Stages of Grace - By Carey Heywood Page 0,34

the brand of the featherbed. I seriously need one back home. This is the most comfortable bed I have ever slept on. My stomach rumbles as I stretch, reminding me that I missed lunch and dinner the day before. Walking to the kitchen, I feel bad for sleeping through two meals in as many days. I pause at the photo hanging in the hallway. I lean in to look at Ronny. This picture must have been taken not long before his death. My heart breaks a little looking at his impish grin.

My grandmother is sitting on the wicker loveseat, knitting.

"What are you making?"

"It’s a prayer shawl. I'm part of a knitting group at my church. We knit these shawls and then the pastor prays over them, and we give them to people going through a rough time."

"It's very pretty."

"Thank you. Do you knit?"

I shake my head, reaching out to touch the shawl.

"My group meets tomorrow and since you'll be spending the day with Ryan I'm going to go. So I'm trying to finish it.

"Oh, right…"

"He's a very handsome young man isn't he?"

I look at her, confused.

"Ryan" she answers the question I didn't ask.

"Kate…"

"Okay, I'll stop. Hungry?"

My stomach answers for me. I don’t let Kate get up to make me something, telling her to keep knitting and just let me know what I can have. She grumbles about me not being very easy to wait on and tells me there is lunch meat and cheese in the fridge. I make myself a sandwich with some chips on the side and grab a soda before heading back outside. I still cannot get over how pleasant it is compared to Ohio this time of year. We chat while I eat, keeping to easy topics, neither of us prepared to revisit the emotional discussion of yesterday morning.

Sometime after lunch, I change into my swimsuit and try out the pool. It is a bit strange to be swimming outside this time of year, but the water feels wonderful. I’m dozing in an armchair-style float when a splash wakes me. Blinking, I look around trying to place the source of the splash, locking eyes with Kate who is still sitting on the loveseat. How strange, I think to myself. Suddenly, I’m in midair as someone flips my float. I come up sputtering and wiping water from my eyes to see Ryan standing in front of me laughing. Ryan is clearly not expecting me to pounce on him. I dunk him in the water, causing him to do some sputtering of his own.

My eyes widen at his mischievous expression as he charges me. I squeal, “No, no, no!” But it’s useless as his hands circle my waist and he pulls me under. As we're coming back up, I kick his legs out from under him before fleeing to the other end of the pool. With my back up against the wall and just my head above the water, I keep my eyes on Ryan. He puts his hands up in defeat and slowly swims over to me.

He's laughing. "Sorry about flipping you. I couldn’t resist."

"None of that tomorrow."

Ryan leans in and whispers, "No promises," in my ear.

I pray he doesn’t see me shiver and try to seem riveted by the cuticle of my thumb to avoid looking at him.

"So where are you taking Grace tomorrow?" Kate asks.

"That, Kate, is a surprise."

I can’t help but flush and look up at him then. He grins at me, lifting his brows up and down a couple of times, making her laugh.

"Just bring her back in one piece," Kate says, getting up to start dinner.

"Oh, let me help," I say, swimming over to the ladder and climbing out. I can feel Ryan's eyes on my back. I grab my towel and walk inside, doing my best not to drip everywhere. Kate is making a chicken casserole and lets me make the side salad. Once the chicken is in the oven and the salad in the fridge, we go back outside. Ryan is just climbing out of the pool. I stop mid-step to watch the water bead and roll down his chest. Kate, who is standing behind me, clears her throat to bring me back down to earth. I feel flustered at the thought of spending the day with him tomorrow, wondering if I will make an ass out of myself.

Ryan drinks a beer while Kate and I share a bottle of wine with dinner. The chicken is just as good as