Seasons

by Bonnie Hopkins

  “Is that the only holdup?” He reached into his pocket and pulled a credit card out of his wallet. “Here, use this for whatever you need. I mean it, Jaci. Use it and do whatever it takes to make it happen no later than June or July. Okay, baby?”

  “What about the last Saturday in June if we can get it set up with the church and find a place for the reception and everything?”

  “Yes! It’s settled. And we will get everything set up for then.”

  Jaci

  The first of the year found Jaci thankful she had made it through a relatively quiet holiday season, although she couldn’t fully relax with the thought of all she had to do to prepare for her wedding. And of course she was unconsciously waiting for the other shoe to drop with Linda and Wynola. Thankfully, Jasmine was doing fine and getting bigger every day, and Jaci was back to taking assignments from J.P., even though he wouldn’t send her out of town anymore unless he went with her. More than once, he had mentioned something about her going full-time once they were married. Jaci refused to entertain the thought. She didn’t know if she was ready to give up her current position. It wasn’t that she loved the job so much. But it was her security—her independence, or so she had thought until this mess with Wynola and “Jean White” had entered the picture.

  Lord, thank You for Your mercies that are new every morning, Jaci prayed daily.

  With the arrival of February, she panicked. Her wedding was only four months away and there were countless wedding preparations as well as packing up and storing those things she wouldn’t be moving to Jason’s house. She procrastinated in beginning the packing process because she dreaded leaving the home she had been so happy in. She rallied those closest to her (Randi, Lena, C.J., and Sister Sadie) to help with wedding preparations, and they were all busily at work. Randi took charge of the guest list, along with Jason’s mother; C.J. and Lena worked on the program and reception; and Sister Sadie, an accomplished seamstress, created the wedding dress she and Jaci had designed. Sister Sadie also organized everything with the pastor and church, assuring her role as the wedding coordinator. Jaci constantly checked and rechecked her extensive list. Hiring a wedding planner would have made sense but she didn’t want to spend money on something she could do herself.

  In one of their countless telephone conversations, Lena confessed, “Girl, I was wondering what was wrong with you. I know the story behind Maxie, and I’ve been with you through thick and thin over the years. But I just couldn’t go with you on pussyfooting around with Jason. You were acting like a crazy woman.”

  Jaci smiled. “Is that why you set me up for him when we had that fight over the Linda incident? I hadn’t fronted you on that had I? Some friend you turned out to be.”

  Lena laughed. “I had to do that, girl. You’re never going to find another Jason. And if you know where one is, kindly point me in his direction. Marry that man, quit that sorry job, and do something you like. Maybe do nothing for a while. God knows you deserve it. Whatever you do, don’t blow this, Jaci.”

  Jaci’s eyes filled with tears of thanksgiving. “It was only God’s mercy that brought us together, and I praise Him every day for Jason. And Lena, you don’t know how thankful I am for your friendship.”

  Maxie

  Maxie gleefully thought about his plan as he and his mother, aunt, and brother traveled to Houston to attend his uncle’s funeral Saturday morning. It was perfect timing. He knew Jacetta and Gilmore planned to get married in the near future, so he had to act quickly and carefully. He hated to lose. And the way things stood, he was losing. He wanted Jacetta! And he wasn’t above using an old woman who had never seen her grandchild and now her great grandchildren to get to her. His plan would work if Jacetta was at home and his do-right brother kept his mouth shut.

  After the funeral, he snuck away from the crowd and dialed Randi’s phone number. He almost cursed when he didn’t get an answer. But that didn’t stop him from pursuing his plan. As they prepared to leave the cemetery, his mother and aunt asked if there was a place where they could change clothes for the long ride back to Dallas. Maxie quickly interrupted before they made any arrangements.

  “That’s okay, Mama. I have a surprise for you—somebody I want you to meet. You can change at her house. Hopefully, she’ll be at home. If not, we’ll just have to stop at a service station or McDonald’s.” He refused to meet his brother’s suspicious look.

