Behind the Altar: Behind the Love Trilogy

by P. C. Zick

  Dean began to laugh. He held up his bag and pack of beer. “I had the same idea. The motel room was getting to me.”

  “I can leave.”

  “No, stay. You can help me eat this greasy food. Maybe drink a few beers and talk about what can be done here. I won’t bite.”

  Leah didn’t answer, but she put down her bag and started to unroll the sleeping bag. When she finished, she gestured for him to join her.

  “I brought a few things for dinner, too,” she said. “Maybe we can combine the two. I guarantee mine’s healthier.”

  Dean smiled and sat down next to her on one end of the sleeping bag. “I don’t know. Reggie says he used the best beef around these parts.” He pulled the burger out of the bag and tried to rip it in half. He handed her a ragged piece.

  They ate in silence until Dean handed her a beer.

  “I don’t drink,” Leah said. “But thank you.”

  “Never?”

  “I’ve never drank ever or done any drugs,” she said. “I’ve stayed away. My mom was a drug addict; my dad probably was, too. I can’t afford to test it.”

  “I get it,” Dean said. “I guess I’m jaded. All anyone does in South Beach is drink and do designer drugs. I didn’t bring anything else to drink.”

  “That’s all right. I brought water.” She held up a red stainless steel water container and then took a long sip. “Is that what you do? Drink and do designer drugs?”

  “I stay away from the drugs, but I do my share of drinking beer. Occupational hazard as a tat artist.”

  “That’s what you do? Give folks tattoos?”

  “That’s what I do. Some folks say I’m pretty good,” Dean said. “But enough about me. It sounds like you had a pretty rough childhood. How did you end up here?”

  “I actually had a pretty wonderful childhood until I was around ten, and then it all fell apart,” she said. “We lived near St. Pete, and I spent lots of time playing in the sand and surf. And then my mom starting shooting up heroin, and it was a fast slide after that.”

  “Where was your dad?”

  “Gone by then. Within a year, we were out on the streets, so we camped with the other homeless. The community was similar to the river camp. In fact, a few of them followed me here.”

  “And that’s why you want to do everything you can to help them.”

  “That’s right,” Leah said. “I know what it’s like to be in their position. On one hand, they have a sort of freedom; but on the other, they’re living life as close to the edge as can be imagined. I don’t want them to ever have to worry about food or shelter.”

  “I think maybe I was wrong about you,” Dean said as he turned to the woman sitting next to him. “Maybe you’re the first truly altruistic person I’ve ever met.”

  “I guess you could be partly right, though. I’ve thought about it, and I do get pleasure from helping them, so in a way, I am doing it for me.”

  “How about Geraldine and Jacob? How did that happen?” Dean asked.

  “When I was seventeen, I got a job at a mall,” Leah said. “Geraldine came into the store where I worked, and we started talking. She mentioned she had a son, and then she asked me out for lunch.”

  “That’s it? And then she moved you into the house?”

  “She said she took a liking to me right away; said she could see something in me.” Leah shrugged. “Then she invited me to Victory and to the Sunshine Church to speak about homelessness and its impact on children. Both Jacob and she liked what I said to the women’s society, and they asked me to stay to help with the church.”

  “You and Jacob fell in love?”

  “I guess. Big Jim liked me, too, and encouraged us along with Geraldine. I didn’t know anything about relationships.”

  “Jacob’s your first boyfriend?” Dean asked.

  “Yes.”

  “That’s something,” Dean said. “You’re such a beautiful woman, both inside and out. I’m surprised men haven’t been flocking around you for a very long time.”

  “I don’t know about that, but Jacob’s the first serious boyfriend.” She lowered her head when she said that, but Dean saw the red blush start at the line of her tank top and rise up her neck to her face.

  “But you kissed me the other day. You kissed me back, too. It wasn’t just me, was it?”

  “No,” she said so quietly Dean wasn’t sure if he’d heard her or not.

