Home to Walnut Ridge (16 page)

“
When I first met him,”
Noah began, “he scared me to death. Mean as a snake and every word
out of his mouth was‌—‌well, ‘vulgar’ doesn’t even come
close.”

“
He kept everybody at a
distance,” Buddy continued. “Nobody liked him and most of them
hated when he’d show up for our rides. But y’know, after a while
you’d catch him pretending not to listen when we’d talk about the
Lord. And trust me, Tracey Jo, these conversations about the Lord
were nothing like you’d hear at church. Oh, no sir, not even
close.”

Noah reached for more nails. “Yeah, it
could get pretty raunchy. Definitely not for the faint of
heart.”

“
Then slowly but surely,”
Buddy continued, “he just‌—‌I guess the best way to put it, he just
started to melt. His walls started crumbling down. He still didn’t
say much, but you could just tell he wasn’t so angry and ready to
bite your head off every time you were around him.

“
Not long after that, we
had a big storm come through. Tornados hopping all over the county.
The boys and I immediately jumped into action, helping at the homes
that had suffered the worst damage. And lo and behold‌—‌there was
Stump. Never said a word, just started working with us, side by
side. And after that, he was just one of us.”

“
You said Mrs.
Peterson‍—‍”

“
Oh, yeah. By the time we
painted her house, Stump had come a long, long way. But he still
held back. You could just tell. He and I had talked by then, and
I’d told him how much God loved him, and how his past was all
behind him if he’d let Jesus have his future. But he just couldn’t
seem to believe it. But then that tiny little wisp of a woman
started having him come to dinner once a
week . . .”

Noah smiled at Tracey after they both
noticed the tears spilling down Buddy’s cheeks.

“
Go on, Daddy. Tell me
what happened.”

He wiped his eyes and blew
his nose then started again. “Never saw anything like it. She just
loved on him. Cared for him.
Mothered
him.” Buddy stopped again,
then just gave in to it and let the tears flow. “And Tracey, all
that love just got up inside Stump’s heart and dissolved every last
ounce of resistance he’d been holding onto. He and Mrs. Peterson
got down on their knees‌—‌right there in her kitchen‌—‌and ol’
Stump gave his heart to Jesus. And he has never been the same. Oh,
he’s still shaggy on the outside, but he’s just a big ol’ teddy
bear in here.” Buddy tapped on his heart, laughing through his
tears. “Lord! Look at me, blubbering like a kid who just lost his
marbles. Which might be closer to the truth than we know.” He
laughed again, wiping his eyes. “I just can’t help it when I start
talking about all the miracles God’s been doing in the lives of my
guys.”

“
Dad, that may be the
sweetest story I’ve heard in years. I love what you’ve done for
your guys‌—‌your
Elders.”

“
No, it wasn’t me, Tracey
Jo. It was God. All God. Every bit of it.”

“
Don’t let his humility
fool you,” Noah said. “He always tells us it’s the Holy Spirit that
convicts us, not him. But without your dad here, none of us would
be here doing this. We’d all still be screwed up
and . . . messed up.”

“
Noah, I’m only doing what
God led me to do. When my brother Rob dragged my sorry carcass out
of the house a couple years ago, I’d pretty much lost the will to
live. And he told me I basically had two choices. I could spend the
rest of my life feeling sorry for myself and building a monument of
hate to those who’d ‘done me wrong’ as he put it. Or I could get
off my keister, kick out of that self-imposed prison of pity, and
start over. Make a fresh start.

“
Here he was, my own
brother, telling
me
how to let God give me another chance. Rob, my crazy biker
beach bum brother from Naples, Florida, telling me‌—‌the
pastor‌—‌about forgiveness and purpose and the unconditional grace
and love of Christ.” Buddy raised his hands in the air. “Ah, the
strange and mysterious ways of Almighty God whose wonders never
cease! Can I get an amen, brothers and sisters?”

Tracey laughed and shouted,
“Hallelujah, amen!”