  He drove to Jacetta’s neighborhood and proudly pulled into the driveway. “Whose house is this?” his mother asked. “Boy, don’t be taking me to some stranger’s house. Who lives here, Maxie?”

  “I think I know,” Joe said. “Is this where Jacetta lives, Maxie? If so, I think we need to leave. One of his old girlfriends live here, Mama. And they didn’t part on good terms.”

  Maxie opened the door and spoke before he climbed out of the car. “Why don’t you tell her the rest of it? Mama, if she’s at home, maybe you’ll get a chance to meet your granddaughter and great grandchildren. That’s the surprise I was telling you about. Come on ya’ll, get out.”

  The others got out of the car, curious about who they were about to meet. Maxie led the way to the door and rang the doorbell, thinking if Jacetta was home, more than likely she wouldn’t refuse to let them in when she saw the two old ladies standing there.

  The door opened and Jacetta stood there with a baby in her arms and a toddler peeping around her. Her expression was a mixture of surprise and irritation. “Hey, Jaci,” Maxie said quickly. “This is my mother and aunt, and remember my brother, Joe? We’re in town for a funeral and I wanted them to meet Randi and the kids. I hope you don’t mind us dropping in like this. I see the kids are here. What about Randi? Open the door,” he ordered arrogantly. When she stood unmoving, looking at him like he had lost his mind, he went a step further. “Mama, this is Jaci. And these little ones are your great grandchildren, Jasmine and Sean.”

  His mother looked at the children and smiled. She saw the woman’s reluctance, but she wanted to get a closer look at the children. “Sho is some pretty chil’ren. I would like to meet them if it’s okay with you,” she said to Jaci.

  Jaci’s good heart wouldn’t let her refuse. She pushed the storm door open and invited the group into her home. She started to show them into the living room where she usually entertained strangers, but Maxie stopped her. “Let’s go into the family room where we can get comfortable.” He wanted to let them know he had been there before.

  Jaci placed the baby into the portable playpen and then turned to them. “Would you all like something to drink?”

  Maxie jumped up from his chair. “Yeah. What do you have?” He strolled into the adjoining kitchen and looked into the refrigerator. “Is this tea in this pitcher, Jaci? Mama, ya’ll want some tea or some water? Maybe we need to get something to eat before we hit the road. Got anything to eat, Jaci? And they need to change clothes. Joe, why don’t you get their clothes out of the car.”

  Jaci felt like she was in the twilight zone as she took in the visitors in her family room and the idiot trying to give them the erroneous impression that he had a right to be there. She bit her tongue to keep from saying something rude. She knew she had to get these people out of her house before Jason got there!

  “Sorry, I don’t have anything. It’s okay to change clothes, but I’m afraid I’m expecting company, so I can’t offer much more than that.” She spoke to the old lady who was Maxie’s mother. The same old lady she had spoken to countless times on the phone when she called her house looking for Maxie over the years. The same woman who had rudely told her to stop calling because her son was probably at home with his wife, and had even gone so far as to say, “I’m tired of you little sluts calling here, trying to break up a man’s home.”

  “My daughter, Randi, is out, and won’t be back for a while,” Jaci told them. “I’m babysitting for her.”

  “Sho’ is some pretty chil’ren,” Maxie’s mother repeated. “Is that Randi on that picture right there? Sho’ wou
ld like to see her. Maxie, why am I just meeting these chil’ren? I guess if my brother hadn’t died down here, I wouldna never seen them. You ever in Dallas, Jaci?” She looked around the room. “Sho’ got a nice home.”

  Maxie’s aunt and his brother Joe nodded their heads in agreement. Joe, who had walked back into the house with several clothes hangers, finally spoke up. “Jacetta, I’m Joe, Maxie’s brother. You probably don’t remember me, but we met a few times when you and Maxie were dating. It’s nice to see you again and to meet my nephew and niece.” He tried to lift up Sean but the little boy ran to Jaci with his arms stretched to be picked up. Jaci gathered the baby up and looked at Joe in silence, remembering his vague answers when she had asked him about Maxie’s whereabouts years ago. His mother went to the playpen and picked up Jasmine. Jasmine favored her with a big smile. Anyone who freed her from her “prison” was a friend. The old lady hugged the baby to her breast tightly. “Oooh! She is so precious.” She looked at Jaci with tears in her eyes. “Ya’ll ever come to Dallas?” she asked again. “If you do, please bring these chil’ren to see me.”

