Page 28 of A Twist of Faith
Dee chuckled and sat, trying to sort out this woman. “She looks exactly like you.”
Rainey tapped the desk with her pencil and leaned back in her office chair. “Well, she has her daddy’s nose, but since he has a perfect nose, I don’t mind so much.”
“And that is your other brother?”
Rainey picked up the framed picture, her expressions softening. “Yeah, that’s Trigg. His real name is Edward, after Daddy, but everyone’s always called him Trigg.” She wrinkled up her face. “And it fits himmuchbetter than Edward.”
“And the older man? Is that your father?”
“Yep. Tall, dark and handsome.” Rainey picked up the family picture, her smile sad. “He died a few years ago of cancer. About a year afterward Mama and my dad’s best friend, Ezra Drake, started … courting.” Rainey lifted her brow at the apparently scandalous notion. “They even called it courting. They weren’t married a year when Ezra had a massive heart attack while out in the field.”
Dee’s breath hitched. “How sad.”
“I loved my daddy.” Rainey’s eyes glistened with unshed tears, the sudden kind grief brought. “But we were really blessed to have Ezra in our lives too.” She set the frame back down. “Life isn’t easy.”
The understatement of the century. “It’s a beautiful family.”
Rainey’s perceptive stare started working again. “Family is a good thing. Do you have any?”
“A brother.” Dee looked away and decided for another change of subject—safer ground. “You offered to help me earlier, and I could certainly use it now. I know I don’t really deserve your help after what I’ve said, but …?”
“No luck with everyone else, eh?” Rainey’s grin turned wicked and then she laughed off Dee’s sudden tension. “The Tolliver Language Center is my pride and joy. Besides Sarah, of course, and chocolate chip cookie pie fresh from the oven. I started TLC five years ago to help underprivileged families in our county who couldn’t afford services.” She winked. “TLC? Get the double entendre?”
Rainey Mitchell definitely didn’t fit any mold Dee expected. Her ready friendliness, even after Dee’s rudeness, confused her.
“There’s always a need for extra therapists at TLC.” Rainey snapped her fingers and reached for her purse. “Do you have time this afternoon? I have a two-hour break. I can show you the place.”
She’d drop everything to help her? Dee stumbled over her reply without even checking her day planner. “Umm, yes, actually I do.”
“Maybe we can swing by and visit Lizzie’s clinic too. I bet she can scrounge up a few adult clients for you so my brother isn’t your only example of small town crazy. Although I’m sure he causes enough trouble for an entire caseload.” Rainey tossed her giant, blue bag up on her shoulder and stepped forward as if Dee never offended her at all. “Lizzie has several post-stroke clients who are working on their speech. I bet that would tickle your fancy a whole lot more than kids who don’t speak at all.”
Dee fingered her jacket sleeve, no experience with complete and unshackled forgiveness. She sat staring at the floor. “How can you be so … Why are you helping me so … easily?”
“Why am I helping you?”
Dee didn’t answer.
Rainey moved to sit in the chair next to her. “I don’t know what kind of hurts you’ve had, or what sort of people you’re used to, but from my perspective we’re all in this world together. Life’s way too short to hold grudges. Besides, there are bigger offenses than status-envy.” She grinned and patted Dee’s arm. “We all screw up. It’s in the human DNA.”
“You’ve shown me nothing but kindness and I was rude to you. Egotistical, even.” Dee glanced up. “You can’t just let it go like that.”
“Are you saying youwantme to stay mad at you?”
When stated so plainly, Dee’s request sounded rather ridiculous.
Rainey dropped her bag on the floor beside her seat. “Listen, we’re both human, both need Jesus, and both desperate for the same things at the core of who we are. Hope and love.” She folded her hands in front of her and leaned forward, bringing her sincere expression directly into Dee’s line of vision.
Jesus? What did Jesus have to do with any of this?
“You don’t think I’ve had my share of rude moments? Heaven help the people who worked near me two years ago when Gray walked out the door and left me with a little girl and a broken heart. I still struggle with that one on a regular basis.”
Dee barely kept her mouth from dropping open. Maybe the Mitchells’ lives hadn’t been so easy. Another dose of healthy shame warmed Dee’s face, proving all the more her understanding of Appalachia needed reconstruction.
“Talk about a dragon lady.” Rainey’s shoulder shook with a mock-shudder. “Unforgiveness never brings anything but a sad life and a hard heart in the end. The last thing I need is bitterness eating away at my confidence.” She touched Dee’s arm, a simple act which moved all the way to Dee’s heart. “It’s not easy, but without forgiveness of the big or the small, we’d all lead a pretty sad and lonely existence. I believe God places us in each other’s lives for very specific purposes. For good or bad, we need each other to become the person He wants us to be.” Rainey’s brows wiggled. “Accents and all.”
Dee looked down at her folded hands, her emotions creating a frustrated knot in her stomach. This wasnotthe Jesus her father preached for years. Be good. Do right. Make your list and keep it, and onlythenGod would bless you with a job in Charlottesville and the prestige you deserve.
Rainey’s declaration painted God as someone who took her brokenness and mended it, even though the brokenness came from her own making. It seemed too simple. Too frightening. Too amazing. What would she do with a God like that?
