by Johnny Jacks
Shannon glared at all three of them. “Who wants to explain what the hell’s going on here? And I don’t mean with that woman; that’s obvious.”
“What crawled up your butt?” Jillian asked. “It’s our hunting camp and garden club.”
“Don’t insult my intelligence. Sister-mine, I also grew up on a farm. That garden is big enough to feed an army, and those rabbits and chickens could feed everybody here for a year.”
No one spoke until Shannon pounded her fist on the table. “Damn it! Say something!”
Marcie flinched. She’d never seen her mother so riled.
Grayson and Jillian nodded to each other in agreement. It was time.
Jillian took a deep breath. “I’ll start. You know Grayson and I are preppers, and this is what we call our bugout location, or BOL. This is where we, and you, will come to survive the die-off after the collapse occurs. That’s it, plain and simple.”
Shannon punched Grayson hard on the arm. “B-O-L, a solar power company?”
“I didn’t want to scare you.”
“But lying is okay?” Shannon’s gaze shot to the ceiling as she struggled to control herself. “What’s this die-off and collapse bullshit?”
Grayson felt himself standing at the urinal again. “Shannon, all indications are that the government is on the verge of bankruptcy. When it happens, there will be an economic, political, and societal collapse, a state of anarchy. Within a few months, ninety percent of the population will die of starvation, disease, and bullets. That’s the die-off.”
“You’re brainwashed. How many times do I have to tell you, ‘if we do have an economic downturn, America will recover?’ The government has plans to take care of us.”
Jillian shook her head. “Remember our little Fox News experiment and how mainstream media reporters make fools of ignorant citizens?”
“I’ll ignore the fact that you just called me ignorant. You two have corrupted my daughter. You knew how I felt. You had no right—”
Marcie, in tears, stood and turned to Grayson. “I’m sorry.” Her voice slightly above a whisper and absent of sarcasm, she spoke directly to Shannon. “You. Are. NOT. My. Mother.” Jillian followed her out, shooting a disgusted look at Shannon.
Shannon sat at the table in shock. “I’ve lost everything dear to me: my daughter, my sister, and you, too.”
“What?”
She glared at him with fire in her eyes. “That woman is why you come here every month.”
“What the heck are you talking about?”
“Don’t play innocent with me. I saw how she looked at you. Gotta get your nookie somewhere, huh sailor?”
Grayson was too stunned to speak.
The air hung heavy, like a morgue.
A soft voice spoke from the lodge doorway. “No, Shannon. That’s not why he comes here every month. Sorry. I just came to say goodbye before going to work and didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I’m glad I did. He couldn’t commit to me and now I know why. You’re his special love and the reason he left me to move back to Houston. He’s your man, one hundred percent.”
The fire in Shannon’s heart began to extinguish as comprehension replaced fury.
Tears streaked Laura’s cheeks. “I’ve hated you for years. I came today to get him back, to let him compare us and see I’m the better choice, but that isn’t going to happen. He finds something in you that I don’t have.”
Shannon went to Laura and put her arms around her. “Thank you, Laura. You have no idea what that means to me. I’m sorry for what I was thinking.”
Laura whispered something to Shannon, and the two hugged again before she left.
Grayson watched it play out on the stage of his life without him participating. The two women he loved seemed to have laid down their swords.
I’ve never felt so stupid in my life.
Shannon stared for a lifetime at Grayson. He saw the wheels turning in her head, analyzing and deciding. Once she reached her conclusion and without any indication on her face to reveal its impact on his life, she walked back to the table. He stood and braced himself for another blast of insults.
“We still have unfinished business.” She pressed herself against him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him into a long kiss. “I love you, Grayson Dean. Will you marry me?”
“I thought you were going to…er…I mean….” Why is the man always wrong?
“I’ll give you a going over, once we’re in Vegas on our honeymoon. Reserve the same room at Caesar’s Palace and let me know if you need the room number. I still have the key with the number written on it.”
“You’re not angry?”
“Not anymore. Laura made me realize I have to accept my life as it is. That means accepting that you three will not stop your adventures here. What you’re doing is stupid, but it’s also harmless. I have to accept that I’ve lost Marcie until she matures; it’s a fact that….” She stopped and looked around. “No! I don’t have to accept it!”
“Accept what?”
Her eyes reflected excitement. “Everything is going to be okay. You’ll see. Not today, but you’ll see very soon. Oh yes, you’ll see. So will Marcie.”
“I don’t know what the hell is going on in that beautiful head of yours, but I think I like it.”
She placed her head on his chest and hugged him tightly. “Work with me to put aside our differences, so we can have a happy life together.”
