Walking Away (The Walking Together Series Book 2)

by T. E. Killian

  Again, he tried to interrupt and once more, she held up her hand so she could go on. “I have to admit though that I do feel differently about you now than I did before I left Strawberry nine years ago.”

  She thought for a moment about how to make herself clear to Kent. She was pleased when he waited for her to continue this time.

  “But I do promise you that I will think about everything you’ve said tonight ... long and hard.”

  She quickly added. “You are right about one thing for sure. Brianna definitely needs a father and Michelle needs a mother. But are you and I the right ones for each other’s little girls? That’s the question we both need to answer.”

  The pizza came then and the girls rushed back to their table. Grace had to smile at the eagerness with which both girls attacked their pizza. It made her feel good just to watch them together. They acted like real sisters who’d been together since birth.

  After that, to Grace’s regret, there were no more opportunities for her and Kent to be alone. She felt bad that she hadn’t been able to approach him about his gambling. But, as she thought about it though, hadn’t Larry and Wally already hit him?

  She grinned to herself. Worst of all, it probably would have spoiled the wonderful mood of the night for all of them.

  Chapter Fifteen

  It was already Friday afternoon and Grace was frustrated. In fact, she’d been frustrated all week long. It all began Tuesday night when she hadn’t been able to talk to Kent about his gambling. She’d had no better luck the rest of the week either.

  It was as if he knew what she wanted to talk to him about and had been avoiding her all week long. Even when they did meet, he always cut their conversation short as if he was in a hurry.

  Well, for all he knew, she might have wanted to talk to him about his roundabout proposal the other night. It bothered her that those two topics had both been fighting for control of her mind ever since Kent had dumped all that on her at The Pizza Place Tuesday night.

  In one way, she wanted to talk to him so she could ask him about his gambling. But on the other hand, she was afraid he’d ask her about his declaration of love and proposal.

  What did she really think about Kent? Did she love him the way he said that he now loves her? It was true that she was definitely looking at him quite differently now that she was back in Strawberry. But was it different enough?

  She knew she had to think it all over so much better than she had since Tuesday night. But she was almost afraid of the conclusion that she might come to. Well, hopefully, she wouldn’t have to give Kent an answer anytime soon.

  She stopped at the office on her way out of the building and breathed a sigh of relief to find her mom alone in the front office. She could also see into Dr. Payne’s office enough to see that he wasn’t there either.

  So she went around the counter and over to her mom’s desk. Her mom was giving her one of those smiles that told Grace that she’d already realized that Grace had something heavy on her mind.

  Before Grace could speak, her mom pointed to the chair next to her desk and said, “Have a seat and tell me what’s bothering you Honey.”

  Grace laughed. “You always could tell when Matt or I either one needed to talk, couldn’t you?”

  Her mom only nodded and kept smiling.

  “Well, I’m sorry for not telling you all of this sooner, but I’ve just simply needed to sort it out in my own mind some more before I could talk to anyone else about it.”

  “Oh my. It must be something really heavy as Matt always says.”

  She tried to keep her smile. “Yes, I guess you could say that.”

  She paused to look deeply into her mom’s blue eyes that were so much like her own. “Kent declared his love for me Tuesday night.”

  She decided to let that one settle a little before going on but was thoroughly surprised when her mom’s expression didn’t change. In fact, she didn’t even blink. Then Grace remembered that on her the first day back in Strawberry her mom had told her that Kent had always loved her. Oh my!

  She frowned and then decided to tell her mom the rest. “Okay, here is the clincher. He basically asked me to marry him. Oh, he did it in a roundabout way. He went on about how Michelle needed a nurturing mother and Brianna needed a good father. But the bottom line was that he said he wanted to marry me.”

  That was when her mom jumped up out of her chair, came around the desk, and pulled Grace up into a tight hug. Then she pulled back a little and grinned. “Oh Sweetheart, that is what your dad and I have wanted for a long time.”

  Grace pulled back farther. “But Mom. What about his gambling problem?”

  “Oh dear. I momentarily forgot about that. Yes, we do need to take that into consideration. Don’t we?”

  “Yes we do Mom. That’s another thing that’s been bothering me. Monday night, Dad asked me to say something to Kent about his gambling. But I didn’t get an opportunity then and haven’t been able to do so at all since then.”

  Her mom sat back down at her desk. “Well, I wouldn’t worry too much about that Dear. You just need to wait for the right time. Your father told me that he thinks things are progressing quite well. In fact, he said it was going just as he planned. He also said that the confrontation with Wally the other night was just what Kent needet to get him thinking about his headaches.”

  “Well, Mom, I hope you’re both right. I so want to help Kent.”

  Her mom giggled which Grace had noticed she’d been doing quite a bit of lately. “Yes, Dear. I know you do.” She sighed. “You see Grace. I’m quite certain that you do love Kent just the way he says he loves you. It’s just that after all that Randy did to you, you’re just too afraid to admit to your true feelings.”

  Grace stood then, not wanting to comment on her mom’s latest revelation. “I guess I’d better hurry next door and get Brianna. She says she needs to get things ready for Michelle to spend the night with her tonight.”

