“Hold on, Linda, don’t do that!” Wynola yelled. “Jaci hasn’t even been in town this week. If you start making unsubstantiated allegations against her, you could be sued. No, honey. I’ve talked to Mama and Daddy, and we all think the best thing for you to do is move back home. Me and Sister are taking off a few days to help you get packed and moved.”
“I told you, I’m not going anywhere. I was thinking I could stay with you for a few days until . . .”
“Yes, you are going!” Wynola said through clenched teeth. “Don’t you understand? It’s over, Linda. You’re going if we have to drag you.”
Wynola carried out her promise to move Linda back to New Orleans. She returned to work the next week relieved that Linda was out of Houston and with their parents who promised to get professional counseling for her—again. Now, she hoped, things could return to normal. But Wynola’s relief was short-lived and was quickly replaced with a feeling of uneasiness when she noticed that everyone avoided her and whispered as she passed them in the corridor. Something was up. Her heart sank when she found a summons from Ed Shannon waiting for her.
“Wynola. Come in and have a seat,” Ed told her cordially. After she sat down, he continued. “Wynola, I’m forced to do something today that doesn’t bring me any pleasure. However, based on your actions recently, I’m in the position where I have no choice.” He handed her a letter with a stack of items attached to it.
Parts of the letter jumped out . . .
In light of your poor judgment . . . unjustified harassment of an employee . . . falsified evidence to substantiate misconduct by an employee . . . maliciously seeking to slander, discredit and wrongfully dismiss an employee, . . . you are hereby requested to submit your resignation immediately. Your refusal to voluntarily resign will lead to action by the department and the mayor’s office to formally force your removal through civil service procedures.
The letter was countersigned by the mayor, indicating his approval. There was more, but she stopped reading at that point to look at the attached documents. As she perused the documents, she tried to form an argument in her mind to defend herself. But when she saw the contents, she knew there was no use. The papers included statements from two department managers, who described their witnessed unfair treatment of Jaci Winters by Wynola; several letters of support for Jaci Winters from citizens, who demanded the department stop unfair disciplinary actions against Jaci Winters; a copy of the bogus letter from “Jean White”; a copy of the denied leave request from Jaci; a copy of the police arrest records, along with records of reported threats and attacks made on Jaci Winters with Linda Adams as the prime suspect; and a document showing Linda Adams to be the sister of Wynola Dickson.
Wynola stood and almost staggered out of Ed’s office without a word. She walked as if shell-shocked down the corridor leading to her office. Her cushy, high-paid position was gone. Twenty-five years down the drain. As she walked unseeingly, she remembered Jaci’s declaration that she had turned Wynola over to God. Now, it seemed Jaci and her God had won. Wynola’s heart hardened. Maybe she had been too hasty in getting Linda out of town. Perhaps if she had helped Linda more in getting rid of Jaci, she would still have her job. But just wait! She was going to fix Jaci and her precious God too!
Matrimony
Jaci
Family Reunion
Jaci’s family reunion was held in Riverwood the last weekend in April. In spite of everything going on in her life, Jaci decided to attend. Her accumulated vacation time had reached maximum levels and she was at the point of losing some days if she didn’t use them. She took two weeks off because in addition to the reunion, she also needed to do some serious work on her wedding and to get her house in order. She decided to lease her house rather than sell it. Not only did she have to pack everything and get ready to move, but she was also having work done to get the house ready for the tenant.
She worked ceaselessly in the house Monday through Wednesday. She then got ready for the drive to Riverwood and the reunion, which would begin that Friday night. The more she thought about it, the more excited she became. Her cousins all planned to attend and Jaci looked forward to spending some time with them.
She and Jason left Houston just after daybreak Friday morning. Jaci wanted to arrive early enough to visit with her father’s mother, Grandmother Winters, who was in a nursing home, as well as other family members.
