His First Lady

by Davis Boyles, Kym

  “That’s wonderful,” Daniela said.

  Rob turned around and looked at her. “Yeah, it is. I’m just so excited about how receptive they’ve been with our church’s outreach. God is really doing some amazing things.”

  Daniela smiled. “I’m happy to hear that.”

  Rob walked over to the kitchen table and sat down. “Are you ready to talk about last night?”

  Daniela didn’t say anything. She put the spatula down and turned to face him. “I don’t know,” Daniela answered feeling her emotions well up within her.

  Rob looked confused. “You don’t know?” He repeated.

  “I don’t know what to say to you.”

  “I’m not going to play these games with you Daniela. You know what happened last night and I want you to tell me right now what’s going on,” Rob demanded.

  Daniela didn’t know what Rob would think of her or if she was sealing the deal for a divorce but at this point, it didn’t matter. She began sobbing. Rob looked irritated as he looked away from her and dropped his head. “What did you do, Daniela?”

  Daniela sobbed harder holding her hand up to her mouth unable to speak about last night’s tragedy. She made her way from the stove and walked toward the table where Rob sat. Then in the backdrop, the sound of a breaking news story caught her attention. Daniela stopped and looked back at the television.

  She wiped her eyes and rushed toward the television set and turned the volume up. Big bold words flashed across the screen, ‘Body found believed to be that of woman reported missing last night’. Then the missing woman’s picture appeared on the screen.

  Daniela dropped to the floor.

  Chapter 63

  The door opened and Evan’s mom stood for a second staring at Evan. She opened her arms immediately and as if instinctively, Evan fell into them. Her mom’s embrace was what she had missed most of all.

  “My baby’s home,” Evelyn said as if expecting her.

  “Evelyn, who’s that?” Evan’s dad yelled out to his wife from inside the house.

  Evan and her mom’s eyes met having heard her dad’s voice. And as if reading Evan’s mind, Evelyn knew to say nothing. She simply stood aside as Evan picked up her luggage and walked inside the house. Walking slowly toward the living room where her dad was, she had a myriad of emotions: anxiety, embarrassment, yet security and peace. Placing her luggage down against the wall, she watched her dad as he sat with his bible in his lap and reading glasses on the edge of his nose unaware of her presence.

  “Hi daddy.”

  Evan’s dad lifted his head. As if not sure if she was really there or not, he removed his glasses and stared at her a moment then he smiled. She ran to him and hugged him.

  “My baby,” he said hugging her tightly. He began to weep.

  “Don’t cry daddy,” Evan said wiping his eyes as tears also ran out of hers.

  “I’m just so glad to see my little girl.”

  Evan held on to her dad. Although he wasn’t as young or as strong as he used to be, she knew that she was safe now.

  Evan stood inside the screened porch watching as her daddy tended to his garden in the backyard. She remembered when her daddy had built the screened porch for her mom while she was away on a First ladies’ retreat. Evan was just seven years old back then and her daddy swore her to secrecy. The screened porch was a big birthday surprise for her mom so she could sit outside, enjoy the large pond in the back and sip her coffee without the annoyance of mosquitos and gnats which she loathed. Her daddy had always said that nothing was too good for his Evelyn.

  She stared out at her daddy who still didn’t mind getting dirty kneeling in his worn overalls digging around and tending to his vegetables in his garden. He always loved the garden; he’d tend it all day if he could. When she arrived, he had asked her no questions, just took her bags to her old room and fixed her favorite; a grilled cheese sandwich. Looking at him now, she didn’t know what she’d do without him. He’d always made her feel safe and loved.

  Evelyn stood behind her daughter. “Go talk to him baby.”

  Evan turned around at the sound of her mother’s voice behind her.

  “He’s waiting for you,” Evelyn said.

  Evan took a deep breath. “Maybe I’ll give him a minute, he looks happy.”

