“I don’t know how we can thank you,” he said hoarsely. “When the door jammed, I guess she couldn’t get it open again. If it hadn’t been for Lewis…”
“It’s all over now. Everything will be fine,” Stacy assured him. To her surprise, Estelle bustled past and tried to take Missy from Gray. The child clung to him and refused to budge. When the older woman turned to face her, Stacy could see real grandmotherly concern lurking beneath her cosmopolitan facade.
Behind Stacy, Nathan cleared his throat and said, “Good. Then I assume you’ll be going?”
Before she could respond, Gray was at her side, his free arm slipped protectively around her shoulders. “We’re all going,” he told his father. “I promised Missy an ice cream cone and Ms. Lucas is accompanying us.”
Stacy opened her mouth to object, then changed her mind when she saw the raw determination in her champion’s expression. At least his ploy would get them all out of the house without further controversy. For that she was grateful. The less time she had to spend in that oppressive house with those people, the better she’d like it.
Gray guided her out onto the porch, then released her and shifted Missy so he could carry her more easily. “I’m so sorry, Stacy. I don’t know what’s the matter with him. You’d think, after all you’ve done…”
“It’s my job,” she said formally. She held out her hand, offering to shake his. “Goodbye, Mr. Payne. I’m glad Lewis and I could be of assistance.”
It wasn’t clear what happened next, although Stacy did think she saw Missy reach out to her first. In the blink of an eye she was enveloped in a double hug; one from the child, the other from Gray.
Acting solely on instinct she wrapped her arms around them both and rested her forehead against the man’s chest. Perfect tranquility enveloped her, flowed through her. For those few seconds, everything in the whole world seemed right. It was a blessed moment she knew she’d never forget as long as she lived.
When Gray loosened his hold and Stacy stepped back, she was surprised to see a sense of pure wonder in his face, in his eyes. Apparently, he’d been as deeply affected by their unexpected mutual embrace as she had.
Chapter Seven
Stacy started to walk away. Gray stopped her with a touch on her arm. “Hey. I thought we were going out for ice cream.” Missy was nodding in decisive agreement.
“I have to be going,” Stacy insisted.
“Why? You got a hot date?”
Noting the mischievous twinkle in his eyes, she answered, “I’m exhausted from lack of sleep. Puppies. Remember?”
“I love puppies,” Missy piped up. “Can we go see them?”
“Maybe when they’re older,” Stacy said. “Right now, they’re probably as tired as I am. So is their mommy.”
“Is Lewis their mommy?” the little girl asked.
“No, honey. But he is their daddy. Some of them even look like him.”
“I looked like my daddy,” Missy said sadly.
“Me, too,” Stacy told her. “I think that’s nice, don’t you?”
“I guess.” She wrapped both thin arms around Gray’s neck and tucked her head onto his shoulder. “Can we go get ice cream, now?”
The imploring look she gave Stacy melted her resolve. “Okay. But only if Lewis can come along. You two lead. We’ll follow in my truck.”
Gray brightened. “Nonsense. There’s no sense in that. We can all go in my car.”
“Nope,” Stacy said flatly. “Lewis goes or I don’t.”
“I meant for him to. Come on.” He led the way to a shiny black BMW parked under a portico at the corner of the house and opened both passenger doors. “Dogs and kids in the back on account of the air bags.”
That left Stacy with only two options. She could share a crowded space with Missy and Lewis, who had already made themselves at home, or she could ride up front with Gray like she would if they were on a date. Her pulse fluttered. Where did that idea come from?.
“I’d rather just follow you,” she hedged. “It’ll be much easier when it comes time for me to head on home.”
His gaze was a challenge. “Why? Are you scared of me?”
“Of course not. Why should I be?”
“I didn’t say you should. I was just asking a simple question. It seemed like you were trying to avoid me.”