  “Sorry I couldn’t get over there to get her for you. But with Dr. Payne gone, I can’t really leave the office for that long.”

  Immediately upon their leaving the elementary office, Brianna began chattering about how much fun she and Michelle were going to have that night. As it usually did lately, it gave Grace a warm feeling to see her little girl so happy.

  When their doorbell rang a short while later, Grace tried to think of a way to get Kent alone. She still needed to say something to him about his gambling. But that probably wasn’t going to happen with the girls present.

  As soon as Michelle came through the door, the two little girls raced off to Brianna’s room laughing and shouting all the way.

  She quickly turned to Kent who was still standing in the open doorway. “Well, Kent, why don’t you come in for a bit and have something cool to drink. It sure is hot out there for this late in August.”

  She wasn’t surprised when he said, “No thanks Grace, I’ve got a few errands to run right now, maybe later. Okay?”

  She watched him go back to his car and get in. How was she ever going to get a chance to talk to him if he kept avoiding spending any time with her?

  * * *

  Kent had really enjoyed watching Michelle as she had skipped, bounced, and run circles around him as they made their way over to Grace’s house. She sure was excited about spending the night with Brianna.

  He still found it hard to believe that she was the same scared, angry little girl that Shelly had unceremoniously dumped on him less than two weeks ago. It was amazing and he loved it.

  He knew he had Grace to thank for most of that change ... and Brianna too, of course. Again, his heart ached when he thought of all the years that he and Grace had wasted. Well, if he had anything to say about it, they weren’t going to waste any more. He wanted to marry Grace, and soon.

  Once he made it back to his house without Grace jumping him about his gambling, he breathed a sigh of relief. Now, he could concentrate on the evening ahead. He planned to spend as long
at the casino tonight as it took for him to win back enough of his money so that he could breathe a little easier financially.

  That was all he wanted, just enough to stabilize things for him so he could go on from there with Michelle and hopefully Grace and Brianna. Was that too much to ask? He certainly hoped not.

  On the way to the casino, Kent thought about Grace. His Grace! Man did that ever sound good. Was she really going to be his? Was it too good to be true?

  No! He was sure that Grace felt the same way about him that he did about her. It had to be that worthless guy she had been married to that was holding her back. It was all his fault. He’d almost ruined her for anyone else, even Kent.

  So, what could he do about it? He had once known Grace well enough to be able to predict what she might do in almost any situation. But did he still? Nine years was a long time for them to be apart. He knew he’d changed a lot in those years, mostly thanks to Shelly. So Grace had to have changed too, mostly because of that jerk Randy.

  When he pulled into the casino parking lot, he was no closer to knowing what to do next with Grace than he had been when he’d left Strawberry. One thing he knew for sure was that he couldn’t keep avoiding talking to her. Even if he was afraid she’d jump him about his gambling, he still needed to talk to her about all he’d said to her Monday night.

  He needed to know where he stood with her. Did she indeed feel the same about him that he did about her? He’d find out soon.

  When he entered the casino, he headed for his favorite machine and was pleased when he found it available. He sure hoped that would turn out to be a good omen.

  He’d been playing for almost an hour and was actually winning for once, when he felt something soft bump his right elbow. He turned his head slightly to see a blond standing there almost leaning on him. Then he felt the same soft bump on his left elbow and wasn’t surprised when he saw a brunette standing there.

  Now what? He sure wasn’t in the mood for something like this, especially now. As he turned back to look at the blond, he realized that not too long ago, she would have appealed to him and he might have taken her up on the obvious invitation he saw written all over her face.

  No! Not now! He was winning for once. And besides, he had Grace now. He no longer needed a replacement. The real thing was now within his reach.

  He tried to ignore the women but they kept leaning on him from both sides and he knew he had to say something or they’d never go away.

  So he turned to the blond since he didn’t want to look at the brunette who reminded him too much of Shelly. “Look ladies, I’m flattered that you would single me out, but I’m simply not available. Okay?”

  Neither one said anything but the blond had a pouting look on her face as she turned to leave.

  Whew! That was a close one. He definitely did not need that kind of distraction tonight. Especially not when he was finally winning the way he was.

  After the women left, he started to lose again. Of course, he blamed it on their interruption. He knew from experience that any time he was winning, that almost anything could cause him to start losing again. But he kept going. He had to. He just had to win.

  That was when he realized that his head was starting to hurt again. Usually, it would start not too severely and gradually get worse until he had to stop doing whatever he was doing, but not tonight. No, tonight, it was starting off pretty bad and was getting worse much quicker than it usually did. What was he going to do now?

  The next thing Kent knew, he was lying on the floor of his living room. His head was still pounding so bad that he could barely lift it off the floor.

  He had to try to get something to take for the pain. He knew he had some Ibuprofen in his medicine cabinet, if he could just get to it before his head exploded.

  He must have blacked out again, for this time, he woke up on his bed. He was still fully clothed. Did he make it to the pain pills or not. Well, his head was still killing him and if he only took one before, one more wouldn’t hurt him, would it?

