Raising Attabury: A Contemporary Christian Epic-Novel (The Grace Series Book 5) Read online

  Raising Attabury

  The Grace Series

  Book Five

  By: Staci Stallings

  KINDLE EDITION

  ~*~*~*~

  Spirit Light Publishing

  Raising Attabury

  Copyright © 2017 by Staci Stallings

  Cover Art by Marion Ueckermann

  www.marionueckermann.net

  Author’s Website

  http://www.stacistallings.net

  Kindle Edition License Notes

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to eStore and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  What Readers Are Saying About

  “Raising Attabury”

  Coming Soon!

  Table of Contents

  What Readers Are Saying

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Epilogue

  Series Epilogue

  Also Available from Staci Stallings

  About the Author

  *~*

  No matter how far down

  The wrong road you’ve gone,

  You can always turn around!

  To those who have the courage

  To turn around, I dedicate “Raising Attabury.”

  Also to my daughters, Stefani & Kayla,

  Who always know just the right way

  To inspire me!

  I love you both!

  *~*

  Chapter 1

  As the new little family turned from the front of the church and headed to the back, Caleb holding Rhett, Rachel holding Natalie rather than her bouquet, Eric Richardson snapped pictures as if his existence depended on it. The joy on those face, the love, the peace. One part of him wanted to capture it all on film, another deeper part ached to affirm that that kind of love was still possible in the world.

  And then they passed him, and he was snapping pictures of the others—Derek and Jaycee, recent newlyweds themselves, also still so in love. They were followed by Luke and Sage who held not only her small bouquet but Rachel’s larger one as well. Sage’s face radiated with the same love and joy Rachel’s had. Snap, snap went the camera, and Eric didn’t even bother to look down to check the photos he was getting. He didn’t have time or he would miss each piece of new evidence coming past him. Each pointed to an existence he had begun to believe was nothing more than a trick of hormones or a myth at best.

  Yet here it was on full display for all the world, or at least, him to see.

  As the families made their way out the back double doors, he quickly went to the side, around the back, and out the doors. On the top step, he started taking pictures again. He should have gotten a bigger memory card. This one was going to be full in no time. Maybe his wife Dani wouldn’t mind going to get another though he wasn’t sure one could be found in tiny Ridgemount, North Carolina. The fact that he’d somehow lost Dani in the past few minutes didn’t even register as he worked to capture the hugs and happiness of the wedding party and the bride and groom in the lobby.

  It was okay. He didn’t need to worry. Dani was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

  Watching the wedding’s end had swept Dani Richardson’s heart away with it. Caleb and Rachel were so obviously in love, and their friends and family could not have been more supportive. She shook her head as they all headed out to greet the newlyweds. Eric had gone too, leaving her and her daughter, Jaden, in the church. The church, still all dressed up for Christmas though it was now New Year’s made her heart slip and slide through memories long since forgotten of Christmases past when her family came here to visit her grandmother.

  They hadn’t done that in years…

  Her attention swung to the other side of the church, and her heart catapulted into her throat when she caught sight of none other than the woman herself. Her grandmother. Instantly Dani’s head and heart started frantically scrawling a list of excuses as to why she was here and hadn’t bothered to go to see the woman. She was older now, much older than Dani remembered. However, there was still the spark of happiness in her eyes though it too had dimmed.

  “Well, hello there,” her grandmother, the woman everyone in Ridgemount called Ms. P, said. She looked somewhere between shocked and confused though she was clearly trying to hide both. “This is a surprise.”

  “Hi, Grandma,” Dani said, and she leaned in for a barely-touching formal hug. “It’s great to see you again.”

  “You too.” Her grandmother’s eyes slipped down to the little child now huddling back into Dani’s skirt. Not moving even a centimeter, her grandmother smiled down at her. “Well, look at you, child. Oh, my stars. What a beautiful little girl.”

  “You remember Jaden,” Dani said, nudging her daughter from her leg though the child was clinging there as if her life depended on it. Realizing Jaden’s fear, Dani sat on the little pew and put her arm around her daughter. “Jaden, this is your great grandma. She’s my mama’s mama.”

  The little dark eyes slipped up though the body did not move.

  “You should give Great-Grandma a hug.” Dani tried to get her daughter going that direction, but the reluctance was obvious.

  “Oh, you don’t have to do that, child,” her grandmother said. “I’m just happy to get to see you again.” True to her word, she simply gazed at the child for a long minute. Then, it was as if she had remembered where they were and why. “So, what brings you here? I didn’t know that you knew Caleb and Rachel.”

