Chapter 19
Noah felt like whistling as he walked back to the shop after leaving Grace.
The afternoon had been a smashing success in his book.
Not just the fact that practice had gone really, really well with the kids, but more so the fact that he had gotten to spend the entire afternoon with Grace.
And she was everything he thought she was, and so much more.
She had deep thoughts and had really thought about what God was and how she could best serve Him.
She was willing to make changes in her life to be more aligned with God's purpose and plan.
She was great with kids, and she even seemed to be a little bit on his side, almost against the town.
He felt kind of bad about that though. He wanted to tell her that the Secret Saint could hardly fix his furnace, since he was the Secret Saint.
He had been so tempted to tell her that.
So tempted. He had also been tempted to let her know that part of the reason he didn't have any money to fix the furnace was not just because he had given his emergency fund to his sibling to help out someone in need, but also because he had been spending every extra cent he had on getting things for the Secret Saint to help other people.
So much of what they did was donated, but he would buy groceries, blankets, and gifts out of his own pocket.
He didn't mind at all and felt like he would rather spend his money on that than anything else in the world.
And now that none of his siblings were home, he could.
He didn't have to worry about any additional expenses.
He could eat as cheaply as possible and give all of his money away.
Of course he wanted to be a good steward of what he had and be able to take care of emergencies that cropped up, and he thought he had that covered.
Obviously, he was wrong about that. But, he wouldn't have it any other way.
What groceries was he not going to buy so he could save money to cover his furnace?
What blankets was he not going to buy? What electric bill was he not going to pay for someone else?
Yeah. It was what it was.
He thanked Aunt Vivian and informed her that he was coming to her house for supper. She laughed and said that Grace had already told her, and she was looking forward to it. She told him to bring his appetite.
He laughed as she walked out, but indeed, she was right.
It was freezing in the room. But, years ago, almost twenty, if he recalled correctly, the furnace had gone out when his parents were still alive, and he remembered for a few days his dad had a space heater and used that to heat the shop.
It would work again, although it was not good for the instruments to have great fluctuations in temperature, and it really wasn't good for them to have dry air, but it would have to do for now.
He would call the local HVAC company either later that afternoon or first thing in the morning.
He had a few things he needed to catch up on and he had students coming for lessons, and he needed to get the store warmed up first.
It didn't take long for him to dig through the closet and find the space heaters his dad had used.
The register was open to the downstairs from upstairs, and he knew the heat would go up and warm the upstairs too.
He would just have to make sure no one burned themselves on it, but otherwise, he could use it for the rest of the winter if he really had to.
Lord, I don't know where you're gonna provide the funds from, but I gave away what I had, trusting that you would provide. And I'm expecting you to do that. Or else allow me to figure out a way to work around it. This is in your hands.
By the time his first student arrived, he had the space heaters plugged in, one in his store and one in the back in the lesson room. It was still a little chilly, but not as bad as it had been.
Normally, he enjoyed giving lessons, but he watched the clock a lot more than he typically did, because, he had to face it, he was looking forward to seeing Grace again.
There was just something about her, and he felt drawn to her, plus he enjoyed her company.
They laughed together and had fun. At least he did.
He'd love to know what she thought. He supposed he could ask her, but she might feel like she needed to be polite when she really preferred not to be around him as much as he wanted to be around her.
He gave himself a hard time for being a coward. He should just ask her out. Why not? What did he have to lose?
He supposed their working relationship. They were going to be working together for the next three weeks, and if she didn't want to go out with him, that could make everything awkward.
Or, it could plant a seed in her head that he was definitely interested, and maybe she would think about it and decide that she was too.
He found himself with a silly grin on his face and was thankful that his student was looking at the music and playing and not paying attention to his teacher being all sappy over a girl.
He had watched each of his siblings go through various stages of romantic interest, and he'd always found it funny. And now, look at him. Getting all sappy and smiley just thinking about Grace.
He was so looking forward to it that he barely noticed everything was pretty warm by the time he flipped the "closed" sign over and walked out. Yeah, he was closing a little early, but he could let everyone know it was because of the heat.
Maybe that would be a good thing. Maybe some of the donors who usually donated for the Secret Saint things would get together, pool their resources, and be able to spring for a furnace for him.
Except he didn't want that. He didn't want people who might be donating to someone else to give their money to him. He would rather see other needy people get it.
Was he needy?
He didn't want to think of himself that way, but the flipside was, he loved giving to people, loved doing things for people, and got a lot of satisfaction out of that.
Why shouldn't he be one of the ones who needed things given to him at some point?
That way he could let someone else have the good feeling of doing something kind and generous for someone else.
He hadn't fleshed that thought out very well before he arrived at Vivian’s Victorian house and knocked on the door.
Grace answered, opening the door wide, her cheeks flushed, her hair pulled straight back from her head and held in a ponytail which fell down between her shoulder blades, shining and catching the light as she moved.
He could admire her hair all day long.