Six hours later, Jaci fought the urge to pinch herself to see if she was dreaming. Riverwood! She was in Riverwood—with Jason! Though only a few hundred miles in distance, Riverwood was a world away from Houston.
How much, Jaci wondered, did her relationship with Jason have to do with her decision to attend the reunion?
So much had occurred since she left Riverwood filled with hopes and dreams. Now, she simply wanted to savor the good memories that engulfed her as they drove from house to house, finally ending up at her brother’s. Jaci wandered to the back of the house and sat down on the bed, remembering . . .
It seemed as though from birth, the cousins . . . seven of them . . . were enveloped in a mystical kind of charm that no one outside the group could understand or infiltrate. Maybe it had something to do with them all being born the same year. Maybe it was because they spent more time with Grampa and Grammy than their siblings and had the benefit of more of their wisdom and prayers. Maybe it was because they all looked so much alike that most people outside of the family didn’t know which child belonged to what parent.
Seven brothers and sisters had all had babies born during one year, much to the delight of the babies’ Winslow grandparents. Four sisters had given birth to four daughters, and three brothers had fathered three sons. Those babies had, at some point, been breast-fed by each of the mothers. And thus had proceeded their lives, sharing every experience all the way from birth to college.
Jaci smiled as she recalled some of the mischievous things they had done. Lord, it’s a wonder we all survived. Although they’d had every intention of staying in close contact with one another, it hadn’t turned out that way. For years, they’d only managed quick hugs when they saw each other on brief trips to Riverwood, or occasional calls to get updates on their lives.
It had only been over the past several years that the cousins had begun reconnecting and reestablishing their closeness, and in the process, discovered that life had lost its charm after they had gone their separate ways. Jaci had prayed that their difficult seasons would soon be behind them. Again she chuckled as she recalled some of their youthful shenanigans and admitted her gratefulness for experiencing them. She had survived many tough ordeals by drawing on the strength, ingenuity, and creativity developed while growing up with her cousins.
Meanwhile, at another Riverwood home not far from where she was, a conversation about Jaci was taking place. “Is Jace coming? I heard she was, but I won’t believe it until I see her.”
“Yeah. Somebody told me she was already here. I think I’ll call around and find out.”
As Jaci sat reminiscing in the bedroom, each of her cousins came to the forefront of her mind. Kevin . . . called Buddy because Grampa had nicknamed him Little Buddy the first time he saw him. Robert . . . dubbed Big Ben after he got into a skirmish after a basketball game with a big player named Big Ben from a rival school. David . . . labeled Dusty after he fell into a large sawmill barrel filled with wood shavings and dust and looked like a human dust mop when he was fished out. Regina . . . shortened to Gina, and probably the one who kept them from getting into more trouble than they did. Anita . . . called Nita by everyone, and the one they had all been protective toward. Catherine Joy . . . mostly called C.J., but was often called Red because of her hair color and a temper that lived up to that name.
While growing up the seven cousins had been villains to some—heroes to others—always into something! They were all musically inclined and played either the piano or guitar, and they were singers as well. Typically, the cousins capitalized on their talent by forming a
singing group in high school. And not surprisingly, they had become reasonably popular and in demand.
Anticipation filled her, and Jaci knew she was having one of her “moments.” There was no other place on earth she’d rather be than Riverwood. Before the thought was complete, she heard the phone ring, and her brother yelled out that it was for her.
A few minutes later, she grabbed Jason’s keys and ran out the door.
“I’ll be back! I’m going to see my cousins,” she called over her shoulder.
Munroe and Valerie Hilliard’s house had been the cousins’ hangout when they were in high school. In fact, Munroe had encouraged them to form the singing group. Now, their house was the obvious place for the cousins to meet. Some were already there, and others, like Jaci, were on their way.
Minutes after their greetings, the cousins sized one another up. “You cut your hair off.” “Where all that gray hair come from?” “Oh yeah, where is your hair?” “You eatin’ good these days, I see.” “How many brats you got?” “Hey, are you kidding, I got grand brats now!”
