by Gregg Stutts
He touched the screen to listen to her voicemail. As soon as he heard her message, he tried to call her back. She didn’t answer.
“Shelle, I'm so sorry I didn't listen to your message earlier. Where are you?"
She couldn't still be at the park, but he had to check. He squealed his tires as he left the field house. The last time he’d done that, it was to get away from her. And now he was squealing his tires to get to her.
He tried calling her again as he pressed down on the accelerator. Still no answer. He thought about calling her parents to see if they knew anything but didn't want to explain things or worry them unnecessarily.
As he raced toward the park, he didn't notice the vehicle that had been following him since he left the school.
Chapter 28
Michelle woke up a little after four o’clock. She’d been asleep for almost four hours. She couldn’t have slept if she’d gone home but felt safe with Willy and Rose.
She sat up and stretched and heard noises coming from the kitchen. Whatever Rose was cooking smelled delicious. She wanted to be brave and go home, but the truth was, she didn't feel brave at all. The encounter with Donnie in the park had really shaken her up.
She found Willy and Rose in the kitchen cooking dinner together. She watched for a minute and noticed how often they touched each other, smiled at one another and enjoyed being together. She and Max had moments like that, but they weren't able to sustain them. Their marriage over the last several years felt like the proverbial roller coaster only with many more lows than highs.
It was clearly possible to experience the type of marriage Willy and Rose had. The proof was standing right in front of her, but somehow, she and Max hadn't figured out the secret. And now maybe they never would. They might never grow old together like the couple standing in front of her. You weren't allowed to make the kinds of mistakes that she and Max had and expect to experience an intimate and enduring marriage like Willy and Rose. God could forgive her, but it didn’t mean Max would.
Rose turned around and saw Michelle standing in the doorway and said, “Hello dear, did you have a good nap?”
“It was wonderful. Just what I needed. You two are so wonderful.”
“Well, I know it’s early, but dinner is almost ready, so I hope you’re hungry,” Rose said. “We’re having spaghetti and meatballs with a wonderful looking salad Willy put together. And a loaf of Italian bread.”
“I picked it up fresh. It was hot right out of the oven.” Willy tasted the sauce and added something to it. “I also picked up a few items you might need. Rose made me a list.” Willy smiled and winked at Michelle, then when back to his simmering sauce.
As Rose and Willy described the meal, Michelle realized it was the exact menu she had planned to cook for Max on Saturday night, except she was planning to serve cheesecake for dessert. It felt like a wink from God, like He was saying, “Don’t give up.”
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Willy said. “We’re having cheesecake for dessert.”
Chapter 29
Max ran a stop sign and almost ran off the road twice. He hit the brakes just in time to turn into the parking lot. He made a quick loop around the parking lot. There were a dozen or so cars. None were Michelle’s. He accelerated back toward the park entrance as a black SUV turned in.
He stopped and waited as the SUV made a U-turn and slowly pulled up behind him. It wasn't Donnie Black, but he had no doubt it was someone working for him. And he had no patience for whoever it might be. And then he used the same move they used on the guys that tailed them from New Jersey. He threw his old truck into reverse and stomped on the accelerator. A second later, his rear bumper smashed into the grill of whoever was behind him and deployed the airbag.
He was tempted to get out and see whom he’d just hit, but there wasn’t time. He had to find Michelle. He put his truck in drive, hit the gas and pulled back on to Lakeside Drive to head home. She wasn't at the park. She wasn’t answering her phone. He tried to think of any of her girlfriends she might call if she needed help. Only one came to mind but he didn't know her number.
He was almost home and hoped he would turn onto his street and see Michelle’s car in the driveway. Two minutes later, he did. But it wasn’t Michelle’s car in the driveway. It was a black SUV.
Then Max glanced at the clock. The team busses were leaving for Bentonville in forty-five minutes.
Chapter 30
Michelle sat down at the table while Willy and Rose brought out the meal. She wanted to help, but they insisted she relax and allow them to serve her. After all the food was on the table, Willy prayed and then served her and Rose. The food was delicious, but it was their company that made the difference. She felt so completely safe and cared for by this older couple she still hardly knew.
After a few minutes, Michelle said, “I want to ask you both a question and I’d like you to be honest with me. Do you think Max and I have a chance? I mean, after all we’ve been through—Sarah’s death, my relationship with Chris and now the baby—can we really make it?”
Willy set his fork down, wiped his mouth and looked at Rose. They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment but didn’t speak. Michelle could see they didn’t need words to communicate. She saw the slightest smile on Rose’s face and then she saw Willy nod.
Rose set her fork down, took a sip of tea and said, “The honest answer, dear, is that it won’t be easy, but that doesn’t mean you won’t make it or that you shouldn’t try.”
