When Mercy Rains by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Author:Kim Vogel Sawyer [Sawyer, Kim Vogel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-73132-6
Publisher: The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group
Published: 2014-10-06T16:00:00+00:00

Paul

From the look on Suzy’s daughter’s face, Clete needed to prepare for a storm. Paul continued applying paint to the ramp while observing the girl out of the corner of his eye. Children in his community were taught to respect their elders. None of the youth from Arborville’s Mennonite fellowship would dare argue with an adult. But how would Alexa react?

Before the girl formed a word, Clete went on in his usual straightforward manner. “It’s too much money for you to spend.”

“It’s my money, Uncle Clete. Shouldn’t I be able to use it the way I want to?” She’d argued, but in such a respectful tone Paul couldn’t find fault with her.

“We appreciate what you want to do. But we can’t let you do it.”

Alexa blinked several times. Paul recognized the attempt to hold tears at bay—Karina had used the same method. His heart lurched in sympathy. A woman in tears always affected him. He came close to speaking in Alexa’s defense.

“Not all by yourself.”

Alexa gave a little jolt, and Paul did, too, splotching his knee with white paint. He stood and reached for a rag as Clete continued.

“Derek and Harper and me talked it over, and we agree the house needs painting. Since we are already paying Paul for his work out here, we can’t buy paint. So …” Clete looked away from Alexa, his tanned cheeks streaking with red. Paul already sensed what he planned to say, but the big man wasn’t finding it easy to ask for help. “If you’ll use your money to buy paint, we’ll bring the fellowship men together to paint the house.”

A beaming smile broke across Alexa’s face. “Like the picture I showed Sandra? With all the different colors?”

Clete frowned, but he offered a brusque nod. “Sandra said it was …” He scratched his ear. “Colorful but tasteful. I trust her judgment. So you and me can drive to Wichita one day soon and buy paint. If all the men help, we should be able to scrape and prime the house in one day, then paint it on another day.”

“Thank you!”

“Mm-hm. Er, you’re welcome. Thank you for buying the paint.” He still angled his gaze to the left.

Alexa reached toward Clete, her movement hesitant. She placed her fingertips on his sleeve and looked up until he finally turned and met her gaze. Sincerity glimmered in her dark eyes. “Your idea is better than mine, letting Grandmother’s church family have a hand in making the house beautiful again. I think it will mean even more to her knowing how everyone came together to do the work.”

“Yes, well, speaking of work …” Clete stepped away from the girl’s touch. “I need to get back to painting. I’ll let you know when we can go after paint.”

“All right. I’ll call the contractor in Pratt and tell him I don’t need an estimate after all.” Alexa inched backward, her smile as bright as the sun. “Remember, though, it’s supposed to be her birthday present, so we can’t wait too long.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.