I’d been half expecting her to bring it up that evening, but when I thought back to that first conversation in the hospital, I realized there had been nothing pushy about her. She’d stated what she’d had to say, and then left the ball in my court. She hadn’t badgered me or talked my ear off about it; she had just spoken her mind and left it at that. It was a gutsy thing to do, especially when she had no idea what my response would be.

Perhaps this was what was so alluring. She was so confident about what she believed. The God thing, the money thing … she didn’t mince words. I got the feeling there was nothing hidden about her, no facade or pretense. What you see is what you get, as they say, unlike my world where everyone has a secret or an ace up their sleeve.

So where did that leave me? I didn’t necessarily agree with her on what she said, but so what? She was honest and open and … authentic. What a refreshing mix!

I sat in this reality for a week or so, reading scripts, working out, and replacing the furniture in my apartment because it was old and starting to bore me. A couple scripts captured my attention, but no gears would start turning for another month or so on any of them, so I had some time on my hands. Frankly, the working out and reading and shopping were just distractions to stop me from driving right down to Orange County and parking myself on Grace’s front step. But then after a while I realized I didn’t have a good reason not to drive down there—other than the fact that it might look a bit forward. So finally I dropped the distractions and called her.

Of course, this being a Wednesday morning, she was at work; I’d forgotten that most of the world worked on daily schedules and didn’t have this much free time. I left a message asking her to call when she got the chance, and then sent myself out for a jog.

“H’lo?”

“Jack?”

“Yeah—Grace?”

“Yeah, hi. I got your message. How are you?” I could hear the smile in her voice, and it made me smile, too.

“I’m doing all right; you?”

“Doing well.” She laughed. “Saw Destiny Awaits again last night with some friends. It’s very strange to watch you up there.”

I laughed. “I never quite get used to it, either.” Silence.

“So … you called because … ”

“Oh yeah, right. Well, I called to see what you’re doing this weekend.”

“Um … nothing. Wait. Sunday night I have church at seven, but other than that I’m open. What’s up?”

“You said you hadn’t seen the city yet, right?”

“Yeah.”