Two Roads Home

by Raney, Deborah;

  She turned to him and what he saw on her face was . . . peace. He hadn’t seen that in her countenance for a long time.

  So that was his answer. God, help me to accept this and change gears.

  “Don’t tempt me, Jesse.”

  He cocked his head. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m tempted to just ‘say the word’ . . . whatever it takes to get things back the way they were before this whole thing started. But—I know we can’t go back. And . . .” She bit her lip, and though it was hard to tell in the dusky light, he thought there were tears in her eyes.

  When she spoke again, her voice quivered. “I want you to be happy. Ever since we’ve started planning toward you going back to school, you’ve been . . . different. In a good way. I don’t want you to think it’s easy for me to say this.” She giggled. “I want to be able to throw this back in your face someday if I need to.”

  He laughed, but the deep disappointment he’d felt earlier lifted, and he let himself hope. “But?” he prompted again.

  “But I want you to be able to dream too. You—” Her voice broke again. “You’ve made it possible for me to have my dream all these years. To stay home with the girls, and to have all this besides.” She swept her arms out, encompassing the house and grounds. “I think it’s your turn. And I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make your dreams come true too.”

  “I could be a little patient. Wait a few years. Even a couple. Just until Simone is in school.”

  She shook her head and curled her legs up under her, angling her body toward him. “No. I think it’s time now. I don’t know how we’ll figure everything out, but I do know that we already agreed about you going back to school. And we were both happy with it.”

  “Are you sure you were happy?”

  She looked like a kid with her hand in the cookie jar. “I’ll get happy. I’ve already mourned what I’ll be losing, and that’s a big step. If we wait, there’ll just be something else stopping us. There’s never a perfect time for change. Sometimes you just have to do it.”

  He nodded, loving the certainty in her voice and feeling more relief than he wanted to admit. “There’s only one problem. Kind of a big one . . .”

  She frowned. “What’s that?”

  “I need to let Frank know. By Monday. And it wouldn’t seem right not to tell him then that I’m leaving. There’s a chance—possibly a good chance—that he’ll let me go right then. And even if he lets me stay on for another month, I might have to travel during that time. With Michaela.”

  Corinne shook her head vehemently. “If that happens, I’d say quit right then.”

  “I have some vacation pay coming, but it would really strap us for me to quit now. Until we’ve sold the house—”

  “Then let’s just do it, Jesse. We have an offer from Danae and Dallas. Let’s just get it over with.”

  He couldn’t tell if her tone was determined or angry. “Are you speaking out of frustration or . . . conviction?”

  “Probably a little of both. But honestly, I think the anticipation is worse than things will actually be. I don’t know how we’ll figure everything out, but I do know that we’d already reached an agreement we both could live with. I don’t think Frank’s offer changes that. Our agreement wasn’t about money or even . . . Michaela. Those were just things that figured into the decision. The important thing is that you’re not happy at Preston-Brilon. You feel gifted—called—to teach. That should be the more important thing.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Just say, ‘thank you, my darling wife.’ ”

  He laughed and leaned to kiss her. “Thank you, my darling wife. I hope you know I mean that. And don’t forget that once I start teaching, I’ll have summers off to fix up a house or teach summer school, or whatever, to make a little money. And I’d probably never have to travel again. That means more time with you and the girls and—”

  “Let’s just do it,” she said again. “Let’s go for it.”

  “Wow. This is not how I thought this conversation was going to go.”

  She reached across the arms of their chairs and grabbed his hand. “Let’s get some stuff on paper before I change my mind.”

  He went to her then and pulled her up into his arms. “Have I ever mentioned how much I love you?”

  “You just love me because you got your way,” she teased.

  But he wasn’t in a teasing mood. “No, Corinne. I love you because you are an amazing woman. I mean it. And I don’t tell you often enough. And I know this isn’t easy for you. I’m sorry for that. I truly am.”

  She pulled back and looked at him. “Don’t apologize again. I feel bad that you didn’t think you could be honest with me. Not just about . . . Michaela, but about your dreams of teaching. Let’s promise that we’ll talk about this stuff. That we won’t ever be afraid to tell each other the truth. About everything.”

  “Okay. Then you want to know the truth?”

  She gave him a suspicious look. “I guess . . .”

  He grinned. “I do sort of love you because I got my way.”

  “I knew it.” She swatted his arm, but she cracked up too. And for the first time, Jesse thought they just might get through this year in one piece.

  26

  Corinne settled in at the end of a row near the back of the sanctuary, fanning herself against the oppressive July heat and humidity that even the air conditioning couldn’t combat. She looked over her shoulder, searching for Jesse. He usually got caught visiting in the hall after Sunday school and often didn’t slip in to second service until halfway through the worship songs. But Pastor Flynn was making his way to the podium to begin his sermon and still no Jesse.

  By the time she’d dropped the girls off in their respective classes, the sanctuary was nearly full, and she’d had to sit a few rows behind their usual spot, but surely Jesse would see her.