"You made it!" she said, looking very pleased to see him, and not at all like she was tired of his company, even though they had spent almost the entire afternoon together.
"Wouldn't miss it," he said.
"Was it your furnace? Was it unfixable?"
"It was the furnace. Yes. And I didn't get to call anyone about it. By the time I dug out the space heaters, my first student was there, so I needed to give a lesson, and once I was done with my lessons for the day, it was time to come here."
"Oh I'm sorry. Maybe inviting you to come here made it so you couldn't call about your furnace." He stepped in, and she closed the door behind him, her brows drawing down, concern on her face.
"No. I'll call first thing in the morning.
Frank's pretty good. I mean, he did tell me that I was going to need an undertaker the next time for my furnace rather than having it serviced, but.
.. He'll be fair with me." Maybe he'd even have payment plans.
But he wasn't going to worry about that now.
He would worry about that tomorrow and take care of it then.
"In the meantime, the space heaters are doing their job, but my house doesn't smell nearly as good as yours does. "
"It does smell good, doesn't it?" She grinned. "We have slow cooker fajita soup in the crockpot, and I have been dying for the last twenty minutes ever since Aunt Vivian took the lid off. It smells so good. She even made bread for it."
"Homemade bread? I am so in," he said, rubbing his hands together.
If it was possible, she smiled even bigger, and he found himself getting stuck watching it.
What would it be like to sit across from that smile every day?
He could only imagine it would be wonderful.
Interesting that he'd never considered wanting to sit across from anyone's smile for the rest of his life.
Maybe he'd been too busy with his siblings, or maybe he just hadn't met Grace.
"Come in," Aunt Vivian said from the doorway of the kitchen. "Don't just stand there. The poor man is probably hungry, Grace. We've gotta feed him." She waited until they started moving before she looked at Grace. "That's something you need to know about men. They're always hungry."
They all laughed together. He helped get ready for the meal, and then they all sat down together.
They asked him to say grace, which he was more than happy to do.
Yeah, his furnace needed to be replaced, and his roof was still leaking, but he felt like he'd been very blessed.
Maybe it was just the good company, good friends, the security of being in a town where he knew that people would take care of him if he really needed it.
But also the knowledge that God would provide.
He was more secure and sure about that than ever.
He said to Aunt Vivian, "I hope you don't mind if Grace and I talk a little shop."
"Not at all. She told me that was what you were planning on doing. And I'm curious. I hope you don't mind if I eavesdrop while you guys talk shop."
"I don't," he said, lifting his brows at Grace.
"I would probably tell her what we said anyway."
He laughed a little at that and shrugged his shoulders. He didn't care who she told.
"Well I just wanted to let you know that we were talking about all of the people who had texted me when we left the diner, and we have enough adults to have a group and enough high school students to have a group.
Actually we could probably do a boys' group and a girls' group if we would like or a singing group and a bells group.
Whatever. And, we have eight special needs kids who would love to participate. "
"Those were the ones I was the most excited about. I know that that is a little bit crazy, but they're always so enthusiastic and happy, and I think working with them will be super fun."
"They'll be a real crowd pleaser if we pick the right music," Noah said, already having several pieces in mind.
"I'll leave that up to you. I'm sure you know better than I do, but I'm definitely looking forward to that, and that's great news!"
"Yeah. I almost blurted it out as soon as I walked in the door, but I thought I probably ought to do all the social niceties first."
"We don't stand on tradition too much here," Aunt Vivian said. "If you want to burst out with news, go ahead and do it. I can't guarantee that we won't at some point either."
Grace shared a look with her aunt, and it was easy to see the affection between the two of them.
"I was hoping to start tomorrow afternoon. I know you said every afternoon was free—"
"I'm sorry. I had an appointment come up tomorrow. But everything else this week is free. I could do it tomorrow afternoon, but I can't stay late."
He blinked. What had come up so quickly? Surely she wasn't sick?
"I'm sorry. It was on my calendar, and I just kind of forgot about it. It's nothing important." She shook her head a little and smiled at him, and it was the smile that did it. Whatever it was, he believed her that it wasn't important.
He nodded. "That's fine. We can do one right after school, or even the last period. I can check and see." He glanced at Aunt Vivian. "I have someone else to watch the store tomorrow afternoon, so you don't have to, unless you want to."
"I love doing it. So anytime you need me, go ahead and ask. I don't want regular hours, but I don't mind filling in whenever, especially this time of year, since I know things will slow down after Christmas."
"They always do," he said. January was one of his slowest months. There had been years where he'd considered closing the store completely, if it weren't for the kids getting lessons and the occasional kid coming in to rent an instrument.
They started talking about something else, and Noah enjoyed the delicious soup.
The warm, great-smelling kitchen, good company, and smiles and laughter made him feel like he had come home. No, his siblings weren't here, but it definitely was the kind of place where a person would love to come in and spend some time. But again, maybe that was Grace.