Hymns of the West by Faith Blum

Author:Faith Blum
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: A Mighty Fortress, Amazing Grace, Be Thou My Vision, Lily of the Valley, The Solid Rock, Clean & Wholesome, Literature & Fiction, Louis L'Amour, Janette Oke, Inspirational, Religion & Spirituality, Biblical Fiction, Love Story
Publisher: Faith Blum
Published: 2016-11-26T00:00:00+00:00

Rachel was in the kitchen when John and James came home.

“We had a little tag-along who insisted on coming,” John announced.

Rachel turned around from the snack she had put together. “Who?”

Toby peeked out from behind John. “I hope you don’t mind, but the teacher told us something had happened to your grandpa, and I wanted to make sure everything was okay.”

Rachel smiled, but the smile refused to go farther than her mouth. “Thank you, Toby.”

“How is he?” John asked.

“He had an apoplectic fit and we won’t know how bad it is until he wakes up,” Rachel said, trying to be matter-of-fact.

“Is that bad?” John asked.

“My grandpa died of it,” Toby said. “He never woke up afterwards. But the doctor said that was unusual,” he added hurriedly

“He might have brain damage, too,” Rachel said. “We don’t really know what will happen or if he will recover, and we won’t until he wakes up.”

Toby kept his eyes on Rachel. “How are you doing?”

Rachel looked away. “Okay, I guess.”

John looked between the two. “What’s going on here?”

Toby looked at John. “What do you mean?”

“I mean with you two. Last week you were bullying Rachel. Now you two are acting like best friends.”

James smiled and tapped on his brother’s shoulder. “He hasn’t bullied her this week, though. Didn’t you notice?”

“No, I didn’t notice,” John protested. He turned on Rachel. “So?”

Rachel shrugged. “Toby apologized and told me about how he misses his grandpa. He’s really a nice kid who just had a chip on his shoulder.”

“And now he’s letting you call him Toby?” John asked.

“My grandpa used to call me Toby and I didn’t think I’d like anybody else calling me by the nickname he called me. It’s grown on me, though.”

John shook his head in disbelief.

“There’s a snack for each of you there. You can have one, too, Toby. I’m going up to check on Grandpa.” She started toward the stairs. “Oh, and our parents should be back any minute.”

John stared after her as she went upstairs. After she had disappeared, he turned back to face Toby. “You ain’t sweet on her, are you?”

Toby took a step backwards and his eyes widened. “No way! I don’t like girls that much.”

John glared into his eyes a few more seconds before seeming to be satisfied. “Good.” He stalked to the table and started to eat his snack.

Toby shook his head and said, “I’d better get home. James, would you please tell Rachel goodbye for me?”

James nodded and picked up the third set of oatmeal cookies, handing it to him.

“No, thank you,” Toby said. “I’m sure Rachel made it for herself, not me.”

“She offered to let you eat it, so you better eat it or it’ll hurt her feelings,” John said. “And it’s not like there aren’t more where that came from.”

Toby nodded. “Okay. Thanks. See ya tomorrow.”

“Yeah. See ya,” John said.

After he was gone, James tapped on the table to get John’s attention.

“What?” John asked.

“Why are you so upset about Toby and Rachel becoming friends?” he signed.

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