They eventually settled down, and more than two hours passed unnoticed as they talked, ate, cried, and talked some more.
Back at her brother’s house, Jason’s concern grew. Jaci had been gone for hours. “Do you think we should go look for Jaci? She’s been gone so long; something must have happened. I’m kind of worried about her.”
Her brother and his wife laughed. “Heck naw! You don’t know country folks, huh? She’s stuck at somebody’s house and if we show up, we’ll be stuck there too. That’s probably why she didn’t take you with her.”
“How are Randi and her family doing?” Jaci’s sister-in-law asked.
“They’re doing okay now, but you know, Randi had problems with her pregnancy, then the baby had problems. When they got through that, Randi’s father showed up making demands . . . they’ve had a pretty rough time.”
Jaci’s brother jumped up from his recliner. “He what! Oh man, I should have beat the crap out of that sucker years ago. He must be stone crazy.”
J.P. laughed. “Don’t worry, I took care of it. And I’m looking forward to doing it again if he doesn’t stay away from Jaci.”
“You took care of it? How?”
“I whipped his butt. I think he was convinced that he could show up and pick up where he left off with no problem. He’s not suffering under that misconception anymore. Man! It felt good! My hand was sore for days, but I’ll do it again if I have to. That guy almost destroyed Jaci.”
“Yeah, I know it. And I know now we should have done more to help her, but Jaci kind of went undercover.”
“I don’t have any say over whether Randi sees him or not,” J.P. said. “Jaci left it up to her to make that decision. But Jaci . . . He’d better stay away from her if he values his life.”
At the Hilliards’ home, Munroe Hilliard sat in his old chair, unashamed by the tears that streamed down his face. Munroe and Valerie still missed the cousins, even after all these years.
“Riverwood just hasn’t been the same without ya’ll,” Valerie said. “We still laugh about all the stuff ya’ll used to get into. Remember that time ya’ll were trying to smoke Grampa’s cigar butts and burned the old outhouse down?” she asked, laughingly. They all cracked up.
“Yeah,” Big Ben exclaimed, “we ought to beat Gina’s butt right now, she was the one who messed up.”
“Just try it, buster,” Gina responded. “We were all in that thing together. I think it was your match that set my dress on fire anyway.”
“Oh my God!” Nita said, a look of horror on her face. “Ya’ll, it’s a wonder Gina didn’t burn up that day. It took all of us beating away at that nylon dress to put out that fire. We didn’t even notice that the cigar butts we had thrown down had set the outhouse on fire. By then that old wood was going up in smoke.”
“Yeah,” Buddy said. “And our behinds were smoking for the next week. I haven’t wanted to smoke since.” They all cracked up again and started recalling some of their other escapades that had kept their small community from ever becoming boring.
While the banter continued, Munroe disappeared into a back room and returned with an electric guitar, which he handed to Dusty to hook up to speakers, then steered Jaci to the old piano in the corner. “Kids, ya’ll sing some of the old songs. I been waiting for years to hear ya’ll sing together again.”
“Oh my goodness!” C.J. said. “I don’t know if I even remember those old songs.”
Amazingly, the tunes and words came back. It wasn’t long before they were all shedding tears, remembering and missing those no longer around who had also loved to hear those songs.
Although it was called the Winslow Family Reunion and it had been planned by Jaci’s mother and her siblings, most of the community turned out for many of the festivities. The old school principal and several of the older schoolteachers, now all retired, were present to see and be seen by the many they had taught. The cousins stayed together for the most part, getting to know one another’s family and friends.
Saturday’s activities got underway early at the old high school that had been converted into a community center. A lengthy program in which the cousins were coerced into singing was followed by lunch, games, dancing, and visiting.
