by Don Reid
“You broke in? Then this evidence is tainted. You can’t prove anything ’cause you got this gun illegally.”
“Calm down, Harlan,” Buddy said as he walked to the table and put the gun back in his coat pocket. “Do you have any idea what you two have done? You, Darcy, have shot your husband. And in doing so have caused another man to commit attempted murder on an innocent person. Can you see everything you’ve caused by your actions and by covering up your actions?”
“I’m sorry.” She began to sob uncontrollably. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“You can’t let this go any further, Buddy. Please,” Harlan begged.
“Just a second ago it was Briggs. It’s back to Buddy now that you want something?”
“I want nothing for me, Buddy. I want it for Darcy. You can’t turn her in. I won’t press charges. You can’t turn her in.”
“I don’t need you to press charges. I can handle that myself. This woman is a danger to herself and her family.”
“No, Buddy. I love her. It was all my fault. It was all my fault. Please,” Harlan continued to plead.
Cal was on the floor on his knees, trying to calm and console Darcy as her sobs grew more violent.
The phone in the den rang. And then again.
“Let it ring,” Harlan said. “I don’t care who it is.”
“I do,” Buddy said. “The station knows where I am. It might be for me.”
“Then you answer it,” Harlan said. “ I don’t want to talk to anybody.”
Buddy walked into the quieter den and answered the phone on the fifth ring.
“Stone residence. Briggs speaking.”
“Buddy? Is that you?” Amanda asked on the other end of the line.
“Yeah.”
“What are you doing answering the phone? Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, honey. Long story. What’s up?”
“I called the station. They said I could find you there. Buddy, you’re a grandpa!”
“Really?”
“I’m at the hospital now.”
“Why didn’t somebody call me?”
“There was no time for them to call anybody. It all happened so quickly, Louis Wayne just barely had time to get her in the car. She didn’t even make it all the way in the hospital. The baby was born in the parking lot of the emergency room. On the front seat of the car. Louis Wayne and a nurse, who ran outside to help, delivered it. You know that nurse from the other night? The real pretty one—Korina? She and Louis Wayne delivered your grandson.”
“A boy, huh? How about that.”
Epilogue
Buddy and Amanda ate dinner with Cal and Vic at Mulligans in the back booth on the right. They were just finishing dessert as twilight was settling over Main Street and Mt. Jefferson was preparing for a hot summer night.
“So you think he looks like Buddy?” Vic asked.
“I really do. He has his chin. And all that wavy brown hair.” Amanda was still floating from the excitement of the day even with all the sadness and disappointment that tried to crowd it out.
“That’s silly,” Buddy said. “A baby doesn’t look like anybody. It just looks like a little wrinkled baby. He won’t take on real features till he’s at least a year old. Then he’ll look like me.”
They all laughed and then climbed out of the booth. The four walked to the front together. Vic kissed Amanda good night, and she and Buddy walked up the street toward the police station, where their car was parked.
Cal and Vic stood at the front of the nearly empty restaurant and watched them as they went arm in arm.
“I stayed with Darcy and Harlan for a long time this afternoon,” Cal said. “Then I realized Buddy was in just as much pain as they were, so I left and found him. I’ve never seen three more anguished people in my life. But I’m so happy for Buddy and Amanda. It’s been a real rough day. But all things will pass, and when they look back on this one I hope they can only remember it as their grandchild’s birthday. And just bury all the bad memories.”
“Yeah, I guess. But you know, it’s the things we bury inside that makes us old. We all have our sins, and we all have our secrets,” Vic said, looking out at the street.
“You got secrets?”
“Oh, my boy—you have no idea.”
Cal looked over at him and said, “Don’t be too sure, Uncle Vic. Anytime you need to talk, you know I’m here.”
Vic said nothing but firmly clasped his hand on the younger man’s shoulder. Cal smiled and looked back out the window.
“What do you think Buddy will do about Darcy? Is he going to take her in or let her go?”
“Don’t you worry about Buddy, son. One thing you can count on is that he will always do the right thing. He’s a good man, and he’ll do the right thing.”
… a little more …
When a delightful concert comes to an end,
the orchestra might offer an encore.
When a fine meal comes to an end,
it’s always nice to savor a bit of dessert.
When a great story comes to an end,
we think you may want to linger.
And so, we offer ...
AfterWords—just a little something more after you
have finished a David C Cook novel.
We invite you to stay awhile in the story.
Thanks for reading!
Turn the page for ...
• An Interview with the Author
• Discussion Questions
• Acknowledgments
An Interview with the Author
This is your second book set in the town of Mt. Jefferson. What made you want to return to this town?
I like these people, and there were more I wanted to introduce. More merchants, friends, and lives to crisscross. This town is peaceful to me. I’m lost on the streets and in the shops and in the era and hope the reader is lost in there with me. It was a time of no cell phones, no satellites, and no home computers. It was one-car families and black-and-white TV. I love the simplicity of the times.
The friendship between Cal, Harlan, and Buddy is a vital part of this story. Did any of your relationships inspire aspects of theirs?
Oh, yes. I grew up with some close friends, and we explored the streets of our small town when we were kids. I grew to adolescence with those friends and then to manhood. Some are still with me, but one is gone. But when I can go back to Mt. Jefferson, then I have them all together again.