  He put his beer down on his other side, wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close to him. He removed the bags of food from between them, and she scooted closer. He was overcome with the feelings sweeping through him. He’d never felt anything like it before.

  “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” he whispered into her hair that smelled of apples.

  “Me, too,” she managed before he leaned close and caught her lips in his.

  This time they pressed their bodies together as their tongues sought out the mysteries of each. The eyes remained open once again as they both drowned in the light from the sparks igniting between them. Dean could feel her soft and round breasts pushing into his chest, which stirred him even further. He pushed her gently back and leaned over her.

  “I want to make love to you more than I’ve ever wanted to do anything in my entire life,” Dean said. “You’re so beautiful, Leah.”

  “We can’t; we shouldn’t. It’s impossible; we have to stop,” Leah said as she pulled Dean’s head back to her and began pulling on his bottom lip with her teeth. “We can’t do this.”

  “Why not? Do you feel like this with Jacob?”

  Leah ignored his question and began kissing his face. “You’re so handsome. Your face floats above me whenever I try to forget you. I want to memorize it.”

  “Love me, Leah.”

  He pulled her white tank top up over her arms. She wore a white lace bra, and he leaned down and began licking the top of her breast. With one hand, he pulled one of them out of the bra and began licking the nipple. He heard her moan over the roar in his ears.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he said between mouthfuls of her hardened brown tip.

  “I’ve never been with anyone before,” she said.

  “You and Jacob?” Dean asked as he pulled his head up and away from her.

  She shook her head. “Jacob said we should wait until we married. You and I have just done more than we’ve ever done together.”

  Dean sat up straight and put his head in his hands. He shook his head and stood up.

  “I’m going back to the motel tonight,” he said. “You stay here. You’re right, this is impossible. You need to think about things.”

  “You’re leaving?” Leah asked as she sat up.

  “Yes. I need to figure things out, too. I don’t know what kind of spell you’ve put on me, but I’ve never felt this way about another woman before, and you’re planning to marry my brother. Are you in love with him? Or does being with him mean you’ll never be homeless again?”

  “I don’t know. I’m so confused.”

  “You need to figure out why you so willingly came to me just now and yesterday,” Dean said. “You’re not the kind of girl who does that, but yet a minute ago, you were willing to let me make love to you. Why is that, Leah?”

  “I feel things with you that I’ve never felt with Jacob,” she said. “I don’t know why.”

  “We both need to figure this out. You scare me.”

  He walked out of the barn and got on his bike. It was going to be a long night at the motel. Two nights in a row, he’d turned down women. One he thought he loved a long time ago; and another he thought he might love after one kiss. As he roared away on the bike, he swore it wasn’t love. He was overwhelmed by being back in Victory after so many years away.

  Leah wasn’t the only one with thinking to do. He needed to figure out if his attraction to Leah was simply his demented way of getting back at Geraldine and Jacob. It certainly gave him pleasure to imagine walking into the parsonage and ann
ouncing that he and Leah loved one another. He imagined the anger on Geraldine’s face as she came after him with her red-polished nails. Only now, he could fight her off, and she’d never be able to take advantage of him again.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  When Leah heard the car pull up to the barn, she thought Dean had changed his mind. She ran to the doors, but before she even pulled them apart, she realized the sound she heard wasn’t a motorcycle. She saw Susie get out of the car and come toward the barn once she opened the doors.

  “Susie, what’s up?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry to show up when I know you’re trying to sort things out, but Jacob’s at my house looking for you. He’s pretty upset, Leah. I think you should come back and talk to him.”

  “What happened?”

  “Geraldine is what happened, that’s what. Jacob’s at my house, and he really wants to talk to you. I think he’s scared.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He told Geraldine that the two of you were taking a break to think things through,” Susie said. “He said you were having a hard time letting go of Soup’s On.”

  “She should know that without being told.”

  “Evidently Geraldine threw a fit and said she was going to call the Sheriff and have him arrest the river camp folks.”