  She’d skipped church more often than not this summer. Between everything that had happened with Michaela Creeve, and then getting ready for a possible move, it had just seemed simpler most mornings to stay home. Jesse had taken Sadie and Sari with him to Sunday school most of those mornings, and Corinne had enjoyed having some one-on-one time with Simone, too. But she knew Jesse frowned on her skipping, and she knew how easy it could become a habit to skip.

  She didn’t like sitting through worship alone. Jesse knew that, and after more than one discussion about it in the car on the way home from church, he truly had made an effort to find her and sit with her as soon as possible after the service started. But like he’d told her, “I feel like part of my commitment to teach Sunday school is being there for the kids afterward.”

  Somebody must have had a crisis this morning. Of course, the term “crisis” was relative for seventh and eighth graders.

  Ten minutes into the sermon, still no Jesse. She fished her phone from her purse and texted him, knowing it was useless, since he turned his phone off in the parking lot and sometimes “forgot” to turn it back on until Sunday afternoon.

  Maybe not seeing her in their usual spot, he’d sat somewhere else. She started scanning the chairs one row at a time looking for him. The church had two center aisles and she could just barely see the far section, but they’d never sat there in all the years they’d attended Community Christian.

  She caught Beth Hodge’s eye in the center aisle, and they exchanged a smile across the aisle and a look that said “it’s been too long! We need to do lunch.” She made a mental note to call Beth next week.

  Corinne turned to face the front again. But just as she did, she glimpsed another face, two rows behind Beth. A familiar face . . . In the space of a breath—though it felt like much longer as realization hit her like a tsunami—

  Michaela Creeve! The blonde hair, the petite stature. The bling.

  Corinne’s heart catapulted to her throat.

  She looked back again, not even trying to be discreet. But at that very same moment, the song leader inv
ited everyone to stand and sing.

  Corinne was first out of her seat, trying to get a better view. But by then, people in the row between them had stood too, blocking her view.

  She tried again to position herself for another glimpse She’d only had the one face-to-face encounter with Michaela—that day in the grocery store—so she couldn’t be absolutely certain it was her she’d seen. Still, if it wasn’t her, it was her twin.

  Where was Jesse?

  Had he seen Michaela and opted not to come in to the sanctuary? Did that woman have no shame? Now she wanted them to believe she’d suddenly gotten religion and just happened to choose Community Christian?

  Her breath caught. The girls! She gathered her purse and Bible from the seat she’d been saving for Jesse, then rose and slipped into the aisle. When she got to the back of the church, she took a deep breath and turned to look at the center seating section. Several teenage boys sat right behind where she thought she’d seen Michaela. Two of them were tall, and she couldn’t see over them.

  She walked slowly across the back of the church, trying to get a better angle. She nodded to a couple of the greeters who were still stationed by the door, and one of them, Greg somebody, motioned her over. She didn’t want to lose sight of the spot where she thought she’d seen Michaela, but she didn’t want to be rude either.

  “Are you looking for your husband?” Greg whispered.

  “Yes. Have you seen him?”

  He motioned toward the foyer. “He was talking to a couple of the middle schoolers when the service started. They were pretty deep in conversation.”

  “Thanks,” she whispered back. “He’s probably still out there.”

  An elongated triangle of light fell across the carpet, and she turned back toward the stage in time to see a side door on the far end swing shut. She tried again, unsuccessfully, to spot Michaela in the center section, but didn’t see so much as a blond head.

  Thinking only of her daughters now, she hurried past Greg to the double doors at the rear of the sanctuary, turning one more time to see if she could spot that woman. Maybe she’d been imagining things. Ever since Lt. Harrald had told them it would be almost impossible to get a restraining order on Michaela with no more evidence than they had, Corinne had tried to let the whole thing go and simply trust God to protect them. And except for the occasional nightmare, or an overly protective reaction if one of the girls disappeared from sight for a second too long, she’d been successful.

  She always breathed a sigh of relief when Jesse could assure her that Michaela was traveling out of state. He knew their sales meetings and trade show schedule well enough to reassure Corrine when it was probable that Michaela was on the road. She’d let that comfort her—despite the fact that Michaela was supposedly traveling the day she’d confronted Corinne and the girls at Schnucks. But this was Sunday, and the sales team usually got back into town Saturday afternoon at the latest. It could have been her she saw.

  She pushed through the doors into an empty hallway. She looked left toward the pre-school and elementary rooms, then right in the direction of Jesse’s classroom. The door she’d seen closing a moment earlier led directly into the corridor where the nursery and children’s classrooms were. Walking faster and faster until she was almost sprinting, she turned the corner to see that hallway empty too. Mildly relieved, she jogged past walls plastered with children’s colorful drawings and crepe paper craft projects until she arrived at the two-year-old’s nursery.

  The upper half of the Dutch door was open and Corinne immediately spotted Simone, toddling around to the miniature slippery slide, the ID sticker on her back, hanging by one sticky corner.

  One of the teachers, a young college girl, came to the door. “Do you need to pick someone up?”

  “Yes. Simone Pennington.” She pointed to the slides. “I’m going to pick up my older daughters across the hall, but I’ll be right back to get her.” She started to turn, but felt compelled to tell the teacher, “Don’t let anyone else pick her up. I’ll be right back.”

  The teacher gave her an odd look, but nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Of course.”

