Into the Fire

No point in staying in bed any longer. Hutch couldn’t sleep anyway. Maybe it would be better when he moved to his new place. Tonight was his final night at the motel. He planned on taking the last of his stuff over tonight before he and Brian went out to eat. It would be good to spend some time with the horseshoer. He’d liked him right off the bat, and he sensed Brian felt the same about him. Maybe after dinner he wouldn’t feel like he was still out on the fringe of this racing community. Some tracks were harder to break in at than others. Who knew why? Just the fear of new competition is what he found to be a contributing factor at a lot of places. Those guys who really didn’t have the confidence their work was good enough to stand up anywhere were usually the most stand-offish or critical of the new guy. One thing Hutch was sure of—he didn’t take second place to anyone. Anything he could learn from anyone he would. He didn’t have a problem with learning, but once he learned it, he made himself the best. For all the good that did, he thought, as he remembered his conversation yesterday with Nelson.
“Pathetic,” he echoed under his breath.
“Morning, Karen,” Hutch said, appreciative of Karen’s bright smile every morning.
“Hi, Hutch. How’re you doin’?”
“Well, I guess I’m makin’ it okay.”
“These guys aren’t giving you a hard time, are they?” Her eyes showed her concern.
He laughed gratefully. “Nothin’ I can’t handle, Karen. You have a good mornin’, okay?”
“Oh I will, Hutch. You, too.” That sweet smile returned.
Hutch nursed his hot coffee and glanced at the sports page of the local newspaper. He wished he could go to work, but nobody was ready this early. Suddenly he heard Karen exclaiming and welcoming someone so he looked up to see Robert Sanders, and who he assumed was his wife, hugging Karen. He couldn’t help himself—he stood. Robert looked at him and a huge smile lit up his face as he took his wife’s hand and walked back to Hutch’s table.
“Hutch! Wow! Of all the people I never expected to see out here. Melissa, this is Grady Hutchinson—the best horseshoer you may ever meet. We call him ‘Hutch’. This is my wife Melissa.”
Robert gave the tall man a manly embrace. “Wow, it’s good to see ya, Hutch!”
“You, too, Robert. Very nice to meet you, Melissa. This is one fine man you’ve got here.”
“Yes, he is, Hutch. Good to meet you as well,” she said, firmly shaking his hand.
“Please, sit down,” Hutch offered. “Robert, you look terrific. Marriage must agree with you.”
“It’s the greatest, but then you know that.”
Hutch looked away for a split second, and Robert caught that moment. “Hutch, tell me nothing’s wrong.” Robert’s expression clouded.
“Can’t do that, Robert,” His voice faltered slightly.
“Oh, man. What happened?”
Melissa saw the uneasiness and excused herself. “Robert, I better check in with Don and Barry. Hutch, I’ll be seeing you soon. So good to meet you.”
Hutch stood when she left the table after giving her husband an affectionate kiss on the cheek.
“Remember Marilyn Chambers?”
“Yeah.” Worry found its way into Robert’s voice.
Hutch explained the whole scenario to Robert who listened intently. When Hutch finished, Robert sat back in his chair, tipping it back. “You’re not giving up on this marriage, are you? I can see it’s tearing you apart.”
“What can I do? She wanted me out of her life. I’ve signed the papers, Robert. That’s why I’m here. There was nothing I could do.”
“Come on, Hutch. We go back a ways, remember?” He leaned forward putting his chair square on the floor and his palms on the table. “You’ve never backed down from anything. Just because she’s hurt—and rightfully so—doesn’t mean the truth can’t prevail. For cryin’ out loud, Hutch, this girl took your heart. I saw the change. Everyone did. You’re not going to give up without a fight, are ya?”
“Robert, I don’t think it’s going to do any good. Don’t you think I’d do something if I thought I stood a chance in hell—ahh, I’m sorry—I shouldn’t have said that, I guess. Anyway, if there was anything left to fight for, I would.”
“What do you want, Hutch? A written invitation? You’re the one she perceives as not wanting her. You give up easy, and she’s convinced of it. I mean, come on. And what, did someone tell you I was a Christian now?” He grinned at his friend. “You watchin’ your language all of a sudden?”
