A Moment Like This: A Contemporary Christian Romance Prequel Novella (The Grace Series Book 4)

by Staci Stallings

  The breath jammed into her lungs and threatened to strangle her. She should have thought to tell Mitch not to say anything. Then again, he should have known. But clearly he didn’t, and now here they were.

  “I cannot believe you are thinking about buying that house,” her mother verily spat from the other side of the table. “Why anyone in their right mind would want to live in Ridgemount is beyond me.”

  “Ridgemount?” her father practically retched as his fork dropped back to his plate and his gaze drilled into her. “What’s this about Ridgemount? You are not moving to Ridgemount.”

  Her mother clicked her tongue at him. “It’s none of your business, Leo,” her mother said. “And lower your voice. This is not the time nor the place to be yelling at the children.”

  “I am not yelling,” her father said clearly trying to rein his voice in, “and they are not children, Clarissa.”

  “Leo,” Celeste said, putting her hand on his arm to try to calm the situation or at least him.

  “What?” he asked, the anger boiling hot under the surface. “I simply asked why they were talking about Ridgemount.”

  Knowing there was no good way out of this mess, Dani closed her eyes though they never really lifted from the table. “We’re buying a house there, Dad. A vacation house.”

  “A vacation house? In Ridgemount? What kind of a vacation would that be? There isn’t a thing to do in Ridgemount. Why would you want to buy a house there? There is no way that can be a good investment. Have you seen that town? It doesn’t even deserve a dot on the map.”

  Her mother’s head was down now, too, and even Mitchell looked both chastened and apologetic.

  “We haven’t decided anything yet. We’re just looking into it,” Dani said, knowing 90 percent of her guests knew for a fact she was lying. “Would anyone like more gravy?”

  “Well, that was a disaster,” Eric said later when their guests had finally, mercifully, vacated the premises, thankfully without any actual blood being spilled.

  “Don’t start,” Dani said as she washed what was left of the pans from dinner.

  “I wish I was Mitchell and Kim and could’ve left early,” he said, transferring the glasses from the dishwasher up into the cabinet. “The lucky ducks.”

  His wife sighed, and Eric knew he needed to stop venting for her sake.

  “Your dad sounded thrilled about the Ridgemount deal,” he said although he knew this was also a sore subject. “I’m not sure either one of them is too happy about it.”

  Dani sniffed and shook her head. “This isn’t about them,” she mumbled as she put a pan in the sink with a clatter.

  “What?” he asked though he was pretty sure he had heard.

  She lifted her chin angrily. “I said, ‘This isn’t about them.’”

  His work slowed. “Then who’s it about, Dani? Cause I know it isn’t about me.”

  She shook her head again. “I know, you don’t understand.”

  “Well, you’re right about that.” He didn’t understand, and although he had tried to be supportive, the tension from the day had frayed his ability to be patient. “I just don’t know where you’re going to get all of this time to remodel a house that’s practically falling down.”

  “I’m not going to be remodeling it. I told you that. Mr. James is. All I’m going to do is make sure it gets done.”

  “And pay for it,” Eric said. “Let’s not forget about that.”

  “The money. Of course, you would be worried about the money.”

  Bewildered, he put the last glass in and shut the dishwasher. “Of course I’m worried about the money. That place practically screams Money Pit.”

  “Well, don’t worry about. It won’t be coming out of your account.” She put the last pan away and started wiping off the counters. “I’m going in to work tomorrow, are you?”

  “Yeah. I’m supposed to be there early to go over Phase 4.”

  Dani nodded. “Then I’d better call Carly and make sure she can come for Ja. She can take her to Mrs. McGuire’s.”

  Chapter 13

  Derek & Jaycee

  As Derek and Jaycee headed to Rachel’s mom’s house to help Caleb and Rachel on Monday morning, Jaycee could hardly breathe through the excitement building in her. She squeezed her hand over Derek’s which was firmly ensconced on her thigh.

