Read Healing Grace for Free Online

a plan to come up with the money. “Tough luck that you turned up—at the most inopportune time,” her new friend told her last week at her third visit, “cash in hand. Well—not really, of course.”
    She wasn’t entirely reassured.
    “I, of course,”— Shelby indicated herself with a hand to her chest—“am awfully glad you’re here. Especially now,”—the hand went down toward her stomach—“to help with Eddy. He really needs you.”
    Grace was amazed at the amount of trust she seemed to instill in strangers. Either that, or the people in East Bay were incredibly naïve.
    Not Randy though. He had not been happy about a stranger on his property and made no effort to disguise the fact since the first time they “met” when he came to retrieve Eddy. He gave her the shivers whenever she caught him driving around town in his dark Cougar or staring at her when he picked up his nephew in the afternoons when Ted couldn’t come.
    “Mrs. Runyon.” Randy finally rounded the corner and greeted her.
    She met the coolness of his tone with a rudeness she would never have guessed she possessed. This was a man she could too easily not care for. He’d never get to her, make her care. Easy. “Yes?” she replied, giving him a glance while she continued with her task. He had yet to introduce himself. A silly, pointless game, though, since she was perfectly aware of his identity, as he was of hers. She knew he traveled frequently for the fruit market co-op. She had not seen him around when Eddy had taken her on a tour of the big house where he lived and the barren fields with their neatly kept but empty outbuildings on the other side of the hedge.
    She sprayed another hit of foam and smoothed it with a well-used Popsicle stick before capping the can and wiping her hand on the poor threadbare T-shirt she continued using as a rag before standing to face him.
    “You don’t hold with church, Mrs. Runyon?” It was Sunday afternoon, a day which had not escaped Grace’s notice. The question was so obviously nosy, personal, and none of his business that she bit her lip and took a deep breath and cleared her throat.
    “Mr. Marshall,” she tried, to see if her voice was still working properly through her anger. Good . “Mr. Marshall, I can’t see that my religious beliefs are any of your concern.”
    Randy’s thin nostrils flared. “In East Bay, everyone attends church on Sundays. We still hold to the Sabbath here, even if you—”
    “Excuse me!” She held up her hand and glared right back. “I’m not interested in getting into a feud with you over this,” she told him when she regained control of her temper. “That was a pretty poor invitation to church if that was your original intention. Now, if you’d like to get to know me better, then, by all means, come on inside for a cup of tea. We’ll sit down and have a civilized conversation. You can tell me all about yourself and then I’ll tell you about myself.”
    She stood her ground, chin up, refusing to look away from the dark glasses that shielded his eyes. Intuition told her Randy Marshall was not going to reveal any personal information. Well neither was she.
    He backed down but not without making sure she knew he didn’t consider this matter concluded. “We attend First Covenant Gospel Church. The early service is at nine a.m., and the evening service is at six-thirty.” His lips thinned. “We would be pleased to have you accompany us this evening.”
    She turned back to her puttering at the cottage’s foundation. She leaned down to pull a handful of weeds away from the next crack before she trusted herself to reply. “It just so happens, Mr. Marshall, that I shall be unable to attend church with you this evening.” She sat back on her knees then and smiled at him narrowly, brushing away a lock of hair that blew across her eyes. “But I look forward to attending morning worship with your family next Sunday.” She turned her back, dismissing