5

There was something in the air Sunday mornings that made them different from the rest of the week. Sarah had no idea what it was or why this was so, but she had no doubt that if she were taken out of some sensory deprivation chamber, taken to the middle of Last Chance, and asked “What day is it?” she would know.

“I saw Lurlene up at San Ramon this week at the beauty parlor.” Elizabeth, sitting next to Sarah in the front seat, broke the silence of the empty streets. “She said to say hi and to tell you how sorry she was to have to miss your party. She had a church music conference in El Paso from Wednesday through last night.”

Sarah glanced across at her grandmother and grinned. “Still trying to recruit me for the choir, is she?”

“Well, no.” Elizabeth kept her eyes forward. “I don’t believe that came up.”

Sarah laughed. The Cooley family was known to be musically gifted, and it had taken her years to realize that the gift may have passed her by. But even if she was the last to know she couldn’t carry a tune, she never let it stop her. She sang loudly and with gusto, just never at anyone’s particular request.

“See?” Sarah parked her car under the elms. “We got here in plenty of time.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say ‘plenty,’ but we did get here before the service started.”

“Ah, Gran, come on. What would you have done if we’d gotten here fifteen minutes earlier? You just sat on your front porch instead of in your pew, that’s all.”

“I just don’t like feeling rushed.” Elizabeth opened her door to get out. “And if a person says she’s coming by at a certain time, then that’s when I look for her to come by.”

Sarah made sure she was looking the other way before she rolled her eyes. No need to make things worse. “Okay, Gran. I’m sorry I was late. I’ll be more careful from now on.”

That appeared to be all Elizabeth was waiting for, and her smile returned. “Well, as you said, no harm done. We made it in time.”

As Sarah followed her grandmother down the aisle, she began to wonder if she might have made a mistake in moving so close. She loved Gran more than anyone she could name, and the idea of being able to care for Gran the way she had cared for Sarah had given her deep satisfaction. But Gran didn’t seem clear on who was taking care of whom.

The choir was already filing in as they took their seats in the third row on the left. Maybe they had cut it a little bit close. Lurlene, the worship leader, turned to the congregation and in moments the sounds of praise and worship filled the old wooden building.

Even over the enthusiastic voices filling the church, one strong baritone stood out and Sarah had to turn to see who it belonged to. Chris, of course. Who else? What a show-off. Well, knowing Lurlene, it wouldn’t be long before he was up in the choir, and truth be told, Sarah wasn’t really looking forward to seeing him stand out up there every time she came to church.

Sarah deliberately turned her attention to the rest of the service. Chris got on her last nerve just by breathing the same air she did, but that would not completely dominate her return to Last Chance. She would not let it. She owed him an apology, and he would get one. After this very service if she could manage it. Then she would go on about her business and let him go about his. She had friends in town, even if most of them were married now. She had Gran to look after. And in just a few weeks she’d have a classroom of second graders to teach. She had a full life. A deep sense of peace settled over her and remained until Lurlene signaled the final hymn. Chris’s voice filled the church again. How irritating could one man be?

Brother Parker raised his hands and pronounced the benediction, but not even that restored the fleeting sense of peace Sarah had experienced earlier. She was still out of sorts when Rita caught up with her.

“Hey, Miss Sarah. I hope we didn’t leave you with too much of a mess to clean up last night.”

Sarah smiled. The house had been left immaculate. Rita saw to that. But that wasn’t what she was looking for, and Sarah knew it. “Everything was perfect, of course. I can’t believe you did that for me. Thank you so much!” She gave the wiry redhead a hug.

“And were you really surprised? Did anyone give it away?”

“No one said a single word.” Sarah was thankful for a question she could answer easily. “I was just blown away by everything. I still am.”

“Well, we love you and we’re glad you’re home to stay, and we want you to know it. Did you get everything you need?”

“Everything I need and then some.”

“Then we did what we set out to do.” Rita beamed at her and then waved as she looked past Sarah at someone behind her. “Oops. There’s someone I need to catch before they leave.” She patted Sarah’s arm as she left. “Glad you had a good time last night, honey.”

