"Are you ready?" She asked kindly, wondering at his discomfort. She wondered fleetingly if he had stolen anything, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He mumbled something incoherently, still shuffling his feet.
"Billy, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he snapped. "Just ring me up."
"Sorry," she said, irritated. "I was just trying to be friendly."
"I know," he said, less snappish, but still not pleasant. She rang him up quickly, offering up a hurried prayer for him, half-wishing he were gone. He gave her the money. She counted out his change and handed it to him.
"There you go," she said as pleasantly as she could, wanting him to leave so she could resume her planning for Thursday.
He just stood there, holding his change, his face cloudy. "Do you need something else?" she asked, perplexed.
"I want to know why you won't go out with me, but you'll go out with Joe," he blurted furiously, stuffing his change into his pocket.
"What?" Carly asked, taken by surprise.
"Yeah. I want to know why you wouldn't give me the time of day, but you're always with Joe. What's he got that I don't?" he asked angrily. Carly took a deep breath.
"He's treated me with respect ever since I met him, while you try to irritate and show nothing but disrespect," she answered shakily. She had never expected Billy to even care for her that much, let alone be jealous.
"More importantly, I'm a Christian. Are you?"
Billy looked at her exasperatedly. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"It has everything to do with it," she said quietly. "I try to please God with everything I do, and it's wrong for a Christian to date a person who isn't one."
"I've always heard from Pops that Christians are the worst people there are," he said, sneering.
She stared at him fixedly, refusing to be intimidated. "Well, you heard wrong."
"How do people get to be Christians?"
"You have to ask Jesus to forgive you and to save you," she said.
Before he could answer, more customers walked in, eyeing them curiously. She blushed, wondering what they could be thinking.
"Why don't you come to church with us tomorrow?" she asked after the customers had walked by.
"Church?" He frowned, curling his lip. "I wouldn't be welcome."
"Yes, you would. You could come by and sit with Joe and me," she said, trying to encourage him. "The people are very friendly, Billy."
"I don't know," he said, hurrying out.
"I hope to see you there," she said, hoping he heard her as the door closed behind him. She watched him leave and prayed fervently that he would come hear the gospel and be saved.
Carly was locking the front door when the phone rang. She walked slowly toward it, afraid it might be Ian. She knew she'd still stand up to him if it was, but she didn't like confrontations, and with Ian, she dreaded them.
She picked it up. Her voice cracked as she answered. "Hello?"
"Carly?" It was Joe.
"Hi, Joe." She breathed a sigh of relief. "How are you?"
"Good, I just wanted to talk to you for a little bit before going back out to work. How was your day?"
"It was pretty good. No ugly little men who only buy nails today." She laughed. "But I did get to talk to Billy today. Are you still praying for him?"
"Yes," he said slowly. "I knew it. You didn't answer me last night, and now I've got to worry." She could hear his grin.
"Joe, if you keep that up, I'm going to hang up on you, and I won't answer the phone again," she said huffily.
He laughed. "Okay, I'm sorry. I was just kidding. Go on, what were you going to say?"
"Well, I invited him to church."
"That's great!" he said warmly.
"And I told him that he could sit with you and me," she said apprehensively. He was quiet for a minute.
"You told him that he could sit with me and you. Hmm. That'll be fine. But I want to ask you again. Carly, do I need to be worried?" He sounded more serious this time.
"That's it. Good-bye," she said, getting ready to hang up.
"Don't hang up. I was just wondering, nothing to get so huffy about."
"Let me ask you a question. If Amy were to come back like Angie said, would I have anything to worry about?" she asked, half-dreading the answer he might give.
"That's silly. You wouldn't have anything to worry about for anybody," he said softly.
She felt the tension easing away. "Are you sure?" she asked, trying to irritate him a little.
"Yes, I'm sure. Don't you trust me?" he said, a little hurt by her doubt.
