Page 51 of Bidding on a Second Chance
Piper startled when her phone’s ring broadcast through her car’s speakers. She tapped a button on the display to answer Lucy’s call.
“Honey, are you okay?” Warm with concern, her friend’s voice filled the car. “Graham texted. He said you might need me?”
“Did he say why?” Her voice shook, and she focused on the road as though her life depended on it. Which, of course, it did. She probably shouldn’t be driving in this emotional state. She was a few blocks from Graham’s house, but thankfully, in small Redemption Ridge, that meant she was also only a few minutes from home.
“No. What happened? If he broke your heart, he’s losing all the points I credited him for texting me.”
“I might’ve broken his.” She replayed his declarations of love—he hadn’t said the word, but surely that was what his promises and hopes amounted to. Her stomach went woozy with a concoction of attraction and … and fear. She exhaled through pursed lips. “He says I should face all my what-ifs. Actually answer all those questions I worry about.”
As Lucy hesitated, Christmas lights passed outside Piper’s windows. One house had set up a nativity scene only a few feet back from the road. Emannuel, Graham had reminded her. God with us through it all.
“I’m not sure that’s a rabbit hole you should go down,” Lucy said finally.
“I’m already down it. I’ve been down it for years. I think he might have a point.” She certainly didn’t feel like a conqueror, let alonemorethan a conqueror, but this fresh idea might lead her to the healing Graham spoke about. Healing she’d read about in the Bible and heard about in testimonies but had never been able to grasp for herself.
Emmanuel. God with us, through it all.
“The day I got hit by the pickup, I wondered how God’s protection fit with my experience. I could apply what Graham suggested to the question, ‘What if I get hit by a pickup truck?’”
“Piper …”
“Hear me out. I’m supposed to focus on the answer, not the question. I know this answer because I experienced it. First, a kind acquaintance will give me a ride to the clinic. God was in that. Insurance covers the cost because God blessed me to live in a time and place where that exists. Graham will step in to help me meet my obligations. I will eventually heal, and get the boot off, and move on with my life.”
“That story has a happy ending. You’re worried about … other things I’m not sure you should focus on.”
“You’re right. I’m worried about tragedies. Graham already helped me with one of those. He reminded me that when he dies, he’ll be in heaven, and things like estate planning could help any loved ones he left behind. I’d not only have God but also His people for support. I’ve been so focused on the pain, I never put much thought into the tangible ways God might provide. The reminder was life-giving.”
“So you want to work through all your worries that way.”
“Sounds like an awful time, doesn’t it?” Piper parked in her driveway. Because of her dinner plans, Bryce was at a friend’s house this evening. Except for Teddy, she’d have the place to herself to get started. “I’m hopeful, but I’m also worried I’ll get bogged down. I could use some supervision.”
Lucy chuckled. “I’ll be there in twenty.”
ChapterThirty-One
The clock may as well have gone into hibernation for the winter with how slowly it moved. Because another officer was sick with the flu, Graham had gone into work. If the last five minutes of the shift ever ticked away, he’d change and catch the last hour of the auction. Since most of the town would be there, the crowd ought to allow him to avoid Piper, giving her the space they’d agreed to.
Perhaps it’d been a rookie move, asking for a commitment early on instead of seeing where their second chance took them naturally. And maybe telling her to spend a bunch of time thinking about her fears had been a mistake.
For one or both reasons, she might never cash in that raincheck, and the only evidence of him left in her life would be the fingerprint he’d pressed into the coffee table. If she even kept it. When he’d collected the auction pieces that morning and delivered them to the high school, the paint on his special project still hadn’t cured. He’d left it in the stockroom.
The last minute of his shift finally ticked away. He headed to the locker room where he’d hung the blue button-down and nice jeans he’d planned to wear to the auction. But maybe he ought to stay in uniform. If stereotypes held true, maybe then Piper wouldn’t be able to resist him.
“If you’re thinking of skipping, think again.”
Graham tilted his head to see around the locker door.
Cody crossed his arms and leaned a shoulder into a pillar in the center of the aisle. He was dressed in jeans, a polo, and a winter jacket, probably fresh from the auction. Graham had texted him earlier that he’d be working until seven, and Cody must’ve pegged him as a flight risk.
“I’m going. Wanting to support the Rasinskis is how I got into this. I’m not going to give up on them now.”
“But you will give up on Piper?”
“If she says we’re done, I have nothing left to convince her to stay. I don’t get why …” Emotion sprung up, barricading his throat. Why were the women in his life always abandoning him?
He shook his head. He didn’t know what Piper would decide yet. She might not walk away.
Then again, she might.
