Seasons

by Bonnie Hopkins

  Her arms went around his neck and she stood on tiptoe to kiss him tenderly. “God bless you, my husband,” she whispered softly, “I love you so much.” When she kissed him again, the flames exploded that always sparked to life whenever they touched.

  Now, Jason smiled as he basked in the memories. Jaci was God’s gift to him. One he planned to cherish. He drew a sigh of relief and contentment. He had found his woman, his wife, his mate. He pulled her closer to him and silently thanked God for her.

  Jaci

  Has it really been nearly six months since her wedding? Jaci shook her head in amazement as she inched along in bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic. To distract herself, she pondered the changes in her life. They were good changes, thank God, but they required adjustments and modifications in her thinking and daily routines. As she considered the changes, she conceded that her adaptation from a solitary lifestyle to a married one had not been smooth. The first fight came during the first month of marriage when Jaci, following old habits, became immersed in a project at work and lost all track of time; she completely forgot her husband, waiting at home. She smiled as she remembered their fight and the resultant makeup. Since then, she made every effort to go home on time.

  She sighed in relief as she drove into the garage. The drive home had been torturous. Heavy rain caused the streets to flood in places; therefore, traffic had to move at an even slower pace than usual. Thankfully she didn’t have to worry about dinner because she had beef stew simmering in the Crock-Pot. She had prepared it during her trip home at lunch; now it should be about ready. A quick salad and they would be eating dinner in no time. She hoped Jason would be home and was disappointed when he wasn’t. It seemed their ever-busy schedules made it difficult for them to spend quality time together. Jaci was still settling into her new position as division manager, and Jason was currently dealing with some legal issues on one of his software patents. He had just returned from D.C. Friday and would have to leave again as soon as he heard from his attorney.

  Jaci entered the house and ran up the stairs to the bedroom, deciding a hot shower would be nice. Although she would have liked to stay under the hot, pelting water, she got out, quickly threw on a sweat suit, and went back downstairs to finish dinner. The cold rainy weather made it a perfect night for beef stew. The phone rang and she gave an impatient grunt, hoping it wasn’t Jason calling to tell her he would be late. She smiled when she heard the male voice coming across the line.

  “Hey, Sis. What’s going on?” Ron asked.

  “Not a thing. How are things with you?” She listened as Ron told her about his day before finally asking, “Is J.P. around?” She was about to tell him no when she heard the garage door opening. “He’s just driving into the garage now. Want to wait? Or can he call you back?”

  “No, I’ll wait.”

  Jaci remained amazed at the drastic change in Ron’s attitude. In fact, he had gone from one extreme to the other and was almost as protective toward her as Jason was. She had to confront him about his protectiveness a few weeks ago when she and Jason had argued and Ron put his two cents in. Jaci prepared to go shopping one Saturday afternoon, but Jason contended that it was too late, especially since Jaci, Lena, and C.J. refused to leave the mall until it closed. Ron was at their house—where he seemed to be a lot these days—and he joined Jason in the objection.

  “Sis, just the other day a woman was abducted in the parking lot of a mall. Ya’ll need to go early before the crooks start riding around the parking lot, looking for easy victims. Naw. You don’t need to be going to no mall this time of day.”

  Jaci looked at them in disgust. “How do ya’ll think I made it this far without you? By being stupid? I know how to take care of myself. And anyway, we’re going to the galleria and will be parked in the underground lot. There are security guards and people constantly going and coming.” She looked at Ron with a scowl. “And I don’t believe you, Ron. What’s gotten into you?”

  Ron smiled sheepishly. “I don’t know, I guess I must be getting soft in my old age. Beside that, I was getting ready to beg you to fix me one of your special sandwiches. That’s what I really came over here for.”

  “Oooh!” Jaci laughed and wiggled her finger in his face. “I knew there was an ulterior motive in there somewhere. Sorry, buddy, you’re out of luck today. I’m outta here.” She hugged and kissed a still pouting Jason and headed to the garage.