Hutch gave an embarrassed smile. “Yeah, a few people mentioned it actually.”
“Were you surprised?”
“I don’t know that I was, Robert. You’ve always been such a class guy it didn’t seem so farfetched, I guess.”
“Well, thanks for the compliment, but I learned first hand how opposite of that I was.”
“What do ya mean?”
“I mean, when you come to know the reality of who Jesus Christ is, you realize for the first time your human condition—and it ain’t pretty.”
“No offense, Robert, but I don’t need to know Jesus Christ to know that.”
“Let me give you an example. How would you assess your ability as a horseshoer?”
“One of the best, I guess. I’ve put my whole life into it as you know, so I would expect after so many years to be that good.”
“That’s right. And you are. What if I told you if the Lord hadn’t given you both the talent and the desire to be the best, you couldn’t have done it?”
Hutch was quiet for a minute. “You sayin’ this Lord decided I was going to be a shoer and then gave me the drive to become one?”
“Before you were born.”
“You serious?” Hutch said skeptically.
“How did you meet Susan?” Robert fired at him.
“Well, you remember, Robert. It was kind of an accident. My rig broke down, and I had a horse in the trailer. She came along and rescued us basically. Her trailer was empty—she was headed to the same place I was takin’ this horse—she was pickin’ one up there. It was before she worked for Dean at the track so we could be closer.”
“Yeah, but wasn’t someone else supposed to be drivin’ that day? Wasn’t it Louis Adams—only he got sick at the last minute—and Susan was called in to drive that one route?”
“Well, yeah, so?”
“What are the odds you ever would have met her if that hadn’t happened that day? And wasn’t it just a freak thing with your rig? Some wire that normally never would have come off or something like that?”
“Yeah, I couldn’t see it. It was under some other wires. And I doubt I ever would have met her. I was headed outa state in a couple days just for somethin’ new, but after we met, I decided to stick around and see how it went.”
“So, what is that, Hutch? Coincidence? Luck?”
“Well, yeah, I guess so.”
“So, the perfect circumstances of your meeting Susan, the only girl that made you want to leave behind your wild lifestyle, was dumb luck. How about if it was God’s intervention in both of your lives at just the right time for two very special but lonely people who were designed to be together?”
“Robert, I guess I don’t think like that.”
“You know why you don’t? Because the world never wants to admit that God is personal and He intervenes in people’s lives, and He’s crafted them in unique ways.”
“Man, you sound like Mike Lawrence,” Hutch remarked almost to himself.
“Exactly like him,” Robert agreed. “We serve the same Lord.”
“I don’t know what to think, Robert.”
“Let me ask you something. How many Christians has the Lord put in your path since you’ve been here—and do you remember meeting any before now?”
“I don’t remember knowing any to be honest. Now there’s Mike Lawrence and Nelson Scarston said he used to know God and now you.”
“So is that just another coincidence since in what—30, 31 years—you’ve never met one you can remember?” Robert pressed him.
“I don’t know, Robert.”
“Hutch, the Lord is offering you His peace right now, and it sounds like you could use it big time. You called me a ‘class’ guy. You want to know class? Class is Jesus Christ. He gave His life for us even while we couldn’t care less about Him or His ways. Paid with His life for our wrongs. The whole thing is incredible. You can suffer in your pain about Susan and your marriage, but Jesus can heal both the pain and the marriage. All He desires is your willingness to do things His way for a change. I want you to seriously think about what I just said to you, Hutch. This is a turning point in your life. You can make whatever choice you want, but there’s only one right choice. I hope you’ll take into consideration our friendship when you think about these things—how we’ve always been straight with each other—because this is the real deal, Hutch. There ain’t nothin’ better in this life and that’s no lie,” he concluded with his best racetrack slang.
Robert stood and shook Hutch’s hand. He could see the tears in the man’s blue eyes. “I’ll see ya later. I’ll be checkin’ on ya.”

(Excerpt from For His Glory; sequel to Hope Of Glory)