  “Okay,” she said, “so what’s the plan? We can’t ask them about the house until he knows about the job, right?”

  Derek nodded but said nothing.

  “So what are you thinking about when to ask them? The sooner, the better, right?”

  He nodded again, still not putting his thoughts into spoken words.

  Jaycee sat for as long as she could take it and then heaved a hard sigh. “Are you going to let me in on what you’re thinking, or am I just supposed to guess?”

  Glancing over at her, Derek exhaled very, very softly so that if she wasn’t watching as closely as she was, she would never have seen it. One thing that had surprised her immensely was how often he thought about things without saying anything. Maybe she had always thought he didn’t think about them at all, or maybe she just had never bothered to really pay attention. Whatever it was, she was beginning to learn that her husband had a to-himself life she had never really realized was a part of him.

  “Well, part of me says just throw it out there,” he finally said. “Part of me says if we do this wrong, he’s going to turn it down without even bothering to think about it.”

  “You really think he would do that?” she asked in surprise. “Even with you?”

  His gaze came across to her and traveled up and down her for a second before returning to the road. “If it had been a choice between you and this…?”

  Jaycee’s heart hitched in her chest and refused to move again. “You would have given up the job for me?”

  The smile was soft. “The job has to fit with us, not the other way around.”

  Somehow that really surprised her, and she put her head on his shoulder and ran her hand over his. A moment and she lifted her head as they turned into the driveway. “I really love the idea of this house. As crazy as that sounds.” Looking up the driveway, her mind spun with all the ways she could make it home. “I’d love to tear off this concrete here and put on a porch. We could put flowers over there and a swing.”

  Derek laughed as he parked and looked down at her. “You’ve been thinking about this.”

  “I have.” She shrunk into her shoulders. “I never thought we could have a place of our own, you know? Like this? I’ve felt so not-at-home for so long, I don’t know that I’d even let myself think about what having a home would be like.”

  Looking at her, Derek reached up and slid the light brown hair from her face. “So, what you’re saying is, you want a house one way or the other?”

  With a shake of her head, Jaycee beat back the emotions. “No. Not if it doesn’t make sense. I can wait, or maybe it won’t ever even happen, but if…”

  Derek’s smile grew even softer. “Man, we’re going to have to work on this dreaming thing with you, aren’t we?”

  Sadness washed over and through her as the truth brushed her heart. “I used to dream a lot before... Now? I guess sometimes it’s hard to let myself even go there because I know I’m going to be disappointed, so it’s better if I don’t even let myself think about it.”

  Concern slipped into his eyes. “How many other dreams did you have before the accident and all the craziness of the job started?”

  She laughed softly, wondering how much she could really tell him. After all, her dreams no longer just affected her life. “A few.” And she knew she should never have started this conversation because Derek West didn’t let things go even if it would be better for him if he did.

  “Okay. So what are some of these dreams?”

  Knowing they shouldn’t just sit out here and talk with work to be done, she glanced past him. “We really need to get in there. Caleb…”

&
nbsp; However, Derek stopped her. “Caleb can wait.”

  That jerked her breath to a hard halt. Work. It was her go-to excuse, and with him, it had always been an easy one to use. “Derek, we need to…”

  His gaze fell into a deep seriousness. “No. Not as much as we need to do this.” He glanced back. “Five minutes.” When he looked back at her, his eyes searched hers. “I need to know, Jayc. I need to know what dreams you have, what I need to be thinking about. Me guessing? I don’t think that’s an overly great plan with designing a house or a life.” Collecting her back to his side, he put his arm around her gently but firmly, and she knew then she wasn’t getting out of this discussion. “Now, what dreams are chasing around in that head of yours?”