“
I’ll second that
hallelujah and raise you two more,” Noah quipped.

“
Daddy, how come you never
told me all this before? I wish I’d known.”

“
Well, sweetheart, as I
recall you haven’t been around much.”

“
Ouch?”

“
No, I didn’t mean it that
way. I’m just saying you were living your life, and I was living
mine. It is what it is. But as the great Paul Harvey used to say,
‘and now you know the rest of the story.’ And that’s what matters
most.”

Tracey put down her hammer and
carefully crawled up to where her father sat on the ridge of the
roof. She scooted beneath his arm and wrapped hers around him. “I
love you, Daddy. I’m so proud of you.”

Not wishing to impose on their private
moment, Noah bit his lip and looked away. He also didn’t want them
to see the dam threatening to burst just beneath the surface inside
him. It unnerved him, this inability to keep his feelings under
control. He vowed to spend some time back at the cottage and try to
get his emotions in check.

He pounded another nail
then gazed over at Tracey as she made her way back to her work
spot. Just then she looked up. And as she did, the kindest possible
expression seemed to glow on her face. As if she were telling
him‌—‌
it’s gonna be okay. Trust
me.

And oh, how he wanted to believe
her.

Chapter 14

That night after dinner, Tracey turned
on her laptop and opened her email. She’d avoided it as long as she
could. She knew Morgan wasn’t stupid enough to put anything in
writing, short of a cryptic “office” issue that he needed to
discuss with her. Sure enough, as the new emails flooded her inbox
she saw his name on a handful. Reading the first one confirmed what
she’d expected. He needed to ask her something about her notes on
that matter with Senator Crawford and would she please give him a
call.

Not happening.

She browsed through the rest of them,
nothing urgent popping out. Most everyone assumed she was still on
vacation and had the decency not to bother her. But she couldn’t
stop thinking about the voicemail Amanda had left the day Tracey
flew home. She prayed Amanda would never have to know why she was
leaving her job with Morgan. Sometimes, while lost in her thoughts
as she painted, she tried to think of a way to explain her reasons
without lying, but without having to tell her best friend the blunt
truth.

Tracey took a deep breath and blew it
out, then offered up a prayer for guidance. Then she opened a new
email and started typing.

Dear
Amanda
,

I’m so sorry I forgot
about meeting you for breakfast the day I left! I had so much to
wrap up before leaving town, and honestly, it just slipped my mind.
A thousand apologies. And please tell Aaron how sorry I am that I
missed his call. You can just tell him Aunt Taycee lost her mind
and has gone away in hopes of finding it. Or something.

I’m having such a great
time here with Dad and Alex. The weather has been gorgeous. Alex is
opening a new shop where she can sell the amazing vintage furniture
pieces she’s been restoring. Amanda, you would love what she’s
doing. I’ve never seen her so happy. And yes, she’s no longer
teaching . . . long story, which I’ll explain
another time. I’ve been helping her and loving every minute of
it.

You’d also be happy to
know I’ve met someone . . . He’s one of Dad’s
friends (my age, thankfully!) and it’s been really nice getting to
know him. I’d forgotten what it was like to go out on an actual
date again. His name is Noah, and I know you’d love him. We’ll see
what happens next.

Tracey’s hands rested on
the keyboard. She started and stopped three times, carefully
deleting lines she couldn’t finish, words that felt untrue. She
mentioned the possibility of staying longer than she’d planned,
then quickly erased those words too. She knew Amanda would have
called or texted or written if Morgan had told her she quit, so she
certainly didn’t want to go there. Fifteen minutes of starts and
stops came and went.
Oh, for heaven’s
sake. She’s my best friend! Why can’t I just
‍—

But of course she couldn’t. She would
deal with it when she had to. Tonight was not the time.

I hope you’ve had a great
week. I miss you, but thanks for understanding why I’m keeping my
phone off and not checking email. I just really needed this break.
Take care and keep me in your prayers.

