Hearts of Grey

by Earl E. Gobel

  “See, Katie, you owe me an apology. Grady, she thought that you and I had this all set up beforehand,” Michael told him.

  “Nope. Sorry, Katie, we didn’t have this all set up. But we did mention it loud enough for Melissa to hear. But that was all about her and Rick,” Grady confirmed.

  “You knew that I heard you?” Melissa asked as she stared at Rick.

  “On purpose. Grady didn’t know about it, that’s true. But Mike and I have been planning this for the last two days. And we figured that Katie was on to our little surprise, so to get her to drop her guard, we made sure that you heard us talking. We knew that you would run right to Katie and tell her what you heard. And you did, didn’t you?

  “So Katie thought that I was going to ask you, but when Mike asked her, you probably thought that you hadn’t heard it right. So for a few minutes up there on stage, you must have been pretty disappointed. We weren’t trying to be mean or anything, but we had to keep the two of you off guard. The look on your faces, it was worth it, wasn’t it Mike?” Rick asked.

  “Oh, without question, totally worth it,” Mike answered.

  “The two of you played us against each other just to keep us off guard?” Katie asked in a tone that told everyone that she was really mad. Only one time before had they heard Katie use that tone, and that was in the cave as she read something about her mother.

  “Now, Katie, relax, we didn’t do it to hurt either of you ladies. Really!” Mike told her as he slowly tried to get out of her line of reach. He remembered what she had done to Susie. But it wasn’t working very well.

  “Melissa isn’t just a friend. She’s like a sister that I never had. And I don’t take kindly to us being played against each other for any reason. You understand me, Michael? And you too, Rick. I don’t like it,” Katie told the two men standing before her.

  Melissa walked up next to Katie. “Yeah, that goes for me too. Katie and I are not toys for your own personal amusement. We have feelings too. And if either of you want to push this issue, we can get really mean,” she told them.

  “Ladies, ladies, relax. We’re sorry, okay? We weren’t thinking, okay?” Mike told the two pissed-off ladies before him. The ladies turned toward Rick and waited for him to apologize as well.

  “Look, like Mike said, we weren’t thinking about your feelings, okay? We’re really sorry,” Rick told them.

  Katie and Melissa just stared at each other. Then they busted out laughing.

  “You guys should have seen the looks on your faces. I thought Rick was going to pee his pants or something,” Katie said between her laughter.

  “Yeah, and you, my loving brother, I was waiting for you to stick your head up her dress again and kiss her ass. That was funny,” Melissa told him.

  The two guys just looked at each other, and they knew that they had just been played.

  “Okay, you got us. I thought that you were really mad at us. But you ladies got us back, fair and square,” Mike told them.

  “Yeah, now that was planned. So when did you two ladies set that up?” Rick asked.

  “Oh, about thirty seconds ago. I just knew that Katie wasn’t mad, so I knew where she was going, so I jumped on for the ride,” Melissa explained.

  “And I knew that I was going to do that right when you said you should have seen your faces. Seems like I’ve heard that before, isn’t that right, Daddy?” Katie asked.

  “Oh, you mean the Bobby thing? Yeah, I forgot about that,” Grady confessed.

  “Can I say something here?” Aaron asked.

  “Sure, Mr. James, feel free to jump right in here,” Katie responded.

  “First off, congratulations to all four of you, but, ladies, that was very well done. And, guys, if I were you, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes if you ever got these two ladies here really mad at you. It wouldn’t be that healthy,” he told them.

  “Why, thank you, that was very nice. Did you hear that, guys, it wouldn’t be that healthy. Get the message there?” Katie asked.

  “Yeah, yeah, we got it all right,” Rick answered her. Mike just shook his head.

  “Now, Grady, didn’t you say something about a beer?” Aaron asked.

  “After that, I might need something a little stronger,” Grady replied.

  “Great, let’s see what you got?” Aaron told him as the two of them went into the house.

