by Lynn Bulock
“We just got more to do. Heather’s in labor. Dot and I took one look at her after early services and told her to go to the hospital.”
“Wow. Did you end up calling another ambulance?”
“Not this time. Sandy had taken her to church, and had some suspicions herself. In fact she’s downstairs in the labor and delivery suites with Heather now. Sandy gets a chance to get some mothering points here as her daughter’s labor coach. After everything that has gone on, I’m surprised Heather wants her, but she does.”
“As far as anybody knows, is she okay?”
“Too soon to tell. But I sort of thought yesterday when I saw her at the luncheon that this might be happening. The girl was so grouchy and antsy at the same time.”
I was glad to hear somebody else had noticed the same thing I had. At least all of my perceptions yesterday weren’t flawed.
“Thanks for coming to tell me.”
Linnette smiled. “I didn’t come just to tell you that. I came to spring you out of here if I can. Figured you’d need a ride home, and I suspect they’ll be discharging you soon.”
“Probably before noon. At least that’s what the nurses have said. I got to eat breakfast and I didn’t throw up or anything, so I should be good to go.” I got teary again.
“But go where, is that what you’re thinking?” Linnette’s voice was gentle.
“I know where I belong, it’s just a case of how I’m going to get there,” I told her. Moving all that stuff sounded pretty daunting right now.
As usual, Linnette was a step ahead of me. “Don’t worry about it. Dot and I already talked about that. We’ll help you pack up the basics from Edna’s house, including your computer and all of your school stuff and most of your clothes, and take it over to the apartment. We decided that you shouldn’t spend another night in that house, Gracie Lee.”
I couldn’t agree with her more. After everything that had happened there, it was the last place I wanted to be. “Thanks. You all are the best.”
Linnette waved me off. “Save the compliments for Wednesday night at Christian Friends when we do affirmations. We’re going to get through an entire real, structured meeting this week if we have to stay until midnight.”
Wednesday night the coffee was hot, the people were friendly and there wasn’t a chocolate-chip cookie in sight, in my honor—just peanut butter and oatmeal raisin—and some brownies. The meeting started off with all the official Christian Friends stuff, good prayers and a dandy devotion. Like Linnette had said, she was doing it all by the book this time.
Once they worked their way around to me I had plenty to tell them, although they were less interested in the fact that I’d started my new job at the Coffee Corner or that Ray had taken a formal statement from me on Tuesday than they were in solving Dennis’s murder. I told everyone what I could; there were plenty of details that would have to wait until either a grand jury hearing or eventually a trial was held for Becca.
“I have one question I imagine you can answer,” Dot said with a smile. “Even though you’ve been in that apartment behind my house for days now, you haven’t ever told me what Ben’s good news was when he was trying to reach you Saturday afternoon.”
“It’s very good news,” I said, not resisting a motherly grin. “My brilliant son is going to be joining me at Pacific Oaks in the fall. He’s been offered nearly a full-ride scholarship. Only his books, parking and spending money are going to fall to us.”
Apparently he’d gotten one of those “fat envelopes” that high school seniors everywhere look for in the late fall and early spring. I was thrilled, not only because he’d be that close to me all the time, but that it came when it did. If Pacific Oaks had waited even one extra day to send his admissions packet, Becca might have gotten away with another murder.
“What does he think of going to the same school as Mom, and at the same time?” Lexy asked.
“He’s happy to be coming out here, and we won’t see each other that much, I suspect. Freshmen and second-year grad students have very little in common. His scholarship will include housing on campus, so he won’t be living with me much.”
“Still, it would be a good thing to get that extra bathroom added on to the apartment,” Dot said. “I wonder if we could get it done before school ends in June.”
“Don’t hold your breath on it,” I told her. “Missouri schools end a lot earlier than the ones out here. I could be going out for his graduation right before Memorial Day.” It was good to think about that—about moving forward, and late spring in Missouri with all the flowers blooming and all these warm, pleasant positive things to focus on. It had been quite a while since I had a bunch of positive things to look forward to at the same time.
