“Can you come out here?”
When he was about to ask why, she said, “He’s here.”
Those two words changed his life more than almost anything he’d ever heard. And he knew that even though there were many other things he’d rather say, there was only one thing he could say.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
When he disconnected, he realized he was staring at Karen’s face and she was trying to smile back at him.
He struggled to find his voice. “That was my granny and she said that he’s there right now.”
The other three were all talking at once. Then they all stopped talking and stared at Jason. He was still looking into Karen’s eyes and that was when he knew what he wanted to do.
“Karen, I know we don’t really have a relationship . . . . yet, but I feel like we do.”
She gave him an encouraging smile and that was just enough for him to finish what he wanted to say.
“Will you go with me?”
It didn’t look like she even hesitated. “Yes, of course I will Jason.”
Mike sized up the situation quickly and said, “Karen, if you’ll give us your car keys Daisy can drive it to our house and Jason can take you by there later to get it.”
She didn’t say a word but slowly reached into her purse, pulled out her keys and handed them to Daisy.
Jason stood and as Karen did also, she held out her free hand and he took it.
He turned to Mike and Daisy. “Thank you for being such good friends.”
With that, he had to leave before he got all teary eyed. Why was he so emotional all of a sudden?
On the way out to his pickup, Karen turned to him and said, “What is his name?”
Jason drew a blank at first. Then he remembered. “Billy Joe Layton.”
* * *
On the way out to the farm, Jason knew that Karen wanted to talk to him but she probably didn’t know what to say. Well, he didn’t really want to talk about the upcoming meeting so he decided to ask her about her situation instead.
“Karen, you can tell me you don’t want to talk about it and I’ll shut up.” He took a quick look at her face and she was smiling shyly at him.
“Do you think this ex-fiancé of yours will come here and bother you?”
He looked back at her quickly and saw that her smile was still in place, but it had slipped more than a little bit. Great!
“Yes, Jason, I’m afraid that he will. You see, he always treated me as a possession of his and I never even realized it until after he dumped me. And yes, the way he was talking the one time I talked to him last night and all the messages he left on my voice mail since then, I’m sure he will come here.”
She sighed, “In fact, I’m surprised he hasn’t shown up already.”
He blew out a noisy breath. “Okay, Karen. Will you promise me that you will call me when he does try to contact you in person?”
“Oh yes Jason, I will. I don’t want to face him alone, not the way he sounds on the phone.”
He could tell by the tone of her voice that she was sincere and that she really would. That made him feel better, much better.
“Good. Wherever I am, I promise I’ll do everything I can to get there as fast as I can. Okay?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
They were pulling into the circular drive in front of Granny’s house then so he parked and turned to face Karen.
“Karen, I would like to think that you and I are getting closer all the time but I know that Granny is going to embarrass you by making it sound like we’re much more. Is that okay with you?”
“Oh of course it is Jason.” She seemed to think for a minute. “And I’m okay with the way things are going, Jason.”
He didn’t have time to think about that response since they were at the front door now.
When Jason opened the door and pushed it ahead so Karen could precede him, he quickly stepped in behind her and closed the door.
He saw Granny first. She was sitting in her usual place, in her platform rocker, which was moving back and forth in such a way that Jason knew she was more than a little agitated. Great. If the guy had been nasty to her in any way, then he’d have him out of there and on his way before he even knew what happened to him.
That was when he turned and saw the man who was standing in front of an armchair across from Granny’s rocker. Jason was still about ten feet away from him.
He took his time looking the guy over. That was when he realized that even though he didn’t want to admit it, the guy looked an awful lot like him. He was a little shorter and a little heavier but otherwise the resemblance was easy to see.
Jason didn’t say anything to the man but grabbed Karen’s hand and tugged on it enough for her to step up beside him. He then turned to Granny and said, “Granny, you remember my friend, Karen Bierstadt.”
Jason was shocked. Granny’s whole demeanor changed instantly. She smiled over at Karen and reached out a hand to her, “Come here girl.”
Jason could tell that Karen was surprised and he squeezed her hand gently to reassure her. She smiled back at him then walked over to the rocker and bent down to where she was at eye level with Granny. That was the best thing she could have done. He knew that it certainly pleased Granny.
Granny looked deep into Karen’s eyes for a long moment. Finally, she reached out her right hand. Karen placed her hand in it and they stayed that way for another long moment. Finally, Granny said, “You’re a good girl. You’ll be good for my grandson.”
With that, Granny released Karen’s hand, turned to Jason, slung her hand in the older man’s direction, and said, “I guess you figured out that this is Billy Joe Layton.”
Karen stood and returned to Jason’s side just as he decided to sit on the couch, which was away from both of the other two chairs but still facing them. Karen slid down onto the seat beside him.
Billy Joe looked from one to the other around the room then slowly sank back into his chair.
As Jason was staring intently at the man who supposedly fathered him, he felt Karen’s slim hand slid into his again and everything felt good all of a sudden. He knew he could face anything with her at his side.