  “Would she really do that?” Leah asked.

  “I think she might. She doesn’t like to have folks go against her, as you’ve just learned. She told Jacob that she brought you up to their standards, and now you need to be taught a lesson.”

  “She’s going to punish them because she’s mad at me?” Leah asked. “That’s beyond anything I’ve ever heard.”

  “Jacob’s really torn up about it,” Susie said. “I’ve never seen him like this before; I always thought he was kind of a Momma’s Boy, but he really doesn’t know how to stand up to her.”

  Leah began rolling up her sleeping bag. “Let’s go,” she said as she began walking to the doors. “If Jacob really wants to stop her, then I need to help him.”

  “I was thinking about Tommy Jackson as I drove out here,” Susie said as she headed down the dusty road.

  “Who’s that?”

  “A guy I dated in high school, but he left town right after graduation, about the time I started dating Reggie,” Susie said. “He went to college in Gainesville at UF.”

  Leah glanced over at Susie as she drove. She wondered how Susie could be thinking about some guy from high school with the river folks in danger.

  “He’s a reporter for the Tampa Tribune,” she said. “I don’t know why I didn’t think about him before today, but I bet if I called him and told him about the situation here, he’d consider doing a story on it.”

  “An article? How would that help?”

  “I read Tommy’s stuff; he’s a proponent for the little guy. He’d write something that was sympathetic to the Deer River Camp, I’m sure.”

  “Geraldine and Sunshine Church could come off in a bad light,” Leah said as it began to dawn on her what Susie was proposing. “Bad publicity would put a damper on the donations the church receives for its missionary work.”

  “That’s right,” Susie said. “The threat might even be enough to stop her.”

  “I think it’s a great idea. There is something Jacob could do immediately. Donald Cameron is the most sympathetic of the board members, and almost everyone respects him. If Jacob can convince him to convene an emergency meeting, maybe they can be convinced to take another vote.”

  “And with the threat of negative publicity hanging over their heads, it might just work,” Susie said. “But you know this will make things more difficult for you and Jacob.”

  “I’ve thought about that,” Leah said. “And with Dean here, it’s even more difficult.”

  “I forgot about Dean and the barn. I wonder when he’s going to drop that bombshell.”

  “He said something about Monday.”

  “You’ve talked to him?” Susie asked. They were stopped at a stop sign at the end of the road. She looked at Leah.

  “He came out to the barn earlier, just after I arrived.” Leah could feel herself blushing, and for the second time that day, hated her lack of pigment.

  “What’s going on with you two? First, you hate him; now you seem to be friends.”

  Leah couldn’t stop the blush. Susie was her best friend. Maybe she’d be able to help her sort through her complicated feelings.

  “We kissed,” she said, and Susie pulled the car over onto the shoulder. They were still on a dirt road, and there wasn’t any traffic.

  “You kissed Dean?” Susie asked after waiting for Leah to continue.

  “Yes, yesterday, and then again today,” Leah said. “And I enjoyed it more than anything I’ve ever experienced.”

  “I don’t know what to say. I mean, I can see you and Dean together better than I can you and Jacob, but you’re engaged to Jacob and Dean’s his brother. And they hate one another.”

  “I know; I know,” Leah put her hands over her face and shook with the emotion leftover from the kiss. “There’s something about Dean. I’ve never felt that way about Jacob—ever. I know that sounds awful.”

  “How does Dean feel about all this?”

  Leah took a deep shuddering breath. “He stopped us from going any further back at the barn. I told him I was a virgin, and Jacob and I were waiting until we were married. Susie, the awful thing is, I was ready to make love to him. I wasn’t thinking about anything at all except about how good it felt.”

  “Did Dean tell you how he feels about you?”

  “He said he couldn’t stop thinking about me, even though we’d just met. I feel the same way. There’s something that happens when we look into one another’s eyes.”

  Susie shook her head. “It’s hard to tell if it’s love this soon; it’s certainly lust. And you, dear Leah, have led a very sheltered life as far as men go. I’m glad Dean came to his senses. You need time to think.”

