“Three French Hens. Wonder what he’ll have this morning? We can’t have poultry on this side of the street. Cross that highway and he’d be ok, so it won’t be that. Maybe he’ll give me Cornish Game Hens to make dinner for him. He sure is having fun…”
She continued to ramble through her morning preparations. Today she planned to list her first boutique outfit on Etsy. Would it work, or not? Not allowing herself to ‘take heed for tomorrow,’ Grace prayed for wisdom in how much time to spend on each listing and for help in getting her pictures just right. She’d spend her morning learning how to use the photo software that Nolan had installed on his computer.
The phone rang and Grace pounced on it. “Morning!”
“Well, good morning, sweetheart. You’re chipper this morning!” Holding the digital camera he’d purchased the day before, Nolan debated deliberately scratching it so she wouldn’t notice it was new.
“When is Paige coming today?” She seemed anxious to get the plan on the road.
“Nathan said they’d be over by noon. Are you going to work with that program this morning?” Nolan looked at the camera in his hand.
Upon hearing her affirm her intention to learn how to use the computer programs in order to begin her Etsy ‘career,’ Nolan decided to jump in and see how she handled his purchase. “I’ve got something for you. I’ll be right there.”
Grace waited in anxious expectation as Nolan came across the street with two boxes in hand. One box was wrapped in gold paper and tied with a silver bow looking elegant and tempting. The other appeared to be some kind of appliance. Waving at Verily sweeping his sidewalks across the street, she welcomed him with a brief hug. Nolan almost forgot the gifts he’d brought in his surprise at the warm greeting.
“Hey, if I go home and come back, do I get another hug?” His eyes twinkled with mischief as she gave him a playful punch in the arm.
“You can have a hug anytime you want one. You just have to ask.”
“Ah, but I liked the spontaneous hug that you offered.”
“Not too brazen for you?” Grace eyed the package in Nolan’s hand.
“Like you could ever. You wouldn’t know how. Want your third day gift?”
“
Yes
!” She jumped up “trying” to grab it as if he held it over her head and caught the package up in her hands. “It’s so light! It could be a gift certificate for a poultry farm, but I kind of doubt it.”
Nolan’s voice was low and wheedling. “Open it, Grace. I’m dying to know if you like it.”
Grace unwrapped the simple little box and found she was partially right. “Nice—I’ve never eaten there. And if I order some kind of poultry, it’ll make me completely right. When are we going?”
The couple discussed the best time to make reservations at the elegant French restaurant, while Nolan showed Grace how to operate the camera. They took pictures of the dress from every angle and Grace worked hard to manipulate the pictures to look as nice as the other listings. Paige and Nathan arrived bearing a large submarine sandwich, chips, and sparkling cider. “We’re celebrating the soon-to-be capture of our elusive attacker!”
“Paige, you’re crazy but you’re fun!” Grace immediately began cutting the sandwich and setting the slices on plates laden with chips and fruit.
Nathan left for work as Paige settled herself in Nolan’s house. Nolan and Grace went to work trying to create Etsy listings that looked as professional as the ones doing well on eBay and Etsy both. The UPS driver came and Nolan signed for the box while Grace continued to get the lighting just right.
Five minutes later, Nolan noticed that Paige hadn’t come over or called. “Hey, Grace, I think something’s wrong. Paige hasn’t called and she’s still at my house. I’m going over there. I’ll call you if there’s a problem.”
She followed him to the door, praying. She hadn’t really expected today to be “the day.” It was only day two. She was certain that it would take the whole week, if not longer, before they saw the man they hoped to identify.
The phone rang. Instead of answering it, she ran across the street and flung open Nolan’s front door. “Where are you guys?”
Grace followed the sound of Nolan’s voice down his hallway to a front bedroom. Paige sat on the floor of the doorway, paralyzed and clutching her cell phone in her hand. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. She’s just sitting there. She won’t answer me, and I can’t get the phone from her.”
Grace sprang into action. Sitting next to Paige, she wrapped her arms around her friend and began rubbing her arms. “I need a blanket, and you need to call Todd Mercer now. Did the guy at the door have red hair?”
“No, it was brown, why?”
