Raising Attabury: A Contemporary Christian Epic-Novel (The Grace Series Book 5)

by Stallings, Staci

  “She really is an amazing lady,” Dani said, and she couldn’t keep the awe from her voice. At that moment her cell phone beeped on the counter, and she glanced over at it. “I’ll get that later. You want some more?”

  By the time she checked her phone, it was well after nine, and with one look, she knew a significant amount of drama was headed her way. She went into the living room where Eric was working on his laptop. “Pray for me.”

  “Uh-oh. That doesn’t sound good.”

  She held up the phone. “That was Mom earlier.”

  He winced visibly as he leaned back in the chair. “You gonna call her back?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  The words weren’t even out of her mouth when the cell phone rang, and Dani looked at him in exhausted annoyance. “I am so done with this.”

  “Maybe it’s good news,” he said as if a joke might help.

  “Maybe I’ll let you answer it,” she jabbed back, but there was a smile to it.

  “Tell you what I’ve got your back waaay over here. I’ll be praying right here for you.”

  “You’d better.” Knowing she couldn’t put off answering it for even one more second, she beeped it on. “Hello?”

  “Danisha! Where have you been? I was starting to get worried about you.”

  Dani pointed at Eric who was making prayer faces and motions in the chair, and she shook her head to get him to stop. “Yeah, sorry, Mom. I was here. We were eating dinner. Did you need something?”

  The pause made Dani’s alert blare to life.

  “Actually, I wondered if you would like to meet me for lunch tomorrow.”

  Her heart stopped about the time her eyes widened. Lunch with her mother? That did not sound at all pleasant. However, she no longer had the excuse of working to insulate her. She put her hand up onto her head. “Oh, well… I… don’t….”

  “I already have reservations at Fleming’s for 12:15.”

  “Fleming’s?” True concern shot through her. The cost of lunch at Fleming’s would feed her family for two weeks, and now that she wasn’t working, they were on a much tighter budget.

  “Fleming’s?” Eric mouthed. “Whoa.”

  Dani waved him away and turned her back to him. “Oh. I don’t know, Mom. That’s kind of…”

  “Now you listen to me, Danisha Renee. I already made the reservations, and I am not going to call and cancel them unless you have a very good reason you can’t come.”

  Reason. Reason. Reason. Reason… there had to be a good reason. Somewhere there had to be. Finally, Dani sighed, hating being unable to just say no. “Okay, Mom. I’ll be there.”

  The rest of the conversation was short, and in no time she had hung up. Putting her head back she let out a long uggggh because it was all she could think to do.

  “Well, it could be worse,” Eric said, and she heard the dry note of levity. “She could take you out to some fast food joint and throw French fries at you. At least this way, you can have a nice rosé before she burns the place down.”

  “Burns the place down, huh?” Dani asked, turning as she nodded at him in challenge. “I’ll show you burn the place down.” She advanced on him still sitting in the chair.

  He lifted his chin, a smile of mischief playing dangerously on his lips. “I’d like to see you try.”

  Hovering over the chair, she lowered her lips to his, making sure to tease him just enough before backing up.

  “Yeah,” he said, arching for another kiss. “I’m thinking you’ve got a good start there. I felt that match light.”

  “Mommy,” Jaden called from the stairs, “I need a drink.”

  Dani backed up, her eyes never leaving Eric’s. “I’m coming, sweetheart.” However, she pointed at him. “You need to learn to behave yourself.”

  “Me?” he asked in both disbelief and surprise. “I don’t think I was the one who started this.”

  “Oh, yeah?” she asked, heading to the kitchen. “You’re right. I started it, and if you’re not careful, I’ll finish it too.”

  With that, he snapped his laptop shut and stood. “You don’t have to tell me twice. Count me in, baby. Count me in.”