“Don’t be silly.” Disgusted, Stacy slipped into the front seat. She glanced back, noting that Missy was engrossed in telling Lewis a story. Nevertheless, she spoke softly to keep her negative opinions private. “Just because your parents hate my guts and my dog dug up your mother’s expensive carpeting doesn’t mean you and I can’t be friends.”
Gray followed her lead with a hoarse whisper. “Hey, don’t forget my brother and his wife. I don’t think Mark was too glad to see you again, either. Candace is the jealous type. Keeping her happy makes his life real interesting.”
“Well, she sure shouldn’t be jealous of me,” Stacy said, speaking more naturally. “She’s not only beautiful, she’s a sophisticated, poised, high-class lady. Mark’s a lucky guy.”
“You didn’t say so when you were talking to my mother.”
“Yeah, well… I suppose my pride got in the way. And maybe my old problem with reverse discrimination. If Candace has the confidence to fit into your family, which she apparently does, then I can’t help but admire her. She’s a lot more flexible and resilient than I’ll ever be.”
“She’s not prettier,” he said.
Stacy’s mouth dropped open in shock. She snapped it closed and pulled a face. “Don’t be silly. Look at me. I went to bed with wet hair so it’s all frizzy, I have no makeup on and my nails are short and chipped from hard work.”
“I’ll bet you clean up nicely, though,” he deduced, adding a wry grin. “I’ll have to take you out to dinner sometime so you can show me.”
“In your dreams, mister.” She’d been staring at his profile while he drove. The funny look he got on his face when she mentioned dreams made her stomach flutter. It felt like it came to rest in a big lump, halfway up her throat.
Blushing slightly, he cast her a sidelong glance. “As a matter of fact, I have dreamed about you once or twice.”
“I don’t think I want to hear about it.”
“Maybe you should,” he said soberly. “You see, I dreamed I was apologizing for causing you and my brother to break up.” When Stacy didn’t comment, he continued. “I’d like to do the same thing for real. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have interfered in your lives.”
“No, you shouldn’t have,” she said quietly. “But not for the reasons you think. I told you, you did us both a favor. In retrospect, God’s hand in the matter is perfectly clear, even though I couldn’t see the truth back then.” She sighed, rested her head against the back of the leather seat, then continued. “Mark and I were…are…from different worlds. I didn’t fit into his world and he’d never have been happy in mine. We’d have made each other miserable trying to become something we weren’t, instead of being satisfied with who we really were.”
“And you might not have started working in search and rescue,” Gray said. He glanced lovingly at his future niece in the rearview mirror. “Then where would we be?”
“There’d have been someone else willing to step in and help,” she said. “I’m just glad I got the chance to meet Missy. She’s a sweet little girl. We have a lot in common.”
“I know. She told me more about your past than you did. Which is another reason I should apologize. I had no idea what you’d gone through.”
“That doesn’t change a thing,” Stacy said wisely. She gestured at the plush leather and wood-grained interior of his luxury sedan. “I don’t belong in a car like this anymore than you belong in a beat-up old truck like mine.”
“You shouldn’t be ashamed of it.”
“There’s no shame involved. Just female logic.”
“That’s an oxymoron.”
Stacy squinted over at him. “What is?”
“Female and logic,” he said, smiling. “There is no such combination.”
“Oh, yeah? Prove it.”
“I don’t have to,” Gray said, clearly joking. “All I have to do is listen to you talk and I have no doubt, whatsoever.”
Missy and Lewis had both fallen asleep by the time the party arrived at the ice cream parlor. The dog revived faster than the six-year-old. Groggy, Missy was not the sweet little girl she’d been.
“I wake up like that a lot,” Stacy said as she watched Gray trying to rouse the grumpy child. “Too bad we can’t give her a cup of coffee. That always helps me.”
“If I hadn’t promised her a cone I’d let her sleep.” He straightened with Missy in his arms. “Think we can get two whole scoops down her while she’s napping?”
That did it. Missy rubbed her eyes with closed fists and mumbled, “I want pecan. With sprinkles.”
