Phillip watched Granny wave back. “You’re welcome, Dear. It’s my pleasure, and I’m more than happy to be able to give all those things to people who need them.”
With one last wave, Neil shifted into first gear and began the drive home.
Neil and Phillip yawned at the same time.
Phillip smiled in the middle of his yawn, but didn’t bother to cover his mouth with his hand. Not only was he just with Neil, but even if he wasn’t, he was too tired to care. “Thanks for all your help, Neil. I had no idea this was going to turn into an all-day moving party. Granny gave away a lot of stuff to a lot of people. I didn’t know that you’d be the only one here who owns a pickup truck.”
Neil smiled and nodded, not taking his attention off his driv-ing. “No problem. I don’t mind at all, although I think we’re both going to be stiff tomorrow. If it was earlier, I’d think of paying a surprise visit to Grace. Did you know she’s got a hot tub and a sauna in that apartment building she lives in?”
Phillip lost his smile. All day long, even though all they’d done was move furniture and appliances of all shapes and sizes and weights, so many things had reminded him of Grace. When they moved Granny’s old chest freezer to his cousin Trevor’s house, he remembered Grace’s teasing comments about the chocolate muffins that never did make it into the freezer. All through Granny’s house he’d seen handmade ornaments. Seeing Granny’s doilies doubly reminded him of Grace, especially when he’d noticed a doily on Granny’s coffee table very similar to a smaller one he’d seen at Grace’s place.
Of course it hadn’t helped when Granny herself mentioned Grace outright. At the time she was speaking to Neil about the possibilities of giving away some of her crafting supplies. Granny had said that of all the younger ladies in the church, Grace was the one who would likely make the most use of her extra knitting needles. Granny had discovered that when she started to sort and pack her things, she often found two, and even three, pairs of the same sizes.
Phillip crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in the seat as Neil stopped for a red light. “Speaking of Grace, I hope you remember that we’re taking her out for lunch tomorrow after church.”
Neil’s brows knotted. “Of course I remember. We usually spend Sunday afternoons together. Sometimes we go out, sometimes we go back to her place, and sometimes she comes over to our place, but that depends if you’re home.”
“I don’t remember you bringing her to our place on Sun-days. Now that you mention it, she hardly ever comes over to our place.”
Neil nodded. “That’s because I know most of the time when you’re going to be home.”
Phillip clenched his jaw as he considered the ramifications of Neil’s statement. He hadn’t known that the reason he didn’t see much of Grace was because Neil purposely avoided him. Part of him could understand that, in most cases, the third person often felt the odd man out. In such a case, Neil had been avoiding bringing Grace to their home to spare him the potential for discomfort. However, another part of him was oddly annoyed, and he didn’t know why.
Now that he thought about it, and since he’d had an opportunity to spend some time with Grace, Phillip realized that he wanted to get to know her better. Of course she was Neil’s girlfriend. Naturally, Phillip respected that relationship. Still, that didn’t stop Phillip from wanting to be just plain old ordinary friends with Grace. Many people developed and maintained platonic friendships with someone of opposite gender.
He cleared his throat. “You don’t have to worry if I’m home or not. I don’t mind you bringing Grace over. If you don’t mind me sharing the living room with the two of you, that’s okay with me. We don’t all always have to stay in the living room either. There’s the kitchen, and the backyard in the summer-time, too, you know. There’s plenty of room for everyone.”
“You don’t mind? That’s great. Maybe I will bring Grace over more often, especially when summertime comes. I know she likes to sit outside in the fresh air, but living in an apartment doesn’t give her much chance to do that. It’s not the same sitting in the backyard as sitting on the eleventh-floor balcony. Did you know that she’s not allowed to barbecue things on her balcony? They say it’s a potential fire hazard to the balcony above.”
“That makes sense. No, I don’t mind. Maybe that will give us an excuse to try barbecuing something other than hamburgers and hot dogs next year.”
