The Way of Grace (Miller's Creek Novels) (30 page)

While she’d rather
drive the
two miles’
dis
tance
,
the
noisy
pickup motor
would
waken
Papa for sure.
She pushed the thought of th
e warm pickup cab from her mind
and concentrated on her breathing.

Puffs of white
arose
from
Grace’s
mouth as
she took one step after another, her thoughts once more on the Simmons trial. Questions roiled in her
head
, the same ones she’d wrestled with
all night. Was it possible
Elena had intentionally caused a mistrial?
No
matter how hard she tried, sh
e couldn’
t wrap her brai
n around it
, and she chalked it up to fatigue.

Within a few minutes
,
the
homes
le
a
d
ing
to the center of Miller’s Creek
appeared,
lawns white with frost.
S
he arrived at Andy’s office,
retrieved the key from her pocket
,
and inserte
d it into the lock, then
glanced around
furtively
, her nerves on
alert
.

As she
turned the knob
,
a
hedge
that separated Andy’s office from the house next door rustled
. Sh
e froze in place, her mind racing
,
then
slowly turned her head to peer into the darkness.
Probably just a stray cat.

Making as little sound
as possible, she
inched her way
inside.
Thoug
h pitch black
, she
couldn’t risk turning
on
the lights
. Instead
sh
e groped her way to Andy’s office
, and
pulled a
small
flashlight from her pocket
.

Three hours later she closed the last file
folder
and leaned back in
Andy’s
leather chair.
A
he
adache built
at the bridge of her nose
.
Had Elena intentionally sent her on a wild goose chase, or ha
d Andy long since suspected
he was under investigation and removed anything that would convict him?

Grace sighed and picked up the
last
file to return it to the cabinet. She’d just put it in place and close
d
t
he drawer when the
exterior
d
oor
squeaked
open
.

Her
pulse thumped
hard in her chest
. She f
licked off the
flashlight
and tipto
ed to the bathroom attach
ed to Andy’s office. Once in
the
cramped space
, she pushed the
light button on
her watch.
Only five-thirty
.
Who would be here this early
, especially on a Saturday
?

She release
d the
button on her watch and
wait
ed
for
her
eyes to adjust to the darkness.
A
shadowy figure
used
the light of a smartphone to
slip
into the room
.
A drawer creaked
, followed by the familiar
sound of a file being wedged in a drawer. Then the unknown person
left the room
. A
minute later the exterior door clicked.

Grace remained frozen in place
for several minutes
,
her brain spinning. She
moved cautiously from her hiding place, her
mouth as a dry as dust and her
breath coming in shallow spurts.
It wouldn’t be long until dawn
, but she h
ad to see
the new
folder. O
nce more
she flipped
the
flashlight switch
and opened the
drawer
. An unlabeled file, inserted at an angle caught her attention.
A frown plow
ed furrows across her forehead
as she
perused the contents
—n
ames and p
hone numbers of high-
profile people, including the Governor and
the
Secretary of State
.
While t
he
file alone
would
n’t be enough to implicate A
ndy, with the right accusations
it could certainly
damage his reputation
.

What now
? If she left the file, anyone could find it, but taking it felt
wrong, too.
In addition, if she mentioned it to anyone, she would implicate herself.
A weighty breath
fell from her lips
. The only option
to
protect Andy was to
take
the file
and give it to him later with an explanation
.
That should be as fun as stick
ing her head in a lion’s mouth.

Grace
tucked
the file
close to her abdomen
and
zipped her jacket to hold it in place.
As
she moved into the parking lo
t, a l
ight flashed from the wooded area
behind Andy’s office
. She
ducked behind the air conditioning unit and peer
ed
in the direction of the flash, but nothing else caught her attention.

Much relieved
, sh
e moved from
the shadows
to begin the long trek home.
With each
pounding
step,
more
guilt rained down on her. How
could she have ever doubted Andy
?
And who was trying to set him up?