  Jaci shook her head. “Ma’am, I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing that. The last time I called your house you told me not to call there again. I’ve tried to adhere to your wishes since then.”

  The old lady gasped. “I . . . I didn’t.” She looked at Maxie as realization dawned. Her son had mistreated this girl, and she had unknowingly done so too. “If I did that I’m sorry. It wasn’t nothing against you personally.”

  “No. I know it wasn’t. But if you had given me the chance, I would have explained that your granddaughter was wanting to meet you. As it turns out, she just met Maxie a few months ago for the first time. He’s been hiding from us all her life.”

  Maxie walked into the room with glasses of iced tea for his mother and aunt. “There’s no call for that, Jacetta. My mother didn’t have anything to do with that. You don’t have to be rude.”

  Jaci looked at him coldly. “Oh I’m not being rude. Believe me, if I’d wanted to be rude, you would have never set foot in my house. I’m just being honest. I hate to be inhospitable, but like I said, I’m expecting someone and . . .” Before she could complete her sentence, Jason walked through the already open door. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Maxie and the others sitting around the room. He gave Jaci a questioning look before walking into the kitchen to retrieve a bottle of water from of the refrigerator.

  He walked back into the family room, and before he could say anything, Sean ran to him and grabbed him around the leg, while Jasmine was almost jumping out of the old lady’s arms to get to him. He walked across the room, picked her up, and grabbed Sean’s hand.

  He turned to go back into the kitchen, but before he did, he sent Jaci a dangerous look. “Baby?” His look and that one word conveyed his message: I don’t know what these people are doing here, but you need to get them out of here now. He took the children with him into the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table.

  Maxie’s mother looked at Jaci with hurt in her eyes. “Uh . . . is that your husband? I hope we haven’t caused no trouble. I’m happy I got a chance to see the chil’ren though.”

  “Naw!” Maxie yelled. “That’s not her husband. Just some guy who thinks he’s going to marry her.” He looked at Jason who sat at the table, playing with the children. “What do you mean coming in here taking my grandchildren away from my mother? I’ve already told you, you can’t change the fact that Jacetta and I had something going years ago. You don’t have a right to come in here and . . .”

  “Maxie! Let’s go.” Joe stood, gathered the clothes, and looked sternly at Maxie, his mother, and aunt, and beckoned to them. “Jaci, thank you for so kindly letting us in to see the children. I realize you didn’t owe us that and we appreciate it. Come on ya’ll, let’s go.”

  Maxie’s mother turned at the door. “Jaci, please don’t hesitate to call me. I’m in the phone book under Mabel Jackson. I promise you won’t get the same answer the next time. Thank you for letting me see my great grandchildren.” She looked at Maxie. “Come on, son. We’ve intruded on Jaci enough.” She grabbed a reluctant Maxie by the arm and pulled him out the door.

  Jaci closed the door behind them and walked into the kitchen. She leaned down and kissed Jason. “Please don’t be mad, okay? They just showed up here and I didn’t have the heart to say no to the old lady.”

  Jason shook his head. “That guy doesn’t miss a trick.”

  Maxie left the neighborhood in disappointment. He hoped to bring Jacetta around by bringing his mother into the picture. If he could get a relationship going between Jacetta, his mother, and the children, he could work on her from that angle. The Gilmore guy had once again interrupted his plan.

  “Maxie, you’re some piece of work!” Joe said from the passenger seat next to him. “I’m ashamed you’re my brother sometimes. Why did you take us to that woman’s house knowing you had no right to even show your face there? I’m surprised she didn’t curse us all out and slam the door in our faces.”

  “Well, I’m glad he did,” his mother said from the backseat. “And why wouldn’t he take me to see those chil’ren. I have a right to know my own grandchil’ren.”

