Noble Pursuits Read online

  “No, she actually said that I…”

  “Come on; don’t leave me in the cold. I can get it from her too, you know.” Grace’s impatience was becoming comical.

  He realized that Grace was really looking forward to a serious relationship brewing between her friend and himself. Wondering at her obvious lack of interest in him as a man, Nolan felt a bit of a blow to his ego. He wasn’t used to women being immune to him. And yet, months earlier, Nolan would have assumed that he would love knowing there was at least one woman out there not trying to attract him.

  Realizing that Paige would delight in telling Grace about their evening, Nolan decided to come as ‘clean’ as he could without thoroughly embarrassing himself. “Well, she actually opened up a lot. She told me about her growing up as your friend, about your mother trying to teach her to sew— ummm…”

  “You talked about sewing and my mom? Her awful years of junior high?” She mulled the idea that this might be a very good thing. Paige had obviously been very open and forthcoming with Nolan. Considering she rarely opened up like that to people she knew well, opening up to a stranger seemed very interesting indeed.

  “Yes. She talked a lot about you. It is obvious that you’ve been friends for years. She even told me a bit about your upbringing and about Craig and Melanie living with you for a while. She really respects you, you know.”

  Grace nodded. “You planning to ask her out to dinner or something soon?”

  Verily Wirth, watching from his living room window, heard Nolan’s deep rumbling laugh, and it warmed the widower’s heart. The older man made plans to ask Grace to make him one of her pot pies so that he could find out more about Grace’s new beau.

  “Grace, you don’t give up, do you? Actually, I was going to see how she felt about e-mails. I thought it would be less uncomfortable for her. If we saw each other at church and occasionally at your house, while we emailed each other…”

  “That would work wonderfully!” Grace was beaming. She was going to get to be in the middle of another budding romance. What more could she ask for?

  ~*~*~*~

  The next morning Grace decided to walk to her Bible Study. The air was crisp, but with a sweater and a brisk walk, she’d stay warm enough. Stepping outside, she found her legs were cooler under her denim skirt than she’d expected. She hurried back indoors to put on a pair micro fiber tights to keep them warm.

  This short delay gave Nolan time to return from an appointment, go inside, and fill a glass of water. He watched as Grace left her house and strolled down the street with a little wave to the tall, lanky elderly man who lived next door to him. Smiling, he turned on the radio for the mid-morning news and went through his messages in his voice mail. The third one made his stomach churn. “Hello, handsome. It’s Michelle Walker here. Look, I’d like to have another meeting. Your gal at Computing Concepts is completely incompetent, and I really would like to get this system in the works. Call me.”

  Before he could respond, the latest news bulletin on the radio caught his attention. “—on the lookout for a male, Caucasian, average height, red hair, mustache and approximately one hundred eighty pounds. Today’s victim makes the fifth in a rash of attacks in the town of Brunswick, which lies to the south of Rockland. Today’s attack in Brunswick, combined with an attack yesterday afternoon in Ferndale that may be related, has sparked a county-wide manhunt…”

  Nolan grew concerned as he listened to the announcer talk about the neighborhoods and women that the man chose. All were women, home alone in deserted neighborhoods between ten in the morning and two in the afternoon. His alarm grew as Nolan considered the situation.

  That could have been Grace! And she’s out there walking in the open, almost begging to be attacked.

  Debating his options, Nolan picked up the phone and called Craig at his insurance office. “Craig? Hey, it’s Nolan. Have you been listening to the news?”

  Nolan listened intently. “The dog is a great idea but… well; Grace just took off on foot somewhere. She had that flowery bag with her. Any idea where she went?”

  Holding the phone away from his ear, Nolan shook his head in wonder at the fierceness of Craig’s protective side. “Down, boy. Maybe Melanie knows where she went and could give her a ride home?”

  He hung up the phone reluctantly. Grace wouldn’t be very happy when she heard the trouble he had gotten her into. After debating whether he should go in search of her, Nolan finally turned back to his messages and turned the problem of Grace over to the Lord.