  Chapter 30

  The tailored suit that fit just right felt more like a straightjacket as Dani circled the mall looking for just the right parking space. Of course, you would find a five-star steakhouse in the middle of the mall, right? Only in North Carolina. Her thoughts streamed into and through the absurdity of life. Shopping. It was a dangerous place to take herself into, especially with so much emotional stress weighing her down. She would have to make sure not to browse the selections while she was there, especially afterward. After her mom left and she was left to deal with the destruction.

  Finally acknowledging that she couldn’t circle the parking lot forever, she found a spot, pulled into it, and parked, though she simply sat there for a long moment. There were seven billion people on the planet, why did she get picked for this special torture? Sighing, she grabbed up her cell phone and texted Eric and Rachel whom she had filled in that morning as she got ready for this date with the devil.

  Pray for me.

  Eric got the text, closed his eyes, and said a prayer for her. She had changed so much yet this demon seemed particularly tenacious. It was then he remembered the prayer against Satan, and summoning up his protective instincts, he pictured her going in, sitting down at that table, trying to hold it together in the face of a storm that would not ebb.

  “Satan and all you little uglies who hang out with him, I cast you out and away from Dani and from her mom and from the restaurant and from that whole mall by the Holy Blood of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. You are hereby put on notice. You are not to go around them or get close to them or be anywhere near them for any reason by the Holy Name of Jesus. And right now, this instant, you are all sent to the throne of the Most High God, the Lord of All, to be dealt with there as He sees fit. Dear Jesus…” He clasped his hands and put his head down nearly on the desk. “Please, please be with Dani today and especially now as she goes to fight this giant. I know that the giant is not her mother but what has taken over her mother’s life—the jealousy, anger, fear, hurt. Remove all of those from the situation, Jesus. Please show up in a big way for both of them. I ask this in Your Holy Name. Amen.”

  Straightening, Dani squared her shoulders, clutched her little bag, and stepped into the mall. She put her head back and lifted her chin. “God, I’m gonna need some help here. Please give me the words.”

  She never slowed down or shrunk back from the coming confrontation. In fact, this felt much like walking into a courtroom where the last thing you would ever do was let them think you were nervous. Into Fleming’s she went, and she had made it all the way to the hostess when she caught movement behind her.

  “Well, it’s about time you get here,” her mother said, checking her golden watch. “You are almost five minutes late.”

  Dani chose to let that arrow fly by her. “Hello, Mom.” She wisped kisses on both sides of her mother’s face, leaning in but never actually touching her face. That would be a mistake better left unmade. “How are you?”

  Her mother’s expression made it clear she was not happy. She turned to the hostess. “We’d like our table now.”

  “Yes. Yes, Ma’am.”

  Once seated, Dani did her best to act the epitome of charm and grace. This wasn’t her first five-star meal. However, her mind betrayed her, reminding her of Eric’s words about the French fry food fight. It then helpfully traced forward from that comment to the evening spent getting even with him. She carefully took a sip of water to calm the blushing heat rising in her cheeks.

  “What sounds good?” her mother asked, opening the menu thankfully oblivious to the wildly disparate thoughts ping-ponging around in Dani’s head. “I think I may have the shrimp as an appetizer. How about you?”

  Remaining calm in the face of the advancing army that could ambush her at any time, Dani did her best to not
panic as they ordered. She laughed inwardly again about the glass of wine they each chose. Her mother ordered a rosé which did nothing for Dani keeping her composure.

  When their orders had been placed, her mother lifted her chin, and Dani knew the ambush was about to begin. “Now,” her mother said with a strident harshness to the syllable, “I spoke with Mitchell about this, and I think it’s time you know as well. When the house sells, I have decided to move.”

  Concern slipped over her spirit. “Move? To where?”

  “I’m thinking Florida or maybe California so I don’t have to be around all those old people.”

  Dani nearly spit her teeth out. “You’re moving to Florida?”

  Her mother shrugged and took a sip of her wine. “Or California. I hear it’s nice there this time of year.”