Jaci
It had been so good to be in Riverwood with her cousins. After the reunion Jaci returned to Houston full of anxiety over all she had to do. By the next Friday, she had packed up most of her things and completed several tasks on her wedding. Her vacation was almost over and she dreaded the thought of returning to work.
Jaci sat on the sofa in the family room to take a breather from her packing and looked out through the patio doors. She took in the large backyard filled with greenery and trees and the soothing blue water of the swimming pool. Curiously, she felt peace and contentment rise up within. It suddenly occurred that maybe she should consider Jason’s desire that she quit her job. After all, she did have options now. She felt overcome with gratefulness. Thank You, Heavenly Father, for Your mercy.
The time spent in Riverwood with her family was the most time she had spent there since leaving after college. She now realized that somehow the visit had sparked a change in her. Oddly, her thinking seemed clearer, her spirit calmer, and her outlook on life better than she had experienced in a very long time. She saw glimpses of the young, enthusiastic Jaci who had left Riverwood filled with hopes, dreams, and plans. Had that person been hiding in her subconscious all these years? Overshadowed by disappointment, and disillusionment, and obscured by one stormy season after the other?
Yes, she decided. It was time to let that enthusiasm for life resurface. She stopped dreading her return to work and began to look forward to it, deciding to trust that God in His graciousness would restore all that had been devoured and destroyed by the enemy.
It was springtime. Her favorite season! A season of renewal. A season for hope and faith to take prominence in her life again; a season for new beginnings; a season to start believing that good rather than evil would come her way. A season for a change!
As if on cue, the telephone rang. She looked at it with displeasure, thinking . . . It didn’t take long for that fantasy to end!
She slowly picked up the phone, half expecting to hear the resumption of Linda’s threats. As soon as she said a cautious “hello,” she heard a scream, then Gloria saying excitedly, “Girl, I just had to call you! There’s big happenings in the place! You should be here!”
“Hey, girl!” Jaci said to the excited woman. “What’s going on?”
“Jaci!” Gloria refused to calm her excitement. “Wynola is gone, girl!”
“What do you mean, gone?” Jaci asked curiously.
“I mean gone, like no longer here! She was given a choice—resign or be fired. I don’t know which one she took, but she cleaned out her office and walked out without a word to anybody.” Gloria paused to get her breath. “And get this! Linda, that crazy woman that’s be
en stalking you, is Wynola’s sister. That’s why Wynola has been doing all those hateful things to you—to help her. They even created that fictitious letter accusing you of having an affair with a married man to get you fired. I still can’t believe Wynola was that stupid. And guess what? Linda is gone too. Wynola’s husband told Mr. Shannon that Linda is back in New Orleans and under the care of a psychiatrist.”
Jaci was speechless. “Oh God, Gloria. I’m . . . I don’t know what to say. I’m not happy to see anyone lose their job, but . . .”
“I am,” Gloria said with no compunction. “She deserved it. She didn’t have to do what she did. Remember when she denied your leave request when you needed to go see about your grandmother and she told you it was because she felt like it? I wonder how she’s feeling right about now?”
Mixed emotions flooded Jaci’s mind. She didn’t want to rejoice over another’s downfall, but she couldn’t help but be relieved that the trouble the sisters had caused her was over.
“Gloria. Thanks for calling, girl. I need to go so I can take all of this in. I’ll see you Monday, okay? Bye.” Jaci hung up the phone in a daze. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard. As it began to sink in, she jumped up and praised God for His goodness and mercy. Linda and Wynola had made a choice to do what they did. Now they had to deal with the consequences. She didn’t feel guilty glorifying God for delivering her from their hateful actions. She ran around her house like somebody crazy, shouting and thanking the Lord. Then she picked up the phone and called. Jason. “Jason? I just heard that Wynola is gone! Can you believe that?”
“Good,” he answered. “I knew it was going to happen, just not when. That’s why I didn’t say anything.” It was definitely a day to get a serious praise on!
Seasons Page 26