Which character surprised you the most as you wrote this story?
Buddy Briggs. I thought I knew him best, but he kept surprising me. I saw the side he showed his wife and daughter; then the side he showed his friends. And then I saw just how hard he could be in his job. It brought out the dimensions I wasn’t sure of until I saw them on the paper myself. He’s hard when he has to be, and when Cal and Darcy saw his business side, I think they were as surprised as I was.
Which of the characters was most difficult for you to write, and why?
Harlan. I wanted him respectable yet flawed. Lovable but not always likable. I wanted the reader to be on his side but still to understand he wasn’t a perfect human being by any measure.
What surprised you most about the story line as it evolved?
The relationship between Vic and the three Mulligans. Even though I knew where I wanted to go, I couldn’t have told you for sure on the first day of writing just how their adult relationship was going to be in the end. I love where it took me and love who Vic was and who he became to the boys. He’s a hero of sorts to them, and he is to me also. He’s like a couple of favorite uncles of mine. The kind you can entrust with boyhood secrets and feelings.
How would you describe the role of faith in The Mulli
gans of Mt. Jefferson? The role of family?
The role of faith is the simple old second-chance philosophy of the New Testament. Peter asked Jesus, “How many times shall I forgive my brother? Seven times?”
And Jesus said, “No. Seventy times seven.”
That’s a lot of second chances. You do the math, and you’ll find it staggering.
As for family, we see the warmth and problems in Buddy’s family; the stress and separation in Cal’s; the pressure and expectations in Harlan’s. We see in these families all the good and bad we see in our own and our friends’ and neighbors’. I think just seeing it on paper and knowing it happens to others makes our own daily bumps in the road a little easier to absorb.
What do you hope readers will take away from the story?
Second chances. Friendships. Family ties. Loyalty. Hard decisions. Comfort of God in doing the right thing.
Discussion Questions
1. What was your first impression of the main characters in this story? What surprised you most about the development of those characters as the story went on?
2. Which character could you relate to the most and why? Which of the characters’ struggles and imperfections resonated with you?
3. What did you find most intriguing about the 1959 story line? About the boys’ growing-up years?
4. We see several examples of family relationships shaping the characters. How did these relationships positively or negatively impact the main characters over the course of their lives?
4. Buddy, Harlan, and Cal experienced different struggles and joys in their individual marriages. Which relationship could you relate to the most?
5. What role did Mulligans play in the story? How did Vic’s friendship shape Buddy, Harlan, and Cal?
6. What story element made you most uncomfortable? What encouraged you the most?
7. What role did faith play in the lives of the main characters?
Acknowledgments
How long does it take you to write a book?
Where do you get your ideas?
Is it lonesome working all by yourself?
These are just a few of the FAQs I, and all book writers, get. And to be honest, they’re pretty good questions. I don’t always have a good answer for them, but they’re good questions.
I have never learned how to compute that first one. One doesn’t sit down and begin writing and never get up from his chair until it’s finished. There are so many interruptions and distractions—some lasting for hours—some lasting days and weeks. So to try to figure how long it would have taken if one had the luxury of staying at it with no phone calls, visitations, appointments or lazy days—well, I just don’t know where to start the clock.
As for the second one, it has multiple answers. Daydreams, memories, conversations, failures, accomplishments. You draw from all things good and bad you have experienced or not experienced in life and roll them into a tale from which you hope someone will get a sense of enjoyment or inspiration. If they get both, you’ve got a winner.
But number three is much easier to answer. You never work all by yourself. There are many who have a hand in the work it takes to put a book together. And here are a few of the best:
Mary Sue Seymour, my agent, deserves my first and sincerest thank you. She’s a sweetheart and a professional of the highest order. And she’s a good friend.
Don Pape heads up the publishing side and decides who’s going to print and who isn’t. Truly, without him there is no book.
Steve Parolini has edited three manuscripts for me. He quietly makes me look good; like I know what I’m doing even when I don’t. I wish I knew all he knows.
Ingrid Beck is in charge of Artist Relations. She holds our hands, hears our gripes, and fixes our problems. And does it all with such grace.
Michelle Webb gets the books to me and sees that all the orders are correct and accounted for. Without her I’d have nothing to sign and you’d have nothing to read.
Caitlyn York, the last editor before the release, is a strict one. She holds my feet to the fire. She picks up the little things writers sometimes drop in the rush of the moment. She’s got a great eye and ear for what’s right.
And then there’s my proofreaders—my wife, Debbie; brother Harold; sons Langdon and Debo. They give me good feedback. They tell me what they like and what they don’t care for. I trust them as much as I love them.
So how long does it take to write a book? About four months.
Where do I get the ideas? Somewhere in that area between heart and mind.
Is it lonesome working all by yourself? I’d be scared to try.
Don Reid
August 1, 2011
7:40 p.m.
Photo © Getty Images, Alan Thornton
DON REID, a member of country music’s legendary Statler Brothers, has three Grammy awards, nine CMA awards, thirteen gold albums, and eight platinum albums and is a member of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Country Music Hall of Fame. He has also written several books, including O Little Town and One Lane Bridge. Reid lives with his wife, Deborah, in Staunton, Virginia.
www.davidccook.com
Watch the trailer for One Lane Bridge