“What are you talking about?” Dee Dee asked, eyes wild with bewilderment.
Linda tripped over her feet, almost fell, but then righted herself as she walked around the table and stood in front of Dee Dee.
“Linda, sit back down,” Eric commanded.
“No, I have something to say to Miss High and Mighty,” Linda told Eric. Then as her index finger indicated the occupants at the table, she turned back to Dee Dee and said, “You’re constantly putting all of us down. And I’m sick of it.”
“It’s okay, Linda,” Elaine said quickly. “Dee Dee is right. I should go shopping more often.”
Linda turned to Elaine and patted her honey-toned face with her hand. “Y-you really need to s-stop being Dee Dee’s doormat, honey.” Her words were noticeably slurred.
Dee Dee turned toward her father and asked, “Since when do you stock liquor in this house?”
Eric jumped up and grabbed his wife. He turned toward his father and said, “Linda is tired. She hasn’t been feeling well, Dad. We’re going to turn in for the night, so if you could have Mary bring us some dinner, I’d appreciate it.”
“Sure, Son, I’ll have some food sent right up to you,” Joel said as he watched Eric rush his wife out of the dining room.
Dee Dee grabbed the chair next to her father and said, “If Eric isn’t going to need this seat, I’ll sit next to you tonight, Daddy.” She sat down and put some mixed vegetables and a lobster on her plate, oblivious to the part she played in the chaos that had just unfolded.
CHAPTER 5
Isaiah and Shawn walked along the beach. Isaiah held Erin’s hand and Shawn held onto his niece, Kivonna.
“I want to go in there, Daddy,” Erin told Isaiah as she pointed at the ocean.
Erin was six years old, but Isaiah didn’t like for her to run off or take too many chances. “There’s too much motion in the water for you to get in. But you and Kivonna can build houses and castles in the sand while we wait for the waves to calm down.”
“Is it okay if we play in the sand over there?” Erin pointed to a hilly area that was devoid of children so they would have all the sand to themselves.
“Yes, go,” Isaiah told them. Then he turned to his brother and asked, “So, why didn’t you bring the boys with you this weekend?”
Shawn had on a white t-shirt and a pair of long blue jean shorts. He put his hands in his pockets and turned toward the waves. “Lilly left me.”
Isaiah shook his head. He put his hand on Shawn’s shoulder. “Didn’t I tell you that Lilly wouldn’t wait forever for you to make up your mind about marrying her?”
“If that was my only problem I would just set the date and be done with it, but Lilly is through with me.”
“What makes you so sure?” Isaiah asked.
Shawn turned from the waves and watched Erin and Kivonna play in the sand as he admitted, “I have to take another paternity test next week. Lilly was home when the court papers arrived.”
“Shawn, no!”
“Daddy, Daddy. Look at our castle!” Erin screamed from her position on the hill.
Isaiah and Shawn climbed the small hill so they could view Erin and Kivonna’s masterpiece. Isaiah’s eyes were big with praise as he told the children how much he admired their artistic and architectural skills. The castle was leaning to the left, but neither Isaiah nor Shawn mentioned that to the girls.
“When do you want to move in, Daddy?”
“Silly,” Kivonna said. “You can’t live in a sand house.”
“It’s still pretty,” Erin said.
“It sure is,” Shawn acknowledged.
Isaiah grabbed Shawn’s arm and pulled him to the side. “We need to finish our conversation. I don’t understand how you could let this happen again.”
Shawn held up a hand. “Not now, Isaiah. I’d much rather hear about you being offered the senior pastor position at your church.”
“Changing the subject?”
“You know it,” Shawn said with a smile.
“I guess Dad told you about the offer?”
Shawn nodded.
Isaiah walked away from the kids to put them out of earshot as he told Shawn, “I didn’t want word of this to get out because I’m not sure what I’m going to do about it.”
“What are you talking about? This is what you’ve always wanted.”
Isaiah sat down in the sand. He didn’t respond to his brother as he stared out at the darkening sky, a sure sign of an impending storm.