"There you go. Don't you trust me, Joe?" she asked softly, using his own words against him. "I would hope that you could find someone more worthy of being jealous over than Billy."
"All right. You win. I won't mention it again." He laughed. "But seriously. Do you think he'll really come?"
"I don't know, he didn't answer. So what have you been up to?" she asked, desiring to change the subject.
He told her the things he'd been doing during the day. He was a part owner of his dad's farm, and taking care of the farm was his main job, but he was a top mechanic when it came to fixing farm equipment and vehicles, so they had renovated the back of the barn for a garage for him and Todd when they took on side jobs. People knew of the quality of their work from miles around and trusted them implicitly. She admired his mechanical ability tremendously, and was really proud of him. He was also a skilled woodworker; if it needed to be built, he could build it cheaper and better than anywhere else.
"That's amazing," she said admiringly when he paused for breath.
"What?" he asked, puzzled.
"How you can do anything and everything. I just never knew anyone like that. How did you learn so much?"
"I don't know, I guess I just really like doing things with my hands, so I do the best I can possibly do." He sounded a little self-conscious.
"Oh, I almost forgot," she said suddenly. "You don't have to pick me up Thursday. Kelly and I are going to ride out together."
"I don't mind picking you up," he said, disappointed. "I thought that you were going to come out here to learn how to be a country girl."
"I'll still be there," she said, smiling. "And you can still show me the farm. You'll just have to wait until I get there."
"You were afraid that I was going to work you too hard, weren't you? Uh huh, I see exactly how you are. Shirker." He teased relentlessly.
"Shirker? Did you just call me a shirker?" she asked humorously. "You don't want to get along. Maybe you should be worried about Billy after all!"
He laughed. "And you say I'm the one that doesn't want to get along! Hey, I've got to let you go. I'll see you tomorrow night, okay?"
"Maybe," she said. "I might just have to avoid you again if you're going to try to pick fights."
"No, please don't do that," he said sourly. "That was awful. I couldn't handle that again. Really. That was rough."
"I'm just teasing. I'll see you tomorrow night."
"Good night, Carly," he said softly.
"Good night Joe," she said, hanging up before he could say anything else, smiling to herself. She waited by the phone for a minute. It rang. She picked it up quickly.
"Wanda's Waffle House," she said, in a high nasally voice. "May I help you?"
"You hung up before I could finish." Joe said. "I was going to say I love you." He hung up on her. She giggled and put the phone back on the cradle.
After she had mopped up the floor, dusted the shelves, and wiped the counter, she put the broom and mop away in the back room and went upstairs to her apartment. Sam had left hours ago, trusting her to keep the place in order. She was going to miss them terribly when they were gone. She sighed. It was going to be a long month and a half.
She was daydreaming about Joe while she was folding her laundry when she heard someone banging on the front door of the store. Apprehensively, she turned off her light and crept over
to her window to look outside. She peered around the curtain and saw a man walking quickly across the street. She waited for him to turn the corner before she unlocked her door and went downstairs to make sure the store was fine.
At first, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but as she tiptoed closer to the counter, she saw another man come to a halt at the doors. She froze in terror. He glanced inside quickly, not seeing her, and turned around swiftly, as if watching for someone. She dove behind the counter and grabbed the phone.
Who am I going to call? she thought to herself. If I call Joe, he'll come into town, and I'll feel terrible if it's just a drunk. If I call the police, I'll look like an idiot if it's just a prank. Maybe Sam, but he and Sue are probably getting ready to go to bed. So she did the only thing she knew to do. She prayed.
Lord, I'm all alone here, and I'm pretty scared. I don't know who to call, or what to do. Could you please take care of this situation for me?
She peeked around the corner to see if the man was still standing outside the door. He wasn't. Relief flooded over her. She watched a little while longer and saw a police cruiser go slowly by with his spotlight on the store.
