A Moment Like This: A Contemporary Christian Romance Prequel Novella (The Grace Series Book 4) Read online

  A Moment Like This

  The Grace Series

  Book Four

  By: Staci Stallings

  KINDLE EDITION

  ~*~*~*~

  Spirit Light Publishing

  A Moment Like This

  Copyright © 2016 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

  “A Moment Like This”

  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

  Also Available from Staci Stallings

  About the Author

  *~*

  To my family,

  Damian, Stefani, Kayla & Andrew

  Although my “moments” have

  Been different than the one here,

  Thanks for all the moments

  Together that I will cherish forever!

  *~*

  Chapter 1

  Caleb & Rachel

  “Yeah, right there. Okay. Hold on. Hold on. Don’t move.” Caleb James carefully angled his side of the oven over so he could get the thing hooked up as Luke Baker and his two sons held it suspended on the dolly next to the cut-out hole in the cabinet. “K. Got it. Let’s push it back to the wall.” He took hold of his edge and guided them all forward until the stove slipped into the space. “Careful. Careful. Down.” It slowly slid right into the spot. “And done. That’s it. Yep. Good job, guys.”

  “Ugh.” Luke took a step back before giving the finished product a good, long, hard look. He tested the countertop and nodded. “It’s about time. Done is about the best word I’ve heard all day.”

  “You and me both.” Caleb pulled the dolly back across the canvas they had laid out so as not to scratch the hardwoods in the kitchen. He’d been hard at work remodeling Mrs. Murphy, his fiancée’s mother’s house since the beginning of December, which was a good two weeks in the rearview mirror now, and there wasn’t one single thing that had been easy about any of it. “You know a smart man would have warned me what I was getting myself into doing this.”

  “A smart man would have given himself more than three weeks to get it done,” Luke said, teasing his friend. “Not that I didn’t think you were crazy before, but trying to get this in for your folks before New Year’s? I think I should have put in for hazard pay.”

  “Tell you what, I’ll pay you double of whatever I was paying you before.” Caleb took a sip of his water as Luke did the same with his.

  “So double of nothing?” Luke asked with a knowing grin.

  Caleb shrugged. “Hey. Sounds good to me.”

  “Wonder how the girls are doing.” Luke turned past the opening and disappeared down the hallway as Caleb thanked the two boys for their help. It really was a question what they would’ve done without the Baker family.

  “Looking good,” he heard Luke say in the bathroom.

  Following his friend down the hallway, Caleb heard them all talking as the light poured from the bathroom from the opening. At the door he put his hands up on the frame and surveyed the work in progress. “So it does actually come down then?”

  “Yeah,” Rachel Taylor, his fiancée, said, wiping her forehead with the wrist holding the spray bottle, “with a whole lot of convincing.”

  “A whole lot,” Sage Baker said as she stood from the far wall, ripping wallpaper up with her as she straightened. However, about a quarter of the way up, the paper angled off and left a large sharp tip still on the wall. “Ugh. Okay. I am about done with this stuff. Good grief. This is impossible.”

  “I thought you said this was supposed to help.” Rachel held up the spray bottle to Caleb.

  “I said I hoped it would help,” Caleb corrected her. “Always depends what they put it up with.”

  “Well, whatever it was, this stuff is not helping.”

  “Well, while y’all were in here acting like you’re working,” Luke said from where he was leaning on the sink, “we actually finished our project.”

  Rachel stopped and looked not at Luke but at Caleb. His heart flipped over at the hope sparkling in her eyes. “Really? They’re in? For real?”

  Caleb tipped his head and wiped it on his own forearm. “They are.”

  It took only that for her to put down the wallpaper removal tools and slip past him. Caleb followed her, and Luke and Sage followed him.

  When they walked into the near-finished kitchen, even Caleb had to admit the transformation was remarkable. The cabinets, the backsplash, the hardwoods, and the new appliances. It was hard to believe it was even the same space.

  “Oh, wow!” Rachel went over and ran her hands over it all. “Oh! I can’t believe it. It turned out so good.” When her gaze came over to his, Caleb saw the tears as she put her hands up to her nose. “I love it.”

  With a soft smile, he stepped over to her and wrapped her in his arms.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said as she melted into the hug, and he could hear the tears.

  “I’m glad you like it.” He loved the feel of her in his arms. It made sense in a way nothing else ever had.

  “I think you’ve outdone yourself with this one.” Sage came over to admire the work. “This really is amazing.” She turned to her husband. “I want one.”

  Luke laughed. “Of course you do.”