Sarah took a deep breath. Rita was a whirlwind. She blew in, then she blew out again, and Sarah always needed a moment to regroup when she did. Elizabeth had gone on, and Sarah could see her talking to Brother Parker at the door.

As she passed the pew where he had been sitting, Chris Reed stepped out into the aisle and joined her. She lacked about three inches in reaching his shoulder. Good night, he was tall. Almost instinctively, she moved over to put space between them. She didn’t like the feeling of being overpowered.

“Good morning.” He smiled down at her.

“Hi.” Did he do that on purpose? Loom over people like that?

“I wanted to thank you for the party last night. It was a lot of fun.”

“Hey, I was as much a guest as anyone. It just happened to be at my house, that’s all. The one you want to thank is Rita. She was the one who put it all together.”

“I’ll do that.”

They had reached the vestibule, and Sarah was able to put a couple more feet between them. She could deal with Chris more easily if she didn’t have to look up to do it. “I do owe you an apology, though.”

Chris raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

“Yeah, the crack about the instructions was uncalled-for. It was a poor joke and I’m sorry.” There. She had said it, and now she could be done with Chris Reed.

“Oh, that.” There was that aw-shucks grin again. “Well, I sure didn’t mean to imply you couldn’t cook. I was just trying to make it easy for you.”

She couldn’t help it. She smiled back. “Well, I appreciate it. Because you know what? I do need written instructions to boil water.”

“It’s not nearly as hard as it looks, but I could write out the instructions for that too, if you want me to.”

Chris’s furrowed brow and the concern in his eyes confused Sarah. Surely he knew she was joking. Then she noticed the tiny grin tugging at the corner of his mouth, and she burst out laughing.

“You do that. And don’t forget the part about filling the kettle first. That’s the bit that I really struggle with.” Through the church doors Sarah could see that Elizabeth had finished her conversation with the pastor and was making her careful way across the parking lot. She tossed Chris a hurried wave. “Gotta go. Again, sorry for the cheap shot, and thanks for the . . . ?”

“Boneless chicken breast with mushrooms and artichokes.”

“Uh, right, that.” Sarah turned and, stopping at the door for only the briefest handshake with Brother Parker, raced to catch up with Elizabeth.

Chris watched her go, wanting to kick himself. Why did he have to sound like a menu? Why couldn’t he have just said “chicken”? Everyone likes chicken. And why did he, one of the fastest and most agile running backs his high school had ever fielded, and a smart guy too, always feel like a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal whenever Sarah Cooley was around?

“Well, that was a heavy sigh.” Chris turned to find Lurlene entering the vestibule and smiling at him.

“Hi, Lurlene.” He decided to ignore the comment about his sigh. What could he say to explain it, anyway? “It was a good service today. And I especially liked the offertory. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the choir sound better.”

“Funny you should mention that, Chris, because that’s just what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Uh-oh.

“You have a very nice voice, do you know that? And I’ll just say it straight out. We sure could use you in the choir.”

“Thanks, Lurlene, but I just don’t see how I can take on anything else right now. I just don’t have the bandwidth. I’m still trying to get my feet on the ground at the Dip ’n’ Dine.”

“Well, yes, I have heard a little bit about that.”

Oh you have, have you? And where would that come from, as if I didn’t know?

Lurlene smiled and patted his arm. “You’re doing just fine. We’re proud to have you in Last Chance. And the choir’s not going anywhere. We’ll be here when you’re ready for us.”

Chris wanted to hug Lurlene. Her encouraging words made him realize how few he had heard since he arrived in Last Chance. It almost made him want to join the choir, just to please her. Almost. He smiled instead.

“I’ll remember that.”

“And here’s one more thing for you to remember.” Lurlene had walked with him to the door and paused before she went to her own car. “If God has something for you to do, he’s going to give you the wherewithal to do it, whether it’s the time, the energy, or the bandwidth, whatever that is. That’s your filter, not how you feel about things.”

Chris watched her go before heading to his Jeep. For a few seconds he had thought that she understood how overwhelmed he was, that she might be concerned about him as a person, not just a baritone. He couldn’t blame her, though. She was devoted to the choir.

He had just climbed into the front seat when Lurlene drove by and leaned out her window. “And I’m not talking about the choir, either!”