Neil grinned from ear to ear as they pulled up to their house and he shifted the truck into park. “Yeah. We can impress her with our great teamwork. I’ll light the barbecue, you can cook the steaks, and I’ll supervise.”
Phillip grinned. “Nice try, Neil.”
Neil grinned back. “I couldn’t help it.”
Despite Neil’s attempt to get out of his turns at cooking, Phillip now looked forward to future Sundays more than ever. But, for the coming Sunday, they were scheduled to end up at Grace’s apartment. And he could hardly wait.
four
“God bless you, and go in the peace of Christ.”
“Amen,” the congregation replied in almost-unison.
The pastor stepped away from the podium, and people began to shuffle away from their seats as the sanctuary slowly emptied into the foyer.
Fortunately for Phillip, once he arrived in the foyer, many of the grateful recipients of Granny’s excess furniture flocked around her, again thanking her for everything she’d given away. This gave Phillip a good excuse not to join in and thank her, too, as he was positive the topic of her treasured angel would come up in conversation. Even though, by now, the angel would be back to normal, Phillip wasn’t yet ready to tell her about what happened or the lengths he and Neil and Grace had gone through to fix it. He doubted he ever would.
He turned back to the people in his small group when Neil poked him in the ribs. “Come on, Phil. If we don’t get out of here fast, we’ll have to wait for a table.”
Phillip didn’t need to be asked twice. Immediately he excused himself and headed with Neil and Grace toward the exit. Still, he had to comment. “Don’t rush me. Remember, you have to be nice to me since we’re using my car.”
Neil snorted. “We didn’t have to come in your car. Three people can fit in my pickup quite easily.”
“Which doesn’t negate the fact that it’s still my car, I’m the driver, and you still have to be nice to me.”
“I’ll be nice to you when you give me back that CD you borrowed last month.”
“I didn’t borrow it. We traded. That means you’ve got one of mine, and you’ve got to give it back first.”
“Boys!” Grace interjected. “Are you two always like this?”
“No,” said Phillip, grinning widely.
“Yes,” mumbled Neil.
The cold wind hit them as soon as they stepped outside the shelter of the building. Phillip mentally kicked himself for not choosing a warmer jacket and quickened his pace.
When he was close enough to his car, he aimed the remote control on his key chain. He hit the switch to unlock the doors and immediately shuffled around to the driver’s side. Just as he touched the handle, Phillip paused. If he had been alone with Grace, he would have opened the car door for her, like he had when they went shopping together. However, this time, even though they were together as a group, she wasn’t really with him. Grace really was with Neil.
Instead of getting into the car first, he waited. A flicker of satisfaction passed through him when Neil opened the door for Grace and waited for her to slide in.
As soon as Grace positioned herself in the center of the front seat, Phillip slid in beside her.
“I’ll have you know that there would have been more room in my pickup than having the three of us squashed in like sardines,” Neil grumbled as he slid into the passenger side of the front seat on the other side of Grace.
Phillip opened his mouth to give Neil a rebuttal, but nothing came out. This time, Neil was correct. If the threesome had consisted of three men, they woul
d have thought nothing of one of them sitting alone in the backseat. But such was not the case. Technically Neil was with Grace, so the two of them would naturally sit together. However, Phillip would have felt awkward to have Neil and Grace in the back, while he was alone in the front to drive. If Neil sat alone in the backseat, that would have left Phillip in the front with Grace, which wasn’t proper. Grace was Neil’s date, even though they had only attended the Sunday morning service. Grace sitting alone in the backseat was not a consideration.
Phillip had never been part of a threesome where one of the three was female. He was discovering the hard way that things he’d never thought about before had suddenly become complicated.
Grace’s voice broke the silence. “We’re not that squished, and don’t worry about it, Phil. This way is warmer. I’ve also noticed that since your car is smaller, it heats up faster than Neil’s truck.”
