
Soldano’s
, a plate of chicken fajita nachos in front of him. He
sniffed the steam rising off the plate,
then
stuffed a nacho in his mouth
, pausing to savor the
melted
asiago
chees
e, grilled chicken, and freshly-
made guacamole
.

Matt took in the lines of fatigue around his brother’s eyes.
“You okay?”

“Yeah, i
t’s just been one of those week
s. B
arely had time to scarf down an apple
for breakfast
, and a
bout the only time I get to see my wife is Bethany’s two a.m. feeding.
Don’t know what we’d do without you r
unning the ministry right now.
”

The words stabbed at hi
s heart
.
Not a good time to leave Miller’s Creek.

“What about you? You okay?” Andy gazed intently at him.

“
Not really.
I told
Gracie
I wanted to see if there could be something more between us
.”

“And?”

Matt suppressed a shudder.
“Not good. Then on top of that you have to assign her to work
on a case
with her version of Mr. Perfect.”

Andy’s forehead wrinkled. “She’s not on a case right now. That f
ell through.”
He gave no further explanation.
His brother swallowed a
first
swig of soda pop
and hiccupp
ed
.
“
What did you want to talk with me about? I’m guessing it’s not Gracie.
”

“Brilliant deduction, counselor.”

“Spill it.”

Matt laid down his fork, wiped his mouth, and looked his brother in the eyes.
Best just to tell him the truth, hard as it might be to hear.
“I
gott
a
call from a friend today, and he asked me to
go on the road with him and the
band.”

Andy
raised his eyebrows. “
And what
have you decided
?”

“D
on’t know. I kind of hoped yo
u’d be able to help me make the
decision.”

His brother shook his head, his lips pressed together.
“Nope.
It’s your call.”

Matt
rubbed the area between his eyes.
“I
wanna
help you
and Trish, but I also know
God has given me musical abilities.”

“Agreed
,
but He’s
also
given you the gift of helping hurt people.”

And the desire to do it, but how did he decide between the two? And why did he have to choose one cherished part of himself over another?

“What about Gracie?”

His brother
’s question slammed into his gut
. The question of the century—w
hat about Gracie?
Thoughts swamped hi
s brain, and
twisted
in
to
a big knotted mess.

“I thought you wanted to—”

“Yeah, well, what I want and what actually happens are two different things.” Matt stared out the window and across the parking lot, focused on dry brown le
aves clinging hopelessly to a cl
ump
of oak trees. “I can’t compete with her image of perfection. It’s impossible.”

“Give her time. And give the situation time. She’ll come around.”

Hope took wing inside
. “You really think so?”

“B
elieve it with all my heart. She needs you, and something tells me she’s
gonna
need you even more in the immediate future.” An
dy lowered his head
and scratched his chin
. “As for me and Trish
and the kids
, we’d love to have you here, but I’m sure we could find someone else to at
least help with the paperwork
and day-to-day running of the place
. It might take us longer to find a counselor, but it’s not impossible.”

Matt
shot Andy an appreciative grin
.
At least now he had his blessing.
“
I’m
gonna
pray about it
this afternoon
and then
get in touch with Derek
. Want me to call you later and let you know?”

“Please.” Andy
, his face grim, plucked the
napkin from
his lap and deposited it on the half-
empty plate. “Sorry to cut this short, but there’s a gentleman here I need to see before he leaves. Will you excuse me a sec?”

“No prob
. I’
ll wait
outside.”
After paying the ticket, Matt opted to sit on the
covered
patio, which in better weather would be packed. From his perch, he could watch his surroundings and see when Andy exited the building.

A sleek black Maserati pulled into the parking lot, and Matt
released
a low whistle. Someone had laid out major bucks for that sweet ride. But who in Miller’s Creek could afford it?

T
he c
ar swept into a parking space and t
he
driver’s door opened.

Matt’s mouth
immediately
went dry.

Jason Dent unfold
ed his lanky frame
.
The passenger door also opened.
No, it couldn’t be.
Matt blinked hard to make sure he was seei
ng correctly. I
t
was
Gracie. Jason offered
his elbow and smiled down into her
beaming upturned face.
“Are you sure you don’t mind finding us a table? Sorry, but I need to make a quick call.”
Jason’s British accent was unmistakable.

“I don
’t mind at all
.” Gracie’s voice lilted like that of a songbird, and what Matt saw inscribed on her f
ace was like a kick in the gut.
She was smitten.