Saving Grace

by Denise Hunter

  “Shame I can’t hire her,” George said. “But with the season over …” He shrugged.

  Kyle would figure something out. Linn was still pregnant, and she needed more than food and water. She’d need medical care.

  “I’ll check back in a few days, all right?” Kyle said. In the meantime, he’d pray Linn would take George up on the offer.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Natalie went into her office and closed the door. The center was quiet today, and that was just as well, since she had boxes of baby clothes to sort through.

  In the two weeks that had passed since she and Kyle had kissed, their relationship had taken off. While the feelings of growing love made her spin at times, she couldn’t shake the terrible feeling in her gut.

  Sometimes she felt as though someone were watching her. The week before, as she’d walked from the center to her SUV, a bolt of shivers had gone up her spine. She’d looked around at the empty gravel lot to the surrounding evergreen cedar bushes, feeling as if someone were going to jump out any moment.

  Later, she’d berated herself for being so paranoid. But just the night before, when she’d taken the boys to the park, she’d gotten the same feeling all over again. It was dusk, and with night falling quickly, she’d hurried the boys into the car, ignoring their protests at the abrupt departure. After the boys were in bed, she’d called Kyle and finally told him about her uneasiness. She’d expected him to shrug it off—it was just a feeling, after all.

  But this morning he’d shown up on her doorstep and insisted on driving the boys to her mom’s house and Natalie to work.

  She felt a smile tug at her lips. Maybe she was just being paranoid, but it felt incredibly good to have someone care so much about her and the boys.

  She walked to the corner of her office, where the boxes of baby clothes sat. A woman she attended church with had dropped them off the day before.

  A stack of mail on the corner of her desk caught her eye. Underneath the pile was a bulky box, and she stopped to pick it up. She’d been expecting an order of brochures on pregnancy for days now, as the center had run out two weeks ago.

  She looked for the return address label to see if it was the company that printed the brochures. Seeing no label, she turned it over.

  Strange. No return address. The box was the right size, but it was heavily taped. A niggle of suspicion crept under her skin. Hadn’t she read a warning somewhere about opening mail that was heavily taped? And lacking a return address?

  Maybe she was being overly cautious. It might be a thank-you gift from a client. She looked closely at the package. There was tape on every corner of the box. Otherwise the box looked normal. The center’s address was typed on a regular address label. What should she do? She set the box down gently on her desk and stared at it. She remembered the bomb that had gone off at the Women’s Health Clinic months ago. They’d never found the bomber. Would he target the center, too?

  She opened her office door. “Amanda, can you come here a minute?”

  “Sure.”

  Amanda entered her office. “What’s up?”

  She explained the situation with the package, feeling a little silly. “It’s probably just a gift from a client or something, I know, but …” She shrugged.

  “I think you should call the sheriff,” Amanda said.

  “Really?” Maybe she wasn’t crazy after all.

  “After everything that’s gone on here, sure. I think it’s wise to be cautious. Worst thing that can happen is they’ll say it’s nothing, and there’s no harm done.”

  Natalie went to the main desk and placed the call. When she hung up, she looked at Amanda. “They said to leave the package where it is and exit the building.”

  Suddenly, it all seemed very real, and Natalie couldn’t leave quickly enough. They grabbed their purses and walked out, continuing across the street toward the Shady Nook. When they reached the other side, they turned and looked back at the center.

  Natalie felt awkward standing in the middle of the sidewalk in front of the café. In a few minutes the sheriff’s car would pull up, and people would walk out onto the street to see what was going on. And what would she say? I got a package with no return address. And it was all taped up. Whoopdedoo.

  “OK, I admit, I’m feeling a little silly,” Amanda said.

  Natalie gave a wry laugh. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

  Moments later Sheriff Whitco arrived with another officer. He came over and asked her a few questions while they waited for help to arrive. By this time, Betty and a few customers had come out on the sidewalk. It would be the talk of the town by closing time, even if the package turned out to be a cuddly teddy bear.

  Soon the specialists arrived and went through the centers doors, leaving Natalie to bite her nails for a while longer. She had a strong desire to call Kyle, but what if it turned out to be nothing?

  “Do you think we did the right thing?” Amanda asked.

  Natalie thought she was going to be embarrassed royally in front of the whole town, but she didn’t need to tell Amanda that. “We did the safe thing.” She hoped it didn’t make the news. She made a note to herself to call Paula and put in a special request.

  It took an eternity for the men to come out, and by this time, Betty had talked her into having a cup of coffee in the café. When the men exited the building, Natalie jumped up from her chair and went out to the sidewalk.

  Sheriff Whitco met her there, but she couldn’t read anything on his face. “Good thing you called,” he said. “It was an explosive.”

  A bomb. In her center. Her knees went wobbly.

  “It’s been defused, and it’s safe to go back inside.”

  “But—who—?”

  He shrugged. “We’ll be looking into that. We’ve got some samples of the materials used. We might come up with something on this one.”

  They talked a few more minutes before the sheriff left.

  At some point, Amanda had joined her on the curb. “Wow,” she said. “That was a close call. What if you’d opened it?”