  “Well, the cabinets were all Luke,” Caleb said even as he continued to hold Rachel and rub her back and arm. “It was really a team effort, I’ll tell you that for sure.”

  A sniff and Rachel came up. “So what do we lack in here? Not much anymore.”

  “The light fixture, which I can put up now, and a table.” Taking a half-step away from her, he put his hands on his beltline and looked around. “And then it’s on to either the living room or the bedr
ooms.”

  “The boys and I can start pulling up that carpet in the bedrooms,” Luke said, standing with his hand on one of the upper cabinets. “We could get that out tonight, and then what would we lack in those? Getting the flooring down, painting, some lights that we could even do after if we had to.”

  Rachel exhaled. “I hate that you guys are having to help so much.”

  “Eh.” Sage waved her off. “Gets me out of the house for a change. Gives me something to do. I’m just glad Jane could watch the kids for a while.”

  “I don’t know. That wallpaper might take more than a while.” One more exhale and Rachel put her head back as she lifted her hand. “Onward and upward!”

  “So how are the wedding plans coming?” Sage asked Rachel when they were back to spraying and pulling down wallpaper.

  “Not much time for any of that.” Rachel scoured into the paper and sprayed it. “Caleb’s parents are supposed to be coming in on the 28th. His mom said she got her dress today, so I guess that’s good.”

  “Have you gotten yours yet?”

  “Ha.” Peeling carefully Rachel took down a long strip. “Shopping? Who has time for that? I don’t know. I think I might just wear my flowery one and be done with it.”

  “Oh, come on, you can’t do that.”

  Rachel shrugged. “It’s not like it’s a big thing. I’ll probably just make the cake. Caleb can wear a suit. It’s not like we’re trying to impress anybody.”

  That looked like Sage hated the way it tasted. “Still it should be special. You deserve special.”

  “Just get me through the ‘I dos.’ That’s all the special I need.”

  Chapter 2

  Luke & Sage

  “I just hate this for them.” With the boys already nearly sleeping in the back of the minivan, Sage and Luke headed back up to Ridgemount to collect their girls from the pastor’s house. “Rachel deserves a nice wedding. Caleb too. I mean, he’s done so much for the town and everything.”

  Luke’s grin was both knowing and patient. “What’re you, their fairy godmother?”

  Her face fell somewhere between a scowl and a pout. “I could be.” She shrugged. “I did the flowers for Jayc and Derek. How hard would it be to do a little more?”

  “A little more? Like a dress and a cake and flowers and music? You do realize it’s Christmas, right? Not to even mention that we’re working over there like every, single night trying to get that house ready for guests.”

  The fact that Ridgemount had nothing approximating a hotel had dawned on all of them about the time Caleb mentioned his whole family was coming for the wedding.

  “We’re already putting Derek and Jaycee up when they get back, and Ryder and Jasmine will be staying with your folks over Christmas. My parents are full up to the gills with kids and extras.” He glanced over at her. “And in the middle of all of this, you want to throw a surprise wedding?”

  “Well, it won’t be a literal surprise. I mean, they already know they’re getting married. I’ll just help things along a little. Embellish it for them. Upcycle it a little.”

  With a smile as he turned into town, Luke retrieved her hand from the midst of her lap and kissed it as he shook his head. “Sage Baker, you never cease to amaze me.”

  A grin slipped onto her face as love for him danced in her heart. “I just want everyone have a day as special as ours was.” She slipped her hand up and down his arm. “Is that so wrong?”

  A second and he sighed. “Darlin’, what’d I ever do to deserve you?”

  Her smile turned brighter still. “I think you ask yourself that every day.”

  His laugh rang out between them. “That I do, darlin’. That I do.”

  In no time they pulled up to the pastor’s house to get the girls. December was living up to its name, and in the interest of doing this quickly, they each got out and hurried to the door. When they were at the top of the stairs alone together, Luke grabbed her hand and rang the bell, but before anyone had the chance to get there and in the anonymity of the darkness, he bent and brushed his lips across hers in a gentle, warm kiss.

  Surprise lit through her and she tipped her head. “What was that for?”

  A mischievous glint flashed through his eyes. “Being you.”

  Sage wasn’t sure that the light coming on above them right then was what she really wanted to happen. The door swung open to reveal the pastor in nightclothes and looking quite disheveled as Sage had come to know he was at odd hours of the night.

  “Sorry we’re late,” Luke said immediately snapping back into normal husband-father mode even as he hopped from foot-to-foot in the chill.

  “Well, come on in here. Get out of that wind.” With a harder push of the door, the pastor let them in and they did not argue.