  The four of them sat out on that porch until about two o’clock in the morning before one of them suggested that they did have to go to church in the morning. Most of the townspeople had already left and had gone home. A few of the soldiers were still sitting around their makeshift campfires, still swapping stories with whoever would listen. But for the most part, the Georgia air was peaceful, quiet, and surreal. There was a definite calm in the air.

  The Faith to Believe

  Melissa looked simply ravishing in her Sunday dress as she and Michael walked through the front doors of Matterson House. Michael was all done up as well in his suit and tie. Grady had met them at the door and walked them to the kitchen so they could wait for Katie to come down.

  “Grady, you don’t look that well this morning. Are you okay?” Melissa asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Just having a few effects leftover from last night, is all,” Grady told her.

  “Grady, you’ve got a hangover?” Michael asked.

  “Well, it feels like something is hanging over somewhere, that’s for sure,” he replied.

  “How long did you and Mr. James sit up drinking last night?” Melissa asked.

  “I don’t know. What time is it?” he asked.

  “It’s eight-thirty,” Mike answered.

  “Oh God, about an hour or so ago. Do I look that bad? Really?” he asked.

  “Yeah, you do really. You need to go to bed and sleep it off,” Melissa told him.

  “What happened to Mr. James?” Michael asked.

  “He’s on the couch. He thought that he could drink Grady Windslow under the table. It was a good fight, but I’m not too sure who won,” Grady told them.

  “Well, if he passed out and you’re still awake, that makes you the winner then,” Mike explained.

  “Well, if this is what a winner feels like, I think I’ll lose from now on, if you don’t mind,” he told them as he flopped down in the kitchen chair.

  “That might be a pretty good idea. Here, let’s get you up to bed,” Mike told him as he helped him to get up from the chair. As the two men slowly made their way up the stairs, Katie was on her way down.

  “What’s wrong with Daddy?” she asked.

  “It seems that he had a little too much to drink last night,” Mike answered.

  “Don’t lie, Michael. I had way too much to drink. You look pretty this morning, Katie, both of you,” he said in a very slurred voice.

  “Thanks, Daddy, you get some rest. You look like you could use some,” she told him.

  “I’ll get him up to his room, but you might want to throw a blanket over your guest on the couch,” Mike told her.

  “Guest? Oh, Mr. James! I’ll check on him,” Katie responded.

  Michael soon made his way back into the kitchen where the two ladies were waiting.

  “You’ll have to excuse my daddy. He hasn’t drank since Mama died,” she explained.

  “Katie, I or I should say, we, have the utmost respect for your father. And a little drinking now and again might do more good than harm,” Melissa told her.

  “Yeah, I guess, but when Mama died, he drank for a whole week straight. He was really messed up. He really loved her. It tore him up when she died,” she explained.

  “That’s understandable, but we can’t hold it against him,” Mike told her.

  “I don’t, not at all. But I was really afraid that I might lose him as well. So to see him like that, it brings back a lot of bad memories, that’s all,” she explained her concerns.

  “Well, that’s all they are—memories. That’s all,” Melissa told her.

  “So are
you ladies ready to go?” Michael asked.

  “Sure, I think so,” Katie answered.

  Michael walked them out to the car. The two ladies sat in the back as Michael slid in behind the wheel. As the car made its way through town, the two girls started to talk.

  “We have a slight dilemma,” Katie told Melissa.

  “I know, the maid of honor thing, right?” she replied.

  “Exactly. I was thinking about asking Susie to be mine. What do you think about that?” Katie asked.

  “Actually, I was thinking the same thing. I’ll have to clear it with Rick, but she used to be my best friend. And what she did to save you and your dad pretty much cleared the books as far as I’m concerned,” Melissa answered.

  “Well, I have some personal business to do with her when I see her, so is it okay if I ask her, pending Rick’s approval of course?” Katie asked.

  “Sure as long as she knows that it all depends on what Rick says. I think she’ll understand that,” Melissa answered.

  “I think she’ll fully understand that too,” Katie replied.

