Page 110 of Gideon

“Nikki!”Katrina nodded her head toward her friend because her hands were full. Several plates were balanced on each arm.

“Busy morning,” Nikki said, looking around the full diner. She slid onto a stool at the counter.

“You want your usual?” Katrina said as she deposited the plates, then hurried back to the window that looked into the kitchen where she retrieved the next order.

“That’s what I’m here for,” she smiled. “I don’t remember the last time it was this busy.”

“I think all the rain has made people hungry.”

“Is that what rain usually does?”

“Who knows? It’s been too long to remember. I guess I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

After delivering the next order, Katrina collected a muffin from the tray and slipped it into a bag before getting a coffee.

“Here you go,” she said.

“Blueberry?”

“Baked this morning.”

“I’m drooling already.” She breathed the scent of the baked goods before crinkling the top of the bag. “I’ll see you later.”

“Have a good one.”

Once out the door, Nikki ran for her car as a fresh surge of rain fell, and she dove into the driver’s seat before shaking her raincoat. Droplets of water scattered all over the front seat. If it hadn’t been raining, she would have walked. Most people were. Soaking in the rain they hadn’t experienced for so long.

The word “miracle” had been bandied about by a lot in town, especially after they moved back to their farms and began to rebuild their lives. It hadn’t taken as long as expected for the properties to be restored to their rightful owners. A lot of what Fairfax had done was shifty because of paperwork not being filed properly and purchases being made under false pretenses.

By the time she reached the church, there was a lull in the weather, and she hurried inside to the small room at the back where Isabel had stayed for a short time. It was also where her dad used to prepare his messages. She liked to spend a few hours a week there praying and reading her Bible, but she’d never call herself the pastor of the church. While she had been true to her word to Gideon and had thought about it, going as far asinquiring about the process to becoming an ordained minister, in the end, she didn’t feel it was right.

For a while, she’d shared what she’d prepared from the study she’d done, or she’d asked others to share. But it was Ty and Mary who had come through in the end. Their leadership gift became evident quickly, and they naturally fit into the position of leading the church. It was a relief, Nikki realized when the pressure came off. She’d been trying to stuff herself into a hole she was never made for.

The front door banged closed, and she jumped to her feet. She’d meant to lock it. There was no need to keep the doors opened all the time now. She’d had to be vigilant about keeping herself regulated or she wouldn’t have time for what was most important. It was only a couple weeks ago that she’d almost burnt out in her excitement to encourage everyone who arrived on the church’s doorsteps. In an effort to give Ty and Mary as much support as they needed, she’d gone too far.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she entered the sanctuary from behind the stage. “I should have—Gideon.”

“Hey. Your mom said you’d be here.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m interrupting?”

“No—of course not, it’s great to see you, but I wasn’t expecting?—”

“I should have called. It was kind of a last-minute thing.” He smiled shyly, half his mouth lifting as his eyes dropped to the floor. “Actually, that’s not quite right. It took me ten hours to drive here, and that was after Iwrestled with it for a few days. So that’s not really last-minute, is it?”

She bit down on her lip to hide her emotion, but her face heated. “It’s really great to see you. This is a wonderful surprise. But why the visit?”

The way he smiled at her, she wondered if he knew how flustered seeing him made her.

“You look good,” he said, walking up the aisle.

“You too.” And he did. His T-shirt stuck to him where it had been soaked in the rain. She hated her primal response to his presence. There was no reason to believe he was here for anything but to check up on things before he left again. “Did you walk here? You’re soaking wet.”

“No, but I stood outside for a few minutes wondering if I should come in. And to enjoy the change in the weather. Another miracle.”

“It is, but you should have come in. Did you think I wouldn’t want to see you?”

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