“I agree, best mama in the world.” Jess smiled at Ruth, then smacked her palms together. “Now that’s agreed on, let’s get back to solvin’ Ben’s problems.”
Maddy made a sound in her throat. “They’ll solve ’em themselves, Jess.”
“I’m not so sure. My guess is, Ben realizes durin’ this reunion she’s not the one for him.”
Ruth shot her daughter a firm look. “Don’t you dare go about tryin’ to make that happen.”
Jess pressed a hand to her chest—me?
“Yeah, Jessica.” Sarah tapped a fingernail against her plate. “We already had this conversation.”
Jess rolled her eyes. “I’m just sayin’. That girl has too much baggage.”
“How do you know?” Don cleaned the last lick of pie off his plate.
“I just do.”
Ruth and Sy exchanged a glance. “Listen now, all of you.” Ruth’s gaze went around the table. “Ben loves Christina. I’ve never seen him so happy. And we’re goin’ to do everything we can to help her into this family.” Ruth leveled a look at Jess. “Right?”
“Sure.” Jess waved a hand. “It’s not that we’re not tryin’. It’s just that—I’m not sure she’s gettin’ it.”
That comment spread a blanket of silence over the table. As she often did, Jess had hit the nail on the head. Ruth could only pray whatever the issues were, Ben and Christina would be able to overcome them.
By the time the couple returned, it was almost eight o’clock. Ruth and her three daughters were deep into dishes in the kitchen. Sy, Don, Jake, and Tamel sat in the adjoining den, talking all things male. Penny lay on Sy’s lap. At the sound of the front door opening, Ruth’s head jerked up. Seconds later the door closed.
Maddy eyed her. “Mom, stop worryin’ now. You were the one who said everything would be fine.”
Well. Those hadn’t been her words exactly. “I know, I know.”
Ben walked into the den, Christina right behind. The men stopped their conversation and greeted them both. Ruth gazed at her son’s face. The expression she saw mixed relief, resolve, and more than a little anxiety.
“Hi, Ben.” Ruth called. “Christina, we left your dessert on the table for you.”
“Oh.” She hesitated. “Thanks.”
“Do you still want it? Or are you too full?”
Ben turned to watch her answer.
“I …” She glanced at Ben. “I’m kind of full now. Maybe later?”
“Sure.”
Ben smiled and rubbed her shoulder.
“Your latte’s still here too.” Sarah pointed to the mug on the counter. “Little Brother rushed you off before you could even finish.”
“Oh.”
“Want me to nuke it for you?”
“Yes. I’d love to finish it.” Christina shot Ruth a look, as if worried she’d offended her by accepting the latte and not the pie. Ruth gave her an animated shrug.
Just as Christina finished her latte, Lacey bounded out of the play room and grabbed her hand. “Come back and color with me.”
Christina looked to Ben. He waved her on. “Lacey, don’t wear her out, now.”
The little girl giggled, as if that was an outrageous thought.
Ruth settled with the rest of the family in the den, talking and watching TV. Occasionally shrieks of laughter would filter from the play room. Twice Ben went to check on his fiancée. He came out the second time shaking his head. “They’re in there colorin’ up a storm.”
An hour later Christina emerged, looking worn out, indeed. Ruth was beginning to feel tired herself. “Listen,” she said to Christina, “if you’re tired, go on to bed. We’ll all be winding down here soon. And it’s past the kids’ bedtime anyhow.”
“Thanks. I think I will.” This time Christina didn’t look to Ben for approval. He got up to walk her down the hall. Ruth and Sy exchanged knowing smiles.
Tamel said it was time for him to go. But not before egging Jess to take a ride with him the next day in his car.
Jess raised both hands. “And just why would I want to ride in that thing?”
“Don’t you have to go into Jackson tomorrow?” Maddy flashed her sister a gotcha smile. She got a hard look in return.
“I can drive my own car, thank you very much.”
“What do you have to go to Jackson for?” Tamel asked. Jackson was about thirty-five minutes away, up Highway 49.