  Natalie didn’t even want to think about that.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Natalie put the bowl of macaroni and cheese on the table as Kyle placed a hot dog on each of their plates.

  “Alex, your turn,” Natalie said after they were seated.

  They bowed their heads, and Alex blessed the food.

  The boys dug in with vigor. Natalie choked down a bite of hot dog. A week had passed since they’d found the mail bomb. Sheriff Whitco had assured her they were looking into a few leads, but she couldn’t help wonder what terrible thing was going to happen next.

  Kyle had started taking her to work and picking her up. He helped her make dinner every night and stayed until after the boys went to bed. When he left her house, he always waited to hear the click of the lock. His protective attitude was endearing and his good-bye kisses breathtaking. Natalie knew Kyle wasn’t just a man she could live with. He was a man she couldn’t live without.

  Kyle winked at her over a forkful of macaroni, and Natalie couldn’t help the smile that curled her lips. The boys were telling Kyle about the snake they’d seen in Grandma’s backyard today.

  Natalie couldn’t believe how well Kyle fit into their little family. The boys seemed to accept him as easily as they’d accepted Linn.

  Not a day passed that Natalie didn’t think about the girl. She saw her in every pregnant client that walked through the center’s doors. And she couldn’t deny that God was tugging on her heart. Sitting through Sunday services had been torture lately. It seemed Pastor Richards knew exactly what she was dealing with, although she knew that couldn’t be true.

  What do you want from me, God? I don’t even know where Linn is or if she’s still pregnant. And even if I did, what could I do? Surely, You wouldn’t ask me to adopt that child.

  Would He?

  She stuffed the thought back into a corner of her mind. She didn’t think it was
even possible. How could she raise a baby, love a baby, who’d been conceived through her husband’s betrayal?

  She shook her head. It was impossible.

  What is impossible with men is possible with God.

  The scripture verse came unbidden. She supposed she could thank her mother for that; all those years of Bible verse drills.

  She took a bite of macaroni, wondering why the boys never got tired of it.

  The phone rang, and she hopped up to get it. “Hello?”

  Silence sounded on the other end.

  “Hello?”

  She plugged her other ear against the boy’s raised voices.

  Kyle put his fork down and turned to look at her with a question in his eyes.

  The phone clicked as the other person hung up. A sliver of fear cut into her. Goose bumps tightened her skin. She hung up quickly, drawing her hand from the receiver as if it were poison. Her heart echoed in her chest. Why were they doing this? Should she call the sheriff? And say what? Someone just called and didnt say anything. Yeah, that would go over well. If they could just figure out who was doing all this.

  “Who was it?” Kyle asked.

  Aware of the boys’ eyes on her, she shrugged, and tried for nonchalance. “They hung up. Probably just a wrong number.”

  Kyle’s eyes fixed on her in a knowing look. “Give me the phone.”

  Before she could grab the phone, it rang again, and she jumped. She didn’t want to answer it.

  “I’ll get it.” Kyle took the phone.

  “Hello?”

  He looked at Natalie. “Just a minute.” He handed her the phone. “I think it’s Paula.”

  Natalie answered the phone.

  “I only have a second,” Paula said. “But turn on the TV and watch the news, OK?”

  Watch the news? “Sure, OK.”

  Paula hung up, and when Natalie glanced at her watch, she saw why Paula had been in such a rush. They’d be airing in less than a minute.

  “What’s up?” Kyle asked.

  “She said to watch the news.”

  Together they went to the great room. Kyle turned on the TV, then sat beside her on the edge of the sofa. “What do you think this is about?”

  “I don’t know.”

  The news jingle came on, showing Paula’s and Russ’s pictures and their logo before finally zooming in to Russ at the news desk.

  “Good evening, I’m Russ Marrick.”

  “And I’m Paula Landin-Cohen. Thanks for joining us. At five-twenty this afternoon, police arrested Frank Schlater at his home after finding evidence that he may have been behind the recent bomb mailed to the Jackson Hole Hope Center.” They flashed a picture of a young man on the screen.

  Natalie gasped. She turned up the volume on the remote.

  “Sheriff Whitco stated they were able to lift a fingerprint from the package and match it with fingerprints they had on file. It’s not yet known why Schlater may have sent the bomb, but police will investigate whether he was behind recent problems at the Hope Center, including an attack and vandalism.”

  The camera switched to Russ. “Also in local news, an old hometown favorite restaurant is closing after eighteen years in business …”

  Natalie turned down the volume. “I can’t believe it.”

  “Who is this Frank guy?” Kyle asked.

  “I don’t know. His name isn’t familiar, and I don’t recognize him either.” Could it really be over? The danger, the fear, the waiting?

  “The police should know more soon. I’m just so glad you’re going to be safe now.” He drew her into his arms.

  “You’re not going to have an excuse to come over every night now. Or to pick me up every morning and take me to work.”

  His eyes sparkled. “Do I need an excuse?”

  She answered the best way she knew how. She leaned toward him and caressed his lips with hers. He reciprocated in a way that stirred her blood and sent her belly turning flip-flops.