  ~*~*~*~

  “Craig… I do not want a dog!” Grace’s voice was firm, but her brother on the other end of the line was not budging. “Craig… I…” Quickly, she realized that, like it or not, she’d have to get a dog. If she resisted for too long, Craig would go to the pound and get one himself. It would likely a huge Rottweiler that ate too much, and took up way too much room. It was also a little known fact that Grace did not like large dogs. While not terrified of them, she found them intimidating, and unpleasant memories ensured that she’d shy away from them whenever possible.

  “Fine. I’ll go right now. I’ll get the one that barks the most, I promise. Right… fine. Thanks for nothing, bro. Tell that wife of yours to slap you when her hands are free.”

  Grumbling all the way down her walkway as she headed to the bus stop, Grace was ready for battle when Nolan waved from his window. She crooked her finger menacingly. He gave an exaggerated shrug and jogged outside.

  “Yes?” His tone was far too innocent.

  “You are taking me to the pound. Thanks to you, my brother has demanded that I buy a dog. I think you can pay for him too. I want the dog, the bowl, the leash, a two-week supply of food and his first vet bill as recompense for getting me into trouble. Got all of that?” Grace’s smile belied the fierceness of her words.

  Nolan jogged back inside to retrieve his wallet, and they drove to the pound. The howls of lonely dogs were audible a block away, and Grace’s face showed her irritation. “I hate places like this. I want to take them all home, and it seems so unfair just to take one. I can’t believe you got me into this.”

  Nolan tried to defend himself but immediately gave up and resigned himself to being the “bad guy” for the afternoon. It was enough work to follow her through the facility and drag her away from homeless kittens, rabbits, and birds to the dog cages. There the struggle began in earnest.

  With tears in her eyes and a heavy heart, Grace went from cage to cage greeting the “inmates.” Nolan noticed that the smaller dogs received more attention than the larger ones, and a large mastiff barely received a hello. A shelter volunteer recognized Grace and led her to the back. Snuggled up on a blanket arranged in the middle of a rabbit cage, lay a ball of fluff. Grace lost her heart immediately.

  “They found him in a dumpster. He was barely old enough to be weaned. We don’t know if he got in a bag of trash, fell asleep and the owners threw him out, or if it was deliberate. He’s a frisky little guy, but he needs more care during the next two weeks than we can afford to spare.”

  “What kind of dog is he?” Grace was already trying to name the yapping little fellow.

  “Pomeranian. He could be a purebred. A vet could tell you, most likely.” The volunteer looked hopeful, too hopeful to Nolan’s eye.

  “Grace… he looks like a rat on steroids. This is supposed to be a watchdog. How do you expect him scare away an intruder?”

  Grace’s look squelched any other objections. “Look, Nolan, all I promised was to get the dog that barked the most. This guy here fills the bill. Now, I suggest you get out your checkbook and pay for your mistake.”

  Nolan laughed as he took the dog’s identification card to the front desk to pay all fees associated with the little bundle. He joked with the ladies behind the counter about getting a discount according to size, but they were merciless. One of them smugly remarked. “I heard that you are in the doghouse, and that’s why you are paying for him. I don’t think your girlfri
end would appreciate us making it easy on you.”

  Nolan quickly decided not to correct the woman’s assessment of his relationship with Grace. What purpose would it serve but to make him sound like a heel? He smiled and said, “I got her in trouble with her brother, and the dog is my penance. I’m afraid of what she’ll name him. Can’t you just see him being named Killer or Cujo or something equally ludicrous?”

  “His name is Rolex, you traitor.”

  “Rolex? What kind of name is that?”

  Grace grinned wickedly. “He’s a watch dog, isn’t he?”

  “And he’s costing as much as one too…” Nolan muttered under his breath.

  Grace’s expression was smug. She left him to fill out the paperwork and get recommendations for food and a vet, while she went to the car with her little bundle of fur. Seconds later, Rolex slept peacefully on her lap, giving Grace a moment to pray for patience with her friend and brother before that friend returned to the car. A peace settled over her as she prayed. She knew how to make it right.