“Actually I’m goin’ to Ridgeland. I’m pickin’ up the lobsters I ordered at Fresh Market, if you have to know.” Ridgeland was north of Jackson.
“Not that she knows anything about cookin’ lobster.” Sarah wagged her head at Tamel.
“You just watch, smart aleck.” Jess pointed at her. “I’m gonna make you a meal that’ll blow your socks off.”
“That bad, huh?” Maddy snickered.
They’d never had lobster at a family reunion before. Awful expensive meal. But Jess had been talking about it for weeks. The more her sisters doubted her, the more she aimed to prove them wrong. Said she had the perfect recipe to do just that.
Jess made a sound in her throat. “Why’re y’all tryin’ to get my goose today?”
“Every day’s for gettin’ your goose, little sister.” Sarah shot her a sugary smile.
“Perfect.” Tamel said the word with finality. “I’ll take you to Ridgeland, Jess.”
“No—”
“Thanks, Mama Ruth. Syton.” Tamel hugged them both. “Wonderful dinner.” On the way out he cocked a finger at Jess. “Call you in the mornin’.”
Before she could reply, he turned toward the door. Jess put on her best peeved expression. Her older sisters grinned at each other.
It was way past the kids’ bedtime. Their mothers got them down, then one by one the adults straggled off to their old bedrooms. Maddy’s and Sarah’s were downstairs, Jess’s and Ben’s on the second floor. As for Lady Penelope, she’d long since retired to her bed under the piano. Every once in a while she’d raised her head to cast a long-suffering look at the night owls—can’t you see you’re bothering me while I’m trying to sleep?
Ruth had lingered in the den, hoping to catch a word with Ben. When Sy rose to head upstairs, she sent him a silent message: please stay. He raised his eyebrows, then sat back down in his armchair. Finally only the two of them and Ben remained.
“Everything okay, Ben?” Ruth kept her voice low so it wouldn’t filter down the hall.
He gave a slow nod. “She told me a bunch of things tonight I didn’t know.”
Ruth sat down on the couch beside him and waited him out. He might decide to talk, he might not. Sy clasped his hands and leaned forward. “What things?”
Ben sighed, then launched into a long narrative about Christina’s childhood of terrible neglect and abuse. He spoke quietly but the words chilled Ruth to the bone. They also answered a lot of questions.
“Wow. That’s just … awful. The poor girl.”
“I know.”
“You’re going to have to be very patient with her, Ben.”
“I know that too.”
Ruth processed that for a moment. Could he hang on to that patience? Being the child of alcoholics, suffering abuse all those years—these things stained the soul. They weren’t overcome easily. Ruth wasn’t sure Ben saw the depths of that reality.
Sy gestured with his hands. “She’ll be fine. She’s in our family now, and we’ll all love her. Won’t take her long to learn life can be very different from what she knew.”
Ruth shot him a look.
“What?”
Men. Syton tended to look at everything through pure rationality. But things didn’t always work that way. And Ben didn’t need to hear that working through this kind of emotional baggage would be easy. He had to be prepared for it to be hard. He’d have to be ready.
“Ben, your dad’s right. Of course we’ll all nurture Christina and try to help her overcome the hurts. But this may take time. And her … issues may come up in unexpected wa
ys in your relationship. You’ll have to work through that. Some of the very things you might expect of your spouse—things ingrained because of your own childhood—may come in direct opposition to either what she expects, or what she’s willin’ to give. And don’t forget—as much as I love you—it’s not as if you’re perfect yourself. You’ll both have a lot to learn.”
Ben stretched one side of his mouth. “What you said about expectations—that already came up tonight. Kind of an eye opener.”
Sy sat back in his chair. “Main thing is, do you love her?”
“Yes. I so want this to work. I can’t lose her. I know we only met a few months ago, but … she’s the one.”
“Good. Then you know what to do. Same thing your mama and I have modeled for you kids all these years. You worry about Christina’s comfort and happiness over your own. And she needs to worry about you over herself. You both put each other first, it doesn’t leave room for selfishness and fights.”
Sy was right—putting each other first had been the philosophy of their marriage from the beginning. That—and even more important—placing God at the center of the relationship.