  Nothing like being put on the spot. Jaycee thought through and around and past and back by the question, not at all sure where to even start. “Well…” She let that word hang there for several seconds on the off-chance he would give up because she was taking too long. “I’ve always kind of thought about moving back here someday.” Her laugh was soft. “Maybe when I retired? I really like this place. It’s slower and not as crazy. Not that I don’t like crazy. I just don’t like it all the time. And then I think, this place is probably too slow for me. I mean, what would I even do here, but then I think about Sage being here and Mom and Dad, and I can’t help but feel like maybe I’m missing out on that time of being with them.”

  Without a word, Derek nodded.

  A second and Jaycee shook her head. “And of course the thought of kids. I mean, I’m not getting any younger, and if it doesn’t happen soon, maybe it just won’t.”

  One slow nod, and she wasn’t sure he was even still breathing anymore.

  “Don’t get me wrong. I love the job. It’s just, sometimes I wonder, you know, what I’m giving up by focusing only on that.” Then she sighed. “I know, that sounds really cheesy and stupid. Gee, Jaycee, what do you want in life?” She mimicked a high-pitched voice. “Just a house with a little, white picket fence, some kids and a dog.”

  He nodded again and then narrowed his eyes. “Where would the fence go?”

  Jaycee spun and looked up at him in confusion. “What fence?”

  “The white picket one.” Derek looked out beyond the windows. “Front yard or back?”

  Thinking he was teasing her, she hit his chest. “That’s not funny.”

  “What?” he asked, taken by surprise. “If you want one, I’m going to have to know where you want it put in, right? I mean I don’t want you to come home and it be around the wrong yard.”

  Slowly what he was saying sank in to her consciousness. “Wait. You’re serious.”

  He laughed as if that should have been obvious. “And how big of a dog are we talking about? Because I really don’t like those little miniature toy things. They’re seriously annoying. Just sayin’.”

  Deep, profound love for him fingered through her as she came closer to him and laid her lips on his. Maybe her dreams weren’t as impossible as she had always thought. In fact, he was here. That, right there, should have been enough to convince her that anything was possible.

  When the kiss ended, he pulled her into his embrace. “I think we need to talk to Caleb today. No sense in making changes we don’t want made with this thing.”

  Joy danced up from her heart and came out her eyes. “This is crazy. I can’t believe I’m going to get to design my own home.”

  Derek tightened his grip on her. “Believe it.” A second and he loosened his grasp on her and looked down at her. “And just for the record, your dreams are important to me. Okay?”

  With a small nod, Jaycee closed her eyes as he kissed her forehead. “Okay.”

  Chapter 14

  Caleb & Rachel

  Almost literally there was no end to the projects Caleb saw when he came out of the back bedroom to get a drink in the kitchen just before nine Monday morning. He’d been working since six, and still they were everywhere. One bigger than the last. It had felt for a while that they were making progress, but now with the wedding less than a week away, and his parents and sister’s family a mere two days from needing to occupy the space, he finally had to admit it, it simply wouldn’t be ready in time.

  The floors were not in. Most of the walls were not painted. The windows he had so thought needed to be replaced probably never would be at this rate. Shaking his head at the impossibility of it all, he got some water, glanced outside, and saw the black truck in the golden morning light. Honestly, he should tell his friends not to even bother. There was no point in trying. He thought through his bank account and then through what it would cost to put his family up in Greely.

  Affording it in the short term wasn’t so much the issue. It was what it could do to them long term that worried him. Never one to be overly frivolous with money, he could easily see that supporting a family on his income would be harder than he had envisioned. How Rachel had managed, he would never know. The pressure of it was unimaginable.

  He watched as hand-in-hand Derek and Jaycee came up the sidewalk and then as hand-in-hand turned to her wrapped in close next to him. Caleb buried his gaze in his glass, sure he shouldn’t be watching such a scene without them knowing it. Taking another drink, his thoughts slid from the impossibility of the house to the upcoming wedding. In five short days, he would be a husband and a father. The thought still had ways of taking the courage right out of him.

