by P. C. Zick
Leah stood, too, and pulled the ring from her finger. She walked over to Geraldine and held out her hand to give her the ring.
“I didn’t mean you have to return the ring,” Geraldine said. “I think you need to be more grateful is all.”
“I don’t want this ring if it came from you,” Leah said. “If you don’t want it, I’m going to pawn it and give the money to the Soup’s On fund.”
“Jacob, you’re going to sit there and let her talk like that?” Geraldine asked.
“I’m fine with that, Mother. I think it’s a good idea. I never liked the idea of buying her such an expensive ring in the first place. It’s not Leah’s style. She’s not you.”
“Now folks, let’s get back to the business at hand,” Donald said. “Leah, I’m sure with the donated food, we can manage. I hope after you have your new place, you’ll let us continue to be a major contributor.
“Thank you,” Leah said. “That would be wonderful, as long as I can run it the way I see fit.”
“I don’t want to be a part of this,” Geraldine said as she turned and walked out the door slamming it behind her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Dean sat on the front steps of the church as Leah came outside.
“It went well,” she said as she sat down next to him. “They’re taking a vote, but Geraldine didn’t stay around. I have a feeling the remaining four will vote to let me continue.”
Geraldine walked around from the back of the church.
“I should have known the two of you’d be together,” she said. “You both are white trash, and you need to get off the front steps of this church.”
“Geraldine, don’t you think it’s time to admit that you’re the only white trash around here,” Dean said as he stood up and faced her. “I bet Leah here would like to know the real reason I left.”
“You left because you raped that young girl, and you know it,” Geraldine said. “Now get out of here before I call the police.”
“On what grounds? Trespassing on church grounds where we’re both members? Or don’t you remember that I was baptized and confirmed in this very church under your watchful eye.”
“I tried to tell Jacob about you two, but he’s been brainwashed by that one,” Geraldine said as she pointed at Leah. “Maybe she didn’t tell you, but I saw you two that day out behind the church. You’re both disgusting.”
“I don’t care what you think you saw,” Dean said. “I happen to be in love with this woman, and you will not disparage her. You don’t even deserve to be near her.”
“Love her.” Geraldine spit on the ground in front of Dean’s feet. “What do you know about love?”
“I know about a mother who does things to her young son to turn him away from love for a very long time,” Dean said. “Do you want to tell Leah all about that?”
“You’re delusional and should be locked up,” Geraldine said.
“Big Jim didn’t think so.” Dean moved closer to Geraldine and looked down at her.
“Stop, please stop,” Leah said. “This is no way for a family to act. My mother may have been a drug addict, as you keep telling folks, Geraldine, but at least we loved one another. You two act as if you’re in a war.”
“We are, Leah. It’s been one long battle,” Dean said. “That’s why I’ve stayed away so long.”
“He’s not even my son,” Geraldine said. “Did you know that, Mr. Big Shot?”
Dean looked at Geraldine and shook his head. “Who’s delusional now?”
Jacob opened the front doors of the church and came out to join them. He looked from Dean to his mother and then to Leah.
“You won, Leah,” Jacob said. “You can open Soup’s On tomorrow, with some limitations.”
“Limitations?” Leah asked.
“Yes. The day before and the day of the Woman’s Circle, you’ll have to do it elsewhere.”
“I can do that. I suggested it. That’s only two days a month.”
“Your budget is being cut to what you can fund yourself.”
“OK. What else?”
“This reprieve is only until September when the Board wants to revisit the whole arrangement,” Jacob said. “They’d like you to make a presentation with all the figures and maybe some personal success stories.”
“That’s reasonable,” Leah said. “I hope by September I’ll have the plans in place for moving Soup’s On.”
“You know you’re no longer welcome to live at the parsonage, don’t you?” Geraldine asked.
“Mother, you don’t have anything to say about who lives there,” Jacob said. “I told you that last night. And as far as you living there, I’m putting you on probation.”
“Probation?” Geraldine asked. “You can’t do that.”
“Watch me. One more incident, and you’re gone. And when Leah and I marry, you’ll need to find another place. There’s always the hunting cabin. You could start fixing that up.”
“You’re still marrying this tramp?” Geraldine asked as she pointed to Leah.
Both Dean and Jacob moved in on their mother.
“One more word, and you’ll find another place to live today,” Jacob said.
“I warned you not to say another word about Leah,” Dean said.
“Or what?” Geraldine stood her ground to the two men who towered over her. “Or you’re going to tell Jacob what you just told me? That you’re in love with her?”
Jacob moved his gaze from his mother to his brother. Dean took a step backward.
“You’re in love with Leah?” Jacob asked.
“Yes, I am,” Dean said.
“How did that happen?” Jacob asked. Then he turned to Leah standing back by the steps. “Leah?”
Leah turned and walked away toward Susie’s car.
“You’ll be better off without her,” Geraldine said. “She’s nothing. I thought I could make her into the perfect wife for you, but I guess I was wrong.”
“Not another word, Mother,” Jacob said as he walked back into the church.
Dean turned away and followed Leah to the car, leaving Geraldine alone.
