"You didn't answer my question."
No. He hadn't answered her question about whether or not it bothered him that she had money. Because, if he was being honest with himself, it did.
Chapter 23
He hadn't answered her.
Grace tried to put that thought behind her. Maybe he was working through some things. And she just needed to give him time. Whatever it was, she couldn't let it bother her. After all, he had been patient with her when she had kissed him and then run out. Even if it was only a peck on the cheek. It was kind of silly for a grown woman to leave that way, and she was a little embarrassed, but she hadn’t been quite sure exactly how she felt.
She followed Noah's lead, getting out of the truck and closing the door quietly. They grabbed the bags that were in the back and softly walked through the yard.
An automatic light snapped on, and the sound of a baby fussing reached them.
Noah slowed but didn't stop. He glanced over at her and said, "We might have to use that story I told you."
She nodded, knowing he wasn't saying that they needed to lie, just that they'd found the bags in his shop. Which was absolutely true for her. Maybe she could do all the talking, because she really didn't have anything to do with the bags getting there.
"What's going on?" a voice said from the shadows, and then a woman holding a small baby wrapped in a blanket stepped out into the light.
That was the whimpering they had heard earlier, most likely.
"We have some grocery items for you," Grace began. "And also some blankets and, if I'm not mistaken, a few gifts for under the Christmas tree."
"You are the Secret Saint!" the woman said.
Grace stepped forward. "No. Not at all. I've only been in town for less than a month, so I couldn't be. But these bags were left in Noah's shop and I volunteered to help him deliver them."
"You guys are angels. I couldn't sleep, the baby couldn't sleep, and I didn't want to wake anyone up, so I was out here on the porch pacing. How do you do Christmas when you have no money and your kids are looking at you like you're going to work a miracle?"
"God's someone who works miracles, isn't He?" Grace said, knowing it to be true.
The woman, with tears in her eyes, nodded. "He sure does."
They set the bags on the porch, and then Grace, on impulse, went over and hugged the woman, baby and all.
"If I can do anything for you, just let me know, okay?" she said as she stepped back.
Noah stood behind her; he hadn't said a single word. It was almost like the lady didn't even see him.
"I will. You made my whole holiday season. Thank you."
"Have a good night," Grace said, and then she followed Noah off the porch and back out to the yard and down the walk to the truck. Neither one of them said anything until they were in it and had pulled out on the road.
"Boy, that really makes you feel good," Grace said quietly. "I can see why you would do that. And why you would take all the money you had to buy things for people. We might've been a blessing to her—I think we probably were—but she was more of a blessing to me." She felt better than she had in months. Maybe even years. She feltlike she could do anything, because the world was a better place because she'd made a little sacrifice. She hadn't even bought the things. All she had done was deliver them.
"I didn't answer you earlier," Noah said. And her head jerked around. She'd totally forgotten that he'd never said whether it bothered him that she had money and he didn't.
"There is a part of my male pride that says I don't want to be with someone who's got more money than I do. But..." He paused there for a moment, glanced over at her, and then looked back at the road. "That's all it is. Just pride. And so, no. No, it would never bother me. I won't allow it to."
She reached across the seat and touched his arm.
"Thank you for your honesty. It would've rung false if you had just flipped off a no without really thinking about it."
"It maybe bothers me a little that I never had the opportunity to do what you did, and you were so successful at it. I don't want it to, and I'm not jealous. It's not that. It's just... You've really done something with yourself. With your life. You've worked hard and become successful."
"You've been successful. You've successfully raised your siblings. How could you not consider that a success in every way? Here I am, with no family. Nothing. Besides my aunt, whom I haven't visited in years. I think it just depends on your definition of success."
He tilted his head at her, and then smiled and nodded.
