Authors: Lesa Henderson
“You go ahead and make yourself a plate, Megan; I’ll take care of these.”
“Thanks, Penny, but why don’t you finish eating while I put these on the table. I shouldn’t have been late.”
“Don’t be silly,” Penny said, with a smile. “I don’t mind a bit. Besides, they say it takes a full twenty minutes before you realize you’re full; maybe before I sit back down, I’ll realize I’m full. I’ve been trying to lose this extra weight I’ve been carrying since the twins were born.” She smoothed a hand down over her hip, referring to the slightly plump figure she’d had since the birth of her twins. “It’s been five years and you’d think as busy as they keep me the weight would just fall off.” She shrugged and shook her head.
Megan smiled, handing the items to Penny, and prepared her plate before looking around for a place to sit. Cindy and Alan Wolff were seated at a table with Mrs. Martin and a man with dark hair, whose back was to her. Megan felt as if she should recognize him. Since their table was full and they were deep in conversation, Megan simply nodded and smiled at Cindy as she found a place to sit at another table.
As Megan enjoyed her meal, she occasionally joined in on the playful banter of the people at her table. Sometimes she sat quietly and listened as they swapped stories of mutual family and friends, as well as sharing prayer requests for different needs and situations along with reports of thanksgiving for what God was doing in their lives. The congregation of Grace Community Fellowship was like a tightly knit family. They had been very welcoming toward Megan, taking her in and treating her as one of their own.
Before Megan was finished with her meal, Cindy rushed over to her table. “I was hoping to get to spend some time with you. I wanted to introduce you to someone, but we’ve got to go. The babysitter just called and the baby is crying and running a fever.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it; you go ahead and check on Katie. I hope it’s nothing serious,” Megan offered sincerely. She was crazy about Cindy and Alan’s nine-month-old daughter.
“I don’t think it is. She’s cutting more teeth and has been quite irritable. She probably just wants her mommy. If you get a chance, come by the clinic this week, so we can have our girls’ lunch,” she invited, before rushing off.
Cindy worked three days a week in her husband’s thriving animal hospital, Wolff Veterinary Clinic. The clinic’s name usually brought a chuckle from most people. Alan would just smile and say God knew all along he wanted to be a veterinarian, which was why he’d been born to parents with the last name of Wolff.
Anyway, Megan looked forward to popping in at the clinic once a week to go to lunch with her old friend. In fact, she usually spent at least one evening a week at the Wolff home having dinner and enjoying their company. The family of three was precious to her.
“How long have you and Cindy known one another?” The question came from Mrs. Whitfield who was sitting across the table.
Megan turned her attention to the older woman and smiled as she answered, “Cindy and I became friends in high school.”
“Oh that’s sweet. I bet you were both cheerleaders.”
“Actually, Cindy was, but I was much too shy and gangly for cheerleading.”
“I can’t imagine you being gangly; you’re so lovely,” Mrs. Whitfield complimented.
“Thank you, but unfortunately, not only was I gangly I was also a klutz. That’s actually how I met Cindy.”
“Really?” Mrs. Whitfield seemed genuinely interested so Megan expounded.
“Yes, one day, instead of going into the lunchroom, I carried my book and soda into the courtyard. All of the tables were full, except one, so I took it and immediately got lost in a novel. I reached for my drink and overturned it, sending the liquid across the table and into Cindy’s lap. I was so engrossed in my book I didn’t even realize she’d sat down at the table.”
“Was she upset with you?” Mrs. Whitfield asked.
“No, she squealed, jumped up and together we began wiping at her clothes. I was so unbelievably embarrassed I’d just soaked the cheerleading outfit of this popular girl. I apologized profusely but she just giggled, introduced herself and asked what I was reading.”
“And you’ve been friends ever since?”
“Yep, in spite of the fact she was a bubbly, beautiful cheerleader and I was a late-blooming, accident-prone bookworm.” Megan laughed. Mrs. Whitfield smiled and shook her head as if she couldn’t believe Megan could really be as klutzy as she portrayed.
However, it was true; Megan was accident-prone. She had been since childhood, and if yesterday’s incident was an indication, she had not outgrown it.