Phillip smiled while Neil grumbled a comment he likely didn’t want to hear. Until the thin layer of frost cleared from the windshield, they chatted about the morning’s service; then Phillip drove to the pancake restaurant.
At first Phillip wasn’t sure how he would fit into the conversation, being an obvious third person, but once the dialogue got going, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had such fun at lunch after church. Between the three of them, talking never stopped. The only time they slowed was to pray over their food when it was served.
Conversation still flowed all the way to the car and during the drive back to Grace’s apartment.
As they neared Grace’s apartment, Phillip’s thoughts re-turned to the angel—the reason they all had come together in the first place. In a way, he was almost sorry the angel was all fixed. Now he had no reason to see Grace. His only consolation was that he had opened up the door to Neil’s having Grace over to their home more frequently, despite the fact that Phillip would tend to be the odd man out.
Only once they stood in the elevator did Phillip notice a change in Grace. As the elevator rose, Grace became increasingly quiet. If not for her growing grin, worry might have started to set in. But, because of the grin, he found his own excitement growing at the thought of seeing his recovered angel.
Grace opened the apartment door and stood back, allowing him to enter first. Without needing to be told where to go, Phillip headed straight for the kitchen.
His breath caught at the sight of Granny’s angel, fully restored to its former beauty, sitting in the center of Grace’s kitchen table. Not only had Grace removed all the supports, but she’d also replaced the hair and the halo, and sewn the lining back in.
“It’s beautiful!” he gasped as he picked the angel up. Very gently, he ran his fingertips over the top of one wing, barely able to believe the transformation from the soggy lump of only three days before. “I don’t know what to say.” His hand froze when he reached the tip of the wing. Even though the angel looked exactly like it had on the day he brought it home, Phillip had never known the process or what was involved in making something made of thread stand up by itself or how the wings were made to extend so gracefully to the sides. Now that he knew, he appreciated the beauty and craftsmanship of the angel even more. And in so doing, he appreciated even more how Grace had so willingly offered to help when she knew the extent of the time and energy involved when he hadn’t.
He looked up at Grace, staring deeply into her big brown eyes. “A simple thank-you doesn’t seem like enough.”
At first she smiled, but then her face turned ten shades of red and she looked down at the floor. “You’re welcome,” she mumbled. She let a short silence hang and then checked her watch. “I don’t mean to kick you guys out, but I’m expected over at my sister’s for dinner. I have to get ready, and I don’t want to arrive just before she’s ready to put everything on the table.”
Phillip nodded and held the angel closer to his body. “No problem; I understand. Thank you again, Grace. For everything.”
Not wanting to create an awkward situation, Phillip walked out of the kitchen in case Neil wanted to kiss her good-bye. And, not wanting to listen to Neil kiss Grace, Phillip continued walking once he reached the hall and made his way all the way to the apartment’s main door.
To his surprise, when he turned around, Neil was already behind him, and Grace was behind Neil. They exchanged a quick, kissless good-bye. Phillip and Neil stepped into the hall toward the elevator, and the door closed behind them.
As soon as they were in the privacy of the elevator, Phillip could no longer keep quiet.
He turned to Neil. “I know it’s probably none of my business, but you’ve been dating Grace for about a year now. What’s going on? You didn’t kiss her good-bye. In fact, I don’t remember you kissing her good-bye on Thursday evening either. Are you two on the outs or something?”
Neil turned his head toward Phil, his eyebrows knotted in the middle of his forehead. “On the outs? No. What makes you say that?”
Phillip ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know. You two just don’t seem, well, romantic or anything. You act like an old couple who’s been together for fifty years or something. But even my granny and grampa kissed good-bye and stuff up until the day he died.”
“Grace is shy. I respect that.”
Phillip remained silent to let Neil’s words sink in. He hadn’t considered Grace to be shy before, but now that Neil mentioned it, he could remember a few times when he’d made very pointed and direct eye contact with Grace. She wouldn’t look him in the eye. Instead, both times she blushed and turned away. Yet, he couldn’t equate her behavior with him with her actions at the hardware store.