Love you,

Tracey

She prayed another
prayer‌—‌this one for Amanda.
She needs it
more than I do, that’s for sure.
Tracey
closed her laptop and set it aside.

“
TRACEY JO?”

She smiled, remembering all the years
her dad had called up the stairs just like that. She padded to the
top of the stairs. “What do you need, Dad?”

“
Me? Not a thing. But
Noah’s here.” He quirked a silly grin and danced his eyebrows.
“Just thought you might want to know.”

“
Yeah?” she said with
feigned indifference.

“
He’s out in the kitchen.
Why don’t you come down and say hello?”

She grinned. “Why didn’t you say so?
I’ll be down in a sec.”

She dashed into her bathroom and
brushed her teeth, brushed out her hair, and put on some lip gloss.
A minute later she went downstairs.

Noah stood up from the kitchen table
as she entered. “Hi, Tracey.”

His sheepish grin tickled her, knowing
it had everything to do with her dad’s presence. “Hey, Noah. I
would’ve thought you’d had enough of the two of us after spending
half the day with us on Mrs. Oglesby’s roof.”

His smile widened. “You’d think,
wouldn’t you?”

She smiled back. Then they both looked
at Buddy.

“
Oh. Okay, I think I’ll go
upstairs and read for a while.” He stood up and grabbed his cup of
coffee. “If that’s okay with the two of you?”

“
Fine with me,
Dad.”

“
Fine with me too,
Buddy.”

“
Well then, it’s
unanimous. G’night, you two.”

He headed for the kitchen door, his
old slippers slapping against the oak floor. Just before leaving,
he turned and gave Noah a nod of the head. Another smile and he was
gone.

Tracey reached for a mug from the
cabinet and poured herself a cup of coffee. “What was that all
about?”

Noah sat back down at the table, his
hands wrapped around his mug. “Ah, you know your dad. Nothing,
really.”

“
Nothing really, huh? Want
me to warm you up?”

Startled, he looked at her with the
strangest expression. Then his eyes landed on the coffee pot in her
hand. “Oh . . . sure. Please.”

Tracey snickered. “My, my, Mr.
Bennett. Surely you didn’t think‍—‍”

“
Well, surely I did.” He
raised his cup, a guilty smile on his face.

“
You did?” She topped off
his coffee and put the carafe back on the burner.

As she turned around, he reached for
her hand and silently led her into the den. She had hoped he might
come by tonight. Her thoughts seemed to be consumed with Noah and
wanting to see him again.

Preferably
alone.

She couldn’t help it. She was thrilled
he’d come to see her, and even happier he’d led her back to the
same exact spot where they’d been the night before. They set their
coffee cups on the table and took a seat on the sofa.

Same sofa. Same fire blazing on the
hearth. Same heart pounding inside her chest.

He put his arm around her
shoulder and pulled her close. “Wow, you smell
really
good.”

“
I could say the same for
you,” she said, lifting her face to his. “In fact, you clean up
pretty nice for a roofer.”

“
I try.”

“
You succeed.”

He took a deep breath and let out a
long, contented sigh. “It was nice having you out there with us
today. You’re not much of a roofer, but‍—‍”

“
Hey! I think I kept up
with you and Dad, so what’s the problem?”

“
Just kidding. The thing
is . . .”

“
Yes? The thing
is . . ?”

“
Tracey, ever since last
night, I haven’t been able to think straight. I know I got kind of,
well . . . the thing is—”

“
There’s that
thing
again. Out with
it, Noah.”

“
I can’t stop thinking
about you.” He shrugged. “There I said it. “I can’t. I tried, but I
can’t.”

She laughed, momentarily
dropping her head to her chest. Finally, leaning back and pushing
her hair out of her face, she looked up. “Ah, that’s too funny,
because
the thing is
 . . .” she paused, prolonging the anxious
look in his eyes, “
this
is all
I’ve
thought about today.” She placed her lips on his
and felt a wave of butterflies skitter through her stomach as he
wrapped her in his arms and kissed her back.