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old widow needing her grass mowed.”
    “ Obviously not, but who’s
to say which task is a job and which job is a ministry? As I
recall, you didn’t bat an eye when I came back from the hospital.
You moved back in here, took care of me, made sure I didn’t off
myself‍—‍”
    “ Dad! Don’t
say‍—‍”
    “ I’m just sayin’,
sweetheart, that sometimes we do things because we simply feel led
by God to do them. Besides, I’ve been wanting to do something with
that old smokehouse for years. I can’t think of a better project.
I’m excited about this!”
    “ Yeah?”
    “ What’s not to like? The
way I see it, we’re both on similar journeys. I give these guys
fresh starts, you give your furniture a new life. Looks like we’re
all about second chances, y’know?”
    “ Dad! That’s the perfect
name for my shop‌—‌ Second
Chances. ”
    “ It’s perfect, Alex,”
Tracey added. “Just perfect.”
    Buddy jumped up. “I can’t wait to get
my guys on this. Do you have time to take a walk-through in the
smokehouse tomorrow? Maybe sketch out some ideas?”
    “ Well, sure,” Alex said,
her face beaming as she glanced over at Tracey. Her smile fell.
“But maybe we should wait‍—‍”
    “ Don’t wait on my
account,” Tracey argued. “Besides, it sounds like fun. Why not let
me help too? And maybe you could teach me some of your magic. Show
me how you transform your little beasts into beauties.”
    “ I’d love to, Trace. We
can work on a piece or two, but I don’t want to tie up your whole
vacation on all this.”
    Tracey felt her face warm. “Well, now
that you mention it,” she began, then cleared her throat. She
stopped and looked back toward the kitchen. “How about we put on a
fresh pot of coffee and dish up some of that cobbler? There’s
something I need to tell you both.”

Chapter 4
     
    “ I can tell you one thing
right here and now,” Buddy snapped, angrily stirring his coffee.
“I’ve got a mind to hop on Stella, drive up to Washington, and tell
Senator Whistlebritches just what he can do with those ‘family
values’ of his.”
    “ Dad, that kind of talk
doesn’t help,” Alex said.
    “ Maybe not, but it would
sure feel good to smack that pretty boy’s face into the next
county.” He punched his fist into his open hand.
    “ Dad, please. Alex is
right. And you and I both know you’d never do any such
thing.”
    “ Yeah, yeah, I know.
Tracey Jo, does his wife know anything about all this?”
    “ No, at least I don’t
think so.” The thought hadn’t occurred to her. Could Amanda have
picked up on anything? Morgan hadn’t been very discreet lately.
Then again, he’d never been out of line when the three of them were
together. “No, I seriously doubt it. We’re‍—‍” Tracey glanced down,
watching her finger crush a piece of the cobbler’s crust. She
quickly dusted the crumbs off her hands. “The thing is, I love
Amanda. I don’t ever want her to know about this. It would break her
heart.”
    “ Yes, it would,” Buddy
said quietly. “Take that from one who’s been there.”
    Alex patted her father’s hand then
turned to her sister. “So he doesn’t know yet that you’re not
coming back?”
    “ I wrote him an email on
the plane giving my two-week notice.”
    “ Good for you,” Buddy
said.
    “ The problem is, it’s more
difficult than that. There are procedures for leaving jobs like
mine. There are exit reviews and debriefings and confidential
information that has to be‍—‍”
    “ Something tells me Dick
Nixon didn’t have an ‘exit review’,” Buddy grumbled.
    Alex peered over her readers. “Not
helping, Dad. Okay?”
    “ Fine. But all I’m saying
is, don’t make this so hard on yourself, Tracey Jo. You’ve got
enough to deal with on an emotional level. Deal with the rest of it
later.”
    “ What about your things?”
Alex asked.
    “ I could probably just
send for them. Ask my landlord to have them boxed up and shipped