Perhaps life experiences that came with age were starting to soften her, too. His heart was lighter and filled with hope. “May I ask what Laura whispered to you?”
“She said you and I are in our forties, and we’re foolishly letting some of the best years of our lives slip by us. She’s right.”
Shannon took a step back and pretended to be offended. “Since you ungraciously didn’t answer my proposal of marriage, not a Texas gentlemanly way to behave, drop to one knee and do the right thing. You’d better be convincing of your love and devotion to the lady, or she might not accept your proposal.”
“Will you always be this bossy?”
“Yep. It’s in my DNA. You know the rule. If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. Get with it and make me happy.”
Grayson dropped to his right knee and took her left hand just as the SET Patriots, chatting loudly, poured in for supper with Miss Grace and the chief leading the troops. Never had silence grown so loud so fast.
Miss Grace broke the silence. “Son, you don’t have a ring, do you?”
“No, ma’am.”
She walked directly to Grayson and removed a beautifully crafted, antique, diamond ring from her finger. “This is my grandmother’s engagement ring. It’s been waiting for someone to love it. It’s yours.” She bent down, kissed Grayson on the cheek, and stood back.
Grayson took the ring, placed it on Shannon’s finger, made a magnificent proposal, and the lady was convinced. He picked Shannon up by the waist, spun her around, and gave her a big kiss.
The group wasn’t sure how they felt or how to act. Their nemesis, the ACLU lawyer, was their leader’s fiancée. Ramirez, ever wise, and knowing the unpleasant thoughts of the group, took charge. “Guys we just witnessed our executive officer and good friend make a beautiful proposal of marriage to the woman he loves. It brings joy to my heart.”
Joe began to clap heartily and move toward the couple. The rest slowly began what turned into a rousing round of applause and congratulatory remarks, followed by lots of handshakes and hugs, except for Jillian and Marcie who, just having entered, stood at the door in shock.
“What the hell did we miss?”
Bright red covered Marcie’s neck and face, and fire danced in her eyes when she saw Shannon holding the engagement ring high in the air for everyone to see. “I don’t know, but I don’t like it, not one bit.”
Chapter 59
The Awful Secret
Year 19
“Marcie, your behavior’s been appalling. What’s going on in that teen head
of yours?” Grayson asked. “Since our engagement, your animosity towards your mother has escalated out of control. Don’t you want us to get married?”
Marcie gave Shannon a dirty look. “No. I don’t! The two of you’ll make my life miserable. Until I find a particular relative I’ve never met and don’t know anything about, I won’t get along with her.”
Shannon began to tremble. “Please, Marcie, not now.”
Grayson’s patience slammed into the end of its road and his tone allowed no alternative. “Let’s get this out in the open and closed, once and for all. I’m mentally exhausted from running interference between you two, of being jerked around at every turn.”
Fear shot through Shannon as she watched Grayson’s eyes harden. “It’s impossible for us to move forward until the two of you deal with this. It ends today. Now!”
Shannon’s naked emotions were ripe with confusion, angst, indecision, and a dozen other reactions rolled into one. She paced like a caged tiger then rushed toward the back of the house, her voice shaking. “Give me a minute.”
Grayson paced and Marcie drew herself into a tight ball and sulked, as they listened to Shannon’s heavy, heart-wrenching sobs for what seemed an eternity. Occasionally glancing at one another, both with the same questioning thought, then looking away.
She finally returned, dabbing at her bloodshot eyes with a handful of tissues.
“Grayson, please sit down.”
“Okay.”
Shannon fought to keep her composure, her voice unsteady. “You’re right. It’s time we talked about this.”
She choked and burst into tears again. “Please don’t hate me,” she spoke to Grayson. “Please tell me you won’t hate me.”
Grayson stood to hold her, but she motioned him back down.
He gave Marcie a stern glance. “Whatever it is, we won’t hate you, Shannon.”
Gaining control, her voice still tense, she blotted escaping tears. “I’ve been guarding a secret. I’m a coward for not telling you both a long time ago.”
Marcie gave her mother undivided attention. “Marcie, do you remember what Larry said the night before he left?”
“He called you a horrible name. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“We have to talk about it if you want the answer you’ve begged for the last four years.”
Marcie’s eyes zeroed in on her mother, a tiger poised for the kill.
Shannon studied her shaking hands. “Larry accused me of infidelity.”
She looked at Grayson but spoke to Marcie. “As Grayson knows, Larry was right.”
Grayson’s eyes widened, and he warned her. “Some things are best left unspoken. That’s one of them.”