She was about to go back upstairs when she noticed an envelope caught under the rubber mat just inside the door. Cautiously, she ran to the door, grabbed the envelope, and ran back upstairs. After double checking to make sure it was locked behind her, she leaned her back on the door, her heart beating fast. Calmed down a bit, she went into the bathroom, shut the door, turned on the light, and slowly opened the envelope.
Chapter 15
The next day went fast for Carly and Sam. They had posted a sign on the door at the beginning of the week and had spread the word to everyone that had come by about the coming hiatus at the hardware store. At lunchtime, Sam and Carly closed the shop and went to eat lunch with Sue.
"I'm so glad that you could come, Carly!" she said, giving her a hug. "I was afraid that all these leftovers would spoil while we were gone. Here you go." She took Carly's coat and hung it up. "What a nice coat! It's so pretty!"
"Thank you," Carly said with a huge smile. "Joe bought it for me."
Sue smiled knowingly at Sam, and they sat down to eat.
"Whatever we don't eat, I want you to take back to the apartment and eat it while we're gone," she said cheerily. "Unless you don't like leftovers." She looked alarmed, as all their food was leftovers.
"Love them," Carly said reassuringly. "It doesn't take as long to get them ready!"
"Now, Sam posted all the numbers up in the office," Sue said after Sam asked the blessing. "If you need anything, just give us a call. But"—she looked slyly at Sam—"you'll be pretty well taken care of I'm sure."
"Yes, I will," Carly said good-naturedly. "I'll make Joe pay attention to me."
"I don't think you have to worry about making Joe pay attention, Red. He lights up like a firefly whenever you're around." Sam winked at her.
"Is there anything you need while we're gone?" Sue asked.
"Yes." Carly wiped her mouth with a napkin. "I need you to pray specifically for something for me."
"Well sure, honey, whatever you need us to pray for, we'll do it," Sue said, piling delicious smelling food on each of their plates. Sue was known far and wide for her delectable cooking, and Carly looked at her plate with relish.
"It's going to sound kind of odd, but would you please pray for Billy Pruit?" They stopped eating and stared at her, their surprise evident.
"Joe and I are praying for him to come to church tonight. Will you pray that the Lord deals with him?" Carly said hurriedly, making sure they understood Joe was praying with her as well. She didn't want them to think that she was interested in Billy.
"Sure," Sam said, recovering first.
"That's so sweet of you two. Praying together already. You know," Sue waved her fork in Carly's direction, "they say those that pray together stay together. That's what's kept us so long, isn't it, Sam?"
"Among other things," he said jovially with a wink at his wife. "Anything else, Red?"
"Um, yes," she said hesitantly. "Would you please pray that the Lord will guide and direct me and Joe, and give us wisdom to deal with things?"
"Things?" Sue asked, raising her eyebrows. "There isn't trouble with you two, is there? I knew as soon as I first saw you that you were made for Joe."
Carly shook her head expressively. "No, no. Everything's fine with us. So far. I just want to do God's will, no matter what." She thought instinctively about the envelope in her coat pocket. She had put it there, wanting to show Joe as soon as she saw him at church that night.
"Good girl." Sue beamed happily. "There's more if you want it." Carly helped herself to some small helpings to please Sue.
"While we're gone, could you please look in at the house every once in a while? You don't really have to do anything, just make sure that everything's okay. Sam will give you a house key before we leave."
Sue paused to eye Carly's clean plate. "Have some pie."
"Sure, I'd be glad to," Carly said pleasantly, wondering how she was going to eat the huge piece of pie Sue dished out. Somehow she finished it and stood up before Sue could feed her any more.
"Can I help you with the clean up?" she asked, taking her plate to the sink.
"Oh no, sweetie. I need something to keep me busy for the rest of the day, seeing as how I've got all the packing done." Sue grinned, clearing off the table. "You go ahead and get back to work. I'll send Sam over later with the leftovers if you don't mind."
"Thanks for lunch," she said, putting on her coat. "It was delicious. I'll see you in a little bit, Sam."