  Well, the same could be said for Dani too although it was her grandmother who had hooked her up with Mr. James and his now wife in the first place. “Oh, well. We’ve been working on Attabury with them.” Dani stood and straightened her skirt. “Just getting a feel for what we can do with it. We were out here yesterday, and they mentioned needing a photographer. Eric volunteered. You know he used to take pictures when we were in college.”

  “Oh, yes. I remember that well. So that was Eric then? The one taking the pictures?”

  “Yes, Ma’am. That was him.”

  “And how are the two of you doing? Are you still in Raleigh?”

  “We are. We’re doing well. Eric has a good job with the state,
and I’m working at a corporate firm there—Drake Systems, Incorporated. They’re an international development company.”

  Her grandmother smiled, hints of pride and sadness sprinkled on her face. “I knew the two of you would be good together.” Her gaze slipped back down to Jaden. “And what grade are you in by now?”

  Dani’s gaze went down as well. “Can you tell Great Grandma what grade you’re in?”

  “Second,” came the quiet, reluctant answer, and Dani was proud of her daughter’s bravery in answering the question.

  “Second grade. My. My. My. Well, you are about the prettiest little second grader I’ve ever done seen.”

  The smile was shy. “Thank you.”

  “Dani!” Eric’s hushed but excited call jerked her attention to the back. “I’m going over to the community center with them.”

  “Okay.” She waved to him. “We’ll be right there.”

  “Oh, my goodness,” her grandmother said as if in a sudden hurry. “I did not mean to keep you all.”

  “No, you’re not…”

  “Why Ms. P,” the pastor said as he came striding down the center aisle back up to the front, “a very happy New Years to you.”

  “Happy New Year’s, Pastor.” She nodded at him and then popped up. “Oh, Pastor, did you have a chance to meet my granddaughter?”

  He stopped on a dime and spun their direction, coming right over and putting his hand out. “Why no, I haven’t.”

  “Pastor Steve, this is Danisha Richardson, my granddaughter.”

  “Hello,” the pastor said, and his manner was filled with nearly as much joy as he had displayed during the wedding. He shook Dani’s hand.

  “Please call me Dani,” she said.

  He nodded. “Dani, it’s nice to meet you.” His gaze slid down and caught on Jaden. “And this beautiful little girl is?”

  “Jaden.” Dani wished her daughter was better at this. “Can you say, ‘Hi’ to the preacher?”

  “Hi.” But even in the quiet church, the syllable was hardly audible.

  Dani apologized to him with her eyes. “She’s really shy.”

  “Oh.” He grinned. “Totally understandable.” However, his gaze went back down to Jaden. “Thank you for coming, Miss Jaden. It’s very nice to meet you.”

  She smiled but ducked into Dani’s dress.

  Coming back up, curiosity slipped into his eyes. “Are you friends with the happy couple?”

  “Oh!” Dani started. “Well, no. Not exactly. We’re the ones who just bought the old Attabury house…”

  Instant understanding flashed into his eyes. “Ah. Well. I’m very happy you decided to join us this evening. Please feel free to visit any time you’re in town.”

  “Why thank you.”

  “You’re very welcome.” He looked back up to the front. “I’m sorry to rush off, but I have a few things that need…”

  “Oh, no worries,” Dani said. “Please, don’t let us keep you.”

  With a nod and a quick hug for her grandmother, the pastor went his way.

  “Such a good man,” her grandmother said, and there were tears in her voice with the words. A second and her gaze snapped back over to them. “Well, since you’re in town, you could always come over for a bit if you’d like.”

  “Oh,” Dani said, and the syllable was five. “We aren’t really planning to stay. I’m sure Eric is going to want to get back as soon as possible.”

  Her grandmother smiled. “I’m sure.” She nodded slowly. “Well.” Her sad, accepting eyes traveled back down to Jaden. “You take care. Okay?”

  Jaden just looked at her with wide and wary eyes.

  “You too,” Dani said although she knew the statement was not directed at her. “It was nice to see you again.”

  “Nice to see you too.”

  Eric had followed the action from the little church across the parking lot to the community center building. Although technically he was the hired help, everyone was making him feel like part of the celebration. He liked that about them. There wasn’t a pretentious one in the bunch.

  “I’m so thankful you could do this for them,” Dee, Caleb’s mother, said to him as they trekked across the cold, hours-until-January parking lot.

  “I’m glad you asked,” Eric replied, and at the other side, he opened and held the door for her and her husband.

  “Oh, thank you.”

  “Thanks,” the man said, and Eric ducked inside behind him.

  “Wow,” Eric said with a shiver. “They could have picked a warmer night.” His attention slipped over to the little celebration room just beyond, and he ducked. “Excuse me. I’d better get in there or I’m going to miss something. Heading that direction, he readied his camera because he had learned with this group good pictures tended to happen all on their own. Sure enough when he got into the room, Caleb and Rachel stood with their friends talking, still holding the two little ones.