Shannon ignored him and turned her swollen eyes to her daughter. “Grayson and I ran into each other at a conference in Las Vegas eighteen years ago. The short story is we ended up in bed together.”
“TMI!” Marcie hid her face in a pillow.
Shannon took a ragged breath. “Larry was sterile when we married. I didn’t know.” She hesitated. “You two do the math.”
“You and Grayson? I didn’t need to know,” Marcie wailed, her tears flowing.
Grayson’s surging emotions sent him to his feet. Rubbing the back of his neck, his heart pounded. His brain knotted. His mouth dry, he strangled on his words. “Oh, my God.” Tears filled his eyes.
Fear swiftly cloaked Marcie. “Grayson, you’re crying…. Mom?”
“You wanted to know, Marcie. Larry admitted that horrible night that he’d secretly had a vasectomy. Do you know what that is?”
Marcie’s eyes blinked and she nodded.
Shannon’s burst of anger saturated the room. “It’s just like the bastard!”
Broiling in heated emotional chaos, Grayson sought verification of what his logical mind told him but was afraid to accept for fear of it not being true. “Are you sure, absolutely sure?”
“Look at her, Grayson. Marcie is the spitting image of you and Amanda, her half-sister. She was born forty weeks to the day after we were in Vegas. Larry and I…were intimate just after I returned home. Forcing you out of my mind, I missed the connection of her birth to the trip.”
Squeezing the pillow to her chest, Marcie, understanding starting to take hold, began to cry softly.
Shannon blew emancipated air through pursed lips. “Sweetie, I swear to you with all my being that the time Grayson and I were together was the only time I wasn’t faithful to my husband. I won’t make excuses, but I thank God for that night with him. It gave me the two people I love more than anything on this earth. Marcie, like it or not, Grayson Dean is your father.”
“Like it? I love it!” Marcie raced to Grayson with loud sobs of joy. He held her against his chest, placed his head on top of hers, and stroked her long red curls.
“Mom, I’m sorry I was so mean!” She pulled her mother into their first family hug. “I have a real family! Does Aunt Jillian know?”
“I think she figured it out a long time ago.”
Questions poured from Marcie, ending with, “Will you guys go back to Las Vegas and make me a sister or brother?”
Impulsive, just like her old man.
Grayson could hardly contain himself. “You have a brother—Danny. Well, he’s your half-brother. And, you’re an aunt; you’re Gabriel’s Aunt Marcie.”
“That’s right! I’m and aunt. This is so cool.” Marcie couldn’t stop moving and laughing. She twirled around the room. “Wait. Oh! Oh!” A small frown formed on her face. “I can’t call you ‘Daddy.’ It’s what I called him.”
“Don’t fret over it, sweetheart. Something will pop up,” Grayson said.
“Pop! That’s it! I’ll call you ‘Pop.’”
She looked hopefully at him for approval. He flashed back to Daniel’s name for him and smiled, making it official.
~~~
At midnight, Marcie calmed enough to fall asleep. When Grayson and Shannon looked in on her, she had her arm around Mr. Purber. They returned to the living room and sat on the couch in quiet contemplation.
His thoughts drifted to the coming crisis. It was only a matter of time before all hell broke loose. He mentally recoiled when the near presence of Carlos Murtadha assaulted his consciousness.
Shannon squeezed his hand and kissed his cheek.
He pushed Murtadha away, relaxed, and put his arm tightly around her, taking great delight in the moment. It will be okay. We’ll face the future without fear and conquer life’s challenges as one.
His innate instincts to provide and protect—passed to him through the DNA of his male ancestors for thousands of years—resettled in his psyche and once again, Grayson Dean was a complete man.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thank you for purchasing Islam Rising. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please consider taking a few minutes to leave a review on Amazon.com. Reviews are important in that, they assist others to determine their potential interest in reading a book.
COMING SOON
Jihad Begins: Patriots and Infidels - Book 2 picks up at the point of economic collapse, onset of anarchy, and the beginning of Imam Omar’s unholy war against America. The Set Patriots struggle to protect the BOL and local community from overrun by tens of thousands of desperate, starving refugees and attacks by organized gangs and good guys turned bad.
Meanwhile, Grayson Dean and his small crew find themselves walking the 150 miles to the BOL through masses of Houston refugees and bad guys, while being chased by a vengeful Carlos Murtadha.
Jihad Begins is replete with bugging out survival techniques, dangerous encounters with bad guys, romantic interludes, heart-rending life and death decisions, and a host of twists and turns sure to please any fan of post-apocalyptic novels.
BOOKS IN PRINT
Absolute Anarchy, Interactive Study Guide to Surviving the Coming Collapse
CONTACT ME
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