Secrets over Sweet Tea by Denise Hildreth Jones

Author:Denise Hildreth Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION / Christian / General, FICTION / General
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2013-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

Grace sat on the black leather sofa, the chrome armrest cold against her bare skin. She moved her arm quickly. Her reaction must have caused the secretary to take note.

“Mr. Craig said he is on his way.”

Grace was grateful for Darlene’s kindness. “Well, I am unannounced.”

“It’s fine. He knows this is a difficult time.”

She put her hands in her lap and stroked her white skinny jeans. Her black T-shirt fit snugly against her petite frame. She guessed she looked all right. But the shirt had been on top of the stack in her drawer, and the jeans had been the first pair of pants she saw. At this point in her life, that was the best she could do. She noticed a small chip in her peach-toned nail polish and made a mental note to fix that. But she knew she’d probably forget.

She forgot a lot of things these days—kept getting distracted. It was a good thing her parents were there to help her keep her life together. They had come in Saturday evening. She had shared the story of her decision, and they had let her talk and cry and do all the things parents let their children do in moments when they still need to be children. They’d spent the Memorial Day holiday with her yesterday and planned to stay the rest of the week, to be there for whatever she needed.

Her attention turned to the door as it opened and Zach rushed in. She wasn’t surprised that he looked tired and frazzled. She had been in the back of the church Sunday morning. And that was why she was here.

Zach’s worn, overstuffed briefcase hung from his hand. There was no coat and tie this morning, just a pair of khakis and a blue button-down with the sleeves rolled up, one higher than the other. “Sorry, Grace. I wasn’t expecting you,” he said as his eyes caught hers.

“I only need a few minutes of your time.”

“Sure. Yeah.” He turned almost in a circle as if looking for direction. A compass.

Darlene saved them both. “Here, Zach, why don’t I take your briefcase. You and Grace go into the conference room, and I’ll grab both of you something to drink.”

“Yeah, sure, that’d be great. I think I’ll have a coffee. Black.” Zach stood in the middle of the office as if he might need her to escort him to the conference room. A string of pity ran through Grace.

“I don’t need anything, Darlene,” she said. “But thank you.”

Zach turned toward her as if he had already forgotten she was there, but then he motioned to the conference room. “Okay, let’s go talk.”

She walked in front of him and set down her Italian handbag—one of Tyler’s extravagant finds—on the conference room table. “This really won’t take long.”

He moved to the other side and held on to the back of a chair.

She wasted no time. “I was there on Sunday.”

“Sunday?”

“Yes. The church. Your wife. I was there.”

He lowered his head, then raised it quickly as if his puppeteer had just demanded performance.

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