Phillip would have been content to simply walk up and down the aisles until he found, or didn’t find, what they were seeking. Conversely, Grace had boldly marched straight to the service counter. She hadn’t cared that the clerk looked at them strangely, obviously finding it amusing that two supposed adults were asking for water balloons when there was snow on the ground. The clerk’s amusement at their request had gone right over Grace’s head, but Phillip had been quite embarrassed. Because of her reaction at the time, Phillip would never have considered that Grace might be the least bit shy.
The incongruity intrigued him.
The elevator door opened, allowing a mother with two young children to enter. One of the children brushed up against the bag containing the angel, turning Phillip’s thoughts to protecting his property and away from Grace. He switched hands and held the bag higher, watching the children with an eagle eye until the elevator reached the lobby, where everyone got out.
Once they arrived home, Phillip immediately drew the angel out of the bag so he could examine it more closely, without Grace watching him. Slowly, he ran his fingers over the flowing gown, analyzing the texture. He couldn’t believe how stiff and coarse it now felt. He remembered how soft and pliable the angel had been when he tucked the balloons inside the arms. At that stage of reconstruction, Grace had washed all the original starch out and dried the angel, and the threads were in the same state as they would have been when Granny made the angel. The threads had not been pillowy soft, but they were delicate and smooth—very different than they were now.
“What are you doing with that thing? Can’t you just put it down?”
Phillip grinned and lowered the angel to the coffee table. “Sorry. I can’t help but think of what it looked like before we went through all that work to get it to stay like this.” He pushed Neil’s TV Guide aside and picked up a half-full cup of cold coffee left from the evening before. He then moved the angel into the center of the coffee table and walked toward the kitchen.
“This time, I’m making sure no more accidents happen,” he called over his shoulder as he dumped the coffee sludge down the sink. “Either we got lucky with that coffee stain not setting, or God doesn’t want anything to happen to that angel either.”
“I dunno. Will you come back in here and give me a hand with this? We really don’t have room for two couches, yo
u know. Not that I want to give up either one. We’ve got to do something about this room. This isn’t working.”
Phillip sauntered back to the living room, but didn’t enter. Instead, he leaned one hip against the door frame, crossed his arms, and grinned at his friend. “Maybe we should get a smaller television, then.”
“Har-dee-har,” Neil grumbled. “Zip it and get over here. I think if we can move our couch against that wall, slide your granny’s couch there, we can put the recliner in the corner, and we’ll have more room. We just won’t be able to lean back in the recliner anymore.”
“Then what’s the point of the recliner?”
“Never mind. We’ll think of something later. For now, we need room to walk.”
“That’s right.” Phillip glanced at the angel in the center of the coffee table as he walked past. “We don’t want any more accidents.”
It took them nearly an hour, but they managed to rearrange the living room satisfactorily to a more comfortable and less cluttered arrangement.
Phillip groaned and reached his arms over his head to stretch a kink out of his back, while Neil flopped down on his granny’s ex-couch.
“This is great,” Neil sighed. “I wish there was some way to thank your granny for this. I feel like we should give her something, but she’s getting rid of stuff now and doesn’t want any more junk. Plus she won’t have a backyard anymore, so I can’t even offer to cut the grass when summer comes.”
Phillip lowered himself to the recliner that no longer reclined. “I know what you mean. Maybe we can take her out for supper or something, although she cooks better than any restaurant. And for some reason, she likes to have people over and cook for them. Me, I’d rather go out. I know I sure had a nice time today with you and Grace.”
Neil nodded, then rose off the couch. “Same. Come here for a sec. I think when we moved the TV stand, we accidentally shifted the television. It’s crooked.”
Phillip chose not to comment as he helped wiggle Neil’s thirty-seven-inch television into position.
Truly Yours Contemporary Collection December 2014 Page 20