Behind the Altar: Behind the Love Trilogy

by P. C. Zick

  The next morning, she headed down to the river on the golf cart kept in the garage behind the parsonage. A rich landowner from Miami had donated the grounds for the church and parsonage, with ownership held by the Sunshine Church Board. The land adjoining it—the farm—had belonged to Big Jim’s family for more than one hundred years. Leah headed out into the field overgrown with wildflowers and palmetto bushes. She drove toward the wooded area beyond the fields that once grew crops that flourished in central Florida: cabbage, potatoes, and onions. Geraldine told her Big Jim farmed it right up until Dean died, but that she should never mention it because it upset Big Jim to talk about it. Another lie, she thought as she looked around at the fallow fields. When she reached the woods, the coolness from the shade of the live oaks and slash pines offered her a respite from the hot and humid day already forming even at eight o’clock, and turned her mind from the Davis family to her own family of friends.

  “Good morning, Bud,” she said when she came upon a young man sitting against the trunk of a pine tree. “What are you doing this morning?”

  “Looking for something to eat,” he said. He wore a camo vest unbuttoned, revealing burns on his chest that looked like red rope braided together from shoulder to abdomen. His khaki pants were greasy and muddy.

  Leah made a note to get him some new pants and to show him how to wash his clothes in the river.

  “I think the blackberries are ripe enough to pick over on the other side of the field,” she said. “Maybe you should check over there.”

  He nodded at her, and Leah continued on her way to find Joshua, one of the leaders of this small band of disowned warriors. She found him with the others on the banks of the river, fishing.

  “Good morning, everyone,” Leah said after she parked the golf cart and walked over to join them. “Catching anything?”

  “Not much luck this morning,” Joshua said. “But we had a good dinner last night.”

  “I brought you a few things,” she said. “The potato salad and cole slaw should probably be eaten first thing, although I did bring you a cooler. There’s chocolate cake, too.”

  Joshua and a few others helped her unload the food, and they began opening containers and helping themselves.

  “You know they’ve closed Soup’s On at the church,” Leah said. “I can’t get them to budge on that, but I am not going to abandon you. I didn’t have anything to do with the closing.”

  “We all know that, Leah,” Joshua said.

  “I’ll still be available to take you to your appointments at the VA, and I’ll make every effort to get food down here to you when I can. I’m going to look for others in the community to help me. And I’m starting this morning to look for a new place to house Soup’s On. I want to make it even better—a place to give you shelter when needed and maybe a recreation room.”

  “You’re an angel,” said one of the women standing around the golf cart eating the cold salads. “It’s too bad your church isn’t the same way.”

  “Carol, I wish I could change their minds,” Leah said. “But some of them are a bit misguided in what they consider charity. I’m going to leave them to their ways and find my own way to help you.”

  After Leah left them with promises to keep them posted on the progress of Soup’s On, she went back to the church compound and put the golf cart away. She decided she needed to walk into town rather than drive. Despite the heat, she needed time alone to think about how she was going to accomplish what she’d told Joshua she’d do. Jacob and Geraldine made their feelings abundantly clear last night, so she knew if she continued down this path, Jacob could possibly call off the wedding, and Geraldine could definitely kick her out of the parsonage, making her homeless once again.

  For the first time since Geraldine found her, the thought of being out of that house didn’t bother her at all. In fact, ending her relationship with both of them didn’t feel wrong. It felt like freedom.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Dean woke in the morning with only one word on his mind. "Leah" repeated itself continually in his head like the drip from a faucet with a leaky seal, and almost as annoying. He didn't understand why that woman haunted him. He'd kissed thousands of women, and hundreds of them while he sat on his bike. Some were much more passionate than the one stolen in the back of the church. He’d never felt anything with them, except for the need of a release. Now this green-eyed monster with her do-gooder life had crawled into his head and taken up residence.