  “Do you mind if I ask you what kind of business you have to do with her?” Melissa asked.

  “No, not at all. We’ve decided to give her the deed to her parent’s house. They’ll have enough problems having to watch her dad go to prison for killing my Uncle Jack. Giving them the house should make it a lot easier on them,” Katie explained.

  “That’s just what I thought it would be about. You and your daddy are some really forgiving people. You two really inspire me, and I mean that in a good way,” Melissa answered.

  “Well, we try to live life the best that we can. Doesn’t always work, but the Lord does watch over us, that’s for sure,” Katie answered.

  “That he does for sure,” Melissa answered as Michael pulled the car into the parking lot of the church. Rick walked up to Melissa’s door and opened it.

  “Hello, love, you look simply ravishing today,” Rick said as he took Melissa’s hand and helped her from the car.

  “Good morning, Rick, you keep talking like that, and we’ll have to take another trip out to Katie’s barn without a hoop skirt,” she told him as she glanced over to see a smile across Katie’s face.

  “Yeah, without a hoop skirt, trust me,” Katie answered. The two girls just laughed.

  “Rick, can I have a word alone with you please?” Melissa asked.

  “Sure. Is everything okay?” he asked.

  “Oh, yeah, everything is fine. I just have a question for you, is all. It’s about our wedding,” she explained.

  “Sure, we can walk over there and talk,” he told her as they started walking over to a large oak tree. When they were alone, Melissa explained about Susie being their maid of honor.

  “Susie Barnes? And you and Katie are both in agreement with this choice of your maid of honor?” he asked.

  “You have to understand one thing, Rick. Susie put everything that she ever had in jeopardy to save Katie and her dad. It took a lot of guts to do what she did. And like I told Katie, that single unselfish act pretty much cleared the books as far as I’m concerned. But out of respect for you, I need your permission before we ask her. What she did to you was totally wrong, so if you say no, we both will understand and respect your position,” Melissa explained.

  “Melissa sweetheart, you know that I love you with all of my heart. And since we’re soon going to be husband and wife, I have to respect your position just as you’re respecting mind. So if having Susie Barnes as your maid of honor will make you happy, then I have no problem with that at all. So go ahead and ask her if that’s what you want to do. And thank you for asking me first, that really means a lot to me,” he told her.

  Melissa threw her arms around his neck and planted her lips to his.

  “Thanks, Rick, you’re the greatest,” she said.

  As the two of them walked up to the church, Melissa and Katie exchanged glances. Melissa shook her head up and down. Katie knew what it meant. So Katie walked up to Susie and her mom.

  “Excuse me, but could we have a word with the two of you please?” she asked.

  Unknowing what it was about, they agreed, but both of them were very leery about it. When Susie and her mom were standing in front of them, Susie had something to say before anyone else. “I heard about your engagements. I must have left yesterday before it happened, but I just wanted you all to know that I’m very happy for all of you. Really, I mean that,” Susie explained, even though she was still having a hard time talking with her jaw, wired shut and all.

  “Well, we’re glad to hear that, and thank you from all of us. But that’s kind of what we wanted to talk to you about. We were wondering if you would like to be our maid of honor,” Katie asked her.

  The question had caught Susie and her mom totally off guard.

  “Are you serious?” Susie asked.

  “Sure are,” Melissa answered.

  “But why me? After everything that I’ve done to all of you. You keep acting like you’ve forgotten how big of a bitch I really was,” Susie said as she tried to keep from crying.

  “Let me see if I can explain this,” Rick began, “and, ladies, feel free to jump in here if I get lost, okay? It’s like this Susie, the key word in that was was. Whatever happened before doesn’t have any bearing on what happens next. Melissa and Katie have both picked you to be their maid of honor, and if that’s what they want, then Mike and I have no problem with their request, so now it all falls to you.”

