Her Minnesota Man (A Christian Romance Novel) (43 page)

She wasn't truly content, but she was determined to get there eventually.

Four days before Valentine's Day, she made some mouthwatering black-walnut fudge as a surprise for the Graces. They were away from home when she tried to deliver it, so she used her key to let herself in. She put the nutty confection in their refrigerator along with a hastily scribbled note:
Happy Valentine's Day (early) from The Fudge Fairy
. Then she went home to work on a writing assignment for one of her journalism classes.

At ten o'clock that evening, she was having a cup of jasmine tea and going through her mother's recipe collection when she realized the Graces had never phoned to say they'd found their treat. Since she hadn't talked to them in a couple of days, she grinned and picked up her phone, thinking to tease them about their shocking lack of gratitude to the Fudge Fairy.

They didn't answer their phone, so Laney began to worry. It was rather late for them to be out, and she could see from her kitchen windows that snow had begun falling in huge clumps that would pile up quickly and make a mess of the roads.

Wanting to make sure they were aware of the weather conditions and that they weren't far from home, Laney called the cell phone they took turns carrying.

"Where are you?" she demanded when Caroline answered.

A pointed silence made her regret her shrill tone.

"I'm sorry, Caroline. It's just that it's snowing so hard, and I can't help worrying about—"

"It's not snowing at all in Indianapolis, Indiana," Caroline said pleasantly. "And that's where we are."

Laney felt her eyes bulge. "You're
where
?"

"We left this morning for a road trip," Caroline announced grandly. "We made good time today, and right now we're at a motel on the far side of Indianapolis. It's a real nice place, and not too pricey, either. They have apricot-mint soaps in the bathroom, and—"

"What are you
doing
?" Laney screeched. "You can't just take off like this!"

"Laney Ryland," Caroline said crisply. "We may be as old as dirt, but except for an achy joint here and there, we get around just fine. And we're certainly not feebleminded. We have a cell phone, and credit cards, and plenty of cash. And after Aggie got a speeding ticket in Iowa, we made a pact not to drive too fast. So you can just stop being horrified and trust us a little bit!"

It wasn't possible to talk to any of the Graces for more than thirty seconds without the phone abruptly changing hands, so Laney wasn't surprised when she heard a little grunt and a murmured entreaty followed by an exasperated sigh.

"Hi, Laney! We're having the time of our lives!"

"Millie," Laney said with relief. Her youngest great-aunt was usually the most reliable when it came to delivering a straight answer. "Please tell me what—" She gave up when she heard another scuffle for phone domination.

"We were planning to call you as soon as we got settled here in the room so you wouldn't worry," Caroline said.

"Just tell me where you're going," Laney pleaded.

"We're having an adventure," Caroline said. "You know how much we like driving. And Ollie Lincoln checked out the Buick before we left. So we're as safe as can be, and we don't plan to be gone more than four days. Now please let me go before Aggie and Millie claim the best bed."

"But Caroline, it's the middle of winter!"

"Laney, we're going to be just fine. And so are you. Go make yourself a nice cup of tea."

"But Caroline—"

"Oh, and we don't need you to feed Frankie Five. He's with us. Bye now!"

"Bye!" Aggie and Millie chorused.

Caroline hung up.

Still holding the phone against her ear, Laney stared out her windows at the falling snow and wondered just how she was supposed to stop herself from worrying about her elderly great-aunts taking an impromptu road trip to heaven-knew-where in the middle of winter.

S
itting on a high stool in the recording studio's vocal booth, Jeb clipped his lyrics sheet to the music stand in front of him and adjusted his microphone. Looking through the glass wall separating him from the control room, he met the sound engineer's questioning gaze and nodded.

Through his headphones, he heard the first notes of the intro to the album's title track. "Yours If You Want Me" was a love song he'd written for Laney, but it was also a message of surrender to God. Jeb believed it was the best thing he had ever written.

The guys had finished tracking their background vocals yesterday, and had already gone home to their families, but Jeb had one last bit of recording to do. On this special song, he was singing his own backup.

After he laid down a good track, they'd be finished recording the album. The next items on the agenda were the mixing and mastering: They'd drop in an embellishment here and there, and then they'd tweak the sound levels to add a final layer of polish to the record. But they'd have a two-week break before tackling those jobs because Justin Kramer had a commitment elsewhere.

So tomorrow, Jeb was going home. And as he'd told Justin, he intended to be an engaged man when he returned to Nashville to finish the record.

The intro to "Yours If You Want Me" built layer by layer. After several bars, the solo piano was joined by the bass guitar, then the drums, and then Jeb's lead guitar. Finally, he heard his own recorded voice singing melody on the first verse.

It sounded amazing. Laney was going to be so proud.

He'd decided against calling her to say he was coming home. Since he had already gone so long without talking to her—and it had
not
been easy—he thought it would be a sweeter thrill if he just showed up and surprised her.

Justin said he was making a mistake. But Laney was used to not hearing from Jeb for a couple of months at a stretch, so this wouldn't seem strange to her. Besides, hadn't the Graces advised him to give her plenty of time and space?