  It was difficult to explain how easy and right they made being a family look. Click. Click. He took a few more shots.

  “Well, they’ve got you hard at work, I see.” Sara, Caleb’s sister, came in and right over to him.

  Checking those pictures, Eric took another. “I’m enjoying it.”

  “That’s good. I’m glad you’re here. I would never have been able to take good pictures for all the tears.”

  Eric laughed as he lowered the camera. “You guys must be pretty close, huh?”

  “Ah, not as much as I’d like to be,” she said softly. “But don’t tell Caleb I said that, I don’t want him to get a big head.” She paused and shook her head. “You know, I think that’s what nobody tells you when you’re young. You fight with them and tell on them, and you think that’s going to last forever. And then all of a sudden you’re married with three kids and they’re married with two, living a few thousand miles away. And you just wish you could go back and tell Mom they’re not putting their things away like she told them to.” Sara paused again before smiling at him with bright tears in her eyes. “I guess it teaches you not to wish away the moments that are here right now so easily because they’ll be gone in a heartbeat too.”

  Mesmerized by her words, Eric’s heart fell into them and held. He was pretty sure he was supposed to say something back, but he wasn’t sure just what that was. Worse, his mind had traveled back to that little house at Mt. Airy with Yvonne yelling at him and his brothers that if they didn’t get the house cleaned right now, she was going to tell Mom on them. A heartbeat. That’s about how long it felt from that moment to this.

  “Well, thanks again,” Sara said. “I can’t wait to see all the pictures.”

  “Oh, well, thank you for letting me take them.”

  “Oh, hurry, baby-girl, hurry. Wow. It’s cold out here.” Dani walked-ran with Jaden across the parking lot and into the door on the other side. She remembered this little building from the wall-to-wall people it had held when her grandfather had died. Into and through the first room they went before emerging in the second, bigger room. With one sweep of the room with her gaze, she saw their designated place. “Oh, look. It’s Daddy.”

  Instantly Jaden left her side and raced to Eric’s side.

  “Oh!” Dani picked up her hand to stop her child from doing something so improper, but it was too late. She dropped her hand and glanced around, hoping no one had noticed. Thankfully they were all too taken with the celebration to see the indiscretion. Drawing herself up and lifting her chin before putting a smile on her face, she walked slowly over to where Eric stood. He was still taking pictures.

  “Oh, hey,” he said by way of greeting though he didn’t leave the camera for more than a second.

  “Hey.” She wrapped her arms in front of herself, feeling very out-of-place. In the church had been all right because they could sit farther back and blend in with the dim light. Here, there was nowhere to hide.

  “Dani,” the man she remembered as Gregory Lawrence said, coming over to her as he made his way across the
space.

  “Mr. Lawrence.” She put out her hand and her very best smile.

  “Please, please. Call me Greg.” He shook her hand before holding his other out for a woman coming the other direction. “Em, I’d like you to meet Dani Richardson. She and her husband, Eric, are the ones doing the Attabury project.”

  “Oh, yes,” the woman he had called Em said, her face breaking into sunshine like the dawn.

  “Excuse me,” Greg said and left the two of them to talk.

  “Gregory speaks so highly of the two of you,” Em said without pause. “He is just fascinated with this project. He talks about it all the time.” She waved as if that was hilarious. “And how are the two of you? Greg said you’re from Raleigh?”

  “We are,” Dani said, anchoring her arms again. She glanced around, but Eric and Jaden had slipped off to the festivities on the other side of the room.

  “I’m sure our little neck of the woods is quite a shift down from the excitement of the big city,” Em continued.

  “Here you go,” Gregory said, returning with two small glasses of punch.

  “Thank you.” Em took just a small sip of the punch. “Mmm. This is wonderful. I bet Dee made it. That woman can do just about anything. I guess that’s part of being Texan, or so I hear.” She took another sip. “I think I’m going to go get her recipe. This is just too good. I’ll see you, Dani. It was nice meeting you.”

  “You too.” Dani waved, kind of, and she was back to just her and Greg, Mr. Lawrence, Gregory. It was incredibly difficult because she wasn’t at all familiar with these people and yet they all seemed to want her to act as if she was.

  “That Emily,” Greg said, taking a sip of his own punch, “she is a whirlwind. Has been ever since I met her back in high school.”

  Dani nodded, politely, having no clue where the boundaries or rules of this conversation stood.

  “So, Eric said you two met in college,” Greg said, taking a detour Dani somehow missed.