“Get Todd over here and
get me a blanket
. I think you should call 9-1-1 too. She’s very cold and not responding. I think she’s in shock.”
Todd and an ambulance were on the way, and Nolan carried Paige into his living room, laying her on the couch. “Do you think it just shocked her, or did he see her? Why is she like this?”
Grace shook her head. “I don’t know. I really don’t understand it, but she was unusually strong after the attack. Maybe she just collapsed in relief.”
The sound of the ambulance siren grew louder as it approached the house. Paramedics rushed in followed by Todd and his partner Rick Marlowe. In moments, the paramedics had Paige loaded and on her way to the hospital. Todd turned to Grace and smiled.
“She’s going to be fine. She identified him; I’m sure. She’s not talking yet, but I am sure that’s what it is. Which one of you saw him?”
Nolan held up a hand. He wasn’t happy to see the officer standing in his living room. Despite his better knowledge, he couldn’t forget the picture of Grace walking down the street talking earnestly to the ruggedly handsome officer. “I did.”
“Did he have red hair and a mustache?”
“No. Brown hair, no mustache. What can that mean?”
Grace looked up from her seat on the couch where she’d been praying. “Maybe he uses one of those twenty-four hour hair dyes?”
Todd nodded. “Probably. We’ve got a call into the local UPS yard. They’re going to tell me who delivered the package that Nolan signed for. I need the tracking number from that package.”
Before Todd could continue, Rick spoke up. “What you people did today was brave but very stupid. You may have injured your friend’s health, you could have put her in danger, and you could have interfered in a police investigation, which is a felony.”
Grace nodded. “I realize all of that, but Paige wanted to, and she has the legal right to watch and see if someone delivering packages looks like the man who attacked her. She’s stronger than she looks. She’ll be ok.”
As the two officers left, Todd winked at Grace. Nolan watched the exchange with a frown. Grace, noticing the look of irritation on Nolan’s face, misunderstood and grew angry. “Nolan, if you weren’t convinced, you shouldn’t have agreed. I’m not really in the mood to discuss this right now. I’m going home.”
Nolan stood watching Grace move swiftly toward home. His mother’s voice echoed in his head as he watched Grace enter her house. “Son, don’t let a friend walk away from you angry. Confront the problem before it grows too big to handle.”
He jogged across the street, knocked on her door, and entered without waiting for an invitation. Rolex bounced and danced around his legs as Grace sang of Scotch lassies coming over the ocean to be with their true love. “Grace?”
She jumped, dropped a plate, and whirled around to face him. “Aaak!”
“I’m sorry, Grace. That’s a beautiful song. Would you leave your homeland and move across the ocean to be with the love of your life?”
She tossed him a mock glare before rolling her eyes and saying, “Well, living in America, that means I get to go to Scotland. Land of the crags and the sheep and thatched cottages… Oh, yeah I’d go. I’ve always wanted to see Scotland.”
“Why were you angry? What did I say?” His tone showed Grace that she had been wrong.
“I’m not. I thought you were sorry we’d helped Paige today. The look on your face when Rick and Todd left—”
Embarrassed, Nolan sighed. “That wasn’t anger. You saw pure, unadulterated, jealousy. I noticed Todd’s interaction with you, and when I remembered the last time I saw you two together—”
“What last time?”
“Well, several weeks ago, I think it was the day after Paige was attacked, I saw you and him outside of that little coffee shop on Warner Street.”
Slowly, her head nodded as she remembered. “That was the day I found the mustache and took it into the police station. Todd and I had coffee and caught up on each other’s lives.”
“I know, and I know he has some kind of online friend, but—”
Grace interrupted eagerly. “Actually, I introduced him to Marci, and I think they are hitting it off.”
Nolan nodded. “Are we ok?”
Grace nodded as she rushed to answer the ringing phone. A few short sentences later, she hung up and turned to Nolan. “Do you want to drive me over to the hospital? Paige is there and coming around. I’m glad I listened and didn’t insist on going with them. It sounds like the officers are there now.”
“Is she all right?”
As Grace gathered her purse, she explained what Mrs. Matthews had told her. “Seeing the man coming into my house with a package sent her into shock, but she’s fine now—or will be. The doctors are going to make sure she responds well for a little bit and then they’ll let her go.”