  He needed to get out of the small room before the walls pushed in on him. Rather than take the bike, he decided to walk to the Dew Drops Diner for breakfast. No way could he tolerate the coffee made in the two-cup brewer sitting on top of the microwave in his motel room. He needed strong coffee this morning and lots of it, along with bacon, eggs, pancakes, and maybe even sausage and biscuits, if he didn't explode first. He wasn't prone to overeating, but since arriving back in Victory, he was ravenous for something to fill up the emptiness created when he saw Geraldine.

  At nine o'clock in the morning, the streets were free of the rush-hour traffic that plagued the surrounding area. Folks who needed to get to work in Tampa drove west out of town to I-75 or one of the other asphalt highways that became parking lots during the morning and afternoon commutes. It was worse in the winter, when the white-haired Winnebago-driving northerners made the trek down to the Sunshine State. To hell with natural landscapes, wetlands, and scrub forests; Florida was conquered territory, and if bears and coyotes invaded the space that was once theirs, then the wildlife usually lost. It drove Dean crazy when he saw news reports of bears coming into subdivisions, and homeowners outraged at the audacity of a Florida black bear trying to reclaim its home turf. But he also knew he was throwing stones at his own glass house since he’d chosen to live in South Beach for the past decade. The only wildlife there had platinum hair and sprayed-on tans.

  If he could make some type of peace with his family, he’d move back here and live on the old farm. It’s the only place he’d ever felt alive. After breakfast, he decided he’d continue walking until he came to the old barn Leah wanted for her kitchen. Maybe being back on the land will settle my head, he thought as he continued walking to the diner.

  He enjoyed the early morning breeze. The humidity had yet to hit, and the sun was just making its presence known. He’d probably be drenched in sweat after his walk to the barn.

  He saw the flashing sign of the Dew Drops broadcasting the best grits in the South. That was quite a claim, but Dean knew the owner only put that up after a trip to Marco Island decades ago. He was telling another tourist about his diner when he declared, "We make the best grits in the South so you need to stop by when you head north next week." The tourist took him up on his offer, ate the grits, and confirmed that indeed Dew Drops served the best grits. A week later, the new sign was hoisted and dominated the west end of Main Street.

  When he walked in the door of the diner, the first thing he saw was Susie sitting at a table in the center of the room with Reggie at her side. He noticed the wavy brown hair on the woman with her back to him. The hair went down to her waist and glowed under the fluorescent lights. Leah, he thought.

  Susie waved him over to the table, and he had no choice but to head over there. At the invitation, Leah turned around with a smile on her face, until she saw him. She quickly turned back around to Susie and Reggie.

  "Dean, come sit with us. We haven't ordered yet," Susie said. "I think you met Leah at the church yesterday, right?"

  "That's right," Dean said as he took the empty seat between Reggie and Leah. "I met my brother's fiancé yesterday."

  Leah looked down at the paper placemat with an outline of the United States, as if she was studying for a geography test.

  "We were discussing ways to fund Soup's On," Susie said. "I suggested we go outside Victory to some larger organizations with better money. We could also do our own fundraiser right here, but that probably would only bring in hundreds of dollars, not the tho
usands we need."

  "I might know of some sources," Dean said. "I know a lot of do-gooders in South Beach willing to lay down some cash to assuage their guilty consciences. Ever since tattoos became respectable, the caliber of my clientele rose."

  "That's a pretty calloused way to view the work we do with Soup's On," Leah said.

  "Everyone has an angle," Dean said. "I'm of the belief that there are no altruistic people in the entire world."

  "I think I can do without your help," Leah said. "Thank you for the offer, but I'll do just fine on my own without bothering you with my selfish needs."

  She pushed her chair away from the table and stood, "I'm sorry Susie and Reg, but I've just lost my appetite."

  She walked out of Dew Drops.

  "She's usually not that sensitive," Susie said. "I don't know what got into her."

  "She's just upset about what Geraldine told her last night," Reggie said.

  "What words of wicked wisdom did the old witch impart?" Dean asked.

