Somehow, when he thought about a romantic relationship, the idea of his Secret Saint partner flashed across his mind.
He really didn’t even know who she was. How could he be developing feelings for her?
But he was—he was sure of it. He looked forward to seeing her, was sad when they were apart, and thought about her all the time when she wasn’t around. He admired her dedication to the Lord andher desire to be a blessing to other people in the community. All the signs were there.
As he drove home with the kids, listening to their chatter and answering their questions, it was all he could do to not smile at the thought of meeting her in a few hours. He couldn’t wait.
Chapter Fifteen
Nelly opened the door and set her bag down in its usual spot, feeling light and free. December was a fabulous month, and she had been having so much fun with her students in the classroom. Of course, they were still learning, but they were also making decorations and talking about what their families were going to do over the Christmas vacation, which was still weeks away but still exciting to think about. The anticipation, to Nelly, was some of the best parts of Christmas.
Of course, it probably didn’t hurt that tonight she was going to be meeting with her Secret Saint partner. Of course not.
“Good evening, Gram. What a wonderful day!” she said as her gram shuffled over to the door.
“Who are you?” Gram said, and Nelly’s spirits plummeted immediately.
Her gram didn’t recognize her?
She’d been doing so well for so long that Nelly had almost convinced herself that whatever had been wrong with her gram had been just a temporary thing that her grandma had gotten through.
“Gram, it’s me, Nelly.”
“Is your horse parked outside?”
“What?” Nelly said, blinking. That threw her for a loop.
“You’re not going to keep me in here. I can get out if I want to.” She shuffled forward faster like she was going to plow through Nelly. Nelly wasn’t sure what to do, and the door was still open. She reached forward, but before she could touch her gram, her grandma’s foot must have caught on the coffee table at the end of the couch, and she lost her balance, tripping and crashing into the lamp, which flew to the floor, and she somehow managed to tip over the coffee table, although her gram leaned against the couch, not quite landing on the floor as Nelly rushed forward to grab a hold of her and help her.
“Let go of me! I’ll scream for help!” Gram said.
Nelly had no idea what to do. Did she continue to try to help her gram to keep her from falling and breaking something? Or did she let her go so she wouldn’t upset her?
What would that matter? Nelly wasn’t doing anything wrong.
But her grandma was very agitated when she got near, so she tried to stay close, just in case her grandma lost her balance. She balanced on the arm of the couch, and for now, she was fine.
“Are you okay, Grandma?” she asked, really worried. Not just for Gram’s mental issue, but had she hurt herself in all the confusion? She didn’t think that she’d seen anything that would actually hurt her gram, but sometimes accidents could be really weird, and things happened so fast that it was easy to miss something.
“I’m just fine. Who are you again?”
“Is everything okay in here?” a voice asked from the open doorway.
It was a familiar voice, and as Nelly spun around, she understood why it was familiar.
Roland. Of course, he would be in the area. Looking past him, she could see a Christmas tree wrapped and lying on the porch. He must have been delivering it to someone.
Of all the people who could be going by when something was happening at her house, it would have to be him.
“Young man, this woman just walked into my house unannounced, and she was trying to grab me.”
“Are you okay?” Roland asked, his voice calm and reassuring. His eyes flicked to Nelly, and he lifted his brows a little. He knew this was where she lived too. But he shook his head a bit and moved forward slowly. “Can I help you stand up, ma’am?”
“Yes, please. It’s so nice that there are still kind people in the world.” She sighed. “Sometimes I just don’t know how clumsy I can be.”
Roland walked around Nelly and took a hold of her gram’s elbow, carefully straightening her from the arm of the couch while Nelly went around and picked up the lamp, which surprisingly hadn’t shattered everywhere, and straightened up the coffee table.
“Sometimes coffee tables just come out of nowhere,” Roland quipped, making Nelly smile, despite her concern and fear. What was going on with her grandma?