Feeling eyes on her, Megan shifted her thoughts back to the present. As she lifted her head, her eyes locked with a pair of familiar gray ones.
The brick wall!
What on earth was he doing here? Was that who she had seen sitting with Cindy and Alan? More importantly, why was he staring so intently at her?
Suddenly, Megan found it hard to swallow. The food in her mouth seemed to swell as he nodded and gave her a friendly smile. She returned the nod, but with food in her mouth, was unable to return the smile.
Megan was more than a little relieved when Pastor Dan walked up to him, blocking the view. Without those intense eyes staring into her soul, she was finally able to swallow her food and put down her fork. Not surprisingly, she was no longer hungry.
Many of the people had already finished eating and were beginning to clear away the plates. Though Megan was tired from a long day of work, she joined in the clean-up efforts and a short time later was ready to make her good-byes.
“I’m sorry I’m not going to be able to stay for the games, Penny. It’s been a rather long day and I’m afraid I’m already feeling sleepy.” Megan smiled as she apologized to Penny, hoping she wouldn’t offend her for cutting out early.
“It’s okay, Megan, go on home and get some rest. We’ll give you a rain check,” Penny assured her with a wink and pat on the arm.
“Thanks. See you later.” Relieved, Megan gathered her dish of leftover macaroni salad and quickly headed for the door.
Megan had some difficulty opening the door leading out to the parking lot. It seemed to be sticking again, which was often the case following a heavy rain. With a little more effort, she was finally able to get it open and step out into the night air.
A full moon and stars illuminated the sky and ground below, giving her enough light that she had no trouble seeing her way down the steps. However, Megan never made it down the first step, because the heel of her shoe got stuck between the small openings of the wooden planked steps.
Megan was tugging at it when a deep voice intervened.
“Can I help you?” She almost moaned aloud as she recognized Lee Grainger’s voice.
Was she destined to embarrass herself in front of this man?
“No…” She continued to try to lift the wedged heel of her sandal out of its entrapment. “I’ve…got…it.” She muttered as she tugged, thinking she heard someone attempting to open the door behind her. She continued working her shoe. Someone else continued pushing against the door, and with a final
oomph
, forced it open at the exact moment Megan was able to pull her shoe free. The timing was perfect enough to send her plunging off the steps.
“Oh,” she cried as she pitched forward, expecting to make contact with the hard mountain ground. Instead, two strong arms caught her, breaking her fall.
Unfortunately, she was unable to hang onto the leftover macaroni salad and the sudden forward motion caused it to fly out of the dish and onto the shirt of her rescuer.
“Oh no!” Megan exclaimed as he set her back on her feet.
“Are you okay?” Lee and Mrs. Whitfield, who’d just managed to open the door, asked in unison.
“Yes. I’m fine.”
“I’m very sorry, my dear,” Mrs. Whitfield apologized.
“I’m fine, Mrs. Whitfield; really, I am. It’s not your fault, I-I got the heel of my shoe stuck in one of the planks,” she stuttered as she stepped away from Lee, who still had his large hands on her waist.
“If you’re sure, my dear, I’m going to get this young man some wet towels to clean-up his shirt.” Mrs. Whitfield retreated inside. Her words filtered into Megan’s dazed brain and she whirled back around to face Lee Grainger.
“I’m terribly s-sorry.” She looked at the globs of macaroni salad clinging in haphazard clumps to the front of his shirt. However, he nonchalantly brushed them off, as if this happened to him all the time.
“This is nothing.” He seemed unaffected by the possibility she had ruined his shirt. “The important question is are you all right?”
“Yes, thanks to you,” she answered gratefully.
Lee brushed his hands down the front of his jeans, and then with one hand, gently tilted her face, examining it closely. “Did you get these scratches yesterday when you fell?”
“Huh…oh, no, I got them today when I was walking with Sir in the woods.”
“You need to be more careful,” he admonished gently, tilting her face more into the moonlight. Her skin burned where his fingers firmly held her chin and she was finding it difficult to breathe.
“How are your hands today?” He reached down, turning her hands over to examine her palms.
“They’re fine.” Megan squeaked a response. Lee’s hands felt strong, warm and slightly calloused, obviously accustomed to hard work, yet she imagined they could be tender.
