Page 22 of Bidding on a Second Chance
ChapterFourteen
What a sad way to go through life. Graham twisted a fist around the steering wheel as he drove toward Junction Springs and the bedframe. The leather squawked in protest.
How could Piper really believe the occasional trial negated the joy of relationships? Yes, she’d lost her parents to a car accident on an icy highway. Yes, Ryan had made poor choices. And yes, she was accident prone. But life wasn’t all drudgery. Blessings abounded in the beauty of creation, in the warmth of friendship and community, the ties of family, all of it bound together with the love of God.
Where had she gone so wrong that she couldn’t see the good anymore?
Someone operating under her mindset shouldn’t call him out for being unforgiving. Yet that’s exactly what she’d done. The farther he got from Redemption Ridge, the more he had to admit her point. Jesus had made forgiveness a mandate, and he wanted to honor God. But he didn’t know how to drop his bitterness toward his mother.
It was much easier to focus on Piper. She was the one he saw regularly, the one who was apparently willing to engage with him on topics like these, the one he wanted to see freed. Not for his own sake. He didn’t need her running around his heart with a butcher knife like her fears still clutched in her hands. But for her sake and for the next poor sap who fell for her, he’d like to prove to her that life could be full and happy, if she’d stop letting worry wall her off from love.
But, God, how can I disprove lies she’s spent years believing?
* * *
After Graham left on the errand to buy the bed, Piper returned to the sales counter, where Jeannette waited with a few of the dressier shirts Piper had steered her toward when she’d come in.
“How did you know I’d like these?” The thrilled amazement in the regular’s voice was one of the best parts of the job.
Piper began ringing up the purchase. “You’ve gravitated toward what this person brings in before, so I had a feeling. In fact, I bet you two would get along in person too.”
Jeannette chuckled. “You ought to have a meet and greet for your customers. Of course, with how many of my clothes I get here, I don’t know what I’d wear. Someone else would see me in something they used to own.”
“No harm in that. People like to see things they’ve loved being loved by someone new.” She hesitated. How would she feel if Graham were with someone new?
She could set him up with …
The thought churned her stomach. Better let him take care of himself in that department.
She blinked and finally hit the button on the tablet to total the purchase. “Are you buying the clothes for anything special?”
“Mostly work, but I think I’ll wear the lacey top to Thanksgiving. What are your plans?”
So much for not thinking about Graham, because the first thing the holiday reminded her of was Black Friday, when he’d be helping. “I’m celebrating with my grandparents and nephew.”
“Family for me too.” Jeannette summarized her plans, but Piper got stuck on the mention of family.
Despite wanting a family, Graham didn’t live close to his dad, siblings, or nieces and nephews. That’s why he went so far for Christmas and why he’d joined her for Thanksgiving the year they’d dated. Since he’d said he wasn’t going home for Thanksgiving this year, did he plan to spend the day alone?
Bryce would object if she invited Graham to their celebration, but she did owe the man something after he’d cleared her driveway, and no one should have to spend a major holiday alone. Pastor had been encouraging them to invite others to their tables over the next month and a half.
Ugh.
No. Where was this silly sense of obligation coming from?
Bryce’s feelings aside, she couldn’t manage a polite conversation with Graham either.
She wouldn’t turn the dinner table into a battlefield.
* * *
Graham shoved his hands deep in the pockets of his winter coat and tracked the yellow line of the tow strap from the back of Cody’s truck to the front of his own.
Maybe Piper was right, and trouble was the one guarantee in life.
He sighed. Pessimism meant his foul mood was getting the best of him. He hadn’t been hurt when his truck slid into the ditch, but if Piper found out about this, he’d never hear the end of it. After all, ice had caused this, like it’d caused her parents’ accident. He wanted to encourage her toward a healthier mindset, not feed her worries.
“Piper can never know about this.”