  In the two days following Frank Schlater’s arrest, the police had sorted through all the information. Frank confessed to attacking her in her car, the vandalism, and sending the package bomb to the center. At first, Natalie figured he must be one of her client’s boyfriends, but then Sheriff Whitco had called yesterday with some startling information.

  “He was hired to do it,” the sheriff had said. “He says Doctor Lewis was behind it.”

  Doctor Lewis? “From the Women’s Health Clinic? But why?” He was the one Paula had interviewed on the news months ago after a bomb had ripped through his clinic. None of it made sense.

  “According to Schlater, Doctor Lewis wanted to shut you down. Apparently you’ve put the hurts on his business.”

  It was her job to save lives. She supposed it was the doctor’s job to take those lives. She was struck by the irony of that. “Still, though, his own clinic was bombed. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “It does when you take into account that Schlater was paid to do that, too.”

  “What?” She was starting to think Schlater just wanted a scapegoat.

  “The good doctor wanted a little sympathy. And some new equipment, apparently.”

  “I can’t believe this,” she said. She dragged a hand through her hair.

  “Believe it. Case is just about wrapped up.”

  She had thanked him and immediately called Kyle at his office. He’d been as baffled as her about the doctor.

  The phone rang, snatching Natalie from her thoughts, and she picked it up. “Jackson Hole Hope Center.”

  A slight pause. “I need to talk to someone,” a girl’s voice said.

  “I’d be glad to talk with you. I’m Miss C.”

  “Do I have to tell you my name?”

  “No, of course not. Would you like to come here and talk?”

  “No.”

  “We can talk over the phone, then.”

  Natalie tried to place her voice. It sounded familiar. She heard a sniff.

  “I had an abortion.” The last words were choked off by tears.

  Natalie’s spirit slumped. Her heart went out to the girl. “Do you want to talk about how you’re feeling?”

  Natalie could hear her crying and wished she could put her arms around the girl.

  “It was, like, so awful!” More crying.

  But Natalie’s heart froze. Something in her voice reminded her of Linn. Oh no, God, please.

  But it wasn’t. It couldn’t be. Linn wouldn’t call here for help, would she? And where else would she go? Who else did she have to help her after you practically threw her away.

  She shuddered at the thought. How had she been so selfish as to put her own anger and bitterness before one of God’s children? In front of an innocent baby? Her thoughts condemned her.

  “We talked before,” the girl said. “I came in a few weeks ago and took a test.”

  The client who insisted she was having an abortion. Not Linn. Relief whooshed through her.

  “Are you there?” the voice asked.

  “I’m here.” It was all she could manage. Her throat had closed up; her mouth had gone dry. It wasn’t Linn. Her heart cheered at the thought. She had a second chance now, didn’t she? How would she use it?

  But first, the girl on the phone. She talked to her, telling her about hope and forgiveness. She could hear the girl quietly crying. By the end of the conversation, she’d talked the girl into coming to the center again. It would take more than one phone call to get through a crisis like this. She hung up the phone, saddened, but confident she’d be able to help this girl.

  But what about Linn? She put the thought on hold. It was something she needed to address, but later, when she had time to give it her full attention.

  Later that night, after the boys were in bed, she flipped through the channels on the TV. She was restless, and she knew why. She couldn’t get Linn out of her mind. She knew she had to forgive Linn. Just as she’d known she’d had to forgive Keith when she discovered the affair. It had take
n awhile, but with God’s help, she’d done it. Never once had she thrown it up in his face or told the boys what he’d done.

  But can I forgive Linn too? She stole my husband, connived her way into my life, and convinced me to adopt her baby.

  As she ticked off Linn’s sins, her own came racing to the forefront. She closed her eyes. She wasn’t perfect either; she realized that. But still. What Linn had done was—

  Unforgivable? No, she knew she was supposed to forgive everything. How many times? Seventy times seven, Jesus had said.

  She clicked off the TV and stood. She was tired of thinking. She wanted to do something else. She looked around the room at the Legos scattered in one corner and the DVDs strewn across the coffee table. Under that was two weeks of dust. Ugh. Had she really let the house go that long?

  She collected the toys and stray items and put them back in their places. The Legos had spilled behind the table along the stairwell, and she pulled it out from the wall. She really should have Alex clean up his own mess.

  As she dragged the table out, something caught her eye. A book. She picked it up and almost dropped it. It wasn’t a book. It was Linns journal, the one she’d been keeping for the baby. She stood motionless, her emotions clamoring. She remembered Linn standing on the staircase that day almost three months ago. Remembered vaguely the sound of her journal clanking on the table when Linn had dropped it. The feelings of shock and betrayal came racing back, but she shoved them away.

  Oh, God, help me to do what’s right.

  She turned from the pile of Legos, journal in hand, and sat on the sofa. She stared at the small booklet in her lap. It was pink and purple and white with hearts splattered over the cover.

  Her fingers slid over the cold, smooth cover. Should she open it? She remembered how Linn had gone upstairs to get the journal that night. She’d been about to read them something she’d written.

  Natalie opened the cover. The first page was solid pink and blank except for the words Linn had written there.

  To my baby, with all my love,

  Mom