"So... I don't mean to invite myself over, but it doesn't seem fair that you're constantly coming over to my house."
"It sounds like we might freeze over at yours. Why don't you come over to mine this evening. Aunt Vivian might be there, so if that bothers you?"
"It does not. Not in the slightest. She's a sweet lady, and I appreciate her holding down the fort. Afternoons are usually pretty slow, but it's great to have someone with a little bit of musical background that I can depend on."
"She's enjoying it. She told me how she enjoys getting out. She wouldn't want to do it on a regular basis or have that kind of expectation placed on her, but to do it once in a while makes her happy."
"Good to know."
"All right then," he said as they came to a stop in front of her aunt's house. "I'll see you this evening."
"Why don't you come in time for supper? I put some things in the crockpot, and they'll be ready shortly before you close for the day."
"I might close early if it's that cold."
"All right. Then we'll expect you for supper."
"Sounds good."
They stood, looked at each other for just a moment, and neither one of them really wanted to walk away. Grace knew she didn't for sure. She wanted to stay with Noah, with his calm, protective presence that made her feel cared for and safe. She supposed that was something that as a woman, especially, she really wanted. To feel safe.
He was the one to move first, and he lifted a hand, smiled, andthen turned around.
She wanted to watch him walk away, but turned and walked toward the door. It was unlocked, and she walked right in, looking back in time to see that he looked back to make sure that she got in okay.
She smiled and lifted a hand and waved. She liked that. Checking on her. It made her feel cared for.
Chapter 19
Noah felt like whistling as he walked back to the shop after leaving Grace. The afternoon had been a smashing success in his book. Not just the fact that practice had gone really, really well with the kids, but more so the fact that he had gotten to spend the entire afternoon with Grace. And she was everything he thought she was, and so much more. She had deep thoughts and had really thought about what God was and how she could best serve Him. She was willing to make changes in her life to be more aligned with God's purpose and plan. She was great with kids, and she even seemed to be a little bit on his side, almost against the town.
He felt kind of bad about that though. He wanted to tell her that the Secret Saint could hardly fix his furnace, since he was the Secret Saint.
He had been so tempted to tell her that. So tempted. He had also been tempted to let her know that part of the reason he didn't have any money to fix the furnace was not just because he had given his emergency fund to his sibling to help out someone in need, but also because he had been spending every extra cent he had on getting things for the Secret Saint to help other people. So much of whatthey did was donated, but he would buy groceries, blankets, and gifts out of his own pocket. He didn't mind at all and felt like he would rather spend his money on that than anything else in the world. And now that none of his siblings were home, he could. He didn't have to worry about any additional expenses. He could eat as cheaply as possible and give all of his money away. Of course he wanted to be a good steward of what he had and be able to take care of emergencies that cropped up, and he thought he had that covered. Obviously, he was wrong about that. But, he wouldn't have it any other way. What groceries was he not going to buy so he could save money to cover his furnace? What blankets was he not going to buy? What electric bill was he not going to pay for someone else?
Yeah. It was what it was.
He thanked Aunt Vivian and informed her that he was coming to her house for supper. She laughed and said that Grace had already told her, and she was looking forward to it. She told him to bring his appetite.
He laughed as she walked out, but indeed, she was right. It was freezing in the room. But, years ago, almost twenty, if he recalled correctly, the furnace had gone out when his parents were still alive, and he remembered for a few days his dad had a space heater and used that to heat the shop. It would work again, although it was not good for the instruments to have great fluctuations in temperature, and it really wasn't good for them to have dry air, but it would have to do for now. He would call the local HVAC company either later that afternoon or first thing in the morning. He had a few things he needed to catch up on and he had students coming for lessons, and he needed to get the store warmed up first.
It didn't take long for him to dig through the closet and find the space heaters his dad had used. The register was open to the downstairs from upstairs, and he knew the heat would go up and warm the upstairs too. He would just have to make sure no one burned themselves on it, but otherwise, he could use it for the rest of the winter if he really had to.
Lord, I don't know where you're gonna provide the funds from, but I gave away what I had, trusting that you would provide. And I'm expecting you to do that. Or else allow me to figure out a way to work around it. This is in your hands.
By the time his first student arrived, he had the space heaters plugged in, one in his store and one in the back in the lesson room. It was still a little chilly, but not as bad as it had been.
Normally, he enjoyed giving lessons, but he watched the clock a lot more than he typically did, because, he had to face it, he was looking forward to seeing Grace again. There was just something about her, and he felt drawn to her, plus he enjoyed her company. They laughed together and had fun. At least he did. He'd love to know what she thought. He supposed he could ask her, but she might feel like she needed to be polite when she really preferred not to be around him as much as he wanted to be around her.
He gave himself a hard time for being a coward. He should just ask her out. Why not? What did he have to lose?
He supposed their working relationship. They were going to be working together for the next three weeks, and if she didn't want to go out with him, that could make everything awkward. Or, it could plant a seed in her head that he was definitely interested, and maybe she would think about it and decide that she was too.
He found himself with a silly grin on his face and was thankful that his student was looking at the music and playing and not paying attention to his teacher being all sappy over a girl.
He had watched each of his siblings go through various stages of romantic interest, and he'd always found it funny. And now, look at him. Getting all sappy and smiley just thinking about Grace.
He was so looking forward to it that he barely noticed everything was pretty warm by the time he flipped the "closed" sign over and walked out. Yeah, he was closing a little early, but he could let everyone know it was because of the heat.