  "When Leah asked her about using the barn, she said she was getting ready to tear it down because she didn't want the homeless thinking they could use it for a shelter, even though they've never even ventured close to it." Susie shook her head when she finished speaking. "Dean, I know that woman is your mother, but she's a real bitch."

  "You're preaching to the choir, Susie," Dean said. "As for the barn, we'll see about that. The wicked witch of Victory might need an awakening only I can provide."

  Reggie leaned over and patted Dean on the back. "It's good to have you home. I hope you're staying for a while. The world should be able to survive without Harold Grant for a few weeks at least."

  “Harold Grant, the tattoo artist?” Susie asked.

  “That would be me,” Dean said. “Seemed easier than using my real name and having Geraldine find me.”

  “I’ve heard about you, but never seen a picture. I had no idea. How come you never told me, Reggie?”

  “Dean liked keeping it quiet.”

  “It’s OK,” Dean said. “Now that I’m back, it doesn’t matter who knows. I’ll be here long enough to set some things right. After a lifetime of being the bad boy, I’m going to try and do something good while I’m here, although Leah probably won’t believe that."

  "Don't worry about Leah," Susie said. "I'll talk to her. I think she's probably afraid. Geraldine threatened to kick her out if she continued to work on Soup's On."

  "That might be the best thing that could happen to her." Dean said.

  "She can move in with me if Geraldine carries out her threat,” Susie said.

  “Maybe you should encourage her to take the first step,” Dean said. “I hate the thought of her having to put up with Geraldine’s threats.”

  “What’s this all about?” Reggie asked. “What do you care?”

  “Leah seems like a nice kid, and I’m sorry I upset her,” Dean said.

  “Seems to me you’d have noticed that Leah is no kid,” Reggie said. “She’s all woman, and probably no match for your brother. Now you on the other hand. . .”

  “Reggie, stop that,” Susie said. “Jacob and Leah are going to be married. They make a lovely couple.”

  “I sure hope you’re serving something hot and juicy tonight at the tavern,” Dean said.

  “You bet, but I’m pretty sure Leah won’t be there,” Reggie said.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Leah started walking back toward the church and parsonage when she stomped out of Dew Drops. But as she walked east toward the sun, she wondered where she should go next. The thought of heading to what she’d thought of as home for the past five years seemed wrong, but she didn’t have any place else to stay. She decided to head to the riverbanks, just west of the Deer River camp. After sitting and listening to the river, she hoped to have a plan.

  She felt better as she headed out of town and toward the woods and gentle sloping banks of Deer River so named because of the large amount of deer that lived near its banks. Most of the area belonged to the state, which prohibited hunting in the area parallel to Victory. The flowers of spring had faded, but the magnolia and the wisteria still hung on waiting for summer before also fading away. She smelled the faint wisp of jasmine, providing a sweet perfume to accompany her.

  Her confusion lessened as she walked, but her anger at Dean Davis only increased with each step. How dare he presume to know anything about her and why she did the things she did. He’d been gone from the church for so many years that Leah surmised he’d lost his faith in everything, including God.

  She looked around at the beauty surrounding her as she entered the woods and shade. Suddenly she knew what to do. She walked back to town and to Dew Drops. Susie, Reggie, and Dean still sat at the table eating their breakfast, but she only waved as she walked to the back of the diner and into the kitchen area.

  “Leah, what you need today?” Clara, the owner asked.

  “I need some food and a job,” Leah said. “Maybe we can work something out where I work the tables in the kitchen whenever you need me. I’ll even clean toilets. And instead of paying me in cash, pay me in food that’s leftover every day.”

  “Why you want to do that?” Clara asked. “You’ve already got your hands full with Soup’s On, and those’d be the hours I’d need you here.”

  “They shut me down. The church board shut me down yesterday. I don’t have a kitchen, and I don’t have funding, but those folks are still hungry.”