Shawn sat down next to his brother. “Isaiah, when we were kids you built your own podium. You preached to each of us every chance you got and you’ve told me on numerous occasions that you want to pastor your own church. So what has changed?”
“I have a family now,” Isaiah explained.
“So?”
“See, that’s why you’re having problems with Lilly. You put everything above family. But I don’t know if I can do that.”
“How would following your heart’s desire to become a pastor harm your family?”
Isaiah glanced at his daughter. There was so much love in his heart for that little girl. He’d do anything for her, even give up his heart’s desire. So he turned to his brother and told him straight, “Tanya says she’ll leave me if I accept this position. She doesn’t want to be a preacher’s wife, and I can’t let her take my little girl away from me.”
Shawn stood up and kicked around the sand as he strutted back and forth in front of Isaiah. He finally stopped, turned back to his brother and said, “But she knew that you were destined to become a preacher.”
Isaiah stood next to his brother. “That’s what I thought too, bro. But just within the last two years she has become adamant about not going into ministry with me.”
Steam blew from Shawn’s nostrils as he said, “That’s not right.” His fist curled as he turned and walked away from his brother still mumbling, “That’s not right.”
***
“What are you doing?” Linda screamed as she watched Eric pour the contents of her 2-liter 7-UP bottle down the toilet.
“I knew you sneaked liquor into my father’s house and I wasn’t going to rest until I found it,” Eric told his wife with a self-satisfied smirk.
She ran toward him and grabbed the bottle. “Give it here. It’s mine.”
Eric moved her out of his way and continued pouring. “You will not disrespect my father’s house like this. I won’t let you.”
“Why can’t you leave me alone, Eric? Why can’t you just let me be?”
He threw the plastic bottle in the trash and walked out of the bathroom into the adjoining bedroom. “You’re my wife, Linda. You knew what you were getting into when I asked you to marry me and I just don’t understand why you are trying to destroy my life.”
Linda followed Eric out of the bathroom as she said, “Destroy your life? You must be kidding. What about what you’ve done to me?”
“What did I do to you, Linda? I gave you a beautiful home, our children and respect in our community. All of which you are trying to tear down.”
Her voice rose in anger as she said, “You and your endless campaigning has destroyed me. And you have the nerve to stand there and blame me for what has happened to us.”
“Lower your voice,” Eric told her with his finger in her face. “You will not continue to humiliate me in front of my family.”
At 6’2, Eric towered of Linda who was only 5’5. But Linda didn’t care. If getting plastered in front of Eric’s father was the only thing that granted her an audience with her husband, she would get drunk every night of the week. “I don’t care what your family thinks of me. I’m tired of pretending that I’m this perfect wife.”
He grabbed a pair of socks from his dresser drawer and sat down on the bed. “You better get used to it, Linda. Perfect wives sell in the political world, drunk wives don’t.”
“Tell me something, Eric.” Linda sat down next to him and put her hand on his shoulder. “How much is enou
gh for you? I’m mean, you’re already mayor of a big city and now you’re running for governor.”
Eric put on his socks and then turned to his wife. “You just don’t get it do you?”
“Oh, I get it.” Linda stood back up. Venom dripped from her tone. “Your daddy isn’t as impressed as you thought he would be with your little mayor job. So, you spend your nights networking instead of being home with your family, all so you can become president of the United States and finally receive the praise you desire from your father.”
“That’s not fair, Linda.” He stood and walked to the closet and pulled out a button down oxford. “I know I’m gone from home a lot. But I’m networking with people who might be able to help me in the years to come.”
“Well, we need you at home.”
He put his shirt on and buttoned it. Without looking at Linda, he said, “And just so you know, I don’t need to become governor to make my father proud, he’s happy that I’m a mayor. I want to be governor, and yes, president of the United States because I believe I can make a difference for this country.”
Linda folded her arms around her chest. “What is your family supposed to do while you’re out saving the world, Eric?”