Michelle stared at her plate and pushed some spaghetti around with her fork. “I’m not willing to give up,” she said. “I just feel like we’ve dug ourselves into such a deep hole that there’s almost no way out.” She thought for a moment, then said, “Did you ever get to a place in life where you can’t believe it’s really your life? Like you can hardly believe you allowed yourself to get into such a mess?”
“Yes,” Willy and Rose said in unison.
Willy nodded again and said to Rose, “Go ahead.”
Rose took Michelle’s hand in hers and said, “Why don’t we let Willy clear the table and bring us some coffee and cheesecake in the living room?” Rose and Michelle sat down in the living room while Willy cleared the table.
“Willy and I have a wonderful marriage today,” Rose said, “but it wasn’t always so wonderful.”
“You two seem like you’ve always been happy,” Michelle said. “I can’t even imagine you having troubles.”
Rose giggled and said, “Oh boy did we have our troubles.”
“Really?” Michelle said.
“Willy and I got married right out of high school. He enlisted in the Navy and was gone for much of the next four years,” she said. “He was mostly on aircraft carriers during the Korean War. He didn’t see any combat, but he was gone for months and months at a time.”
“That must have been hard,” Michelle said.
“It was,” Rose said. “We didn’t have any idea what it meant to be husband and wife, plus we were separated so much.”
“Max and I haven’t been physically separated much, but it feels like we’ve been emotionally separated for years. It’s really lonely.”
Willy brought their cheesecake and coffee and set them on the coffee table. “Can I join you or is this girl talk?”
“Please join us,” Michelle said and then took a bite of the cheesecake. “This is delicious.”
“I wish I could take credit,” Willy said, “but I got it at the store.”
They were quiet for a moment while they ate and sipped their coffee, then Rose said, “I can relate to feeling lonely, dear. I was a new bride and my husband was on the other side of the world half the time. There was no way to communicate other than letters, but those took weeks to get to each other.”
“It was hard on both of us,” Willy said.
“Very hard,” Rose said. She took a sip of coffee and said, “While Willy was gone, I got a job working at a newspaper. It gave me something to do while he was gone
. Unfortunately…I started spending a little too much time with one of the men I worked with. I was lonely with Willy gone and this man I worked with was lonely after his wife died. At first, we just talked, but it became more. After a couple months, we were intimate.”
Michelle didn’t know what to say. The last thing she ever expected to hear from Rose was that she had once cheated on Willy. “So what happened?” Michelle said.
“I knew it was wrong,” Rose said. “After a few weeks, I broke it off. But the damage was done. I felt terribly guilty. I couldn’t think of anything else. I knew I had to tell Willy what I’d done, but I knew it wouldn’t be fair to him to tell him while he was so far from home. So I had to wait three months for him to return.”
“Three months? That would be awful,” Michelle said.
“It was the most miserable three months of my life,” she said.
“What happened when you told him?” Michelle said, not sure if she should be asking her or Willy.
“He was devastated,” Rose said. “It was the first time I’d ever seen him cry.”
“I was angry,” Willy said, “but I felt more hurt. Betrayed. I’d been faithful and didn’t deserve what she’d done.”
Michelle finished her last bit of cheesecake and said, “How did you survive it?”
“At first, I didn’t think we would, but one evening I went for a long walk around the lake,” Willy said. “And what I just couldn’t get away from was the simple fact that I had taken a vow before God to love and cherish Rose for better or for worse. I sat down by the lake and I felt like God said, ‘I never promised you only the better part.’ Well, I answered God, ‘No, Lord, you didn’t, but do You know how much her betrayal has hurt me?’”
Rose wiped the tears from her eyes then took Willy’s hand. He leaned over and kissed Rose on the cheek and said, “Then I heard God say, “Yes, I do.”
Chapter 31
Max slammed the brakes, jumped from his truck and ran to the driver’s side of the SUV. Donnie got out and so did another guy, even bigger than Donnie. “Get off my property, Donnie!” Max yelled. “Get back in your truck and get out now before I do something I’ll regret.”
The bigger man, who Max didn’t recognize, stepped closer to Max, but didn’t speak. At the moment, Max didn’t care who he was or how big he was—if he made another move, Max would hit him.
“Let’s calm down here,” Donnie said with a grin on his face. “No need to be uncivil, Max.”
“I’m warning you, Donnie, leave now. And you can tell the guy you had following me at the park to back off, too.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Max,” Donnie said.
“You’re a terrible liar, Donnie. Just tell him to back off or I’ll damage more than his vehicle next time.”
“I’m sorry I can’t help you with that, Max.” Donnie stared at Max for a moment and said, “I think you’re the one who needs to leave though. Don’t you have a football game tonight?”