With a wave, Lurlene drove out of the parking lot, and Chris watched her go. Okay, then, if she wasn’t talking about the choir, then what? The image of Sarah Cooley floated through his mind again. Could Lurlene possibly have seen something there? Could she have been encouraging Chris to follow up on that?

Chris turned the ignition key and shoved the gearshift into Reverse. Get real, Reed. The only thing anyone could have noticed about you and Sarah Cooley is that she pretty much can’t stand you. Lurlene just meant what she said—let God decide what you have the bandwidth for.

“Was that Chris Reed I saw you talking to after church?” Elizabeth settled herself in the front seat as Sarah started her car.

“Well, there aren’t too many other behemoths floating around, so I guess it must have been him that you saw.” For a moment Sarah thought she may have gone too far. Gran let a lot go by, but when you crossed the line from sassy to what she considered disrespectful, she yanked you up short. But Gran seemed ready to let this one pass.

“Did you get things straightened out with him?”

“I guess. At any rate, I said I was sorry, and he said okay, so we’re done.”

“Did you invite him over for coffee or something?”

“Good heavens, why would I do that?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Just to be friendly, I guess. There aren’t that many single young people in town, and he doesn’t have much of a social life here.”

“Well, I sure don’t see it as my job to provide him with one. Are you matchmaking, Gran?”

“Of course not. I just think he’s a nice young man and he seems lonely to me. I know between Carlos and Juanita, they’re giving him fits at the Dip ’n’ Dine, and he doesn’t seem to have much of a life beyond that. A friendly cup of coffee might go a long way toward making him feel at home in Last Chance, that’s all.”

“Well, I have to say this.” Sarah stopped in her grandmother’s driveway. “I don’t think he’s quite as stuck on himself as I once did. He does have a sense of humor. But do you know what was in those packages he brought?” She lowered her voice to an affected baritone. “Boneless chicken breast with artichokes and mushrooms.”

“Sounds good. Different anyway.” Elizabeth gathered her belongings and prepared to climb out.

“Want to come have lunch with me? We could have chicken with artichokes and mushrooms.”

“Not today, sweet girl. I’m just too tired for anything. It seems I can pretty much do anything I ever could, but it just takes me longer and longer to recover.”

“Are you okay?” Sarah covered Elizabeth’s hand with her own. She wanted to take care of Gran, but that didn’t mean Gran was supposed to get old.

“I’m fine.” Elizabeth opened the door. “I just need my nap. You can come back this evening for some waffles, if you want. But you should know I’m going to call Chris Reed as soon as I get up and invite him too. I think that boy could use some company.”

“Wish I could.” Actually, those waffles were sounding good until Gran mentioned inviting Chris. “But I really need to get finished with my unpacking. School’s going to be starting soon, and I won’t have time then.”

Elizabeth just nodded. “Suit yourself, honey, but you have to eat something, so if you decide you have time, just come on over.”

Sarah watched her grandmother go into the house before heading down the street to her own place. She never could shake the feeling that Gran could see right into her soul, and she felt the tiniest twinge of guilt. Truthfully, she did have some more boxes to unpack, but she knew that wasn’t really what was keeping her from Gran’s. Gran would never admit it, but if she wasn’t actually into matchmaking, she was certainly providing the opportunities.

She slipped off her shoes at the door and padded into the kitchen. It smelled like coffee, and sunlight spilled through the window and left a wide patch of light on the linoleum floor. She found herself humming as she opened the refrigerator and took out some of last night’s leftovers. She loved her little house. She loved being back in Last Chance. She loved knowing that she’d be teaching her first class in a few weeks, and she even loved the fact that she had squared things up with Chris and could let him go his way while she went hers. A sense of well-being filled her to the bursting point and poured out in song. Who cared whether or not it was on key? This was her house.

The muffled ring of her phone summoned her to the living room. Still singing, she danced her way back to the sofa where she had tossed her purse and dug through till she found her phone. The song died, and so did the dance. For a long moment she stared at the name and face that appeared on the screen. The ring stopped, probably heading to voice mail. Sarah turned off the ringer, knowing it would just chime again, and buried it under the lime green throw pillow. One of these days, she would take the call, but she wasn’t up to it just yet. She just needed more time.