“I know.” Ben took a long breath. “But like you said, that takes two. And with all the stuff Christina has to work through, she may need to be more centered on herself awhile. That’s what hit me when we were talkin’ tonight.”
Sy shrugged. “There’s always times in a marriage when one person is more needy than the other. That’s when the other one steps up. Gives more. The trick here is, Ben—the answer’s not in takin’. The answer’s in givin’. You may have to do an extra bit of that for a while. But if your wife really loves you and wants the marriage to work, she’ll turn it around at some point.”
Ben focused across the room, then nodded. “Yeah. I get that.” His mouth curved down.
Ruth held back a smile. She could read his thoughts clear as day. The whirlwind “perfect” relationship had slipped, and he was realizing it would take some hard work to fix it. Young lovers always seemed to think it would be so easy …
She patted her son’s knee. “We’ll be prayin’ for both of you. Especially Christina. She’s got a lot of bad hurts that we can only imagine. But God can heal those hurts. It’s amazin’ what His mercy can do.”
Ben smiled at her. “Thanks.” He sat a moment longer, then pushed to his feet. “I’m off to bed. See you in the mornin’.”
Ruth and Sy got up to hug him. As Ben put his arms around Ruth, love and concern for him burst in her chest. She just wanted her son settled and happy.
“Good night, Ben.”
In their own bedroom, Ruth and Sy exchanged a long, concerned look. One that spanned the years of their marriage, leaving no need for words.
Sy lifted a shoulder. “Like they say, ‘Fallin’ in love’s easy; stayin’ in love ain’t.’”
Ruth stepped closer and hugged him hard. “But look what happens when you do.”
CHAPTER 10
Saturday morning Jess woke up to kids’ laughter downstairs and the voices of Maddie and Don in the bedroom below her. She opened one eye and checked her old digital clock. Seven-fifteen.
“Oh, sheesh.” Jess flopped on her stomach and thumped a pillow over her head. She got up a lot earlier than this for her work days at the law firm of Dunham, Biggs and Tooley in Memphis. But this was supposed to be a mini-vacation.
For a couple minutes she daydreamed about taking a trip to Hawaii for once. Sleeping till noon, lazing the rest of the day away on the beach. Body surfing and stuffing herself at luaus.
Yeah, right. If she ever ditched a reunion for Hawaii, her family would strangle her.
With a sigh, Jess pulled herself out of bed and put on her running clothes. The good thing about getting up early was that she could do her four-mile run without seriously overheating. Half overheating she could handle.
Jess called good-mornings to the family members who were already up. No sign of Ben and Christina yet. Of course Mama was already in the kitchen, puttering.
Out on the road, Jess turned right toward town.
Jogging gave Jess uninterrupted time to think. Sometimes pray. And running through her hometown of Justus always seemed to ground her. This town was who she was. What she believed in. It could be easy to forget all that in the crazy days of reading briefs for businesses, advising on contracts, setting up corporations, or defending some client in court against a lawsuit. Not to mention trying to muscle her way up the ladder within the firm.
But wouldn’t you know it—today she couldn’t help thinking about Tamel Curd. That man just kept honing in on her life. No way was she driving to Ridgeland with him in that horrendous yellow hearse. What if someone she knew saw her in that thing?
Man, the day was hot already. She was already sweating bullets.
And just what was Tamel doing, living back in Justus? They’d been on the same track for years. Okay, they attended different colleges and law schools. Got incredibly busy jobs in different cities that left little time for socializing. Still, they were both attorneys with the same small-town background. They understood each other. Tamel had always been in the back of Jess’s mind, even when they didn’t talk on the phone for weeks. Their lives were entwined, going back to elementary school.
Now look what he’d done with himself. Ditched his career. Completely changed course. She’d have cried for him—if it didn’t make her so furious.
He didn’t deserve for her to be thinking about him
Jess tore her attention away from Tamel and focused on the familiar houses she passed. She ran through downtown, weaved through residential streets, then turned around and headed for home. By the time she walked in the door she was worn out. She headed straight for a cool shower. Goodness knows she had to smell worse than Pogey’s feet.