Everything in him wanted to knock that stupid, arrogant grin right off his face, but Max restrained himself, at least for the moment. “What’s your problem, Donnie? Huh? What’s your problem?”
The bigger man inched closer to Max as Donnie said, “Frankly, Max, you’re my problem.” He also took a step toward Max and said, “It took me years to build the Pioneer Foundation to where it was, but you couldn’t mind your own business. You had to stick your nose where it didn’t belong. Even after you were warned.”
Max felt like he was going to explode. “You killed Dante Jones!”
“Not according to the grand jury.” Donnie looked around, lowered his voice and said, “But even if I did, the kid brought it on himself.”
“So you’re admitting you killed him,” Max said.
“I didn’t admit to anything,” Donnie said. He looked at the big man and said, “Did you hear me admit to anything?”
The big man said, “No, sir. That’s not what I heard.”
Max could barely restrain himself from smashing fist hard and fast into the left side of Donnie’s face. If he hit him just right, he’d break his jaw and knock him completely out. The big man might try to catch Donnie before he hit the pavement. The big guy was another question.
The three men stared at each other in an awkward stalemate. Finally, Donnie said to the big man, “Get the bag, JD.” He came back and handed him a small blue gift bag with a pink ribbon tying it shut. Donnie handed the bag to Max. “We really didn’t expect you to be here, Max. We stopped by to see your wife, but she wasn’t home.” Donnie flashed his arrogant grin again and said, “We just wanted to bring a gift.” Donnie and JD got back in the SUV and started it up.
“I don’t want a gift from you,” Max said as he tossed the bag at Donnie.
“It’s not for you, Max,” Donnie said. “It’s for the baby.”
Max was speechless as they backed out of the driveway and drove off laughing.
Michelle, where are you?
Chapter 32
Max got back in his truck and tried Michelle’s phone one more time as he turned around to head back to the high school. Half way back to the school, the only other person he could think to call was Willy.
“Hello, Willy. I don’t know what to do. I can’t find Michelle. She was at the park...”
“Max!”
“...and called me for help. I...”
“Max!”
“What?”
“Michelle is with us. She’s okay.”
The lump in Max’s throat prevented him from saying anything more than, “Oh, thank you…”
“She was pretty shaken up,” Willy said. “I knew Donnie Black was trouble.”
“I know he is, Willy, I know he is.”
“I know you’ve got a lot on your plate with the Bentonville game tonight, we’ll take care of Michelle. Don’t worry about her. We’ll see you after the game tonight.”
“Listen Willy, I’m afraid there’s some bad stuff going on. I don’t know how much Michelle has told you.”
“We know,” Willy said. “And yes, it’s messy, but nothing that can’t be worked through.” Max pulled into the high school as the players were getting on the busses. He already felt like he was letting them down. His mind was anywhere but on the game.
“Willy, tell me Michelle...I love her,” Max said.
“I will, Max, and good luck tonight.”
“Thank you, Willy. We’re gonna need it.”
“And Max!”
“Yeah, Willy?”
“Be careful.”
Chapter 33
As Max looked around Bentonville’s stadium, he tried to bring his thoughts into focus on the game. He wasn’t having much success though. He felt relieved to know Michelle was okay, but once he knew she was safe, the thoughts about what she had done came rushing back.
Then there was Donnie and his goon, JD. How did Donnie know Michelle was pregnant? How he knew really didn’t matter though. That kind of information in Donnie Black’s hands would be nothing but trouble.
Focus, Max, you have a game to win.
He tried to push all that aside as he watched his team warming up. This was still the nicest stadium in the state. It sure helped to have the world’s largest retailer’s home office in your backyard. It was still thirty minutes to kick-off and the stands were already mostly full on both sides of the field. He didn’t know the stadium’s capacity but was sure it would be a standing-room-only crowd.
The Lakeside offense was running through their plays. Just not the ones they’d use in the game. Max needed every advantage if they were going to have a shot at stealing this game from the number two team in the state. He saw no reason to tip off the Bentonville coaching staff to their game plan until they had to. He had his offensive running plays they had no intention of using in the game. He hoped the Bentonville coaches were taking notes.
“Five minutes!” Max called out. They would head back inside the locker room located underneath the visi
tor’s bleachers. It wasn’t a great facility, but then most visitors’ locker rooms weren’t. Bentonville would head inside their indoor practice facility at the north end of the stadium. Max planned to keep his team inside until the last possible minute, so they’d miss the big entrance the home team made at the start of the game. It was actually quite impressive. The only thing missing was a flyover.
Max called Bo, his offensive line coach, over. “How does TJ look?”
“If he wasn’t wearing that cast, you’d never know he was hurt,” Bo said. “He’s a tough kid.”