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Sometimes, he’d tag along on these welcome visits.
Not this time.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to reach out to Vanessa. But he’d counseled enough members of the military to know that when someone didn’t want to listen, it was hard to talk to them. Rory had his ways of helping people to find their faith, and those ways didn’t involve being pushy and too in-your-face. He’d have to bide his time with Vanessa Donovan. He’d seen people hurt by those who used their own agenda in the name of the Lord.
It was never pretty.
So now, he raked and prayed and raked some more and tried to think about what he could have for dinner. Maybe he’d go to the Back Bay Pizza House and order a takeout meatball sub. Or maybe he’d swing by the Courthouse Café and get a big hamburger and fries before they shut down for the day. Or he could pull out his bike and ride around the lake and stop at the Fish Barrel, the new alfresco dining truck that offered up some really good grouper sandwiches, shrimp baskets and other local fare.
He was leaning toward the bike ride and the grouper sandwich when he heard a low, feminine groan echoing out over the street. Then he heard a thump and a crash, followed by another groan and the word “Ouch.”
Dropping his rake, Rory peeped around the corner of the storage shed behind the church and saw Vanessa standing in the front yard by an old wheelbarrow full of trash. He watched as she tried to move the wheelbarrow, but one of the wheels had obviously gone flat. The weight of the trash wasn’t helping matters.
That old thing wasn’t going to go anywhere except—
Onto its side.
It toppled over with a shudder of regret, causing another loud crash to reverberate up and down the street. Old glassware, plates, cups and other knickknacks spilled all over the driveway and sidewalk. And another groan of frustration followed.
Okay, now he had to walk over there because he had to be gallant and helpful, didn’t he?
“Need some help?” he called, to show he was only trying to be a gentleman.
She glanced around, surprise brightening her shimmering eyes. Surprise, followed by what might be dread. “I’m beyond help.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” he told her, his hands on his hips. “But...this wheelbarrow is beyond anything. I hope these dishes weren’t important.”
She stared at the shattered mess lying at her feet. “No, not really.” But she picked up what looked like a children’s cup that had colorful princess characters on it. “Just stuff my mom had shoved into the garage out back. She was a bit of a hoarder.”
Rory heard the pain behind that comment. And saw that pain reflected in Vanessa’s eyes while she moved her fingers over the faded little plastic cup. “Was that yours?” he asked as an opening.
She nodded. “Once, long ago.”
“Where were you taking these things?”
“Out to the curb.” She tossed the cup back onto the pile. “I thought someone might come by and take them.”
He gave her time to get past what she had to be thinking. It must be hard to let go of so many memories. “Let me help you get this cleaned up.”
She waved him away. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I have nothing else to do,” he said. “I’ve been doing yard work, and I was about to quit for the day.”
She glanced at the church and then back at him, the struggle in her mind evident in her brooding expression.
“I guess I could use some help,” she said. “I have to clean this place up, and that shed is just the beginning. I want to put a lot of the items from the estate sale out there, on display.”
“Are you hiring an estate-sale manager?”
Her dark eyebrows shot up. “I hadn’t planned on that since this is what I do for a living.” She stopped and stared at the little cup.
“You work as an estate-sale manager?”
“No, but I run a vintage shop in New Orleans and an online shopping site. Vanessa’s Vintage.”
“Then you do know what you’re doing. We’re planning a rummage sale at the church in a few weeks, and one of our members used to be an estate-sale manager. She offered her services free to us. But we could coordinate things with your sale. Maybe hold them on the same day since we’re neighbors.” He stopped, waited a couple of beats. When she didn’t scowl at him, he added, “That is, if you’re okay with that idea.”
She glanced at the church, and then she looked down at the old wheelbarrow. “I don’t know. I hope I’ll be gone in a few weeks.”
“Forget I suggested it,” Rory said. “You have too much on your mind to add a church rummage sale to the mix.”
“It’s okay,” she replied, pushing at her shoulder-length wavy bob. “I don’t know what I’m doing, really. I mean, I know vintage and collectibles, but I’ve never done this before. But I always managed to figure things out on my own.”
He picked up the princess cup. “Well, now you’re not on your own. You have help. Starting with me.”