"You're welcome, dear." Sue gave her a big hug, her eyes moist. "I'm going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you too, but I hope you both have a great time. Don't worry about anything while you're gone," Carly said, trying to swallow the lump in her throat, knowing she was going to miss them both terribly.
Sam came to work about an hour later, bringing a large basket full of Tupperware bowls for Carly. "I hope you like to eat." Sam laughed and handed her the basket. "Do you have room for all of this in your little refrigerator upstairs?"
She eyed the basket, laughing. "Wow. I thought we made a pretty good dent in the leftovers for lunch!"
"She made you some special treats for taking care of things for us, so it's not all leftovers," he said as she lugged the basket up the stairs.
She struggled to find room in her refrigerator, but she finally stuffed the last bowl into the last tiny space and went back downstairs.
"Well, did you get it all in there?" Sam asked, giving a customer some change. "You have a good day." He called after them, "Remember, Mike. We're going to be closed until January fifteenth, so you'll have to go to Billings if you need anything." Mike nodded and left the store.
"I finally got it all in there. I didn't know that thing could hold so much!" Carly laughed, leaning on the counter.
"There's one other thing we forgot to mention to you." Sam pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and handed them to her.
She looked at them curiously. "Are these all for the house?"
"This is for the house; this is for the garage door if you need anything." He paused, showing her each key. "And these two are for my truck in the garage," he said, smiling at her significantly. She was speechless for a moment.
"Sam, I can't use your truck," she said softly, handing the keys back to him.
Everyone knew that Sam's truck was his baby since his boys had left home, and he took care of it like a young schoolboy. It was a dark blue, 1970 Ford Bronco in perfect condition. If he wasn't at work or with Sue, he was tinkering under the hood or waxing or just admiring it. Joe and Todd had helped him work on it, and they often talked about its excellent condition.
"Red, take the keys," he said, pushing them into her hand. "We're not going to leave you here without a way to get around."
"Sam, there's no way I can possibly use that truck. What if s
omething happened to it? I'd never be able to forgive myself." She pushed the keys back to him, shaking her head. "Besides, if I need anything, I'll ask Joe to help me out. He won't mind."
"It's just a truck, Red," he said, putting the keys into her hand and closing her fingers over them. "Joe's a great guy, and I'm sure he'd do anything for you, but what if something happened and he couldn't come help you? I want you to use it, in fact, I expect you to use it. If you don't, I'm going to be upset when I get home." He winked at her.
She took the keys reluctantly.
"Why have you been so nice to me?" she asked softly, looking at him.
"You needed a friend," he said with a simple shrug. "You're like a granddaughter to us now, and we love having you around." She gave him a hug, tears stinging her eyes. "Promise that you'll use the truck; it'd make me proud to have Joe see you in it. He helped me restore it you know."
"He told me about that," Carly said, smiling. "And he enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you Sam." She wiped a tear from her eye. "I thank the Lord for you and Sue every day."
"All right, all right. Enough mush. Let's get to work," he said, turning away abruptly, but not before Carly saw that his eyes were red.
Carly was ready for church early that night. She checked her coat pocket to make sure she still had the envelope, locked the front doors behind her, and set out, putting the key ring in her pocket. She was so engrossed in her thoughts, she didn't hear Joe calling her. He beeped the horn, causing her to jump.
"Where are you going?" Joe said, getting out of the truck and walking toward her.
"Joe!" she said, smiling weakly, her hand on her chest.
"Don't you want a ride?" he asked, taking her hand and leading her back to the truck. He opened the door and helped her in.
"I didn't know if you were going to come here or not, so I wanted to start out and not be late," she said after he got in next to her.
"It's cold and snowy, and you have no boots or gloves. What kind of guy do you think I am? Of course I'm coming to get you! Silly!" He looked at her, surprised. "How was your night?" he asked, pulling out and driving slowly toward the church.
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