  Nolan joked and teased about the fierce puppy all the way home. While Grace found an old blanket for her sleeping pooch, he headed to the pet store. Grace started her dinner as she waited for the coming supplies and continued her running conversation with the Lord.

  “Knock, knock. Got your stuff, Grace. Need anything else? I have a business appointment in thirty minutes, and I smell pound on me.” Nolan checked his watch, and seeing the timepiece made him smile.

  “Thanks, Nolan. Oh, and make sure you give the receipts to Craig next time you see him. He owes you for your expenses.”

  “What? Thought I was paying the price for this one?”

  “Nope. I just had to make you sweat it a little. Give those receipts to Craig—better yet, give them to me. I’ll give them to him.” Grace went inside with a smug look of satisfaction on her face.

  Knowing he was going to be late for his meeting, Nolan pulled the receipts from his pocket, followed Grace inside, and handed them to her before darting across the street to clean up for his meeting. Moments later, his SUV pulled swiftly out of the driveway.

  As he passed the two cars that Cade had darted between only weeks before, Nolan slowed down. The mere sight of them reminded Nolan that no meeting was worth risking the life of a child. Grace saw it all and smiled. Moments later, when she saw an expensive velvet dog bed in the bag of supplies, Grace smiled again. Guilt certainly had its advantages.

  ~*~*~*~

  “You call that a dog? It looks like an overgrown hamster!” Craig’s incredulity amused the women.

  “Rat.”

  “Do what?”

  “Nolan calls him a rat on steroids.” Melanie stifled a guffaw at Grace’s exaggerated wink.

  “He’s right about that. Grace, I said a watchdog. This is not a watch dog!” Craig was becoming genuinely angry.

  “Sure it is! He barks a lot, when he’s awake anyway, and his name is Rolex. There can’t be a better watchdog than a Rolex. You know me. I’ve gotta have the best—especially on your dime. Here are the receipts. Nolan will expect reimbursement for his expenses by the end of the week.” Grace and Melanie collapsed in helpless laughter at the look of disbelief on Craig’s face.

  It took little time for Craig to concede defeat. He couldn’t help it. The rat was adorable, and the women in his life loved him. What the dog wouldn’t do in deterring an intruder, he would make up for in companionship. Moreover, he wasn’t exactly surprised that Grace had chosen a small dog. She hadn’t hidden her fear of large canines as well as she thought she did.

  “Just keep the doors locked and take the bus or call Mel when you have to go somewhere, ok?” Craig’s concerned tone caused Grace a moment of guilt.

  Cade had been working diligently on his homework during Grace’s introduction of her new pet to her brother’s family. He and Rolex had become fast friends upon Cade’s arrival from school. Rolex whimpered at Cade’s ankles as the boy tried to finish his homework. He was eager to play again with the little dog but knew his mother would arrive at any moment. At the sound of squeaky brakes in front of the house, he sighed.. With great disappointment, Cade put his books in his backpack and after patting Rolex’s head, ran to his mother’s waiting car.

  Grace watched the boy talking animatedly to his mother as they drove away before turning to her brother and his bemused wife. “Anyone feel like taking me to dinner? I am famished, and I sorta spent my late morning and early afternoon having a baby.” As an afterthought, she added, “Oh, and you can tell Aunt Fran about Rolex. I am not going there.”

  Chapter Eleven

  November

  Exhausted, Grace lounged on her couch and worked diligently on a smocked dress. Every stitch seemed to take an amazing amount of effort, but Grace plodded along, determined to be productive even as she rested. Across the street, an expensive looking sports car roared up to Nolan’s house and screeched to a stop. While Grace tried to determine if the hood ornament was a Jaguar or not, the driver exited, looking like a model from an Eddie Bauer catalog. His dark skin looked amazing against the cranberry sweater he wore.

  “Either he’s the casual riche, or he’s trying to look the part of a bumpkin on a millionaire’s salary,” she muttered amusedly to herself.

  Nolan hurried from his house and greeted his guest. “Hey, David, glad you made it! Did you find me ok?”