“Take up a hobby, Linda. Do anything you want except drink yourself onto the front page of one of those tabloid rags,” he said as he put on his shoes and then left the room.
Now Linda was really fuming. Here they were on a family vacation and Eric gets dressed and leaves without asking if she wanted to hang out with him. She put up with that type of stuff at home all the time, but she was not about to let Eric get away with leaving her alone while they were on vacation. She walked over to the door, pulled it open and headed for the stairs. When she was at the top of the stairs she heard someone coming up the back steps and wondered if Eric was now coming back to their bedroom. She stood at the top of the stairs holding onto the railing.
She wanted to see Eric’s face when he came out of the room in search of her. Let him see how it feels to be left alone. But the person who came up the stairs wasn’t Eric. It was Shawn. He knocked on Tanya and Isaiah’s bedroom door. Tanya opened the door and Shawn told her, “I left Isaiah at the beach. We need to talk.”
Then Linda saw Tanya step aside and let Shawn walk into her bedroom.
CHAPTER 6
“How are you feeling today?” Joel asked Elaine as he walked into the dining room.
“I’m doing better, Father,” Elaine said as she used her fork to toss around her pasta from one side of the plate to the other.
Joel sat down across from Elaine. Mary, his cook came into the dining room. She asked Joel, “What would you like to drink, sir?”
“Iced tea.” He pointed to Elaine’s plate and asked Mary, “What’s in the pasta that you fixed today?”
“It has a light cream sauce with shrimp and chicken in it just the way you like it.”
Joel inhaled and rubbed his stomach. “That sounds good.” He stood up and grabbed a plate, knife and fork off the buffet table and sat back down. The food was already on the table, so he took the lid off the pasta bowl and filled his plate.
“I’ll get your tea,” Mary said as she turned to go back to the kitchen. Then she noticed that Elaine was not eating, but playing with her food. She asked Elaine, “Is something wrong with your pasta? Would you prefer something else?”
Elaine looked at her plate as if she suddenly noticed what she had been doing with her food. She put her fork down and said, “Oh no, Mary, I enjoyed your pasta. I just get full so quickly these days. I feel bloated and I just haven’t had a big appetite lately.”
Mary walked out and then Joel put his hand over Elaine’s. “Honey, are you sure you’re getting enough rest? Don’t get me wrong. I think the missionary work you’re doing in Uganda is wonderful, but sometimes I wonder if you shouldn’t take a little time off.”
“I can handle it, Dad. Besides, I love my job.”
Mary walked back in with Joel’s glass of iced tea, and then left the room again. “Okay, I’ll leave you alone,” Joel said as he swirled his pasta around his fork and then took a bite. “Where are your brothers and sister?”
“Everyone has gone their separate ways: Shopping and swimming.”
“So why are you sitting in here with your old man, when you could be out swimming with your brothers?”
Joking with her father, Elaine asked, “How do you know that Dee Dee isn’t swimming?”
“If my guess is right, your sister is shopping while your brothers are sightseeing and swimming.”
“You’re right,” Elaine confessed with a laugh. “They all left pretty early and I didn’t want to leave before I put a call through to Uganda.”
With a knowing look, Joel asked, “How is Natua doing?”
Natua was the three year old orphan whom Elaine was helping to raise. After Natua’s father died of Aids and her mother died of starvation, the only person the child had was her grandmother. That is, until Natua found a place in Elaine’s heart. “Her grandmother says that she is getting into everything that’s not higher than her arms can reach.” Elaine shook her head. “That little girl is a handful, and I love her for it.”
“Have you talked to John about adopting Natua?” Joel saw the sadness creep into Elaine’s eyes and quickly said, “The only reason I ask is that since you’re planning to marry John, he needs to be in agreement about adopting Natua.”
Elaine took a deep breath, moved her chair closer to her father and said, “I need to talk with you about John and some other things.”
“What’s wrong, Buttercup?” Joel asked, reverting back to the name he used to call Elaine when she was a child.