Now it seemed like almost everything I was looking forward to was positive. And to underscore that, before I could say anything else, Heather came into the room carrying a baby seat full of the cutest little squirt possible. “Everybody, this is Corinna Grace,” she said, pulling aside a pink flowered blanket to reveal an adorable, scrunched-up pink face. “Not only is she beautiful, she scored a nearly perfect nine-point-five on the Apgar scale.” Mom beamed and baby yawned, making all of us laugh and coo and crowd around.
“Pretty name,” Paula said, stroking the baby’s soft cheek. “Where does it come from?”
“The Corinna part from one of my grandmothers,” Heather said, smiling down at her bundle of joy. “And the Grace is for all of you, in a funny sort of way. I mean, it’s only by God’s grace that she’s here, and I was here to have her and everything turned out as well as it did. For me, at least, the Christian Friends are the best example of God’s grace I’ve ever seen.”
“Amen to that one,” Dot said with conviction. “Now how about one of us getting you a big glass of ice water and a couple of those cookies and you spend your group time telling us all the gory details of your labor and delivery that nobody else wants to hear.”
The group laughed as one, and I was struck again by how wonderful it was to have this group of women in my life. Heather was right; it was only God’s grace that had led both of us here, and to this place where we could sit in the same room and I could listen to her launch in on this fascinating tale of new life in all its messy glory.
Life is like that, even when we aren’t giving birth. It is messy and glorious and awful all at the same time and God is always there to walk with us if we let Him. And sometimes, when we’re the most fortunate, He sends people like this to walk alongside us and remind us that we’re not alone.
The last thing I felt this night was alone. I poured myself another cup of coffee and listened to Heather while Corinna slept beside her. “So anyway, my back was killing me, and you two were right, I needed to go to the hospital, because when I got out of Mom’s car at Los Robles, the seat was all wet.”
“Your water broke!” came the chorus, which I joined. Several of us were shaking our heads in remembrance of similar events.
“You should have put a beach towel under you, sweetie,” Linnette said.
“I know that now. Not that it’s any help for Mom’s upholstery.” We all groaned in response, too many of us having been there ourselves. I felt like part of the women’s tribe, sitting around the campfire. These were my sisters in Christ and it felt very, very good to be home.
For now, California is home. There was too much keeping me here to think about going back to Missouri, except for visits. It’s still new and confusing out here on the Left Coast with all its quirks, but some things are the same or even better. God’s love still surrounds me in this place where I can wear black rubber sandals in February and not have frostbite. And that is an awesome thing.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Gracie Lee discovers a terrible secret about her husband. Have you ever known anyone who discovered a troubling secret about their spouse? How did he or she deal with it?
When did you begin to suspect the killer? Did you go back and reread to see if you could find hints about the k
iller’s identity?
How does the author contrast between the three women who have been married to or involved with Dennis Peete? What is it about their lives that makes them the way they are?
Have you ever heard of a support group like the Christian Friends described in this book? If you were part of such a group, what would you change about the one described here? What would you keep the same?
When Linnette invites Gracie Lee to be part of the Christian Friends, she expresses her concern first, then brings her into the group, shares Scripture with her in the form of the Psalms and only after all that does she invite her to church. Why do you think she took that approach? Do you think her approach was valid?
With whom do you most identify in this book? Why?
Detective Fernandez can’t seem to understand Gracie Lee’s capacity to forgive Heather. How could you explain the Christian nature of forgiveness to someone who isn’t familiar with Scripture and doesn’t go to church? What language could you use?
There are a lot of women involved in this story—Gracie Lee, the Christian Friends, Edna. How do you think this story would be different if there were more men involved?
The parent/child relationship is shown in many forms—Gracie Lee and Ben, Edna and Dennis, Dennis and Becca, Becca and her mother, Heather and her mother. What communication issues do you see among the relationships? What could be done to improve communication?
In the front of this book the following Bible verses appear: Ephesians 2:8–9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Where is God’s grace most evident in Gracie Lee’s life?
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LOVE THE SINNER
Copyright © 2005 by Lynn Bulock
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