Noble Pursuits Page 12

  “Ok. I’m listening. I don’t want to, but unfortunately, these men are men that I respect, and I feel obligated to listen to their instructions. I can’t promise that my heart is open.”

  Nolan began with an apology. Then he simply told his story. Point by point, line by line, he explained how the horrible mistake had occurred. “Craig, I cannot tell you how embarrassed and ashamed I am of myself. I was in a hurry and was careless. I’ll never make that mistake again. But if you can forgive me…”

  Frank held up his hand. “Wait. I am not certain that you have anything to ask forgiveness for. You didn’t sin against him. Don’t take upon yourself sin that you haven’t committed.”

  Nolan shook his head. “I know that Craig takes his role as his sister’s protector very seriously. I hurt my friend by hurting his sister, and I want forgiveness for that.”

  Craig was in deep turmoil. He knew that Nolan was genuine. He knew that the man was telling the truth, but he didn’t want to forgive. There was safety in Grace having a rift in the friendship. She couldn’t be hurt when Nolan finally found the kind of woman that he was likely looking for. Craig wanted to nurse a grudge and just not take the chance.

  “Craig, Grace has forgiven me. She knows that I didn’t mean to hurt her. I have managed to salvage one friendship; I’d like to salvage another.”

  Melanie’s quiet disapproval of his display of anger, Grace’s obvious forgiveness, and Nolan’s humility were enough to shame him. In complete repentance for his anger, Craig dropped his face into his hands and wept. The group of men prayed, talked, and despite the discomfort that men find in situations like this, sang a hymn. Grace heard them from the dining hall and smiled, singing to herself with them, “…Bind us together, Lord…”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Martha, can you call the Stern girls in and send out the Perkinses? Oh, and I think we could use some more help filling the plates. Is there someone washing dishes or something who can come in here?”

  Grace rushed around the kitchen cutting, tasting, and supervising, all as she made batch after batch of gravy and mashed potatoes. The church was packed. It appeared that everyone had brought friends and family. As she mashed another large bowl of potatoes, Paige stepped into the kitchen looking like a model from a Paris runway.

  “Grace! I—can you come out here for a moment, I have to talk to you!” Paige was almost bubbling.

  Mrs. Welk smiled at Grace and shooed her out. “Five minute break, Grace. If you don’t rest, you’ll drop, and we need you too much to risk it.”

  Paige dragged Grace into the women’s restroom and began talking animatedly. “Chuck Majors brought his brother Nathan tonight.”

  Grace waited. “And…”

  “Oh, Grace! When I first met him, you know what I thought he’d be like, but he is nothing like Chuck and…”

  Paige’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “I think he’s interested in me. He keeps looking at me, and he—”

  Grace smiled. “Of course he does! You look like a million dollars. I bet every man at that table is drooling.”

  “Well… Nolan looks kind of forlorn, but everyone else seems to be enjoying themselves. What did you do to him?”

  “Long story. Trust me. I’ll tell you later. So you’re not interested in Nolan?”

  “Nah, he’s not for me. I think he’d be perfect for another friend of mine though…”

  Grace washed her hands as a diversion and then headed back to the kitchen. She wandered through the dining hall to get a glimpse of Chuck’s brother before getting back to work. She instantly regretted it. At every table, someone stopped her to speak to her. By the time she reached Nolan and Paige’s table, she was feeling desperate. If this continued, it’d take her twenty minutes to reach her post in the kitchen. Nolan’s eyes questioned her as Paige leaned over and whispered something to him.

  Without hesitation, Nolan stood and escorted Grace to the kitchen. His presence seemed to deter everyone’s attempts to stop her. People waved and praised the dinner but let her move freely through the room. Once in the kitchen, the obvious lack of helpers prompted him to tuck a kitchen towel into his waistband and ask where to start working first. Grace considered arguing and then “called his bluff.” The result was hilarious.

  Grace shooed him toward the sink and handed him a bottle of dishwashing soap and a dishcloth. “Here you go. I’ll have someone tell Paige you’ve been detained. From what I hear, Chuck’s brother won’t be too upset.”

  “Nope. He’s been eyeing her since Chuck introduced her as his ‘on again, off again’ girlfriend.”