He made a sour face that Stacy found comical. “I know,” she agreed. “It sounds awful. But it’s her choice.”
“What do you and Lewis want?”
“He’ll have a single scoop of vanilla, in a dish, and I’ll have rocky road, please.” She giggled.
“He won’t need a spoon but I will.”
Gray elbowed his way into the shop still carrying the sleepy child. He ordered, then realized he couldn’t reach the wallet in his back pocket without putting down Missy and the cones he was already holding. When he tried, the little girl clung to his neck with both arms and whimpered.
“I seem to have a slight problem,” he said. “Stacy, would you get my money out for me? It’s in my right hip pocket.”
“I don’t know if I should,” she drawled. “The logical thing for you to do would be to pass me the cones and then get your wallet yourself.” The incredulous look on his face told her she’d scored a victory. “Of course, I could be wrong. After all, I am just an irrational woman so you might want to rethink the whole problem before you decide.” She placed the plastic dishes he’d ordered for her and Lewis back on the counter and held out her hands. “Well?”
Gray handed her the cones. Supporting Missy with one arm, he managed to retrieve his wallet and pay the clerk. As soon as Stacy offered the candy-sprinkled cone to the girl, she wriggled out of her uncle’s grasp, grabbed the treat with both hands and forgot all about hanging on to him.
They made their way back outside to where Lewis waited beneath a white wrought-iron table. “As soon as you’re finished, Missy, you can hold Lewis’s dish for him, okay?” Stacy said.
“Okay.” The child chose a chair closest to the dog and licked at her cone so vigorously that she knocked off the top scoop. It rolled onto the table. “Oops.”
Gray expected her to cry. Instead she shot him a guilty glance and asked, “Can I give that to Lewis, too?”
“If Stacy says it’s okay.”
The little girl’s pleading, innocent look didn’t fool Stacy one bit. She grinned knowingly. “I’ll put it in his dish for you. You still have to finish your cone.”
“I know. I will,” Missy insisted. “I’m almost done.”
“So I see,” Stacy said. Looking over at Gray, she saw him nod and smile with understanding. She sighed. It seemed strange to be sitting there with him and Missy, eating ice cream and behaving like a real family.
Her eyes widened at the thought. Quickly, she averted her gaze and concentrated on her rapidly melting ice cream. A family? With a Payne? Never! Been there, done that…or tried to…and it wasn’t fun. Neither was visiting the scene of her youthful rebuff less than an hour ago.
Recalling the confrontation, she chuckled to herself. It had felt good to feel equal to Estelle and Nathan for once. And Euless, the old man she’d met in the kitchen, had been charming. Facing the Paynes had been worth it just to learn the fact that Gray’s paternal grandfather had once been dirt-poor. Too bad the more recent generations hadn’t benefitted from such a realistic upbringing.
Maybe that was why they went to such lengths to prove they were socially above everybody else; to pretend they were something they really weren’t. That notion didn’t excuse their behavior but it did put it in a more acceptable perspective. She’d had to do the same kind of thing when her parents were killed. Only with her, the pretense wasn’t one of wealth. It was one of happiness and stability.
Stacy recalled all the times, years ago, when she’d cried herself to sleep because she’d felt so alone. And the times she’d fled from perfectly fine foster homes because they couldn’t offer her the permanence she sought. It wasn’t until she was nearly grown that she’d finally understood she could never go back, never again be the secure, happy child she’d once been.
She felt a gentle, light touch on her arm and glanced up. Gray was looking at her with concern.
“You okay?” he asked.
Stacy mentally shook herself. “I’m fine. Why?”
“Because you were a million miles away just now. And you looked pretty melancholy. What were you thinking about?”
“The past,” she said quietly.
He withdrew his hand and leaned back in his chair. “Ah, that. Would you like to talk about it?”
“Not here. Not now.” And not with you, she added to herself. Casting a glance at Missy she changed the subject as she held out the plastic dish. “Okay, honey. You ate all your cone. Now you can give this to Lewis. Just hold on to it so he doesn’t push it all over the sidewalk when he tries to lick it.”