The entire time she was getting ready, thoughts of Tamel Curd kept sneaking back into her brain.
Jess slipped into jean shorts and a hazel top that matched her eyes. Put on her makeup with care and fluffed up her hair. She checked herself in the mirror. Not bad, if she did say so herself.
In the kitchen Jess fixed herself an egg and toast and sat down at the table. The rest of the family was already milling about, Sarah and Maddy trying to feed kids and husbands, and Mama cleaning up behind. Dad was eating an omelet. Lady Penelope stayed out of the way, curled up on Dad’s armchair. Christina and Ben stood close together in the kitchen, leaning against the counter. Both had mugs in their hands. Christina looked picture-perfect. Sarah and Maddy hadn’t bothered with makeup yet.
Sarah poured Jess some coffee. Jess watched black oil dredge into her cup. “Oh, great, you made it.”
Sarah gave her an over-sweet smile. “You’re so welcome for your gratitude, sister dear.”
Jess looked to Christina, who gave her an open smile. Hmm. The girl seemed a little more sure of herself this morning. “Sarah make you a latte again?”
“Yes. It’s magnificent.”
“Magnificent? Good grief, Christina, don’t egg her on like that.”
Christina looked at her mug, then busied herself taking a long sip.
Maddy put her hands on her hips. “You wake up on the wrong side of the shed, Jess?”
Ben and Sarah laughed. He leaned toward Christina. “Bed. She means wrong side of the bed.”
Jess ignored them both.
“Or maybe she means Jess isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.”
Jess glared at him.
“I know what’s goin’ on.” Sarah sat down opposite Jess, acting like some Miss Priss know-it-all. “She’s upset that Tamel hasn’t called yet about drivin’ her to Ridgeland.”
Jess stuck her hands on her hips. “I can drive myself, thank you very much.”
“Of course you could. But you won’t. ’Cause deep down you want to be with him, and you know it.”
“I do not.”
Mama gave a quick smile, then tried to hide it. Jess yanked at her toast and tore off a piece.
/> “Why’re you so mad at Tamel?” Don turned his blue eyes on her. He worked in marketing for a large medical equipment company, and right now he looked at Jess as a sales problem to be solved.
“I am not mad at him.” Jess set down her coffee cup none too gently. “I just want to be with my family and not have him comin’ around. And would all of you quit lookin’ at me?”
The phone rang.
Sarah was closest to the phone. “Gotta be him.” She leaned back in her chair and checked the caller ID. “Yup.”
Great. Jess was not taking this call in front of the entire ogling family.
Sarah snatched up the phone—oh, so happily. “Hi, Tamel. Yup, we’re all eatin’ breakfast. Here’s Jess.”
Maddy laughed. Don elbowed her, and she stuck a hand over her mouth.
Jess got up, took the receiver from Sarah and stalked out of the kitchen. “Hi, Tamel.” She didn’t stop until she was outside on the hot porch where no one could hear her.
“Hey, there, beautiful. Hope you’re ready. I’m comin’ over in fifteen minutes.”
How had she never realized before how pushy Tamel could be? Man seemed to think he could run her life.
“I do not want to ride in that beastly car of yours.”
“You sure are hard on Chiqui.”
That was the other thing. He always acted so amused at everything she did. He’d just grin at her, all dimples and sparkling eyes. He’d teased her like that since they were in high school.
“I’m drivin’ myself.”
“Do you know how to pick the best lobsters?”
“I don’t have to pick ’em. They’ve already been ordered.”
“I’m the lobster guy.”
“Oh, yeah, like you eat ’em all the time. What exactly is it you can’t do, Tamel?”
A second passed. The silence pulsed in Jess’s ears.
“Let me take you, Jess.” Some of the lilt had gone out of Tamel’s voice.
“Why?”
“Because I need someone to talk to.”
Jess stared down the porch steps. What was this slip in the ever-optimistic Tamel?
That Dog Won't Hunt (Dearing Family Series) Page 7