isn’t as great as Peter thinks?” Rose asked.
Rebecca took her son from her grandmother, needing to hold him close. Burying her face against his hair, she breathed deeply, relishing his baby scent. “No. There were other people at his place, and I could tell he wasn’t too pleased by our call.”
“Have faith in the Lord, child. Everything will work out.”
Rebecca remembered Gabriel saying those same words to her earlier that day. She wanted to believe them. “Granny, I’m trying.” She tightened her hold on Josh, drawing strength from her youngest who had been through so much in his short life.
“You haven’t told me about your first day on the job,” Rose said as she opened the refrigerator to remove some sliced chicken.
“Interesting and challenging.”
“Challenging?”
“Not the actual work so much as how to get along with my co-worker.” Rebecca started to tell her grandmother about Mabel when the doorbell rang. “I’ll get this then tell you.”
She swung the front door open and found Gabriel in cutoffs and a sweatshirt. He filled the entrance with his overwhelming presence. She greeted him with a smile, pleased to see him. Her spirits lifted.
“What brings you by?”
“I wasn’t there when you left today, and I wanted to know how the rest of your first day on the job went.” His gaze trekked down her.
“Checking for scorch marks from the Dragon Lady?”
He chuckled. “Are there any?”
“One or two. Come in.”
“I’d better stay out here. I’m in desperate need of a shower after running laps with the team.”
“How’s Peter doing? Giving you any trouble?” Rebecca came out onto the porch.
“No, he hasn’t complained since that first day. Actually he ran next to David today. For the first lap they carried on a conversation.”
“Good, because this morning I was concerned something happened at practice yesterday.”
“Why?”
“He came home and kicked his tennis shoes under the bed.”
Gabriel chuckled. “Probably because he’s done more work these past couple of days than he’s done in a month’s time.” He raked his fingers through his sweaty hair. “I have to give him credit. He’s done everything the team has done.” Leaning against the railing, he folded his arms across his chest. “Okay. How was your day?”
She sat in the swing and turned Josh in her lap so he could see Gabriel. “The job’s fine. I’ll win Mabel over. I think she was shocked that I wasn’t out the door right at four-thirty. I think I further shocked her by staying until all the files were logged and put away.”
“I bet you did. When I first came to work as the police chief, I had to win Mabel over, too. Just because I was the boss meant nothing to the woman.”
“Since you’re still the police chief, there’s hope for me.”
“There’s always hope, Rebecca. I think that’s one of the messages the Lord was giving us when He sent us His only son.”
Fear nibbled at her. Dare she have hope? Rebecca thought about Peter’s birthday. She prayed that Gabriel was right.
Chapter Six
The crack of the bat against the ball echoed through the park. Rebecca leaped to her feet and yelled as David Carson headed for first base, then pushed on to second. A runner came in to home plate, and everyone in the dugout rushed to greet him with high fives and cheers.
Rebecca found Peter among his teammates, huddled around the boy who had come in for the tying run. A huge grin was plastered on her son’s face. Seeing Peter with the others, excited and part of the team, gave her hope that soon he would come to accept their move and maybe even grow to like living in Oakview.
With that thought, Rebecca searched the crowd filing into the dugout for Gabriel, the one partially responsible for this change in her eldest son. When she spotted him bending over and speaking low to the next batter, she smiled at the intense expression on Gabriel’s face. He didn’t take this game lightly. He was an all-or-nothing kind of guy. He had taken Peter under his wing and was determined to make her son part of this town. Her heart warmed at the thought.
She relaxed and drew in a deep, calming breath. The scent of recently mowed grass permeated the air. Spring was definitely here, she thought, shedding her sweater. She lifted her face to the sun and savored its warmth.
The next batter came to the plate and swung two times to no avail. The third pitch flew past the ten-year-old, low and outside. The ump shouted, “Ball.”
“I think I have bitten off every fingernail I have,” the woman next to Rebecca said.
Rebecca tilted her head to look at the young mother sitting on her left. “Is that your son at bat?”
“No, David is my son. He’s on second.”
“Then you’re Mrs. Carson.”
“Please, call me Alicia.”
“I’m Rebecca Michaels. My son is the team manager.” She pointed toward Peter, who was placing bats in holders while his gaze was fixed on the batter.
“David has mentioned Peter. They worked at the church a few Saturdays back with Gabriel. My husband said they accomplished quite a bit. We always appreciate any help we can get. Keeping a church up outside is as much work as inside.”
Rebecca wasn’t going to mention what had led her son to “volunteer” to clean up the church that Saturday. “I know what you mean. The same applies to a house. But then the church is the Lord’s house.”
“That it is.”
The sound of the bat hitting the ball riveted Rebecca’s attention to the scene in front of her. The ball sailed toward right field. A member of the other team positioned himself under it and readied himself to catch it. If he caught it, they would go into extra innings. She held her breath.
The boy fumbled the ball. It plopped to the ground and rolled toward the fence. He scrambled for it while David headed for third. The boy in the outfield retrieved the ball and threw toward the pitcher. David rounded third for home plate. The pitcher lobbed the ball toward the catcher as David slid in for the winning run.
“Safe,” the ump called.
Rebecca released her pent-up breath, jumped to her feet and shouted, “Way to go. You did it!”
Alicia threw her arms around Rebecca and hugged her. Joy transformed Alicia’s plain face into a radiant one. Rebecca pulled away, beaming with her own bright smile.
“David was so worried about this game. The Hornets were the best team