  Jason

  Jason entered the house and sniffed appreciatively as the mouthwatering aroma of the stew greeted him. He would never get over the difference his wife made here. He recalled how he had dreaded coming home to an empty house before their marriage, but now could barely wait to get there. Jaci’s presence filled the house with warmth and made it feel like a home. He could barely stand to be there without her and was unreasonably upset if he arrived and found the place empty.

  He found Jaci in the kitchen with the phone propped between her neck and chin, pulling the makings of a salad out of the refrigerator. Jason walked across the room and planted a brief kiss on her lips before taking the phone she was handing to him.

  “Who is it?”

  When Jaci mouthed “Ron,” he frowned. “Hey man, what’s up? I’m just getting home and my wife is just finishing dinner, so I’ve got to . . . Huh?”

  Ron, on the other end, repeated his question. “I said, what are ya’ll having?”

  “I don’t know,” Jason answered. “I told you I’m just walking in. But it smells great. Looks like some stew or someth—what? Okay.” He hung up the phone. “Baby, I’m going up to change clothes. I’ll be back in a minute. Oh, Ron’s on his way so you might as well make enough for him.”

  The back doorbell rang a few minutes later and Jaci went to let Ron in. “Hey, Sis,” he said, hugging her. “What’s for dinner? Something sure smells good.”

  “Oh just some beef stew—nothing fancy. And I’m making a salad. I’m debating whether to make some cornbread or make do with some crackers. Want something to drink?”

  “Nope. Not right now. And please make some cornbread. We can’t be having stew without cornbread,” he stated as Jason walked back into the room.

  “Oh look, babe,” Jason mused. “Our regular dinner guest is here. Man, don’t be coming over here telling my wife what to cook.” He laughed at the embarrassed grin on Ron’s face. “This is about the fourth time you’ve shown up at mealtime in the last week. I’m beginning to think you ain’t got no groceries at home.”

  Ron gave a dirty look. “I just happen to like my sister-in-law’s cooking. Anything wrong with that?”

  Jason chuckled. “Naw, man. Ain’t nothing wrong with that. I like it too.”

  All during dinner, although he tried to act carefree, Jason remained preoccupied. He realized he didn’t fool Jaci when he noticed her concerned look more than once. After Ron left, she asked him what was bothering him.

  “It’s this patent thing, honey. I know I haven’t done anything wrong, but it’s worrying me, distracting me and taking up a lot of time that I should be giving to other things. I hate this.”

  Jaci scooted closer to him on the sofa and wrapped her arms around him. “It’ll be okay. Like you said, you haven’t done anything wrong. And the way I see it, this other company is trying to rip you off. I think they’re just trying to bluff and harass their way into winning the case. You can’t let them beat you down, honey. You’ve got to stay strong and keep your faith. God’s with you. He’s not going to let you down.”

  He smiled and pulled her closer. “I don’t know how I survived without you, sweetheart. You always know what to say to make things better. Come on, let’s go to bed.” After making sure everything was locked up, they headed up the stairs to bed. Once in bed, Jason found his mind going back over the patent lawsuit. He had handled this patent the same way he had others. Why were those bloodsuckers trying to steal this one?

  Jaci laid her head on his chest and began talking. It took him a minute to realize she wasn�
��t talking to him, but to the Lord.

  “Lord, bless my husband with Your peace. Father, he’s Your child, and he loves and honors You in every way he can. Lord, You are faithful, and Your grace is sufficient, and You have promised to be a present help in time of trouble. Lord, Jason is troubled. And I know You know what needs to be done to make him more than a conqueror in this situation. So, Lord, I ask right now for Your mercy, Your deliverance, Your overcoming victory. Father, let Jason experience peace that passes all human understanding, and send forth Your power into this situation that has him so burdened. Father, I thank You right now that no weapon formed against Jason shall prosper, and every tongue raised against him shall be condemned. I ask these blessings upon my husband in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.”