  “The thing is Jacob and I talked before I went to the barn, and he was so vulnerable and sweet,” Leah said. “I could really see us together married, but living on our own without Geraldine around. I could make it work, couldn’t I?”

  Susie sighed. “Leah, I don’t know. You might never be able to forget what it felt to be really on fire with another person. I have a feeling that no matter what happens between you and Jacob, you’re not going to get that feeling with him, if it hasn’t happened yet.”

  “Do you have that with Reggie?”

  Susie put the car back in drive and pulled onto the road. “We did. We still do sometimes. Let’s just say I know what it feels like, and I’ve never felt it with anyone else but Reggie.”

  “Maybe it will come for us once we’re married,” Leah said. “Dean and I can work on this project together, but that’s all. I love Jacob.”

  Leah held her head up and straightened her shoulders. “Thanks for listening, Susie. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”

  “I’m here for you, Leah. Friends are hard to come by; I’ve had a few, but no one I ever fully trusted until now. I trust you.”

  “And I trust you,” Leah said. “Now let’s go talk to Jacob and make some calls. We’re in a battle, so let’s get ready. Can I still move into your spare bedroom? It probably will be a more permanent move than I thought.”

  “You bet. Staying with Geraldine will not be an option after tonight.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  When Susie and Leah came back to the house, Jacob was sitting on the front porch. As dusk edged its way over the day, the house remained dark.

  “I’m going to let you two talk,” Susie said. “I have to make a phone call.”

  She went inside, leaving Leah and Jacob alone.

  “I hear Geraldine’s making some threats,” Leah said. Jacob looked so scared sitting there; she went immediately to the chair next to him and sat down. She patted his hand. “Susie and I have some ideas to stop her.”
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br />   Jacob listened and rocked in the chair while Leah told him about Tommy Jackson and the idea about approaching Donald. He nodded and looked up at her every once in awhile. When she finished, he smiled.

  “It might work. It might even get Soup’s On back for you,” he said. “Tommy’s a good writer.”

  “I still like the idea of renovating the barn, but if the Board would let me continue there in the interim that would be great.”

  “You believe Dean when he says Geraldine doesn’t own it?” Jacob asked.

  “I do. Dean’s not as bad as you think, Jacob. I wish you two could talk and figure out how to be better brothers to one another. I’d give anything to have a sibling.”

  Susie came out on the porch before Jacob could reply. She wore a grin as wide as the front porch.

  “You’re not going to believe who’s coming to church with me tomorrow,” she said. “Tommy Jackson wants to visit the Sunshine Church, and then he wants me to take him down to meet the folks at Deer River Camp. Do you think that will be all right with them, Leah?”

  “I don’t think they’d mind, but I’ll go down there before church and ask them. He’s interested in doing an article?”

  “He said I piqued his reporter’s instinct for a story.”

  “Tommy’s a good guy, but what about Donald?” Jacob asked. “Should I call him tonight?”

  “Yes, I think you should,” Leah said. “Ask him to call an emergency meeting for right after the service.”

  The three of them stood grinning at one another, but Leah knew they had a long way to go before Soup’s On was safe.

  “I need to go back to the parsonage and pack some things,” Leah said. “I’m going to stay with Susie until we figure this out.”

  “That’s probably a good idea, but that means I’ll be alone with Mother.” Jacob’s grin disappeared from his face.

  When they pulled in the driveway, Leah could see Geraldine through the front window. She was holding up a white blouse and looking at it carefully. Leah imagined she was inspecting the purchases from her day of shopping. When they came into the living room, Leah saw the blouse with a ruffle down the front with trim the same charcoal gray of a new suit flung on the couch. A new pair of high heel sandals sat on the ottoman, and Geraldine was about to grab one of them when the front door opened, letting in Jacob, Leah, and Susie. Leah could tell she hated the interruption in admiring her booty.