She stared over at him, her gaze moving from his face to the pile of broken dishes. “And what’s in it for you, Preacher?”
Chapter Four (#ulink_ff8169f7-ccd4-5572-8ed6-b7fc8fd65389)
“What do you mean?”
Rory tried the tactic he used whenever someone asked him a disconcerting question. And prayed it would work on Vanessa.
She gave him a surprised glance, her brow furrowing. “It’s a simple question. You’re offering to help me. You must have a reason.”
“Wow. Does there have to be a reason?” Not sure how to handle this kind of skepticism, he leaned his head down and gave her a smile. “Part of my job is to help others. Part of my nature is to be sincere about it.”
She actually blushed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I’ve had a trying day and I have trust issues.”
He widened the smile. “You think?”
She shook her head and shot him a wry grin. “I guess I should loosen up, right?”
“No. Don’t do anything on my account. This ain’t my first rodeo.”
She laughed at that. “You look too young and carefree to be a preacher.”
He thought of the man who’d obviously hurt her. “Ministers come in all shapes and sizes. And personalities.”
“Yeah, you can say that again.”
He stuffed the cup inside one of the deep pockets of his baggy work shorts and started picking up the broken dishes in an effort to distract her. “Hey, if you find me a broom and a dustpan, I can get this done a lot quicker. And then I’ll be happy to buy you a cup of coffee or a cold drink.”
“So you can work me over?”
That skeptical imp again, hiding serious pain. “Work you over?”
She started walking backward toward the big shed beyond the open gate to the backyard. “You know, telling me that God loves me and that He can make things better for me?”
“Of course,” Rory said, stooping to pick up the bigger pieces of shattered porcelain. “That’s part of my job, too.”
She turned and hurried. “At least you’re not trying to slip it under the radar.”
“Nope. I’m not that kind of guy,” he called after her. When she kept walking, he called louder. “What you see is what you get with me. It’s pretty much the same with God, too.”
He glanced up to find an older couple across the street with their dog watching him with a curious regard.
“Oh, hi,” Rory called. “Nice day, don’t you think?”
They nodded, waved and hurried away. The little dog, however, woofed a quick reply.
No wonder they’d moved on. He seemed to be talking to himself.
Worried that Vanessa had run off in the other direction, he stood and checked the open gate. Maybe she’d gone inside the house to find the broom and dustpan.
Rory cleaned up a bit more and then decided to check on Vanessa. He strolled through the open wrought iron gate and searched the big backyard. Lots of vintage patio furniture and nice palm trees and old oaks, but no Vanessa.
Turning toward the big shed she’d talked about, Rory went to the open French doors. “Hey, Vanessa, you in here?”
He found her standing at a table, her hand on an open book. A photo album from what he could tell.
When he moved toward her, she whirled, her gaze locking with his. “I’m sorry. I...I can’t find the dustpan.”
Rory walked over to where she stood. “Do you want me to leave?”
She nodded and then she shook her head no. “I...I don’t want you to leave but...I can’t... I’m not ready for this.”
“Not ready for me and my poor attempts to comfort you? Or not ready to clean out this house?”
“Not ready for...accepting that my mother is gone,” she said. Then she sniffed and wiped at her eyes. “I’ll clean up the mess out front later. You...you don’t have to hang around.”
Rory wasn’t going to leave her like this. “Nonsense. You go in the house and have a good cry or make yourself a cup of tea or eat ice cream. I see the broom over there, and I can use the lid off this old box as a dustpan. I’ll clean up the broken things out front.”
She gave him a confused stare, her eyes misty with a raw-edged pain. “You don’t have to clean up my mess.”
Rory wondered how many times she’d said that to other people. “I don’t mind.”
She nodded, grabbed the photo album and pushed past him for the door. But she turned once she was outside. “Thank you, Rory.”
He nodded and smiled at her. “Hey, listen. Grief is a sneaky thing. One minute you’re doing fine and the next, you want to punch something. Or...break dishes.”
She smiled through her tears. “I guess I’ve done that already today.”
She turned and ran toward the house, her flip-flops hitting against the steps up to the back porch. He watched her until he heard the door slam.