Dean and Leah drove in silence back to Susie’s house. Dean wondered how Leah felt about his confession, both his feelings for her and about Geraldine. When she pulled up in front of the house, she turned to him.
“I don’t know why you said what you did back there,” Leah said. “But I’ve got a lot to think about. I’m ashamed that I left without talking to Jacob. I wish you hadn’t said anything at all.”
“Are you saying you don’t feel the same way about me?”
“I’m saying I don’t know how I feel. I’ve got a lot to think about, and we’re going to have to figure out a way to work together if what you say is true about the barn and the property around it.”
“It’s true. Tomorrow should take away any doubt about that.”
“And I have to decide what I’m going to do about Jacob,” Leah said. “I need figure it out without being confused by you. After all that’s done, maybe then I can think about what I feel for you.”
“OK, I’ll be patient,” Dean said. “I have to admit I’m thinking differently about Jacob. He never stood up to Geraldine as a kid. He always took her side against me, but today he really put her in her place.”
“I know. I’m proud of him. I’m also upset about Geraldine. She’s been like a mother to me for these past few years, and now it’s as if she’s become a different person or grown a second head. I don’t know her at all now.”
“She’s not what she appears,” Dean said. “You probably never crossed her before this.”
“That’s true. I never questioned anything she said or did. Do you want to talk about the other thing? About your childhood?”
“When I was twelve years old, Geraldine seduced me.” He said the words before he could think about their impact.
The birds still sang outside the car, the crickets chirped, and a butterfly flew past Leah’s window, but the sounds i
n the car stopped. Even the breathing from the occupants seemed to be suspended.
“Seduced you?” Leah finally asked. “What does that mean?”
“I came out of the shower one day when Daddy and Jacob had gone to Tampa. Geraldine stood in the middle of the bathroom with nothing on but a transparent black teddy. She touched me.”
Dean stopped and hung his head.
“Dean?” Leah asked as she touched his face. “What happened?”
“It continued until I was seventeen. I was dating Sally Jean, which Geraldine allowed for some reason. But when I started spending time with Mabel, Geraldine lost it. Mabel and I were both wounded souls, but we never had a sexual relationship. Geraldine thought something was going on.”
“And Geraldine turned that into something it wasn’t, didn’t she?”
“Yes, she was enraged with jealousy. When she made her accusations to Big Jim that night, I left and never came back.”
“I wonder why she didn’t feel that way about Sally Jean,” Leah said.
“I don’t know and probably never will.”
“She needs to go to jail for what she did to you,” Leah said.
“I don’t want anyone else to know. You have to promise me. I don’t know why I said anything back there. The past few days I’ve done and felt things I’ve never felt before.”
Leah rubbed his shoulder with her hand. “It’s all right. I won’t tell anyone. I’m glad you told me. It makes things fall into place. Did Big Jim know?”
“Somehow he figured it out; I’m not sure how. Maybe he always knew,” Dean said. “But a few months before he died, he found me in South Beach and told me he was sorry that he never stuck up for me. He didn’t’ say why, but I knew he knew. It plagued his conscience.”
“So he changed his will?”
“Yes. I didn’t know it at the time, but a few months ago, this attorney in Jacksonville called. He’d just learned about Big Jim’s death. And when he went to file the will, he discovered another will was already filed in probate, but he told me he had the latest will and testament of James Dexter Davis.”
“What happens if there’s two wills?” Leah asked.
“The newer one will be probated according to this lawyer, but he also said that the lawyer Big Jim used to draw up the first will knew about the new will, revoking the old one.”
“But he filed the older one anyway?”
“Seems so, and for some reason never told Geraldine,” Dean said. “You know Big Jim was pretty wealthy, don’t you? He came from money and invested wisely. There’s more to the will than just me inheriting the property, according to the lawyer.”
“What will happen tomorrow?”
“Jim Moran, the lawyer from Jacksonville, will contact everyone mentioned in the will and arrange for a reading, probably at Harlan Landis’s office.”
“Harlan is Big Jim’s lawyer, right?”
“Right, and he’s the one who filed the old will instead of this one.”
“Good luck with that,” Leah said. “Call me afterwards to let me know what happens.”
“Jim’s probably going to ask me for your contact information.”
“Mine? Why?” Leah asked.
“Because you’re mentioned in the new will, according to Jim,” Dean said. “Should be an interesting meeting tomorrow with you, Jacob, Geraldine, and me sitting in one room together.”
“I don’t know why Big Jim would have mentioned me in his will.”
“He mentioned you because he saw in you what I see, and probably what Jacob sees,” Dean said as he turned toward her for the first time since he made his confession. “Your heart is full of kindness and compassion. I knew it the first time I looked into those green eyes of yours.”
“Dean, I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything. Go on inside and take a break. There’s been far too much drama for a Sunday morning,” Dean said. “I think I’m going to ride my bike today and spend some time thinking about my life. Meeting you has changed everything for me.”
“I’m going to take some quiet time today, too. Maybe I’ll go up river, and sit and commune with the birds and fish. I used to do more of that when life was simpler. Then, I have to think about you as a tattoo artist. Are you really as famous as Tommy said?”