The silence in the room lingered for several long minutes before Granny nosily cleared her throat and said, “Well, Billy Joe, what you got to say for yourself that my grandson would even want to hear?”
Jason noted that she didn’t call him the guy’s son but her grandson. That was good.
Billy Joe . . . Jason just couldn’t get himself to think of the guy as his father, coughed into his fist then looked directly at Jason for the first time for any length of time.
“I guess the first thing I should say is that I know I don’t deserve to even be here right now, much less for any of you to be listening to what I got to say.” He paused and swiped his hand down his face. “Thank you.”
Jason just continued to stare at the man.
“Okay, I guess I should say this right off. When I was with your mother, Jason, I was the happiest man alive. And I’ll be sorry for the rest of my life that I didn’t stay and marry her the way we planned.”
More silence which was punctuated for Jason by Karen giving his hand another little squeeze.
“Well, I won’t make any excuses, but about that time I got into drugs big time and I wound up in California. Then I got caught with a large stash of stuff and went to prison for five years.”
He shook his head and sighed loudly. “After I got out, I found out that your Ma had died and I kind of went crazy for a while. Then when things were looking pretty bad again, I joined the navy.”
He snorted then. “I can tell you one thing about the military for a kid like I was. Either it makes you that much worse or it kicks you in the seat of the pants just enough to straighten you out. Well, for me it must have worked. But it took a few years though. Then by the time I finally realized what the navy had done for me, my four year enlistment was up so I reenlist
ed and just kept on reenlisting until I finally retired after twenty-four years.”
Jason stood and walked over to Granny. When he leaned down to kiss her cheek, she whispered in his ear. “You do what you feel you need to do Son. I’m going to let him stay here for a couple days. Then we’ll see what happens after that.”
When Jason straightened up again, he turned to Billy Joe. “I don’t know what to do or say right now.” He snorted. “I don’t even know what to think. This has all been too sudden. I’ll call Granny tomorrow.”
With that, he walked back to where Karen was now standing and taking her hand led her out the door and on out to his pickup.
Neither one talked on the drive to Mike and Daisy’s house to get her car. She must have sensed that he couldn’t possibly talk about something that had him so torn up inside that he didn’t think he’d ever understand it much less be able to talk about it.
When he pulled into the driveway next to Karen’s car, Jason rushed around to her door and held it open while she stood in front of him.
“Thank you, Karen. You’ll never know how much it meant to me to have you with me out there today.”
She smiled at him with such tenderness and emotion that it almost knocked him down. She reached out and lightly touched his cheek. Then she got into her car and he followed her home before going on to his own townhouse.
Later, lying in bed, his head began to hurt from all the things going around in it. Finally, he was successful in just shutting his mind down or he’d never have been able to get any sleep at all.
* * *
As soon as the door closed behind her, Karen took two steps and sank onto her sofa. She placed her elbows on her knees, her face in her hands, and let the tears begin to fall.
It had been one of the most emotionally stressful days of her life. She just couldn’t hold it all in anymore.
She cried for Jason who didn’t know what to do about his father. She cried for that man who was his father who had looked like a lost little boy. She cried for Jason’s grandmother who seemed to be trying to pull everything and everybody together. And finally she cried for herself and her situation with Larry.
What was she going to do?
After a few minutes, she was able to stop her tears and mop up her face. Why had she cried? That was a very good question. She wasn’t usually this emotional.
When she thought about it though, she came up with three reasons. First, she had just gone through such an emotionally charged scene that it left her totally drained. Second, she was so sorry for Jason that he had to go through all this. She had no idea how he must be feeling right now. Third, she was so tired from lack of sleep and worry that she wanted to cry again.
In a way, she had been reluctant to let him go back to his apartment alone. But what else could she do? It was late and nothing else would have been appropriate for them.
As she was mulling all of that over in her mind, she decided to call Jason.
When she said hi to him, Jason let out an audible sigh and said, “Hi Karen. It’s so good just to hear your voice.”
“Well, I just couldn’t go to sleep until I knew you were okay.”
He sighed again. “Yeah, I guess I’m okay. At least as okay as I can be under the circumstances. But I’m more concerned about you? Are you okay?”
She thought about that question for a moment before answering. She decided not to hold anything back from Jason. She knew it was the only good way to enter into a relationship as they seemed to be doing.
“I guess you could say that I’m not okay but I would like to think that I’m getting there. How’s that?”
He laughed softly and said, “I like that answer. And Karen? Thank you for being honest and not trying to hide your feelings. I promise I’ll always try to do the same. Okay?”
She suddenly realized that she was grinning like a little girl. Jason was just so sweet and he seemed always to say just what she needed to hear most at any given time.
She caught herself then. She knew that if she wasn’t already, that it wouldn’t take much for her to fall in love with this fine Christian man. She shivered at the thought. She’d never known anyone quite like him.