The little girl looked down, then wailed, “Ugh! He slobbered all over my new shoes.”
Stacy stifled a giggle. “That’s because he’s hungry and he knows you’re going to give him a treat. He’s a good dog. He’s been waiting very patiently while we all ate but he can’t help drooling a little.”
“That’s okay. I can fix him.” Missy was matter-of-fact. Taking her napkin, she carefully wiped the dog’s chin, talking to him, nose to nose, as she blotted his muzzle. “It’s not your fault, Lewis. I’ll take care of you.”
Amused, Gray watched the child’s interaction with the unflappable dog. No wonder Stacy valued him so much. He was more than a rescuer, he was a healer. His presence, alone, had brought Missy out of her shell and enabled her to think of something other than her own loss. He wondered how long it had taken Stacy Lucas to do the same when she was left all alone like Missy.
The sudden urge to take Stacy in his arms and protect her until all the old pain was banished caught him by surprise. Naturally, doing anything like that was out of the question. Still, it did give him a warm feeling to think of repaying her heartfelt kindness with a dose of the same. There was too little love in the world as it was. He didn’t like to admit to being such a softy, but he already loved his future niece as if she’d been a part of his family from birth.
Gray smiled to himself and leaned sideways to watch what was going on under the table. Missy was trying to hold the slippery dish still while Lewis’s wide tongue sloshed half-melted ice cream over the rim and onto her hands. Instead of complaining about the mess, she was laughing and reassuring the dog that she could give them both a bath if need be. Maybe getting her a puppy was a good idea after all. Of course, if he did such a thing without permission, the rest of the family would threaten to disown him….
His thoughts crystalized. Froze. Disown him, indeed. Now there was an interesting memory.
He snorted with contempt. A scene like the one he’d had with his father when he’d turned down the offered junior vice presidency was something he never wanted to experience again. Nathan’s angry response, however, had answered a lot of the questions Gray had been afraid to ask. It had also explained why he’d always felt like an outsider, even though he knew of no valid reason for the alienation he sensed at the time.
A gentle touch on his forearm brought his thoughts back to the present.
“Now, it’s my turn to ask you,” Stacy said. “Want to talk about it?”
Gray tensed, withdrew. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“It’s none of your concern.”
“I wish you were right,” she said cynically. “But we’re both Christians.”
He scowled over at her as he got to his feet. “What’s that got to do with it?”
“Well, for one thing, we’re supposed to be recognizable by the concern and the love we show for one another.”
“Where does it say that?”
“I think it’s in the thirteenth chapter of John.”
“Terrific.”
Stacy bristled. “Hey, don’t take it personally. I wasn’t thrilled when the verse popped into my head, either. Truth to tell, I’m having a terrible time accepting the fact that God expects me to love you as my brother.”
A peculiar expression came over him, causing her to study his face, to look deeply into his eyes. If anyone had asked her at that moment, she’d have had to say she was seeing pure anguish. In seconds he’d returned to normal.
“I have enough brothers,” Gray said flatly. “And sisters. But thanks, anyway.”
Stacy closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. Father, I’m stuck, again. I don’t know why I’m here or what You want me to do. I don’t mind helping Missy, but that man is impossible! I can’t deal with him. I can’t relate to him. I just can’t.
In her heart, in her mind, in her soul, she sensed an unmistakable contradiction. Like it or not, this was where the Lord wanted to use her, at least for the present. She could only hope her tenure was almost up because she was becoming very confused over the jumble Graydon Payne had made of her normally stable emotional state. First she liked him. Then she didn’t. Then she felt compassion, instead. Then she remembered what he’d put her through with regard to Mark and the Payne family and she practically loathed him, again. The inconsistency of her feelings was driving her crazy!
Worse yet, the more she was around Gray, the more she noticed how handsome and appealing he was, in spite of her resolve to ignore that aspect of him.
The Troublesome Angel Page 8