  Evelyn placed her hand on Evan’s shoulder. “He’s content now that you’re here but he’s concerned about you. Sometimes, he doesn’t sleep thinking about you. He feels guilty.”

  Evan’s eyes widened. “Guilty about what?”

  “He thinks that maybe he tended to other people too much and didn’t tend to you enough and that’s why you married Leon.”

  “That’s not true. He’s the best dad in the world,” Evan said feeling emotional.

  “Go reassure him that he is.”

  Evan thought a second and knew that she was delaying the inevitable. She’d have to talk to him; she’d have to explain why she was home. She bit her lip then pushed open the screened door and walked out toward her dad. The squeaking of the screened door caused her dad to look up at her.

  “Hey baby,” He grinned as he continued to dig his gloved hands in the soil, “I got some WD40 to put on that door but I keep forgetting. Your momma won’t never remind me until she starts complaining about it.”

  Evan smiled kneeling down. “The garden still looks good.”

  “I’ll get you to help me pick some of these in a few days. It’s time for picking.”

  “Yes sir. It looks about that time,” Evan responded. Her mom was right; dad was always content in the garden. She remembered how much she hated working in the garden when she was a girl but she always loved picking and reaping the benefits of it. “Those greens look so good this year. I don’t know anybody with a garden like you daddy.”

  Her dad laughed. “I used to say the same thing to my daddy when I was a little boy. Your grandparents had the best garden in town, you know.” He sat up and pointed toward the porch steps. “Baby girl, hand me that bag of fertilizer by the step over there.”

  Evan quickly stood and retrieved the fertilizer then sat the large bag beside her dad and watched him dig in it. She knew all the garden talk was just a distraction from what they both waited to address. But her dad wouldn’t push; he’d just wait for her and that was the nerve wrecking part.

  “Are you settled in yet baby girl?” Her daddy asked stirring some fertilizer in the soil.

  “Yes sir.”

  “Your room is just like you left it.”

  Evan looked up at the clear blue sky and closed her eyes. “Daddy…”

  “Baby girl, you don’t have to tell me nothing,” her daddy said pulling weeds from around the peppers. “The Father told me that you’d be home once you saw that man for what he was. Every day I waited then I stopped waiting.”

  As much as Evan tried to remain strong, it was something about her daddy that always made her cry. Tears began to flow down her cheeks.

  “Sometimes in life, God stops telling us no and lets us have what we want simply because we want it so badly. Like little children, we kick and scream until we either get our way or give up.” Her daddy smiled. “Funny thing about the Father though, he’s so powerful that even when we veer off course, the course works in our favor.”

  Evan nodded as she wiped her tears.

  “Did I fail to give you anything Evan?”

  “No daddy, never.”

  “Then why would you settle?”

  Tears flowed down Evan’s face. “I don’t know.”

  “There were so many days that I wanted to come get you but God wouldn’t let me. He was teaching you something.”

  “I just wanted what you and mommy have.”

  Her daddy sighed. “Baby girl, that doesn’t come easy. God putting two imperfect and flawed people together in a perfect union. It’s hard work for us humans.”

  “You and mommy make it look easy,” Evan said wiping her eyes.

  Her daddy stopped and looked a
t her then laughed. “Your mother is hard headed and stubborn as a mule. And I’m worse than that, just ask her. It only looks easy because we love God most and each other next. Although you should have never married this man, you did and I know you made mistakes in the marriage too.”

  Evan nodded. “I wanted to make you proud by marrying a pastor.”

  Her daddy looked up at her then back down again. “I was proud of you the day that the Lord gave you to me. There’s nothing you can do to change that.”

  “He’s nothing at all like you. I never knew momma was so blessed.”

  “I will say that your momma is a blessed woman.” Her daddy laughed.

  Evan laughed with him as she patted her wet cheeks with the back of her hands.

  “No baby. Seriously though; I’m the blessed one. I just want to be who the Father wants me to be. Your momma will tell you that I get on her nerves plenty but she’s a forgiving woman and I know she is one of God’s gifts to me.”