  For the longest minute of her life, Dani contemplated just what words she could hurl at her mother to make her stop this incessant insanity. Moving? She was going to move? And do what when she got there? Find a new husband? A new family?

  It was then that Dani’s rational side caught up with her understanding of the situation. Breathing all the craziness down, she retrieved her own water and smiled. “Well, that’s great, Mom. I’m happy for you.”

  Shock and panic were the only words to describe her mother’s face.

  “So have you been looking?” Dani asked without missing another beat. “On the Internet, I mean, for a house? Or are you going to get a condo or maybe an apartment? That would be far less upkeep.”

  Knocked off her plan to upset her daughter with the news, her mother struggled to regain the upper hand. “Mitchell thought it was a terrible idea.”

  However, Dani just laughed at that. “Oh, you know Mitchell. He’s never been very good at change. So where are you thinking—the Villages? Cypress? Leesburg?” The only reason she knew about them was because of how often people who retired from Drake moved south to Florida, but that knowledge was coming in handy now.

  “I… I haven’t really… I’m just starting my search.”

  “You know, having you in Florida would be great,” Dani said actually thinking about it. “We could bring Ja down for visits and go to the beach. She would love picking up shells and crashing the waves. When she got a little older, maybe she could learn to surf.”

  This conversation was making her mother very uncomfortable, so Dani steered it a slightly different direction. “You know, Mom, that is one thing I’ve always admired about you. You don’t just sit around and wait for life to happen. You get out there and make things happen.” She nodded, truly thinking what she was about to say. “In fact, I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and thank you. Thank you for believing we could be something more than stuck in the backwoods projects somewhere. Thank you for holding us to a higher standard and never letting us settle because it would have been easier.”

  Her mother’s face softened. “You don’t think I’m too stubborn for my own good?”

  Slowly Dani shrugged one shoulder. “I think sometimes we have to have some stubborn in us or we’d never get anywhere.” She lifted her glass. “To Florida.”

  A moment and her mother lifted hers as well. “To Florida.”

  “So she’s really moving to Florida?” Eric asked as they left Raleigh behind headed to the one place that actually made sense to Dani’s heart.

  “Oh, who knows? She could move to Borneo for all I know.”

  Confusion crossed his face. “Where is Borneo anyway?”

  “Asia, I think. Least that’s where I always thought it was.”

  “Huh.” He nodded. “I always thought it was in the Caribbean, but I’ve never really looked it up on a map.”

  She typed into her phone, paused a moment, and picked it up to show him. “I was right. Southeast Asia.”

  “Huh. Dani—one. My terrible geography—zero.” A moment and he glanced over at her. “So if she does move…?”

  Shaking her head, Dani put it on the headrest and swiveled it over to him. “Oh, I’m sure she can be a drama queen there too.” She thought about it and pulled her head up. “I don’t know. I’m not going to worry about it anymore. It’s like Grandma said yesterday about tying yourself to God, work on you, pray for her. That’s what I’m trying to do, put her in God’s hands and let Him deal with it.”

  After a heartbeat, his hand came across the console between them, and with a small smile, she laid hers in his.

  “Thank you,” she said softly, and his gaze slipped over to hers in incomprehension. “For hanging onto me even when I was about to let go.”

  A nod and he dragged her hand over to kiss the back of it. “Second best decision of my life, right after saying, ‘I do.’”

  “Okay,” Caleb said after they had dropped Jaden off at Rachel’s and made it to Attabury. He had met them not in the house but on the road in front of it at their SUV.

  Dani looked past him to the house. It was incredible with the light gray siding and dark slate trim. It didn’t even look like the same place anymore.

  “So here’s the thing.” Caleb glanced back at the house. “I can’t let you come in.”

  “What?” Dani asked as anger singed the edges of the syllable. “What do you mean you can’t let us in? It’s our house!”

  “I know. I know.” He put up both hands. “But we’re on the homestretch now, and H&H wants the reveal to feel real, not like you’re acting like you haven’t seen it before.”