  All the way through the house, Luke’s hand stayed wrapped in hers, making Sage feel like a school girl again. Without her bidding it to, her mind and heart flashed back more than a decade before when she had walked this same hallway with Luke’s hand in hers as he steadfastly navigated them through one of the worst—and as it turned out best—summers of her life.

  In the living room they found Jane holding Macy in the chair with Livvie asleep on the couch. The Mitchell’s two boys were clearly already in bed.

  “Are you guys making any progress on that house out there?” Jane asked with concern.

  “Some,” Luke said. “We finally got the kitchen done tonight. All we need now is a table, and that one’s off the list.”

  “This New Year’s thing is getting rough on all of you.” Pastor Steve folded his arms as a scowl of concern etched on his face. The twinkling of the lights from the small Christmas tree behind him made him look like a giant.

  “I don’t blame them none for the New Year’s thing,” Luke said, and he squeezed her hand and looked down at her.

  “When you’re as in love as they are, there’s no use waiting.” Sage looked up at her husband, and her smile dragged his lips down to hers for one soft touch. She huddled in closer to him, and he put his arm around her. “By the way, that reminds me. I was talking to Rachel tonight, and they haven’t done like anything on the wedding.”

  “Well, I imagine not,” Jane said, “what with her at the school and him working all over town all day and then them out trying to get that house done all night and every single weekend. When is there time to worry about a wedding?”

  Luke’s gentle gaze came down and held on Sage.

  “Yeah, I know. That’s why…” She looked up at him, and his amused smile took her in. “Well, I was thinking somebody’s got to put this thing together.”

  The pastor grinned his understanding. “Let me guess.”

  “They don’t want fancy,” Sage continued, “and I get that, but I think it should be something a little better than thrown together at the last minute, don’t you?”

  “What do you have in mind?” Jane asked.

  And just like that, Sage began explaining all the things her heart had been spinning inside her since she’d first asked Rachel the question. She couldn’t wait to call Jaycee who wouldn’t be home for another two days. Honeymooning at a time like this. What was her sister thinking?

  Chapter 3

  Derek & Jaycee

  “For breakfast?” Jaycee West scrambled to the end of the bed where her now-husband Derek West held the small plate of delicious chocolate-covered strawberries. Taking one, she flipped over and grinned up at him. With a shake of her head, she bit into the scrumptious treat. “Mmm.” She closed her eyes, savoring the delectable delight. “You’re spoiling me rotten.”

  Grinning, he crawled up to the headboard where she joined him. Once there, he wrapped her back under his arm. “That’s the idea.”

  Settled down to the deepest part of herself, Jaycee relaxed into his embrace, really liking how casually wonderful he looked in the dark khaki cargo shorts and teal T-shirt. “So, what’s on tap for today, Romeo?”

  His smile grew with the breath he took
. “Well, one more day in paradise, I’m thinking we could either stay in all day.” Bending, he kissed the side of her neck. “Or I was thinking about doing something really out there.”

  “Okay. Now I’m worried.” With that strawberry finished, she reached for another from the plate he still held.

  “Smart woman.”

  Munching, she thought through all he could be talking about. They had already been snorkeling, hiking, sight-seeing, and on a helicopter ride taking in the sights of the volcanoes in Hawaii. She was beginning to think that life with Derek was going to be anything but boring.

  “Well, I’ve got two options,” he said, taking a small strawberry for himself and eating it before he continued.

  “K. What’s that?”

  “Parasailing.”

  The strawberry went down the wrong pipe, and Jaycee nearly choked. “Or?”

  “SUPping.”

  She finished that one and got one more. The way this was sounding, she was going to need the sustenance. “Do I even want to ask what that is?”

  Derek laughed. “It’s this new thing called Stand-Up Paddle Boarding. It’s like if kayaking and surfing had a baby.”

  With a shake of her head, Jaycee looked up at him. Still more handsome than any man had a right to be, her husband she was learning, had an unrivaled adventurous streak. “Okay…?”

  “They have lessons on the other side of the island. I checked this morning and had the concierge hold us a couple spots in case you weren’t into parasailing.”

  Her eyebrows went up in concern. “And where exactly do we do this SUPping thing?”

  “Well, you can do it practically anywhere, but I think we’ll start with one of the calmer bays. We could try the ocean though if you want to get really dangerous.”

  She shook her head. “I think we left safe back at the altar.” Tipping her lips up in invitation to his, she accepted his warm, soft kiss and let the sigh of contentment slide through her.