She realized he was talking and she had to listen to what he was saying.
“You’ll see when you get there.”
She tried to make sense of that but she’d missed the first part therefore had no idea what he’d been talking about.
“I’m sorry Jason, I must be more tired than I though. I totally missed what you just said”
His laughter was a balm on her mood. It picked her up better than anything else could have just then.
“That’s okay Karen, I was just talking about how Granny seems to be manipulating Billy Joe. I want you to be with me the next time I talk to him too . . . if that’s all right with you.”
“Oh yes Jason. I will be happy to go with you. I’m really growing quite fond of your grandmother too.”
He laughed at that and neither one said much after that. But when she hung up the phone, she felt so much better. At least she did until her doorbell rang.
She moved quietly to the door. That was when she realized that she hadn’t even turned on a light before collapsing onto the sofa earlier.
When she looked through the peephole, she wasn’t too surprised to see Larry standing there. She hoped that if she didn’t make any sound he would think she wasn’t at home and maybe go away.
That idea didn’t work though. After ringing the doorbell again then knocking on the door, Larry said, “Come on Karen. I know you’re in there. I saw you come home a little while ago. Open the door so we can talk.”
Karen took a deep breath to shore up her courage and tried to speak through the door, “Go away Larry. You and I have nothing to talk about and if you don’t leave I’ll call the police.”
He laughed loudly at that. “That won’t work sweetheart. Don’t you remember? I am the police.”
She decided to go into her bedroom and try to ignore him hoping he’d eventually go away.
He did finally go away but not before she heard him say, “It’s only a matter of time before you come back to me Karen because that’s what I want. And you know I always get what I want.”
Karen lay in bed afterwards unable to go to sleep again for the second night in a row. At this rate, she would never make it through a grueling day at work tomorrow.
Should she call Jason? She was beginning to be afraid of Larry, of what he might do next. He had been right when he’d said that he always got what he wanted. She just hoped that this time that wouldn’t be true.
She finally decided not to call Jason. He had so many problems of his own right now that he didn’t need to add her problems to the list at least not tonight. He needed his sleep. She’d call him tomorrow morning on her break.
After all, it looked as if Larry wasn’t going to bother her anymore tonight. Then she had a sudden horrifying thought. If she had called Jason, he would have come over and the two men might have gotten into a fight. She certainly didn’t want that to happen, ever.
Then as she thought about it though, if Larry persisted and she continued to see Jason, then that just might happen anyway.
Those thoughts certainly didn’t help her get much sleep that night. But she tried anyway.
Chapter Seven
Monday morning Jason was moving sluggishly and a second cup of coffee only helped him to make it as far as his office at six-thirty.
Shortly after he had grabbed another cup and sat down behind his desk, he looked up to see Floyd standing in his open doorway.
“Ah, I’m glad you’re already here.”
Floyd stepped into the small twelve by twelve room and closed the door behind him.
Jason knew his boss too well. After all, they had both been with the department almost the same amount of time, although Floyd had a couple of years on him. They had also worked together as detectives until Floyd had been elected sheriff.
Jason had had enough of being a detective and had gone back on patrol where he’d finally allowed Floyd to promote him to sergeant almost a year ago. He’d always thought he wouldn’t want to be a sergeant but he’d been surprised to find that he did indeed like it at least most of the time.
But there were times when he almost wished he was back on patrol as a deputy. From the look in Floyd’s eye, he had a feeling that this was going to be one of those times.
Floyd ran a hand through his red crew cut and frowned before he said, “Got that new deputy in my office and he’s a lateral from SPD. For now, he’ll be assigned to your squad so you can get him used to the way we do things here.”
Jason didn’t think he needed to reply to any of that and he also thought that Floyd had more to say on the subject. So he just leaned back in his desk chair and waited.
Floyd snorted this time. “I’ll let you make your own decision where this guy’s concerned. But there’s just something about him I’m not comfortable with. Frankly, I probably wouldn’t have hired him.”
He slammed his fist down on the front of Jason’s desk. “He’s Dave Palmer’s nephew and Dave put pressure on me to hire him.”
Jason laughed humorlessly. “Then that’s a good enough reason for me not to like the guy.”
Floyd laughed that booming laugh of his. “That’s what I like about you Jason. You think the way I do on so many things, especially when it comes to meddling county supervisors.”
When Jason just nodded and grinned back at Floyd, the sheriff stood and turned to go. “I guess that’s about all the warning I can give you. You know how to handle the situation then. I want you riding with him for the first week. Okay?”
“Sure, Floyd.”
“He’s in my office right now and I’ll bring him into the briefing and introduce him to everyone then.”
With that, Floyd was gone leaving Jason with an extremely uneasy feeling about this new deputy. Was there something else that Floyd wasn’t telling him about the guy? Or was there something else that even Floyd didn’t know? Well, he was pretty sure he’d find out plenty soon enough.
Another Solution (Crowley County Series Book 4) Page 9