  Grace stared. “He didn’t!”

  “Yup. Can you imagine? Nathan is obviously smitten.”

  “Smitten? That’s a quaint word.”

  Nolan stopped a young girl working as a server and whispered something into her ear. The girl giggled and scurried out to the dining hall. “That’ll make them both happy.”

  Three hours later, Grace discovered Nolan’s plan. Nathan was asked to escort Paige home for him and was more than willing. Grace smiled as she saw her friend climb into an older model BMW and pull from the parking lot.

  She glanced up at Nolan’s equally satisfied face. “Thank you. I’d love nothing more than for Paige to find the right man.”

  “That, I know. I’m just glad that you aren’t upset that I didn’t want it to be me.”

  Grace laughed. “That’s ok; I haven’t given up hope, but I won’t push. How do you feel about telling me what you’re looking for in Mrs. Perfect?”

  Nolan thought of his list. How would she react to something like that? It was intensely personal, but he was curious. After a moment’s deliberation, he decided to risk it and tell her. “Remember, you asked. It’s a little embarrassing, but I actually have a list; I call it my ‘order form’ that I’ve submitted to the Lord. I’m just waiting for Him to fill it.”

  “Order form? That’s cute. I like it. So what do you want? Blonde, Red, Brunette? Tall, short?”

  Slightly surprised, Nolan almost reconsidered telling her. He took a deep breath. “Not exactly. Those don’t matter much to me. I’m looking for a woman who is feminine—completely committed to the Lord. Someone who has a sense of humor—loves being a woman but is strong too. She needs to love children and have a beautiful personality. That about covers it.”

  “You aren’t asking for much. How do you intend to find this paragon?”

  Nolan looked at her sideways. Should he risk hinting that he was increasingly finding her to be exactly what he was looking for? He took a chance and spoke. “I do want a lot. I also hope that somehow I can measure up to my ideal to provide what she’s looking for in a husband.”

  “Well, good luck finding her.” Grace’s genuinely hopeful tone stripped the sarcastic tinge from the words.

  “Well, I don’t think she’s as far from my acquaintance as I thought she’d be.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “So, if you escorted Paige, who took Grace?” Traci was intrigued. She saw the change in Nolan and was fascinated.

  “Craig and Melanie brought her there, so I assume they took her home.”

  Mike’s astonishment tickled Nolan. “You just assume!”

  “After the past twenty-four hours, I’m being very cautious about how I step on toes over there.”

  Traci interrupted and changed the course of discussion. “So, tell me more about this guy Chuck, and how did he get such a normal brother?”

  Nolan launched into a comical impersonation of Chuck’s arrogant thoughtlessness. The Finches assumed that he was exaggerating, but he quickly denied it. “If anything, I’m convinced I’m downplaying this a bit. I cannot imagine why anyone would put up with him the way they do, but I’ve never felt comfortable asking.”

  “Tell us about Grace.”

  Mike’s words hovered in the air about them for several seconds. Nolan kneaded the back of his neck as he tried to remember everything he’d planned to say in the
forty-minute drive to the Finch home. Mike and Traci’s eyes sought each other, alarmed. What about Grace would make him hesitate to talk? He’d seemed so eager to share when he called but now that they were back on the subject, he seemed reticent.

  “Grace isn’t who I imagined and yet everything I dreamed. Oh, that doesn’t make sense,” he groaned.

  “No, it doesn’t but it’s a start. What does Grace do? Start there and maybe it’ll be easier.”

  Traci’s encouragement sent a wry smile over his lips. “Easy for you to say. What Grace does is part of what makes it so difficult to describe her. Grace is a homemaker.”

  “Well, that’s what you’ve always hoped to find, isn’t it? Someone who loves home and family? What kind of job does she have?” Traci clearly didn’t understand his statement.

  “Remember when Pastor Bjorn spoke about the real meaning of Titus two and how he said that the word translated ‘keeper of the home’ really means ‘house despot’ and derives from slave ownership? Well, Grace is definitely a house despot, and she is her own slave.”

  “I don’t get it.” Mike and Traci stared at him as they spoke in unison.

  “That’s her job, her calling. It’s her life.”

  “Huh?”