He would explain everything when he got home, and Laney would understand, just like always. Although from now on, he'd stay in daily contact with her, and he'd consult her before agreeing to any concert tour or recording session that would take him away from her side.

He had just pulled in a deep breath to begin singing harmony on the last two lines of the verse when the music abruptly stopped.

"Sorry, Jeb." The engineer jerked his head sideways, indicating that the interruption had been ordered by Justin, who was talking on a phone and frowning.

Jeb tugged off his headphones. "What's wrong?"

Justin pulled the phone away from his ear. "Jeb, Reception has three women causing a disturbance and demanding to see you."

Jeb couldn't imagine how any of his old fans could have found him here, but the bigger question was why a security guard wasn't already showing them the door.

"Little old ladies," Justin continued, looking both puzzled and amused. "They say they've come to take you home."

The Graces?
Panic pushed Jeb off of the stool and onto his feet, but in the next instant, he relaxed. If anything had happened to Laney, the Graces would have called him, not driven all the way to Nashville.

So they'd come to escort him home, had they? Jeb thrust his hands into his pockets and just stood there grinning.

He didn't bother to wonder how they'd found him. Knowing the Graces, they'd probably been tipped off to his whereabouts by the brother of somebody's cousin's next-door neighbor.

Justin had the phone back against his ear, and was looking at Jeb and shaking his head in wonder. "They brought three pies," he reported. "They started out with four, but they gave one to the nice man who changed their flat tire in Clarksville."

Pies? Jeb's stomach squirmed in happy anticipation. "I hope they brought a strawberry-rhubarb," he said to nobody in particular.

As he listened again to whoever was on the phone, Justin's eyes widened in alarm. "Jeb, Reception says they have a cardboard box with something
alive
in it."

Jeb snorted. Of course they'd brought the cat. He threw back his head and laughed.

"Jeb, who
are
these people?"

Jeb wiped a tear from his eye. "Brace yourselves," he said to the men in the control booth. "You're about to meet the Three Graces and Frankie Five."

"The Three Graces and Frankie Five?" Justin scratched his bald head and then shook it. "Never heard of '
em
. Are they a gospel band?"

Jeb laughed again. "No, the Graces are a force of nature. They make amazing pies, though, so if they'll swear they're not carrying a pink rabbit suit, invite them to join us. And have somebody start a fresh pot of coffee. We'll want it with the pie."

Was that someone at the kitchen door? In her basement, where she'd just transferred a load of wet clothes from her washing machine to the dryer, Laney paused to listen.

Five sharp knocks.

The Graces were back! Laney thundered up the stairs and tore into the kitchen just as Aggie, snugly zipped into a down coat and wearing a fuchsia knitted hat with matching mittens, opened the door and stepped inside.

"Where have you been?" Laney demanded, ignoring the open door and the cold air tumbling into her house. "I've been so worried!"

"Oh, Laney, we had the best time!"
Aggie's
wrinkled, cold-pinked face wore a brilliant smile. "Come out to the car and see what we brought you."

Laney couldn't have been less interested in souvenirs. She was too busy processing her relief that the Graces were finally home. She moved past Aggie to look out the door for her other two renegade relatives.

The overcast day was slipping toward twilight, and while there was no wind to speak of, the temperature would soon sink into the single digits. Just an hour earlier, Laney had finished clearing six inches of fresh snow off her driveway and sidewalks. When she saw Millie barreling toward her, she was glad she had also taken the time to sprinkle deicer on the walk to prevent dangerous slips.

"Laney, come see!" Millie called. "We caught you a man!"

"Well, you can just throw him back," Laney said sharply. "I don't want a man." Not unless she could have Jeb.

"But this one's a keeper!" Millie insisted. "Get your coat on and come see him!"

Had they actually bullied some poor guy into coming here to meet her? They knew how she felt about their matchmaking. And wherever had they gotten the idea that she'd given up on Jeb?

She was worried about him, sure. Annoyed with him, absolutely. But she hadn't given up on him. Not yet.

Aggie grabbed Laney's parka off its peg by the door and held it out to her. "Come on!" she urged.

"Okay, okay." Laney shoved her arms into the coat's sleeves and yanked the zipper up. Then she stomped down the steps and started toward the driveway.

There had better be a good explanation for this. The Graces had been gone for four whole days and had worried her half to death. For crying out loud, they were
old
, and they'd left on their crazy road trip in the middle of February! What if they'd driven into a snowstorm and slid into a ditch and ended up freezing to death?

Caroline peeked around the corner of the house. "Come and see our surprise!" Her voice was muffled by a vivid blue scarf wound around her neck and covering the lower half of her face.

Laney sighed and shook her head and braced herself for a very awkward introduction. And then she rounded the corner and stopped abruptly, her breath catching in her throat.

"Hey, princess." Lounging against the driver's door of the Buick, his long legs crossed at the ankles and Frankie Five cradled in his arms, Jeb regarded her with transparent hope and a hint of wariness. "Happy Valentine's Day."

Laney was too stunned to speak.

"Sorry I had to be away for so long." His raspy voice deepened. "Believe me, I missed you every single day."

Oh, really? Then why hadn't he called?

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm not sure I
do
believe you."