Grace Alive (A Christian Romance)

Part 1

Grace Alive

Copyright © 2013 Natasha House

All rights reserved. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Chapter 1

It was always nine o’clock. Why was it always nine o’clock? I swear nine o’clock hates me. One more hour of retail torture. Can you tell I love this job? I stared at the crafty supplies that lined shelf after shelf. They mocked me, those little googly eyes that said, your life is pointless, Zoe, absolutely pointless. A ding-dong rang through the small craft store, and I looked up. Who the crap buys glue sticks and glitter at nine o’clock? A little girl ran in. Great. It’s not that I don’t like kids. Kids are great. It’s them knocking over everything in the store that annoys me to no end. Next, another little girl ran in with blonde hair—they were identical.

“CC, Evie, don’t touch!” a man said as he held a baby girl in his muscular arms. Her wild red ringlets bounced as he jogged to catch up to the rugrats that just ran amuck in my store.

“Hey! Where’d you girls go?”

I watched the man chase the two little girls down the toy aisle. We have a very small toy selection. It mostly consists of toy parts, but kids always run that way. I smiled despite myself; it was pretty funny to watch the chaos. It reminded me of a bunch of runaway monkeys at the zoo. The guy was…half cute too. Hey, I’m female I notice these things. The little girl in his arms squealed with joy as he caught up to the twin girls, who looked about three-years-old. The little girl in his arms was roughly around nine months, if I was guessing. He grabbed a cart, picked up the twins, and put them inside. The little girls started hugging each other. That was adorable. At least I think they were hugging or choking each other, I couldn’t tell. There were a lot of giggles going on.

“We just need milk, guys. Milk.” I heard the amusement in the man’s voice. I followed their little entourage with my eyes as they zipped down the wrong aisle. Milk was the other way. I slipped out from behind the counter, walked quickly toward them, and went around the corner. I kept my eyes on the guy and wasn’t watching where I was going when bam! I slammed into a display of cans. We also carry canned food. I know, it’s a weird craft store—it’s called Little Bit of Everything. The name fits this place perfectly. We even carry toilet plungers in aisle three. The man and his kids turned around at the ruckus I just caused. I blushed two shades of red as he whipped the cart around toward me.

“Are you alright?” His twin girls started scrambling out of the cart, trying to pick up the cans that were rolling under the counter and down the aisle like mini racecars.

“Milk! Milk!” the twins chanted. Oh man. I had made a huge mess for myself. I slapped my hands over my face and let out a breath. Okay, Zoe, you can do this.

“I’m fine, thanks. I was…just going to tell you the milk is the other way.” I should have just let him wander around the store, so much for being helpful.

He chuckled lightly, looking almost apologetic as he did. “Thanks.” He stuck the baby in the cart and strapped her in. “CC, Evie, let’s help okay?” he said to the little girls that were still chasing the cans all over the place. Despite my current embarrassment, watching them was the cutest thing in the world. I giggled under my breath, trying to ease the heat that was traveling down my body.

We started restacking the goofy cans of only God-knows-what. I think they were cans of spinach. Where was Popeye when I needed him? The little people helped gather the runaways and giggled as they ran back and forth. Half the time they were counterproductive, but they had so much fun I didn’t care. Their dad made a game out of it, which I thought was amusing. Soon my whole display of cans was back in one piece, even if it was a bit lopsided.

“Thanks,” I said still feeling flushed. His warm brown eyes were staring at my face. He was wearing a black, light weighted, zip-up hoodie, and dark jeans.

“You’re welcome…um…?” His kids started playing with the bags of toys hanging up behind us. These girls were sure active!

“Zoe.”

“Branson. Do you…ugh…Evie, CC, don’t put that in your mouth!” He flashed me a nice straight smile, his sandy brown hair was slightly spiked in the front. I did a quick glance at his left hand and ring finger. No ring. Whoa. Was this guy a major player or what? Or maybe he didn’t wear his wedding ring, like some of the other married men I’ve known.

I let out an inward sigh. I’m 26 and counting. More than once, my parents have reminded me of this fact. I’ve seen almost all of my friends marry off and multiply like rabbits.

“Milk?” he asked and tickled the little red-haired girl’s neck. She giggled and waved her hands around, her little button nose scrunching.

“It’s over here, I’ll show you.” With a blush on my cheeks, I led the way to the other side of the store. I still felt like an idiot about the stacked cans. Branson reached into the cooler, grabbed a gallon of milk, and placed it into the cart. He then raced to the front of the store, making his kids scream with glee as they followed behind him.

I rang him up and smiled at the little munchkins. They were so adorable. The twins made my heart melt, they were wearing matching purple dresses that looked like some sort of Disney princess, and I could see the leftovers of little kid makeup on their cheeks. They had round, Dora the explorer faces, that you just wanted to kiss. Ah! So cute! The baby was petite, with red curls, big green eyes, and she was wearing a little pink jump suit with bugs on it.

“Milk, milk! Daddy, we got milk!” the twins said together, running in little circles. They reminded me of two little puppies chasing their tails. Cute as heck.

“It was nice to meet you, Zoe. Say goodbye to Zoe, girls!” He tickled the little baby’s chin again. She giggled and clapped her hands, her two little teeth showing when she smiled. The twins bounced up and down. “Bye, Zoe! Bye!”

“Bye, guys!” I said smiling, their joy was infectious.