  Traci bopped her husband. “You’re so loquacious, Mike!”

  “I told you it wasn’t easy.”

  “Does she have an income? Is she on welfare? What—” Mike seemed to have found his voice and fired questions at Nolan in rapid succession.

  “Whoa, Nellie!” Nolan cried, holding his hands up protectively. Then, not knowing what else to do, he told them Grace’s life story, as far as he knew it, starting with her birth on her porch to the new hobby she’d taken up recently. “She’s really good at it. I was doubtful, so I went into that boutique that Mom always shopped in for baby shower gifts? You know how she used to have me pick stuff up for her? Well, I went in and asked if I could see something smocked, and I examined it. Grace’s is every bit as good, if not better. Hers seemed more polished somehow.”

  “She has a physics degree, could do almost anything she wanted and be quite well off, and she’s Donna Reed?” The incredulous look on Traci’s face was the first hint of what he’d have to deal with when his Rockland friends met Grace.

  “When you meet her, you’ll understand. I want you to come for church Sunday. Will you? Come Saturday night and stay all night if you like; I have room. Bring the kids and we’ll roast marshmallows in the fireplace and pop popcorn. I’ll throw a free date night into the mix… you drop off the kids, and I’ll watch ‘em. There’s a great restaurant—”

  “Nolan!” Traci shouted, effectively stopping his momentum. “We’ll come. You sound desperate!”

  “He is. He’s falling for this Grace. I can see it in his eyes, and you heard the intensity in his voice. He wants an objective opinion!” Mike’s voice was filled with glee.

  They talked long into the night. By the time Nolan was ready to leave, Traci put her foot down. “Forget it, Nolan; it’s too late. You have a room, you know where it is, and you have clothes in there even. Go to bed. We’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Send the kids in to wake me up. I need to be back in Brunswick before noon.”

  “Grace?”

  “Having dinner at the Buschers, and I’m Grace’s ride so…”

  “So this is getting very interesting. Very.”

  Nolan, with one foot on the stairs, paused. “I have a feeling that Mike is preparing for turnabout and fair play and stuff like that.”

  “What goes around comes around, my friend. You reap what you sow. I—”

  Without a second glance back, Nolan said, “You’re such a cliché,” as he took the steps two at a time.

  ~*~*~*~

  The bed bounced. Giggles erupted and forced their way into his consciousness. Something tickled his nose, so Nolan grabbed it. A squeal pierced his eardrum, severing all ties to sleep.

  “Uncle Nolan! I saw your Bible downstairs so I knew you were here.”

  “Hey, tiger! How’s my Mickey?” Nolan lifted his covers, looked under pillows, and peeked out the window behind his bed. “Ahh, now where did miss giggles go?”

  London Finch squealed and dove for cover but not before she was enveloped in tickles. Mickey and London bounced and chattered until Nolan’s body screamed for coffee. He tumbled from bed with a child on each leg, hanging like barnacles on a ship.

  “Where’s Parker? Are your parents awake?”

  “No, they’re sleeping. We’re supposed to take Parker in there if he wakes up. They sleep late on holidays. It’s their day off.” London’s four-year-old voice amused him. He’d missed the children since he’d been in Brunswick.

  “Well, you guys go see how Parker is doing, and I’ll get dressed. Maybe we can make breakfast for your mom and dad as a surprise!”

  The children raced to check on the baby as Nolan pulled on fresh clothes, washed his hands and face, and brushed his hair. Once the bed was made, he left his dress slacks, shirt, and jacket on the foot of the bed and put a twenty-dollar bill in the breast pocket of the jacket sticking out where Traci would see it. His pajamas, he folded and put back in their drawer, leaving the room just as it’d been except for his clothes.

  By ten, he’d made breakfast, helped the children serve it to their parents in bed, cleaned up the mess, and read a dozen stories to the children. Mike and Traci raced downstairs at ten-thirty, apologizing profusely though thankful for time to wake up slowly and enjoy privacy. Fifteen minutes later, Nolan started his car and rolled down the passenger window.

  “We’ll be there by four on Saturday,” Traci assured him.

  “Shall I make dinner reservations for you?”