  “All of you guys have been so nice to me. I can’t believe it. Everything that I’ve done in my life has all been about me, and what I wanted had no concern about anyone else. But you just keep on surprising me. Time after time again, you’ve been at my side. Katie, my only regret is that I didn’t meet you a lot sooner ’cause you’ve changed my life around. I would be letting you all down if I said no. And friends don’t let friends down, so of course the answer is yes. I would be honored to be your maid of honor,” she told them.

  Katie and Melissa each took turns exchanging hugs with Susie. Rick and Mike did too.

  “Rick to you I owe you a special apology. I’m really sorry for what I did to you. I hope someday you’ll forgive me and put it in the past,” Susie told him.

  “Already have, Susie. Already have,” Rick replied.

  “Really? God, what did I do to deserve friends like all of you?” she asked.

  “Well, we’re not quite done yet. There’s a small matter about your house,” Katie told them.

  “I can answer that. We’ve found a place to move to, but it won’t be ready for a few weeks, so if you would allow us the time, I would really appreciate it,” answered Susie’s mom.

  “No, I’m sorry. That just won’t work. Not at all,” Katie told her.

  “But where will we go? Where will we live?” Susie’s mom asked.

  “How about right where you are now?” Katie said as she pulled a large envelope from her purse and handed it to her mom.

  “What’s this?” she asked

  “Why don’t you read it before you ask that?” Katie told her.

  She opened the envelope and pulled the papers out and started reading them. “I don’t understand,” replied Susie’s mom.

  “What’s to understand? You now own your house free and clear. So why would you ever think of moving?” Katie explained.

  “You’re giving us the deed to our house? But why would you do such a thing? I don’t understand what it is that you want in exchange for this,” she tried to explain her concerns.

  “What we want? We don’t want or require anything from you. Look at it this way. Your husband got caught up in a bunch of underhanded stuff, but why should you and your daughter here have to pay for it? It just wouldn’t be right.

  “And I mean no disrespect toward you or your choice of husbands. You just didn’t know about all of the lies that he was forcing you to live with. So take those papers and move on with your life. Focus your energy on your husb
and’s defense if that’s what you want to do. Having to worry about a roof over your head shouldn’t be your main concern,” Katie told her.

  “See, Mom, I told you that Katie Windslow was an angel,” Susie proclaimed.

  “Well, I guess you are right, Ms. Windslow. God bless you and your dad. Words will never be written that could express how I feel right about now,” she said as she started crying.

  Katie took the weary lady into her arms and hugged her.

  “Your happiness is payment enough. But I’ll be sure to pass your message on to my daddy when I see him,” she told her.

  “Excuse me, but I think it’s time to go inside now,” Mike told them.

  As they all walked into the church, Katie and her four friends were ushered to the front row of pews again. Father Mathews walked up to Katie and leaned over to whisper into her ear.

  “Where’s your father at? I don’t see him here today,” he asked.

  “I’m sorry, Father, but my dad is a bit under the weather today. You know, all of the excitement from yesterday and all,” she explained to him.

  “Of course, I do understand. But I was hoping to see him here today. He was the inspiration behind today’s sermon,” he told her.

  “Well, I’m sure that he’ll be sorry that he missed it,” she answered.

  “Well, if he isn’t feeling, well, I guess there’s not much we can do about it then. What about you? Are you planning on singing today or not?” he asked.

  “Oh, I’ll sing if you want me to. I have a lot to be happy about today,” she told him.

  “Yes, I heard that we have two new engagements among us. Congratulations to all of you. You’ll have to excuse me. Time to go to work,” he told them as he turned toward the pulpit.

  As he took his place before his congregation, the room suddenly got quiet. “Welcome to your house of worship. You know I’m going to go off the beaten path here today because of a man that has inspired me to believe in myself and in God. The Bible tells us many different stories, doesn’t it? Or does it?

  “Think about it. What does the Bible tell us? What does it ask us to do? Have you ever thought about what it’s teaching you as you read from its pages? What does the Book of Revelation say to you? Yes, the Bible does talk about the ending of the world, doesn’t it? Does it not speak of Satan’s return. But those that believe in Christ shall have what? Eternal life, right?