  David Corbin slapped his college buddy on the back and immediately started teasing. “Well, actually it was easy enough to find, but I was sure I was in the wrong place, man! What, are you slumming it?”

  Unaware that snatches of their conversation could be heard through the slight crack in Grace’s window, Nolan laughed good-naturedly. “Well, you know me… always have to try something new.”

  From many of Nolan’s acquaintances, the question would not only have been serious, but a deliberate cut. While none of them would admit to being snobbish, the fact is, most of the people Nolan knew well were extremely well to do and lived in a style unseen in Brunswick. They simply would not have understood Nolan’s desire to blend into the woodwork of life in his new town.

  Nolan saw Grace at the window and waved. “That’s my neighbor, Grace. She’s great. I’ll have to take you over later to meet her. With any luck, she’s been baking.”

  “Housewife?”

  “Homemaker, anyway. She’s not married.” Without realizing that he appeared to be deliberately changing the subject, Nolan led David into his house and gave him the quick but grand tour. “In here is my formal living room which I use for an office. I started off down the hall, but I like being nearer the front where I can watch the kids playing and keep an eye on Grace. We’ve had a rash of attacks—”

  “Yeah, I heard about those. I wondered if everyone knows how new you are. This place is much smaller than I thought. Could you be a suspect?”

  Nolan’s laughter echoed through the rooms. “Not on your life. I’m too tall for one thing, and I’ve been with people during attacks so, even if people did figure out I was new, they wouldn’t think it was me. The town has nearly thirty-thousand people, Dave. It’s not like we’re Backwater Village, population one hundred twenty-two… until Ina Mae has her baby anyway.”

  The men laughed and Nolan poured coffee for Dave as they continued through the kitchen. “Black, right?”

  “Well, I don’t mind, but it’s not politically correct these days…”

  “The coffee, man,” Nolan growled as he shoved the cup into his friend’s hand.

  “Well, if you insist. So you make your own coffee? Do you cook too?”

  “It’s a different world here. I wanted to blend in so I rented something small—except that it’s really bigger than I need.”

  “Sounds cramped to me. So tell me; why are you here? Be honest with me because you’ve got friends in Rockland who are concerned about you.”

  Nolan relaxed in his favorite chair and propped his feet on the ottoman. “How many of these friends wear spiked heels?
”

  “Touché.”

  “So, what is up at the church? Did they agree to help the homeless mission down on Washington?”

  The men drove to the store for snacks and talked about things back in Rockland on the way back. Once parked in front of Nolan’s enormous television set, the conversation lulled to short sound-bytes during muted commercials as they watched the Rockland Warriors fight for their place in the upcoming championship. Nolan needed this day more than he’d realized. Just the presence of someone who knew him, knew his likes and dislikes, and accepted him, was a huge relief. For the first time in weeks, Nolan didn’t have to explain himself. He could just be.

  “So, what’s with the suburban life? This place isn’t much bigger than your old guest house.”

  “Well, for one thing, Brunswick is a solid middle to lower middle class town. There are some nicer homes on the outskirts but nothing like Mom and Dad’s place. I just rented—”

  “Well, at least you’re just renting, but, man this place has to be twenty years old! Why not rent something newer? A townhouse maybe?”

  “The house is over thirty years old. Built in the early seventies, I think.” Nolan wondered, as he did it, why he answered such an irrelevant question. “I rented it because it was in an established neighborhood with children and a nice view over my back fence. Just fields of nothing right now. Come spring, there will be alfalfa or something out there.”

  “That still doesn’t make sense. If you wanted out of the city, why not try Fairbury or New Cheltenham, or even Marshfield. All of those places had nice homes, cultural centers, and good restaurants. This is soccer mom central.”

  “Because the church here had the highest number of unattached females.”

  The answer hung over the room. Finally, David said, “Well, if that isn’t forthright, nothing is. So you were on a woman hunt and none of your friends in Rockland were good enough?”

  A slight edge to David’s voice unnerved Nolan. He wasn’t used to his friends not understanding. “Dave, can you see me with Sheila or Jennifer? Do you think I’d be satisfied with a life of nannies and trips to the tropics?”