  When the backdoor banged closed, he heard the quiet voices, and he smiled in spite of the dreadful thoughts. They were spending their vacation helping him. Somehow in all of his equations around what fame meant for Derek in his off hours, this scenario had never quite occurred to Caleb.

  “And…” Jaycee said as they came around the corner, and Derek snapped upright at the sight of Caleb leaning there on the sink. With only that, Jaycee stopped and turned as well.

  Strangely a pallor of awkwardness wafted through the room, and Caleb knew then without a doubt they had better things to do. He needed to tell them that and let them go.

  “Hey, Caleb,” Derek said, coming over to shake his friend’s hand.

  “Hey.” Caleb shook Derek’s hand and half-smiled at Jaycee. His gaze slipped down to the glass in his hand and held there. He felt bad about dragging them all the way out here, making them feel like they should help. “You know.” He picked his gaze up to both of them. “This is supposed to be your vacation and everything.” His gaze slid back down as he shrugged. “I’m sure you guys have better things to do than…”

  The crunch of the gravel outside whipped his gaze that direction, and his heart sank further. Rachel. How he could so badly fail all of them, he hadn’t a clue.

  Slowly he let out a sigh, feeling the responsibility and how poorly he was handling all of it. “Listen, we really appreciate all you guys have done for us out here, but…”

  The bang of the backdoor stopped his attempt at being reasonable for their sakes.

  “Morning,” Rachel said brightly and then that dimmed when she caught the vibe in the room. With wisps of concern, she went over and put her arms around Caleb and a kiss on the side of his face. “What’d I miss?”

  Caleb glanced at her, one second from admitting his utter incompetence.

  “Actually,” Derek said before Caleb got the chance to get anything more out, and he glanced at his wife, “we wanted to talk with the two of you about a few things.”

  “Oh?” Rachel said even more concerned, and she looked at Caleb as if he already knew what Derek was talking about.

  “Yeah.” Jaycee put her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. “Look, we know this is kind of out of the blue, and we don’t want to make you feel like you have to make any decisions on the spot with the wedding coming up and all, but there’s something… Well, there’s something we’ve been wanting, needing to discuss with you.”

  It was then that Caleb let go of the pity party he’d been having most of the morning. Whatever this was, it was serious, and from the sound
of things, it was his friends that needed the help. “What is it?” he asked as worry snaked through him and he straightened from the cabinet. “What’s going on?”

  “Well,” Derek said and he glanced down at Jaycee who looked up at him, “it’s a couple things really.”

  Caleb was about to come out of his skin with concern as he put the glass on the cabinet and turned back to them. “Is everything all right?”

  Putting his head down for a second, Derek then lifted his gaze to Caleb’s. “The truth is we’ve been meeting with Brent out in California about the new show.”

  Without saying a word, Caleb nodded and crossed his arms.

  “We’ve kicked around a lot of possible ideas, but none of them… Well, the truth is, I don’t really feel good about any of them. The premise is boring, the people are worse. I know I don’t want just okay or it’ll-do. I’m looking for blow-people-out-of-the-water amazing.”

  Finally Caleb grinned in relief. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

  Jaycee wound herself under Derek’s arm and put her hand on his chest. “Me either.”

  “Good,” Derek said with a nod, and once again, his gaze trailed from his wife’s over to Caleb. “The trick is finding the right concept and the right person, or people…” He looked at Rachel and smiled. “…to pull it off.” He paused one more second and then lifted his gaze to take in both of them. “We want you.”

  The words hit Caleb like two rifle blasts and sent him backward, reaching for the edge of the sink. “Me?” His thoughts spiraled and bounced on the edges of knowing he couldn’t have heard that right.

  “Yes you,” Derek said, and then he looked at Rachel, “and you.”

  Her gaze jumped over to Caleb’s in absolute panic, and he wasn’t far from where her spirit had landed. “What?”

  Silence descended around them for five seconds.

  “Derek, man, we really appreciate this, but I already told them no,” Caleb finally said, hurrying through the words before Derek could talk him out of them.