  Evan dropped her head. She knew that she hadn’t fared as well as her parents. She tried but she’d failed and the guilt of the failure was eating her up.

  “God gives us only the best and that’s why he gave his son. When you fall, he picks you up, dusts you off and you go on. He’s a loving God and you’ll find peace because God is peace. You need to listen to God and hear what he wants to tell you baby girl.”

  Evan watched as her dad continued digging through the dirt nonchalantly. She never understood how he did it but he never reacted with facial expressions even when situations were dire. He just listened and responded in his calming tone which she loved.

  “I don’t think I ever want to be married again.”

  “Ahh, it’s too early to think about that but don’t give up on God.”

  “I don’t think good marriages exist anymore, daddy.”

  “Now, don’t you go believe the devil’s lies. God created marriage and he created it to be beautiful. The devil wants you to think that Godly marriages don’t exist but there are plenty of ‘em. It’s just hard to get the world to celebrate anything that God does but that don’t mean that he doesn’t keep doing ‘em.”

  The screened door opened. They turned around to see Evelyn standing on the porch with her hands on her slight hips.

  “Lunch is ready when y’all are ready,” Evelyn shouted out to them.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Evan replied.

  Evan’s dad waved Evelyn away. “Gone now Evelyn; I’m talking to my baby girl. Be there in a minute.”

  Evelyn made a face and mumbled something before turning back and walking inside the screened door. Evan and her daddy laughed.

  “Daddy,” Evan said looking at the man’s smooth brown and aged yet always handsome face. “I’m so sorry.”

  “What for baby girl?”

  “I’m sorry for disappointing you and disobeying you. You warned me.”

  Her daddy looked up at the sky then Evan as he took off his gloves. “Help your old man up baby girl,” her dad said as he struggled to get up from the ground. Evan quickly stood up and grabbed under his arm and helped him up.

  “I love you baby girl and that won’t ever change. My joy is that you know the Father and that you seek his face. Nothing else can I ask for in this life.”

  Evan held on to her father tighter. “We better get in before momma comes back out.”

  “Yes ma’am. I love that ol’ mean woman though.”

  “I know you do daddy.”

  Evan placed her arm inside her daddy’s arm as they walked back toward the house. Her mother was standing inside the screened porch with two glasses of lemonade watching the two of them with a large smile on her face.

  Chapter 64

  Rob sat on the chair in their bedroom with his head down. He had been speechless since Daniela told him what happened last night. Daniela sat on their bed, her body shaking and fiddling with her hands waiting for Rob’s response.

  “Rob, can you say something?”

  Rob kept his head down, refusing to look up at her. Daniela had never cried so much in her life and the fear that her life had changed forever last night shook her very core.

  Rob finally looked up at her with red watery eyes that glared at her as if he didn’t know who he was looking at.

  “What were you thinking? You put our lives on the line for something that you didn’t even do? Now you’re an accessory to a murder. You’re a mother, you’re a First lady and you’re a medical professional. What were you thinking Dani?” Rob yelled out at her.

  “I don’t know!” Daniela screamed back. “I don’t know.”

  “Have you spoken to her?”

  “I tried calling but there’s no answer.”

  There was a knock on the door. Rob put his finger up to Daniela. “I don’t want our kids to see you like this.”

  Daniela got out of their bed and walked to the bathroom to wash her face.

  “Yes, who is it?” Rob asked walking up to their bedroom door.

  In the bathroom, Daniela took a cloth, wet it, and laid it on her face. Her eyes were swollen clearly showing the very little sleep and the great amount of worry that she was carrying. She began walking out of their bathroom when she heard RJ’s small voice. She stood in the bathroom doorway unable to move listening to Rob speak to RJ. Her heart ached regretting that she contributed to something that could separate her from her children forever. She couldn’t live without them.