Rory tore off the box top and took it and the broom back up to the sidewalk and began to clear away the debris. But in his heart, he wanted to go inside that house and help clear up the debris of Vanessa’s broken heart. Because he didn’t have enough prayers to give her the kind of comfort she craved and needed.
And yet, he knew the comfort of God’s love.
So he prayed anyway, until he had the yard clean again.
He’d have to keep working on the woman sitting inside, crying over an old photo album. And he’d have to do it in a gentle way that would help her to heal.
* * *
Vanessa wished she hadn’t fallen apart in front of the preacher. Now he’d really want to talk to her. She only wanted to sit here and stare into space. But she had so much to take care of before she could go back to New Orleans.
Her fingers touched on an old photograph of her mother with Vanessa on a beach blanket, forcing her to remember the good times. They’d been few and far between, but she had brief flashes of laughter and sunshine and a warm feeling.
A feeling of being loved. Had she forgotten the good and focused too much on the bad? The pictures in this album only showed smiling faces and what looked like good times.
Why were there never any pictures of the bad times? Never any proof of how she remembered things? No, those things had been hidden away, swept underneath the heavy carpet in a facade that was hard to pull away.
A soft knock at the back door brought her head up. Vanessa wiped at her eyes and shut the old photo album. Then she rushed to the door and opened it to find Rory standing there with two ice cream cones.
“The truck came by,” he said, smiling. “I like chocolate and I got you caramel-vanilla. But if you don’t want it—”
She grabbed the waffle cone and took a small nip. “Oh.”
“I take that as a yes.” He ate some of his and glanced around. “Nice house.”
“Come in,” she said, her mind still on the caramel-vanilla.
He stepped inside, and Vanessa realized no one had been invited inside this house in a long time. Shame and embarrassment hit at her with the same freezing intensity as the ice cream sliding down her throat. The built-in cabinets on each side of the enormous fireplace were true to the Craftsman style of the house. But the shelves were practically groaning with old books and side-by-side knickknacks. Not to mention stacks of newspapers and scraps of all kinds of fabric remnants lying here and there in front of the shelves.
“It’s a mess,” she said, lifting her free hand in the air. “One room at a time. I keep telling myself that’s how I’ll get it done.”
Rory glanced around, his gaze settling on the folded blanket and bed pillow she’d left on the couch. She didn’t want to explain that she’d slept in here last night.
But Rory didn’t mention what had to be obvious. Instead, he said, “So...are you going to sell off everything in here?”
“Not everything all at once,” she said. “I have my online vintage store, so I’ll place some of the items there.” She ate more ice cream, the cold sweetness making her feel better. “And if you’re serious about me having the estate sale when you have the church rummage sale, then I’ll probably get rid of a lot of the bigger pieces there, since shipping them is kind of costly.”
“Of course I’m serious. If you don’t mind staying a week or so longer than you planned. We hope to hold it sometime in May, but I’ll pin the committee people down on an exact date.”
“That would help,” she replied. “A deadline will force me to stop procrastinating and get this over with.”
And what could a few more weeks hurt? She could handle this. She had to get this house on the market, and she couldn’t do that until she had it cleaned up and spruced up.
“Then it’s settled. We can go over the details in the next week or so,” he said. “The church members will appreciate having the draw of an estate sale next door.” He walked around, studying the house. “This place has good bones, you know.”
And a few good memories. She needed to focus on those, instead of the bad ones she’d experienced here as a teenager.
“It is a classic house,” she admitted. “It needs someone to love it enough to save it.”
“I think you’re right,” Rory said, his warm, sunny gaze moving over her face.
Vanessa tried to ignore how his nearness made her feel kind of gooey inside, so she forced herself to see it from someone else’s perspective. Her mother had been an artist, dabbling in collages and mixed media. Cora Donovan Tucker never threw anything away. So every nook and cranny, every shelf and table, held what her mother had considered treasures. A feather here, an old button there. Tarnished jewelry with missing rhinestones, old purses with worn handles, books of every shape and size, yellowed with age. Clothes, dishes, trinkets. Cora had collected husbands in much the same way. Tarnished, washed up, broken people. Losers, except for Richard. He’d been a true Godsend.