  He finally made it into his master bath to get the pill and took it quickly. When he turned to leave the bathroom, he realized he was starving. So he headed for the kitchen.

  The next time when he came to, he was sitting in his recliner in his living room and someone was knocking on his front door. Who could that be at this time of night? Then he realized that there was sunlight coming through his curtains, which weren’t even closed all the way. That was strange. Whoa, what time was it anyway. More than that, what had happened to him in the time between the casino and now?

  Kent started to get out of his recliner but didn’t quite make it before the door began to open. He fell back into the chair and waited to see who would come through the door.

  * * *

  After Kent dropped Michelle off earlier that afternoon, Grace had tried to stay out of the way and just allow the girls to play, as they wanted until suppertime. It certainly was a joy for her to listen to the excited chatter coming from Brianna’s room. Her daughter so needed this. Of course, it did wonders for Grace too.

  The rest of the evening was quite enjoyable as well, with all three of them in the family room around the TV and playing games. But the highlight of the evening had been when Michelle had asked Grace how she could have Jesus in her heart like Brianna did.

  Grace spent almost an hour talking to Michelle and asking her questions before she’d been sure that the seven-year-old was ready. When Michelle prayed to receive Christ, they had all wept for joy and then celebrated with some milk and cookies.

  Grace had allowed the girls to stay awake talking for a while before finally turning the light off and asking them to go to sleep. They had, but not before they’d whispered in the dark for almost another hour.

  The next morning, Grace let the girls help her make waffles for breakfast and it had been a gooey mess that they had all thoroughly enjoyed.

  Finally, after getting her kitchen and all three of them cleaned up, it was time to take Michelle home. Just getting the girls ready to make the trip two houses down had turned out to be almost a major undertaking. Grace hadn’t realized how many things that Michelle had crammed into the large tote bag she’d brought with her the night before.

  Finally, all items were accounted for and they walked over to Kent’s house. When Grace rang the doorbell, she thought she heard a sound coming from somewhere close inside but wasn’t sure. When the door didn’t open, she knocked. This time, she definitely heard a sort of groaning sound.

  Before Grace could stop her, Michelle grabbed the doorknob and opened the door, which hadn’t been locked.

  Again, before Grace could stop her, Michelle pushed her way through the door. Grace was looking down to see where Brianna was when she realized she was beside Michelle and they’d both stopped just inside the doorway.

  Grace pushed the door open wider and stepped into Kent’s living room. She almost bumped into the girls who were still standing right there. When she looked up, Grace saw Kent sitting in his recliner and he was holding something in his hand. It was a gun! And he began waving it around in front of him.

  Quickly, Grace grabbed both girls by the arm and dragged them back out onto the front porch. Now, what could she do? Matt! She had to call her big brother. Surely, he would know what to do.

  Grace continued leading the girls across the yard toward Mrs. Anderson’s house, pulling her cell phone out as they went.

  Matt answered right away and when she told him what they’d seen, he said, “Take the girls back to your house and call Dad on the way. I’ll be right over there.”

  Well, Grace had every intention of doing exactly what Matt had told her to do, but by the time she disconnected the call to her dad, they were in front of Mrs. Anderson’s house. The dear lady was standing on her front porch and she was calling out to them.

  Apparently, Mrs. Anderson realized that something was wrong as she ushered all three of them into her living room and said, “What happened Dear?”r />
  When Grace told her, Mrs. Anderson led the girls over to a sofa, sat them down, and said, “I’ll be right back with some cookies. Okay girls?”

  Neither girl answered. They just sat there almost as if in a daze until Mrs. Anderson handed each of them a cookie. Then Michelle looked a Grace and asked, “What was my daddy doing? Is he okay? “

  Grace didn’t know how to answer Michelle. But finally, she said, “We’ll check on him as soon as Matt gets here. Okay? But I’m sure he’s going to be all right though.”

  She wished she could be sure about what she’d just told Michelle. What in the world could Kent have been doing sitting there waving a gun around in front of him that way? Was he drunk? No, she didn’t think so. She’d never known him to drink, at least not the way his brother Larry did.

  After giving the girls each a cookie, Mrs. Anderson pulled Grace aside and whispered, “You go on and do what you need to do. The girls will be just fine right here with me for as long as it takes.”

  Grace couldn’t help it. Tears came to her eyes and she pulled the slight older lady into a gentle embrace. “Oh thank you Mrs. Anderson. I do need to go meet Matt when he gets here.”

  “You go on and don’t worry about us.”

  Just as Grace stepped off Mrs. Anderson’s porch, Matt pulled up in front of Kent’s house on his Harley with Betty Sue on the back. They both jumped off the bike and took off their helmets as they waited for Grace to make her way across the lawn toward them.

  Matt wasted no time asking, “What kind of gun was it Grace? Could you tell if it was loaded or not?”

  She shook her head. “No, it was one of those pistols with a clip, so I couldn’t tell.”

  Just then, her dad pulled up behind Matt’s motorcycle. Betty Sue spoke up then. “I think I’ll just go into Mrs. Andersons to be with the girls.”

  Grace smiled her appreciation to Betty Sue and turned back toward Matt as their dad approached.