  Eric put his hand on his hip. “Are you saying we’re not going to get to help this weekend?”

  “Oh, no. You’re going to help. Just not on the inside. We’ve got to finish the pieces out at the farm, and we need to talk about whether or not we’re going to stage it for the reveal.”

  “But you’re not going to let us in?” Dani asked.

  “’Fraid not. But we do need a few more stand-ups, so if y’all don’t mind, we’ll get you camera ready and get those shot in the yard while Aaron and the crew are still here.”

  Well, that was a lousy bait-and-switch.

  When Caleb walked back to the house to find Aaron, Dani looked at Eric. “Did you know about this?”

  “Not really. He mentioned something about it like a month or so ago, but I never really thought…”

  “Wonder what they’d do if we just tag-teamed them.” Dani was busy getting ready for the cameras, tucking her tank-shirt tail in and flipping her hair this way and that to get the knots out of it. “You could run interference for me. I bet I could take those little guys if you distracted Caleb.”

  Eric had no doubt whatsoever of the truth of that statement, and he laughed, loving this crazy side of her. “You know, you can be a handful when you want to be.”

  She popped her eyebrows up at him. “Only when I want to be?”

  He took one look at her, tipped his head, and grinned. “I plead the fifth.”

  The standups weren’t too bad except that Dani was about to die knowing she couldn’t at least take a little peek inside the house. When they were all finished and the camera crew was rolling up for the week, Caleb met them out front once again.

  “You sure we can’t take just a little peek?” Dani asked, pinching her fingers together so they almost touched. “Just a little one. I promise I’ll act all surprised when we see it for real.”

  Caleb laughed. “No. I don’t want to get fired from my first job. I’ll tell you what, why don’t we go over to our house? Rachel is cooking up some supper, and we can line out the last few things on this deal.”

  “Sounds good to us,” Eric answered for both of them though in truth, Dani thought if she could’ve argued just a little longer, she could’ve talked him into it.

  How Eric could be so incredibly calm about the whole not-getting-to-see-it thing Dani had no idea. “You know, we could sneak over there tonight at like say one in the morning,” she said as they went to Rachel’s. “No one would have to know.”

  “We don’t have a key yet.”

  “Well, s
urely someone has left a window open or something. You can climb a trellis, right?”

  “If there was one,” he said with a grin that brought out the dimple she had always loved.

  She nodded. “Well, what do you say we call Caleb right now and tell him we want a trellis? He could put it right out there on the side by that upstairs master bedroom window. ‘Course we wouldn’t have to tell him why we want it.”

  Eric laughed. “You are something else.”

  “So I’ve been told.”

  When they got to Caleb and Rachel’s, Dani was still spinning ideas on how they could break into their own house. There was even one about a drone and the chimney. It sounded just plausible enough to have him worried. Eric knew she was being silly. At least he hoped she was.

  “I think you’d better keep an eye on her,” he said to Rachel as they followed her into the kitchen.

  “Oh? Why’s that?”

  Dani leaned on the island with both elbows and her forearms. “Caleb has banned us from our own house. Can he even do that? There’s got to be some law somewhere on the books that says he doesn’t have that kind of power.”

  “Uh-oh,” Rachel said, banging a spoon on the slow cooker rim. “I remember that part.” She closed the lid, adjusted the temperature, looked at Dani, and lifted her eyebrows. “That about caused the biggest fight we ever had.”

  “So he did the same thing to you?”

  “Same thing, and believe me, I was about as happy about it as you are.”

  “I don’t know what y’all are all so fired up worried about,” Eric said. “It’s just a house.”

  “Just a house?” Dani asked, spinning her arms together in front of her and raising one eyebrow. “That is not just a house. I’ll have you know, that is my house.”

  “Our house,” he said, taking a chip and dip that Rachel had set on the island. “Besides, I trust Caleb. The man’s a genius with this stuff. If his reputation’s on the line, trust me, we ain’t got nothing to worry about.”