  Joe sighed. “That’s beside the point, Mama. Under the circumstances, I think we were wrong to just show up at Jacetta’s house like that, considering the way he mistreated her and his child. Now that Randi’s grown, he wants to show up acting like Daddy and Grandpa. That stinks.”

  His mother shook her head sadly. “I know what he did wasn’t right, but I sho do want to get to know those chil’ren.” The old lady wouldn’t give up that hope. “I hate you mistreated that girl, son,” she said to Maxie. “You shoulda told me about her and Randi. Maybe I wouldna been rude when she called me. I sho do hate that.”

  Maxie was silent, knowing there was nothing he could say that would change anything.

  Jaci

  The next week, as Jaci and Gloria drove from one dilapidated house to another taking pictures in preparation for the next hearing, they talked about the stalking situation.

  “Linda is not a rational person,” Jaci said. “If she were, she would have moved on and stopped all of this foolishness.”

  “Not necessarily,” Gloria answered. “I mean if you want a man bad enough, it’s hard to give up on him as long as you think there’s a chance.”

  “Like I said. A rational person would have seen the handwriting on the wall, and moved on. Obviously, Jason has made his choice. But who is she threatening? Me! Now tell me if that makes any sense. Why do these crazy women always go after the woman? It’s the man they should have the beef with. Not the woman.”

  “Maybe they think that if they get rid of the woman, the way will be opened for them to step in and get the man. And in some cases, the woman is either involved with the man, or has been in the past and is just trying to hold on to him.”

  Jaci felt her blood run cold. She couldn’t help wondering if Gloria knew something she didn’t about Jason. She hadn’t even considered that Jason might have had a previous relationship with Linda. That would indeed shed a different light on the situation.

  “Well, Jason knows how I feel about that. I’m not into sharing. If he wants somebody else, all he has to do is tell me and I’m gone. And I won’t be stalking anybody either. Anyway, he had the option to choose Linda before I came along, and the fact that he didn’t should tell her something.” Jaci realized this conversation with Gloria just added to the doubts already swarming in her mind. She had to change the subject.

  “Enough about me. I’m curious about what’s going on with you and Bill. Have I missed something?”

  “Oooh, girl! I’m just as surprised as you are. Bill hadn’t said anything or given any indication that he was interested.” Secretly, Gloria believed that Bill really wanted Jaci, but now that she was about to marry someone else, he had settled for her. She would take him any way she could get him. “Then, the night of the dance, s
omething just clicked and it’s been getting better ever since.”

  “Could we be talking serious here?” Jaci asked.

  “Yeah, we’re definitely talking serious.”

  “I’m so happy for you guys. You’re both good people and I’m glad you’re getting together. I hope it works out.”

  Later that evening, Jaci busily prepared the inspection reports for the hearing scheduled in two days. Gloria called good night at her usual time and left. Jaci was having dinner with Jason, so she tried to give him time to get home before heading to his house.

  When she made her way to the garage an hour later, she felt uneasy, as if she were being watched. She looked around, hoping it was her imagination, and was relieved when she didn’t see anyone. As she approached her truck, she screamed. The front and rear windows were shattered and all four tires were slashed.

  Waves of fear engulfed and immobilized her. She couldn’t decide whether to run back to the building—what if the person was still somewhere in the garage—or jump in the truck and lock the doors—Then what? Just be there like a sitting duck? She had always scoffed at women in movies who, in the face of danger, just stood there like idiots until whatever it was got to them. Now here she was, in that very situation, doing the same stupid thing.

  The footsteps she heard behind her helped make the decision. She nervously unlocked the truck door and jumped in, locking the door behind her. She finally remembered the cell phone that Jason had given her and insisted she carry in her purse. Just as she was about to punch in Jason’s number, someone knocked hard on the side window, almost causing her to jump through the broken windshield. It was Wynola Dickson.

  “Jaci? What happened? Are you all right?”

  Jaci didn’t know who to trust. She rolled the window down slightly and said, “I’m calling someone to help me. I’m okay.”