  Tears ran down the sides of his face, soaking the pillow. His heart felt as though it would burst right out of his chest. “Oh God!” he moaned, as he crushed his wife in his arms. “Thank You, Father! Thank You for giving me this woman. Lord, if You don’t do another thing for me, You’ve already done more than I deserve. Praise You for Your blessings unto me.” His voice broke as he gave way to the emotions that had burdened him the past several weeks.

  Jaci

  Jaci surveyed the large office that Wynola Dickson had once occupied. She had never in her wildest imagination even remotely pictured herself in this office or in the position that Wynola had revered so much. Jaci had been so wrapped up doing her job and surviving the day-to-day struggles that she hadn’t taken the time to think or strategize about anything beyond that.

  Now, as she tried to focus on her plan for reorganizing the division and placing everyone in more efficient positions, she reminded herself to prepare for a fight. She deliberately waited several months to give everyone a chance to adjust to her as manager, but there was always resistance to change. As division manager, she took a more active role than Wynola had in day-to-day operations and had carried the responsibility for both positions until she could make the needed changes and decide who would fill her old position. Several coworkers vied for the position, but she determined to appoint the most qualified person. Unfortunately, that came down to her two most dependable employees—Gloria and Bill—which made the decision even more difficult. Gloria had the administrative side of the job down to an art, but lacked experience in the field, while Bill was the field expert, lacking in the administrative side of things.

  She sat agonizing over the decisions she had to make when the phone interrupted her. She smiled when she heard her husband’s voice, a voice that still made her shiver.

  “Hey sweetheart. What are you doing?”

  “Thinking about how my husband’s voice still has the power to give me goose bumps,” she answered with a smile. “Why?”

  “Oooh, sweetheart! You always know what to say to make me happy. Can you get away for lunch? I want to see you, plus I need to talk to you about something.”

  “You just saw me a few hours ago and will see me again in a few hours,” she answered, grinning widely.

  “And I have to say no to lunch. I can guess what you have in mind and, uh! uh! you’re not getting me involved in your games. I’ve got too much to do today.”

  He chuckled. “Lunch at Ruggles. That’s all I’m looking for today. I know all you’re going to do is grab a sandwich or something and sit there working all day if I don’t rescue you. I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes, okay?”

  Jaci sighed regretfully. “Baby, I can’t. Really. I’m swamped with this reorganization and trying to keep routine things going at the same time. Can’t it wait until tonight?”

  Jason hesitated because he didn’t like what he heard. “No, it can’t.” He drew a deep breath. “Since I can’t talk you into lunch, I guess we’ll have to talk about it on the phone.” Again, he hesitated, which raised Jaci’s concern about what he was about to say. “I just heard from the attorney on the patent case.” He paused to give her time to digest that information. “And I have to leave tomorrow. The hearing is at ten Friday morning and babe, I want . . . I need you to go with me.” He waited for her response. He knew she was extremely busy, which was why he had been reluctant to ask. But he needed her with him.

  Jaci sat with the phone clutched tightly in her hand and tried to find a way to soften her response. There was no way she could get away now. She had taken more time off during the past year than she had in all the other years combined and had committed herself to making up for that lost time. “Honey . . . I can’t. I just told you, I’m totally swamped. You know if I could, I would drop everything and go, but that’s not the case right now.”

  Jason dug in his heels, determined to get his way. “Did you hear me? I said I need you with me. This isn’t just a desire, this is a need. Listen to what I’m saying, sweetheart.”

  Jaci was just as unwavering. “I heard you. But are you hearing me? I’m dealing with too much to take off right now. That’s the bottom line.”