  She heard RJ ask to give mommy a hug. She wanted to run to him but she couldn’t. She heard Rob explain to him that he and mommy were talking adult talk. He told him to go back downstairs and have a snack. Rob then yelled downstairs for Dani to start cartoons for RJ and fix him a snack. Rob closed the door and looked over at Daniela with a grimace on his face. He grabbed the phone.

  “What are you doing?” Daniela asked frantically.

  “I’m calling the police.”

  Daniela walked over to him and tried to stop him. Rob turned away from her. “What are you doing Daniela?”

  “You can’t call the police. I need to speak to Candy. We have to know what she did last night after I left.”

  “What she did? They found that woman in a landfill. We are going to the police and we’re going today. The devil already has too much power in this.”

  “Please let me talk to her first. Maybe she went to the police already.”

  “Stop with the maybe’s; I don’t care what she might have done. She killed that girl and then put her body in a landfill. Stop and think Daniela!”

  Daniela put her hands on her head in total confusion. “I’m trying!” Daniela sobbed.

  Rob stopped then threw the phone on the bed.

  “I don’t know what you expected me to do but we have to do the right thing. I’m a pastor. We have to get the authorities involved or it’s going to get worse.”

  “I know,” Daniela cried.

  Rob took a deep breath then looked at Daniela as if feeling sorry for her. “Then call her and tell her that we’re meeting her and her husband today and if she doesn’t agree then we’re going to the police.”

  Daniela’s hands shook as she walked over to the bed and picked up the phone. Daniela stared at the phone but she was so afraid of hearing the truth from Candy even though she already knew it.

  “Remember who you are. You are a First lady and you have a family.” Rob stood over her with his arms crossed.

  Daniela wiped her eyes with her arm.

  “I’m so scared. I don’t want to go to jail and I can’t lose my children,” Daniela said.

  “I don’t know what to say to you,” Rob said throwing his hands up. “I don’t know what to say.”

  Daniela looked at him then back down at the phone. She sat on the bed. “I don’t want to be alone through this.”

  She saw on Rob’s face that he was struggling. He looked at her then walked over and knelt down in front of her. It wasn’t often that Daniela saw Rob so fragile. She depended on his strength but she could
tell in his eyes that he was scared which made her even more frightened.

  “I don’t know what’s going to happen but I’m not going anywhere.” Rob’s eyes welled up. “I love you.”

  Daniela nodded as tears continually ran down her face. Rob took tissue from the tissue box and wiped her face.

  “The word says that you shall not have fear of sudden bad news because your heart is steadfast trusting in the Lord.” Rob kissed her hand and placed his head in her lap.

  Chapter 65

  Evan loved long runs at her parent’s house. The long stretches of land allowed her to run for hours without ever repeating her path. It was peaceful; no traffic just the smell of fresh country air and her music. She hadn’t been at her parent’s house long but she could tell the difference in how she felt. She was at peace. She was able to pray, relax, read her bible, and sleep.

  She had lain down in her old bed and as if she hadn’t slept in ages she had slept twelve hours straight. Her parents didn’t even attempt to disturb her allowing her to rest. She had awakened feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. She didn’t know how long she would be there but she knew that she’d leave when it was time.

  Running down the long country road, she pulled her sunglasses down a little and glimpsed up at the sky; it was so clear and shockingly blue. The glimpse caused her to stop running and focus on the splendor and peace of it. She took the ear buds out of her ears and just admired God’s handiwork. She had missed it. In all of her misery and defeat, she had missed it. She began talking with God and the weight of the world seemed to be lifted off of her. A smile swept across her face as sweat trickled down her forehead. She felt such peace.

  She began running again and placed her ear buds back in her ears and sunglasses on her face. As she listened to songs of worship, a call came through causing the music in her ears to cut out. She looked at the phone to see that it was Mimi. She would call her back. Her friend probably wondered where she had disappeared to seeing that she told no one when she left town. She kept running attempting to ignore the constant cut outs of music due to the back to back calls. She looked at her phone again and saw that it was Pastor Greg. She stopped running and without thinking answered it.