  Clara wiped her hands on her white apron, and came over to Leah. “Child, I have plenty of food left over every day without you having to work here for it. Let me help you. You’d be doing me a favor because I sure hate throwing stuff out, and every day I’m sending home piles of food with my staff. I bet half of that gets thrown away.”

  Leah hugged her. “I really will work here whenever you need me.”

  “All right, but where you going to feed them? I don’t have the space in here for them and my paying customers. Although they could come after we close at three.”

  “For now, I’ll take the food to them. I hate to ask you this, but do you have anything I can take them today? They’re all worried about what’s going to happen next, and I promised I’d work on it.”

  “Sure, we can pull something together. I think there’s a tray of meatloaf and some lasagna from yesterday. You might want to ask Reggie, too. I’m sure he throws away a ton of stuff every night.”

  “Good idea,” Leah said. “Thank you, Clara. I prayed today for guidance and God brought me right back to you.”

  Clara hugged her. “Never be afraid to ask for what you need, Leah. You’ll be taken care of no matter what happens.”

  Leah walked back out to where Susie and Reggie sat with Dean. They were sipping coffee, but Dean was shoveling whipped-cream topped pancakes soaked in maple syrup into his mouth.

  “These are the best damn pancakes I’ve ever eaten,” Dean said.

  “Reggie, I need to ask you something,” Leah said.

  “Sure, sit down and get yourself some breakfast,” Reggie said.

  “I’m not hungry. I have lots to do today to satisfy my selfish little soul,” Leah said as she glanced over at Dean who had whipped cream on the end of his nose. She wasn’t about to tell him he looked like a clown.

  “What do you need?” Reggie asked.

  “Clara is going to give me leftovers from the kitchen every day to help out with the river camp. She said you might have leftovers, too.”

  “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that,” Reggie said. “We throw out so much good food each night. You’d be doing me a favor if you came and got it.”

  “That’s what Clara said,” Leah said. “That’s a start. Clara has enough for lunch. I guess I better head back home and pick up the van.”

  “Would you like a ride?” Dean asked. “My bike’s just down the road.”

  “No thanks, I can walk just fine.”

  “Leah, you should listen to what Dean has to say before you
leave,” Susie said. “He says that barn isn’t Geraldine’s to tear down.”

  Leah stared at her friend as she absorbed the words. She didn’t believe her for one second.

  “He’s lying,” Leah said. “Geraldine owns the whole of that property.”

  “I know you’ve got a problem with me,” Dean said. “And I’ve put up with your rudeness, but no one calls me a liar. Susie, Reggie, nice to share breakfast with you, but I’m not going to sit around here and let this woman insult me any longer. You both heard what I had to say.”

  With that, Dean stood and pulled a $50 bill out of his wallet. “This should cover everything. See you later, Reggie and Susie.”

  “Why did you do that?” Susie asked after Dean left the diner. “He’s only trying to help.”

  “By telling me I’m selfish for wanting to help the river folks? He’s the one who was rude.”

  “I think he was stating his philosophy on life,” Reggie said. “You’re the one who called him a liar.”

  Leah slumped in her seat. “It’s just that he comes in here like he knows everything that’s going on.”

  “He might know more about Geraldine than you do,” Reggie said.

  “Reg is right, Leah,” Susie said. “Dean told us he owns the barn, and he’s willing to let you use it for Soup’s On. Or at least he did before you came back.”

  Leah fussed with the paper napkin, and then she tore it to shreds. “Why is everything so complicated all of a sudden?”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “Let’s go down to the barn and take a look,” Susie said. “I don’t have to be at the dry cleaners until eleven. Dean said it would be all right.”

  “Dean said? I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” Leah said. “Who is this guy?”

  “Why are you so set against him? This isn’t like you, Leah,” Susie said. “You accept just about everyone, no matter what they believe or do. You set an example for the rest of us to follow. Now this handsome man comes home and wants to help, and you’ve been nothing but rude about his helping hand.”