“Buttercup? I thought we heard the last of that stupid name when Elaine begged you not to call her that during her eleventh birthday party,” Dee Dee said as she and Drake joined Joel and Elaine.
Joel stood up and hugged Dee Dee. “Come join us,” he invited.
Drake shook Joel’s hand. “Good afternoon, sir.”
Joel smiled. Out of all the son-in-laws that Dee Dee had brought home through the years, Drake was his favorite. The young man treated his daughter with kindness and above all, Drake loved the Lord. Joel had respect for the man. “Sit right here, Drake.” Joel pointed to the chair next to him. “I want to hear all about this new publishing business of yours.”
Dee Dee sat next to Elaine and grabbed a banana and an orange out of the fruit basket on the table. She glanced at Elaine’s food and grimaced. “Do you know how many pounds I would gain if I ate something like that?”
“It’s actually very good,” Elaine told Dee Dee.
Joel said, “And she hasn’t eaten much of it anyway.”
Drake grabbed a plate and sat down. “I’ll try it.”
“That’s my boy. Fatten up like the rest of us,” Joel said.
“Mmh, this is good,” Drake confirmed after he’d taken a bite.
“Now tell me about your new business,” Joel reminded Drake.
Drake took another bite then said, “The last time we talked, I told you about my idea to publish Christian books that truly speak to the reader’s heart. Well, I have six authors on my line so far and we are ready to go to press with four books this year.”
“Oh books, smooks. Drake, tell Daddy about the other business opportunity we just discussed,” Dee Dee commanded.
Drake looked at his wife; the look on his face was gentle and patient as he said, “We haven’t come to any conclusions on that yet, honey.”
Dee Dee waved her husband’s comment off as she turned to her father. “Drake is just being modest, Daddy. You know how he is.” She looked at her sister and rolled her eyes heavenward and then turned back to Joel. “Daddy, you know what a hard time I’m getting from some of these studio heads about the family friendly films I want to do. So, Drake and I decided to open our own production company.”
“That’s great Dee Dee. With you acting in the films and Drake managing the business, I
can see nothing but success in your future,” Joel said.
Dee Dee put her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “So do you think it’s a good enough idea to invest in?”
“What’s the investment? Maybe Eric and I will want a piece of it,” Linda said as she walked into the room, picked up a plate off the buffet table and sat down with the group.
***
Later that night when Linda was once again alone with Eric, she told him, “You need to talk with your father about donating to your campaign before Dee Dee takes every dime he has for her stupid production company.” She strutted back and forth in front of the bed, biting her nails as she pondered the situation.
Eric kicked his shoes off and stretched out on the bed. “This coming from the woman who wants me to stop networking and sit at home – why would you care if I got all the money I need for my campaign or not?”
“I’m a realist, Eric. You are a born politician and nothing I say is going to stop you. So, the least I can do is try to help you get the money you need for this campaign.”
He sat up. “Okay, so why do you think this thing Dee Dee wants from Dad will cause him not to be able to donate to my campaign?”
“You know your sister, Eric. Her fair share isn’t going to be enough. She always has to have more.”
“Yeah, but Dad knows how important this campaign is to me. I can’t see why he couldn’t help Dee Dee and donate to my campaign.”
“Are you kidding me? Investing in a movie production could cost your father hundreds of millions.” Linda sat down on the bed next to Eric. She put her hand on his cheek. “Honey, you haven’t even told your father that your campaign is in debt. You haven’t even told me, but I know you. I know when something is bothering you. Why can’t you just let your pride go and confide in your family?”
Eric stood up and walked toward the window. He pulled the curtain back and looked outside. Isaiah and Tanya were walking up the sidewalk. He thought about how peaceful his brother seemed to be. “Sometimes, I wish I had decided to become a preacher. Maybe, I would be more humble.”
Tears Fall at Night-The Blessed One Box Set (Praise Him Anyhow and Blessed and Highly Favored Series) Page 14