Maybe that would be a good thing. Maybe some of the donors who usually donated for the Secret Saint things would gettogether, pool their resources, and be able to spring for a furnace for him.
Except he didn't want that. He didn't want people who might be donating to someone else to give their money to him. He would rather see other needy people get it.
Was he needy?
He didn't want to think of himself that way, but the flipside was, he loved giving to people, loved doing things for people, and got a lot of satisfaction out of that. Why shouldn't he be one of the ones who needed things given to him at some point? That way he could let someone else have the good feeling of doing something kind and generous for someone else.
He hadn't fleshed that thought out very well before he arrived at Vivian’s Victorian house and knocked on the door.
Grace answered, opening the door wide, her cheeks flushed, her hair pulled straight back from her head and held in a ponytail which fell down between her shoulder blades, shining and catching the light as she moved.
He could admire her hair all day long.
"You made it!" she said, looking very pleased to see him, and not at all like she was tired of his company, even though they had spent almost the entire afternoon together.
"Wouldn't miss it," he said.
"Was it your furnace? Was it unfixable?"
"It was the furnace. Yes. And I didn't get to call anyone about it. By the time I dug out the space heaters, my first student was there, so I needed to give a lesson, and once I was done with my lessons for the day, it was time to come here."
"Oh I'm sorry. Maybe inviting you to come here made it so you couldn't call about your furnace." He stepped in, and she closed the door behind him, her brows drawing down, concern on her face.
"No. I'll call first thing in the morning. Frank's pretty good. I mean, he did tell me that I was going to need an undertaker the next time for my furnace rather than having it serviced, but... He'll be fairwith me." Maybe he'd even have payment plans. But he wasn't going to worry about that now. He would worry about that tomorrow and take care of it then. "In the meantime, the space heaters are doing their job, but my house doesn't smell nearly as good as yours does."
"It does smell good, doesn't it?" She grinned. "We have slow cooker fajita soup in the crockpot, and I have been dying for the last twenty minutes ever since Aunt Vivian took the lid off. It smells so good. She even made bread for it."
"Homemade bread? I am so in," he said, rubbing his hands together.
If it was possible, she smiled even bigger, and he found himself getting stuck watching it. What would it be like to sit across from that smile every day? He could only imagine it would be wonderful. Interesting that he'd never considered wanting to sit across from anyone's smile for the rest of his life.
Maybe he'd been too busy with his siblings, or maybe he just hadn't met Grace.
"Come in," Aunt Vivian said from the doorway of the kitchen. "Don't just stand there. The poor man is probably hungry, Grace. We've gotta feed him." She waited until they started moving before she looked at Grace. "That's something you need to know about men. They're always hungry."
They all laughed together. He helped get ready for the meal, and then they all sat down together.
They asked him to say grace, which he was more than happy to do. Yeah, his furnace needed to be replaced, and his roof was still leaking, but he felt like he'd been very blessed. Maybe it was just the good company, good friends, the security of being in a town where he knew that people would take care of him if he really needed it. But also the knowledge that God would provide. He was more secure and sure about that than ever.
He said to Aunt Vivian, "I hope you don't mind if Grace and I talk a little shop."
"Not at all. She told me that was what you were planning ondoing. And I'm curious. I hope you don't mind if I eavesdrop while you guys talk shop."
"I don't," he said, lifting his brows at Grace.
"I would probably tell her what we said anyway."
He laughed a little at that and shrugged his shoulders. He didn't care who she told.
"Well I just wanted to let you know that we were talking about all of the people who had texted me when we left the diner, and we have enough adults to have a group and enough high school students to have a group. Actually we could probably do a boys' group and a girls' group if we would like or a singing group and a bells group. Whatever. And, we have eight special needs kids who would love to participate."
"Those were the ones I was the most excited about. I know that that is a little bit crazy, but they're always so enthusiastic and happy, and I think working with them will be super fun."
"They'll be a real crowd pleaser if we pick the right music," Noah said, already having several pieces in mind.
"I'll leave that up to you. I'm sure you know better than I do, but I'm definitely looking forward to that, and that's great news!"
"Yeah. I almost blurted it out as soon as I walked in the door, but I thought I probably ought to do all the social niceties first."