“That would be a weird sense of déjà vu, I suppose—seeing something that terrified you recurring like that. It might feel like an out of body thing.” Nolan took her hand as he opened the door. “I’m just glad that we were all here. You could have been next if you had just ordered something.”
A smile managed to creep across her features despite her concern for her friend. “That’s where you can be glad that I can’t afford recreational shopping.”
~*~*~*~
Wednesday brought the surprise of a new cordless phone that rang four times to awaken Grace in the morning. She laughed when she discovered that Craig had installed it as she slept. Craig teased that Nolan had begged to help so he could determine if she snored, but Grace dismissed him with a laugh.
The morning news announced that the man arrested the night before for the attacks on eleven Brunswick women had confessed to all charges against him. The announcement brought relief to more than the friends of Paige Matthews.
Paige was kept in the hospital for observation overnight and released the following day. Grace and Nolan enjoyed speculating how serious the relationship was growing as they watched the solicitous care Nathan showed as he settled Paige into his car and drove toward her apartment. From the looks of things, it seemed that Paige might have finally found a man she was comfortable with.
Thursday, Nolan knocked on Grace’s door as she finished her time of prayer and Bible study. He pulled a blindfold over her eyes and led her to his car. Once out of town, he passed her a basket with hot tea, Danishes, and fruit.
“Where are you taking me?” Grace was enjoying herself immensely. She loved surprises.
“Ok, take your blindfold off. We’re going to a favorite childhood place of mine.”
“Does this have something to do with ‘five golden rings?’”
Nolan’s grin answered for him. Grace smiled at the thought but wondered what golden rings had to do with the man’s childhood. “Sure, leave me hanging.”
“It’s supposed to be a surprise. If I tell you, it’s not a surprise!”
The car ride was a long one. They laughed, told funny childhood stories, and their understanding of each other developed to a deeper level. Two and a half hours later, they took a side road that led to a small replica of a European Village.
“You’re taking me to Little Vienna! I haven’t been here since I was in Jr. High.”
Nolan smiled. “They brought us here in seventh grade, but my parents came every year. It’s where they went on their honeymoon, and we all came every year for their anniversary. I liked it because I always got a room at that little inn on the square all to myself.”
“They let you stay in it alone?” Grace couldn’t imagine such an idea.
“Well, we had those connecting doors. They were always open when I went to sleep and closed when I woke up. I thought it was magic.”
She laughed at the picture of an awed child waking up to a door that was shut when it had been open. “You had a delightful childhood, didn’t you?”
“My parents were masters of creating special experiences to enrich my life.” His voice was laced with longing as he remembered the parents he missed so fiercely.
He pulled into an almost empty town square. Thursdays were usually fairly free of tourists, even though it was just days before Christmas. Nolan led her through park to an old-fashioned carousel. A few mothers sat watching their children ride the horses, and several more sat on the horses next to or behind their children.
“The brass ring! You’re going to try for the brass ring, aren’t you?”
Nolan nodded and held up his hand, all five fingers extended. “This one happens to have five brass rings and a bunch of iron ones. I thought it might be a fun diversion from chocolate and pears.”
“Five? You’re going to try to get five rings? Are we going to ride this thing all day? I tried for a brass ring when I was in Jr. High! It’s not as easy as it looks!”
Nolan’s smile disarmed her. She gazed into Nolan’s eyes and groaned in mock disgust. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”
Catching her hand, he ran for the entrance to the carousel, and they each chose their animals. She sat sidesaddle on a lion beribboned to show his regal bearing. “If I’d known we were doing this, I would have worn something else!”
Nolan smiled and shook his head. “You’re perfect the way you are. You look like English nobility parading through the jungles of India.”
Smiling she bopped him with her purse as they came close to the first ring. Leaning, the man snagged it with ease and presented it to her with a flourish.
On their second pass, he leaned behind Grace to grab a ring near her side. Her laughter rang out as she held two rings in her hands. The children around them stared in awe. Swiftly, he stood on his feet and leaned across the other way to snatch one that came in quick succession.