  She went down two doors and across the hall into the four- and five-year-olds’ classroom. There were at least thirty children in the large room, playing at various stations or eating snacks at the tiny round tables in one corner. She saw Sadie immediately, playing with a puzzle at a table with three little boys. But she didn’t see Sari anywhere.

  One of the teachers looked up from a table and noticed her, and Sadie saw her at the same time.

  “Mommy! Come look at the puzzle we’re doing.”

  “Just a minute, sweetie. Where’s Sari?”

  “I dunno. Come look. Hurry.”

  Ignoring her daughter, she asked the teacher, “Where is Sari?”

  The teacher looked around. “She was here just a minute ago.” She slid out of the miniature chair she’d been sitting in and turned a one-eighty, looking around the room.

  Panic pressed at Corinne’s throat, and she turned to race down the hall in search of her eldest when the door to the restroom opened. Sari emerged, and her face lit up when she saw Corinne.

  Weak with relief and feeling queasy, Corinne was grateful for the support of the door jamb. “Go tell Sadie it’s time to go, Sari.”

  “Already? But we didn’t get our snack yet.”

  “We did snacks in shifts,” the teacher explained, giving Corinne an odd look. “But I can get them something to take home with them if you like.”

  “We don’t . . . have time.” Corinne turned to Sari. “Please tell Sadie. Right now.”

  Thankfully Sadie didn’t throw her usual fit, and practically dragging her daughters back up the hall to the nursery, she went to retrieve Simone.

  She was almost surprised to see Simone still there. “Did anyone else try to pick her up?”

  The teacher looked puzzled. “No. But church won’t be over for another ten minutes.”

  “I know. We . . . need to leave a little early today.”

  “How’s come, Mommy?”

  “Sari, shh. I’ll explain later. Let’s go find Daddy.”

  Corinne carried Simone and urged the other two to keep up as she went past the sanctuary and down the opposite hall to Jesse’s classroom. She was tempted to stop and look into the sanctuary one more time, but the girls would cause a commotion. And besides, she was desperate to talk to Jesse.

  He was seated on one of the grungy sofas in the courtyard area in the center of the youth classrooms, in rapt conversation with a scrawny teen boy and a woman who looked like she could be the boy’s mother.

  Sadie ran to him, and he looked up to meet her eyes. He glanced at his watch. “Wow. Is church out already?” He gave the woman an apologetic smile. “I kind of lost track of time. We’ll talk more next week if you like.”

  He shook hands with the teen and motioned toward his classroom. “I need to gather up my stuff. Wait right here.”

  He was back in a few seconds, receiving the girls’ hugs and taking Simone from Corinne’s arms. “Sorry I stood you up, babe. Was church good?”

  “Actually, it’s not quite over yet.”

  “Oh?” He studied her. “What’s wrong? Why’d you leave early?”

  She nodded pointedly toward the girls. “I’ll tell you later. Can we go?”

  With the girls settled in the backseat and an exception made for watching a movie on the car’s DVD player, even though it wasn’t a “long trip,” Corinne told him what had happened.

  “But you’re not sure it was her?”

  “I’m ninety-nine percent sure.”

  “Was she sitting with someone?”

  “I couldn’t tell. And like I said, I never could spot her again after that first time.”

  “It was probably just someone who looked like her.”

  She could tell he was a little peeved at her. “Well, I wasn’t going to take a chance. You don’t think I should have waited till after church to see if
the girls were still in the nursery, do you?”

  He gave her a look. “No. Of course not. I’m sorry. You did the right thing. Whether it was her or not.”

  “It was her, Jesse. Somehow, I know it was.”

  “Well, then, I guess we should be glad she’s going to church. She needs all the help she can get.”

  She tossed the look right back at him. “I don’t think that’s funny.”

  He checked the road and his rearview mirror before turning to her. “I wasn’t trying to be funny, but we can’t live our lives looking over our shoulders. If it was her, and if she’d wanted to do something this morning, she would have. We can’t dictate where she goes to church, or where she does her grocery shopping. It’s just something we’re going to have to live with. And besides, you know how careful they are with security at church. They are not going to let someone walk in and take one of the girls. But if it would make you feel better, we could let them know about our situation so they’d be extra cautious.” He reached across the console for her hand. “It’s not worth ruining our lives over, Corinne. Is it? Do you want me to contact Lt. Harrald again?”

  She blew out a frustrated sigh. “What could he do? She’s so deviously sneaky about everything . . . There’s no way we can prove what she’s doing.”

  “Then we’re just going to have to deal with it. It’ll be okay.” He squeezed her hand.

  But she couldn’t reply. She knew Jesse was right, and even though he felt sure Michaela would never do anything to actually harm them, still, they couldn’t know that for sure. It filled her with rage to think that woman might show up at church again. At any event they ever attended, they might discover she was there, too. As long as it was a public place and she didn’t bother them, she was perfectly within her legal rights. But even if she wasn’t there with the intent of harassing them, it felt like an assault nevertheless. It didn’t seem right.

  It was enough to make a person want to move across the country. But then, there was nothing stopping Michaela Creeve from following them anywhere they might go.