The sky lightened to
deep purple
,
and
then
a pink streak
appeared
along the horizon. As she neared home, the cattle
lowed from the pastures
and birds
chirped from the oak and mesquite trees
.
Maybe Papa would be out feeding the cows
and none the wiser concerning her overnight jog. Unfortunately, s
he arrived
just as
he returned
from feeding the cows.
He slammed the
pickup door and s
aunter
ed toward her
, questions in his eyes
.
“You’re up early.”

“Yep.
Trying to lose a little weight.”
Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath.

His eyes held wariness.
“On a Saturday
morning?
You usually sleep in.”

She
fell into step beside him
. “Normally I would, but
I
have a busy day planned. I have a
date with Jason Dent tonight, a
nd I
told Matt I’d help with the equine t
herapy group this afternoon
.”

Papa
’s face hardened
as he
held the back door open for her
. “
You know how I feel about him
.”

“If you got to know Matt
, you
might
just
change your mind
.”

“
Hmphf
.”
With his work boots clomping against the floor, he moved down the hall to his bedroom
and slammed the door behind him, his way of adding an exclamation point t
o his objection of
Matt.

After breakfast and a shower, Grace donned her
jeans and boots,
fatigu
ed, but
eager with anticipation
. A smile fluttered to her lips at the thought of helping the kids, something she’d
done since the ministry started
,
when her schedule allowed.
And
the thought of spending the day with Matt held an appeal she couldn’
t deny.
His presence brought sanity to her crazy life.

An
idea popped into her head. S
he glanced at the clock. If she hurried, there might be time to pull it off.

A few hours later
, she shoved the vacuum cleaner back in the hall closet and hurried to her room to grab her things.
Now that the w
eekly chores were done, she’
d make a quick trip to the store to pick up
what
she needed.

Grace pulled up outside the Miller mansion an hour later and climbed from the old pickup, reveling in the gorgeous fall day. The ancient live oaks
flanking the circular drive
held out gnarled arms to embrace her.

“What’
re you doing here so early?” Matt
, his face lit with a smile, came aro
und the corner of the house. His brown corduroy jacket
highlighted the color of his eyes.

“Just following through on the BFF pact.”

He reached her in a few more steps, his head tilted to one side.
“Oh, really?”

She gave a quick nod. “Feel up to a picnic? I picked up a grilled chicken at the grocery store.”

His e
yes widened
, drawing the corners of his mouth upward.
“Of course.
Wish I’d thought of it myself.”

“Well, there is a catch.”

“Oh, there
is?”

“
Yep.
I
wanna
go riding. Do you think we have time
to do both
before the afternoon session?”

The smile on his face broadened. “
Might have to be a short ride, but it can be done
.”

A short whil
e
later
they
headed across the north pasture toward
the creek
on horseback
. In the comfort of Matt’
s company, Grace
released her fears
over recent developments and allowed herself to enjoy their time together. He told one corny joke after another, and by the time they reached the shady grove of oaks at the creek’s edge, her
sides hurt from laughing
.

Matt tethered the horses to a few saplings in a grassy spot, and then
gathered wood for a small fire
to chase the chill away. Grace unloaded the
grocery sacks
from the saddle bag, and b
efore long
they
dined on
rotisser
ie-roasted chicken, potato wedges
,
and sourdough rolls
beside a crackling fire
and a babbling creek
.

After
she gorged herself on the meal
, Grace tossed chicken
bones toward the creek and
stretched out
. “What I wouldn’t give to set up camp here and stay forever.”

Matt sent a questioning look. “Sounds like escapism to me.” A teasing grin landed on his face
, and he winked
. “But I’m game if you are.”

A laugh bubbled out
.
“I must admit I’m tempted. Especially after the week I’ve had.” She drew her knees to her chest and held them in place with her arms
, gazing off in the distance
.

“That bad, huh?”

Sh
e wrinkled her nose and nodded.

For a moment he didn’t speak, but finished
off a
chicken leg
and followed it with
potato wedges. H
e wiped his mouth
on a
bandana
he pulled from his pocket
. “Care to elaborate?”