“I have some wet towels, Lee. If you want to come inside, we’ll see to that shirt.” At the sound of Mrs. Whitfield’s voice from the doorway, Megan jumped and snatched her hands away.
“I’m going straight home so I think it’ll be all right until I get there. Thanks though,” Lee offered. Mrs. Whitfield nodded, smiled knowingly and closed the door.
Megan groaned silently. She hoped Mrs. Whitfield was not under the wrong impression. She and some of the other well-meaning ladies of the church were always trying to match her with a nephew or grandson. All she needed was for those dear old women to decide to do some sort of matchmaking between Lee Grainger and her.
Megan kneeled and picked up her scattered dishes. She stood again looking at Lee with embarrassment. “Thank you again for breaking my fall. I’m really sorry about your shirt, and if you’ll permit, I’d like to replace it.”
“That’s not necessary. I’d hoped we would
run
into each other again,” he joked, reminding her of his parting comment the first time they met. She couldn’t help smiling.
“Yes, well, the next time you see me coming, you’ll probably get on the other side of the street.”
“I hardly think so,” Lee responded.
Although her heart skipped a beat, Megan ignored that one. “I…uh…need to get going and you need to get that shirt taken care of. Please apologize to your wife for me.”
“My wife—” He was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. After pulling it out of his pocket, Lee spoke again. “Hello? Yes…yes. When? Okay, tell her I’m on my way.”
Assuming it was his wife on the other end who needed him, Megan waved at Lee and motioned that she was leaving. He took the cell phone away from his mouth. “Megan, I’ve got a slight emergency to deal with, but I’d like to—”
Megan waved her hand. “It’s perfectly fine. I really do need to get going.”
“But I wanted to explain to you—”
“Thanks again.” She cut him off as she walked quickly to her vehicle, leaving Lee talking on his phone and rushing toward his truck.
Chapter Four
“Will that be all for you today, Megan?” the postal service clerk asked as Megan paid for her latest project to be shipped overnight express.
“Yes, I believe so. Thanks, Thomas.”
“No problem.” He smiled. “Have a great day.”
“You do the same,” Megan called over her shoulder as she left the post office.
As she stepped onto the sidewalk, she couldn’t help smiling. After living so long in a busy city, she was still amazed at the friendliness of the people who lived and worked in Laurel Ridge, even though it was one of the wonderful things that had drawn her to this little piece of heaven on earth. She hoped Laurel Ridges’ personality wouldn’t be lost as its popularity grew and more tourists flocked to the mountain hide-a-way.
When her stomach rumbled loudly, Megan glanced at her watch to see it was half-past noon. She had not bothered with breakfast that morning and was feeling the effect.
Just around the corner was the Laurel Ridge Deli. It was a wonderful family-owned place with a smoked turkey and Swiss cheese on rye sandwich which was out of this world, especially when topped with a touch of mustard and combined with a pickle and their homemade chips. Her mouth began to water as her stomach rumbled again, causing her to pick up the pace as she detoured to the deli.
The bell on the door jingled as Megan walked in; Lydia, the owner, looked up and smiled from behind the counter. As usual there was a line of people waiting to place orders and Lydia was busily trying to fill them. Placing an order could often take some time, as people couldn’t make up their minds based on the delicious foods populating the menu.
Tables lined the front windows facing Laurel Ridge’s Main Street, giving diners a view of quaint shops and passers-by. The rear of the deli opened up to a cobblestone patio, set up with umbrella-covered tables, overlooking the river that meandered through the mountain town. From mid-spring to early fall, it was nearly impossible to get a table outside; locals and tourists alike flocked to them.
Megan took a number and indicated to Lydia she would be waiting out back until called. As she went to push the rear glass door open, a man eating a sandwich at one of the tables caught her attention and her heart skipped a beat.
Lee Grainger
. The man was turning up everywhere.
“Excuse me,” a soft voice interrupted from behind Megan. She turned to see a tall, attractive blonde with a sandwich and drink waiting to get by.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Megan apologized, opening the door to let her out.
She smiled and thanked Megan before walking directly over to Lee’s table. Megan watched as the blonde spoke to him. Nodding and smiling, he stood and pulled out a chair for her to be seated across from him.