“I gained some notoriety after a couple of feature articles in some national magazines. How about I do a Harold Grant original for you?”
Leah smiled. “I think I’ll pass on that for now.”
Dean leaned over and kissed Leah on the forehead. “Thank you for listening today.”
They both got out of the car. Leah headed for the front porch, and Dean hopped on his bike. He turned around once to see if she was watching him, and he was gratified to see she was.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Susie wasn’t at home when Leah came back to the house. She went into the kitchen and began making a sandwich to take with her on the walk to the river, when Susie and Tommy came back.
“I hope you don’t mind if I make a sandwich,” Leah said. “I’ll get some groceries tomorrow to help out.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Susie said. “We heard about the vote from Jacob. Congratulations.”
“I’d like to ask you a few more questions,” Tommy said. “I think this is going to be a great story.”
“Sure. What do you want to know?”
“Susie told me you’re very familiar with the homeless situation. Are you OK to talk about your experience?”
“I think so, although I don’t want it to be the focus of the piece.”
“It won’t be, but it makes the story more compelling, and perhaps will give hope to others if they see what someone who came from the streets can accomplish.”
“I don’t know that I’ve accomplished all that much,” Leah said. “But when you’re given a gift, it’s only right to give back somewhere else. Those people down at the river are my family.”
“I can see that,” Tommy said. “And they feel that way about you. Tell me how you ended up on the streets.”
Leah took a deep breath. She thought back to the day her father walked out after a particularly awful argument. The day had started out with such promise. The three of them spent the morning at the beach searching for shells and then the drinking started. If Leah knew her parents at all, she imagined some drugs were added to the beer and whiskey. When they went back to the trailer, the mood changed, and the brightness of the day turned dark.
She attempted to give Tommy an abbreviated version of her father’s departure and her mother’s depression.
“By the time I was thirteen, we didn’t have a home except with the beach folks,” Leah said. “They took us in and showed us how to live on the streets. I finally managed to get a job at the mall when I turned seventeen, but by then my mother was dead from a heroin overdose. Joshua and a few others kept me safe with them and saw to it that I got clothes so I could go to school. Eventually, I found a job. Geraldine Davis found me at the mall one day and brought me here.”
After Tommy left, Leah changed into khaki shorts, a tank top, and hiking boots. Even wearing the simple clothes, she stood out with her long dark hair piled up on top of her head under a baseball cap.
“You’re cute no matter what you do,” Susie said. “No wonder you’ve got two men fighting over you.”
“Thanks, but it’s not all that great. I’ll see you later, Susie,” Leah said as she headed out the door with a backpack slung over her shoulder.
“Do you need a ride?” Susie asked as she followed her out on the front porch.
“No thanks. I need some time to think. Too many things are happening right now for me to make sense of any of it.”
Leah walked down the dusty road toward the river. She’d cut across the field that the farmer was leaving fallow for the summer and then into the woods that would lead her to the cool waters of Deer River. As she walked, a horrifying thought came to her. What if Geraldine did the same thi
ng to Jacob as she did to Dean? What if she was still doing the same thing? And what if she’d chosen Leah as his wife to cover for what was going on in the parsonage? It would explain Jacob’s reluctance for intimacy. She didn’t have the answers, but if the past few days had taught her anything, it was to assume the worst and go from there.
When she reached the river, she sat on a flat rock close to the moving water. It didn’t move fast, but it flowed over a few rocks in the center, creating a soothing sound. She quieted her mind and asked for guidance. She knew how she felt in Dean’s presence. It was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. When he looked at her, nothing else existed except the bright blue of his eyes with their flecks of white when the sun hit him just right. She lost herself in him as if in prayer. But when she pulled herself away from him, the guilt she felt was agonizing.
Jacob didn’t have the same effect on her, and he never had. They never stared into one another’s eyes. She had to think about the color of his eyes for minute before she finally decided they were hazel. Or maybe brown? She didn’t really know, and she planned to marry him sometime soon. Why do I know the color of Dean’s eyes after only meeting him three days ago, she wondered as she stared at the water without really seeing it flow over the rocks.
She’d be twenty-three on her birthday in July. She wondered when they’d be married, if ever. Jacob needed her; perhaps he didn’t want her as Dean did, but there was no doubt that Jacob needed her. She took care of him and offered him kind words of encouragement whenever his job and obligations became overwhelming. He often ruffled her hair and smiled at her when he realized she was right to urge him to talk to her. She knew she was his only friend and the only woman he’d ever shown an interest in romantically. He was two years older than she was, and according to both Jacob and Geraldine, he’d never had a date in high school or in seminary school. Now that Leah thought of it, it seemed odd. Jacob was sweet, kind, and generous. And he was tall and handsome; perhaps not so much as his brother, but he was easy on the eyes. He didn’t have the finely honed physique of Dean whose chiseled muscles rippled under his t-shirts, but he wasn’t flabby either. His square jaw line and dimpled chin gave him authority and a child-like innocence, all at the same time.