Making His Way Home

Grace had vanished.

The last time Cole had seen her, she and the mayor had been deep in conversation.

He had a hunch what the topic of that particular conversation had been. It had occurred to Cole as he’d followed Grace to the front of the crowd, prodded by the elderly woman with a helmet of salt-and-pepper curls who resembled a swashbuckling gnome, that he’d messed up. Big time.

“I thought you might want to take a look at this.” The mayor stepped in front of Cole as he was making his way to the door to find Grace. “We printed up some brochures so people could learn a little history of the town. It mentions Samuel Merrick, your great-great-grandpa. If it wasn’t for him, this town wouldn’t exist. But I suppose you’re familiar with the story.”

As a matter of fact, Cole wasn’t. His dad hadn’t talked about Mirror Lake very often, and Sloan wasn’t the kind of man who’d propped his grandchildren on his knee and entertained them with stories about the family genealogy.

“Thanks.” Cole folded up the brochure and stuck it in his back pocket, anxious to intercept Grace before she left.

“If you’re looking for Grace, you just missed her,” a young woman pointed to the side door.

Sometimes, Cole thought, being in a small town where everyone was privy to everyone else’s business was a good thing.

As he jogged down the row of cars parked along the road, it occurred to Cole that he had no idea what kind of vehicle Grace drove. Other than a horse-drawn wagon.

“Grace’s truck is the third one from the end,” someone called. “Silver Ford.”

“Thanks,” Cole called back, unable to keep the smile out of his voice as he dodged an abandoned stroller.

A hundred feet away, he saw the silhouette of a woman with her back against the door of a compact pickup truck, the vehicle of choice in this area of the state. Grace’s head was tipped toward the sky, eyes trained on a band of moonlight that spilled through a seam in the clouds. Her lips were moving, and Cole knew she wasn’t talking to herself, she was talking to God.

Her strong faith had both mystified and challenged him when they’d first met. After his father died, Cole wasn’t sure whether to blame God or ignore Him completely. Grace was the one who’d said it was okay to be honest and simply tell Him that.

Cole felt something inside him shift and break loose from its moorings. What would his life be like if he’d told Grace the truth about his family? Would she have waited for him? Or run in the opposite direction?

Not that it mattered now. He’d made the decision for them and never looked back.

Cole took another step forward, feeling very much like the intruder that he was.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

Grace started at the sound of his voice but didn’t look at him. The gravel crunched under Cole’s feet as he made his way to her side.

“It’s not your fault.” She sighed. “I should have told you the box social was the kickoff for the other events this weekend, but...”

She hadn’t thought he’d stick around.

Cole was tempted to apologize, except he wasn’t sure he was sorry things had worked out this way. A plan slowly began to take shape in his mind.

“So, what’s the next step?” he asked.

“The next step?” she repeated cautiously. “I’ll call Kate when I get home, and we’ll figure something out.”

“What’s to figure out?”

Grace blinked. “If it’s too late for me to drop out of the competition. Or if I need to find someone to take your place.”

For some reason, neither one of those choices sat well with Cole.

“It’s my fault you don’t have a partner for this little competition tomorrow,” he pointed out.

“The fact that you used the words ‘little competition’ only proves you have no idea what you’re getting into,” Grace said. “People have been talking about this for weeks. It’s one of the highlights of the celebration.”

“And you’re trying to talk me out of competing tomorrow because?”

“You aren’t going to be here.” Grace’s eyes met his. “Are you?”

That had been his original intention, but things had changed and Cole decided to go with it.

“You didn’t plan on any of this,” Grace went on. “I don’t want you to feel obligated.”

Obligated wasn’t quite the word Cole would have chosen.

“I’ll be your partner tomorrow.”

The moon slipped behind a cloud and Cole could no longer see Grace’s expression.

“What made you decide to stay?” she asked after a moment.

Cole smiled.

“You did.”

* * *

The next morning, Grace took a slow lap around the living room, coffee cup in hand, and glanced at the clock for what had to be the hundredth time since the alarm had gone off.

Maybe Cole wouldn’t show.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t given him an opportunity to back out of the competition.

After she’d given him a more compelling reason to stay.

Fragments of the conversation they’d had the night before circled through her memory.

What made you decide to stay?

You did.

Grace was still kicking herself over that one. She shouldn’t have made the comment about Sloan’s place needing a little TLC. But she’d been so rattled when Sissy announced that Cole planned to sell it that she hadn’t been thinking clearly.

But because she’d brought it up, Cole had decided to stick around and tackle a few minor repairs after the competition. A win-win situation, he’d told her right before he’d left.

But even though Cole had claimed it was his fault if she were left without a partner for the competition, Grace wondered if he would have stayed if he hadn’t scheduled two meetings for Monday morning.

To sell the land, as Sissy had so boldly pointed out, that had been in his family for over a hundred years.