  “Can’t or won’t? I’m only talking about a day or two.” Jason’s voice escalated as he continued. “See! This is exactly why I wanted you to leave that job. I knew you were going to be more committed to it than you are to me. I told you up front that I won’t take a backseat to that job, Jaci. And I meant that! Now I’m asking you again, will you come with me to D.C.?”

  Jaci felt anger rise up within. She knew she had much to learn about the submissive thing. Maybe she was supposed to submit to his request and go with him. But anger took control. How dare he make this an issue! He knew she was struggling to get the division restructured. It wasn’t a matter of putting the job first, it was just bad timing.

  “I told you, I can’t get away right now,” Jaci told him sharply. “This is not about whether I’m more committed to the job, it’s about timing. You’re not being fair about this, Jason. How can you demand I take off from my job at a moment’s notice? Well, I’m sorry, I just can’t do it.” She was about to say something else when she realized she was talking to the dial tone. Jason had hung up.

  Not to be outdone, Jaci hurriedly dialed the private line to his office. When he answered, she yelled into the phone. “Why did you hang up on me? I don’t believe you did that. That was so childish, Jason.”

  He didn’t answer for a long minute. “I didn’t have anything else to say and I didn’t want to hear what you were saying. Unless you’re calling to say you’ve changed your mind, I still don’t want to he—” Now she had hung up on him. There!

  Her desk phone immediately rang again. She knew it had to be him. She couldn’t believe they were carrying on like this. As soon as she answered, he said, “Now who’s being childish? Huh?” Then hung up before she could answer.

  Jaci dropped her head into her hands, glad her office door was closed. How in the world had her life gone to hell in just a matter of minutes? Ten minutes ago, her biggest problem had been the reorganization. Now she was over her head in a marital standoff.

  Any further work today was impossible. She stared out the window for the remaining hours of the workday, vacillating between wishing she could go home, meaning her own house—which was out of the question since the house had been leased—and being ashamed of herself for even feeling that way.

  She was tempted to call Jason back and apologize, but knew he would probably just hang up on her again when he learned she hadn’t changed her mind. She turned the volume up on the radio, which was always set on a Christian station. She needed to hear something, anything, from the Lord. Satan was winning this battle so far. How had such a small issue grown so big? How could she justify her refusal when her husband had almost begged her to go with him? She hadn’t even asked why! Her only concern had been her job, her responsibilities, her need to do well in this new position.

  “Oh Lord, help me,” she cried. “I’ve lost my way, Father. Please lead me in the right direction.”

  She slowly made her way to her truck when it was time to leave. It wouldn’t do to arrive home late and give Jason even
more fuel to add to the fire. She shook her head as she approached the truck, another issue that should have been resolved but due to her stubbornness remained a bone of contention. Jason wanted to buy her a new car. He absolutely hated her old unreliable truck. But because it was hers, something she had managed to get on her own, she refused to let go. She drove toward home, and for the first time, hated the thought of going there.

  Jason

  Jason was already home and packing when Jaci came into the bedroom and kicked off her shoes. She sat down on the side of the bed to watch him place things neatly into his bag. He had nothing to say to her. He was angry and hurt. Why couldn’t Jaci understand how much he wanted her with him on this trip? For some reason, he felt vulnerable in this fight, as if all that he stood for was also under attack. His strength seemed small and he couldn’t understand the weakness since he had fought more intense battles than this one, and hadn’t been affected like this. He needed his wife’s strength to help him through this battle.

  “Are we going to Bible study tonight?” Jaci asked. Jason looked at her and wondered how she could even think about it. “I’m not. You can do whatever you want.” He answered in stilted words.

  “Okay. I think I’ll go,” she told him. “Have you eaten anything? Do you want me to fix you something before I leave?”

  He looked at her sharply. “Like I said, you can do whatever you want. You’re going to do that anyway.”

  Dang! Jaci thought. To conclude that this man was pissed off was putting it mildly. She stood, put her shoes back on, and walked out of the room, down the stairs, and out the door. She still had enough anger to propel her actions.