  Mike shook his head. “I’ll call Marcello’s in Fairbury. We’ll do dinner and a movie over there and be back—”

  “Then I’ll meet you in Fairbury, and I’ll bring the kids back. I’ll be there at four.”

  Before they could protest, he rolled up the window and drove away. Mike looked at his wife and grinned excitedly. “We could so milk this.”

  Traci laughed and pulled him toward the house. “You’re bad. You’re very bad. I like it.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Amber was ecstatic. The smells coming from Grace’s house were enough to make a stuffed lumberjack’s mouth water. Thanksgiving with Grace was going to be so much fun. Marci was trapped in Chicago, thanks to an untimely ice storm, so Grace insisted that Amber spend the day with her at Craig and Melanie’s.

  Nolan’s SUV crunched across the street and pulled into Grace’s driveway. Amber met him at the door, excitedly chattering about the day, the plans, and the food they’d be eating. “And I get to hold Graceanna when Mrs. Buscher needs me to!”

  “Now that sounds wonderful. Are you going to share with me?”

  Amber grinned. “When she gets heavy or stinky you can take her.”

  Once Grace’s Hungarian Coffee Cake was drizzled with icing, all three of them piled into his vehicle and left. Amber insisted on singing “over the river” all the way there, and the ways that they improvised to get the “perfect” words made for a hilarious ride.

  “I hope Aunt Fran won’t be too hard on you today.”

  “I’ve heard about her but I’ve not met her yet.”

  Amber’s little voice piped up morosely. “Lucky you. She always has something mean to say. Just ignore it like Miss Gracie says, and it doesn’t hurt your feelings too badly.”

  Grace shrugged and grinned at Nolan. “Children say it like it is, don’t they?” She climbed from the car and grabbed the coffee cake. “Happy Thanksgiving; may the Lord bless you this day!” Grace called their traditional greeting as she marched up the walk.

  A voice from inside the house nearly sent Nolan into a fit of laughter. “The Lord blesses those who leave His name out of it.”

  Nolan marveled at the way she seemed to forget recent tensions with her brother and ignore annoying aunts who tried to
grate on her nerves. As he reflected, he became concerned. It wasn’t healthy to stuff down the frustration that Grace had exhibited toward her brother just days earlier. How long before that dam burst?

  As Grace made room on a buffet table for all the food she carried, Craig came over to Nolan’s side. Before he could speak, Grace turned to him. “Oh, Craig, well, can you put this in the fridge for me? I don’t want the whipped cream to melt.”

  The next few moments were a bit chaotic and extremely funny. Grace pretended to trip over her feet and fell, pie first, into Craig’s face. Nolan expected a roar of indignation to erupt from Craig’s shocked face. His surprise was evident as Craig, Melanie and Grace dissolved into helpless laughter.

  “I—I—” Craig struggled to speak through guffaws. “I didn’t even see it coming. I figured you’d wait until you thought I was comfortable.”

  “I knew if I didn’t do it right away, you’d be on your guard. Woohoo! That’ll teach you.”

  “Melanie, think he’s sweetened up enough?”

  “Like a little whipped cream could cure him,” Fran’s voice interjected.

  Nolan marveled at the way practical jokes were easily enjoyed and forgiven in their family. His home had been loving but slightly formal. They enjoyed humor but practical joking had been a rare occurrence; certainly, nothing like the give and take that was sure to be a part of today’s repartee.

  Melanie eyed her husband warily. It appeared that Craig was inching toward an exceptionally flaky crusted pie. “Knock it off, Craig or you’ll wear the turkey too!”

  While the rest of the group played games and sang songs from old Mitch Miller albums, Melanie and Grace worked on the finishing touches to dinner. Aunt Fran complained about the “caterwauling” and then about screaming babies as Graceanna’s wails drew Melanie from the kitchen when the baby became hungry. “Can you handle things, Grace? Need me to call Craig in?”

  “Nah, I’ve got it under control, let them play.”

  Grace continued stirring gravy in between slicing canned cranberry sauce. Gripping the counter next to the stove, she steadied herself. Nolan watched in concern. After overhearing her conversation with Melanie, he’d decided to offer to help. It might be a chance to talk to her and see what she thought of him— as a man. “Grace? You ok?”