Behind the Altar: Behind the Love Trilogy

by P. C. Zick

  “He told me,” Leah said. “Jacob loves you, too.”

  “Then why did they both reject me?” Geraldine started sobbing, but she still had a tight control on Jacob’s arm and held the gun to his back. “They both hate me.”

  “No, they don’t, Geraldine,” Leah said. “They didn’t understand things, but they never hated you.”

  “That’s right, Geraldine,” Dean said as he kept he eyes drilled onto hers. “I didn’t understand because I was so young, and I thought you were my mother. I thought it was a sin. If only I’d known, it would have been so different.”

  Geraldine stopped her crying and looked at him. She loosened her grip on Jacob’s arm at the same time Reggie came up from behind and hit Geraldine’s wrist making the gun fall to the ground. Dean pounced and grabbed Geraldine’s arms, pulling them behind her. Jacob staggered away and fell next to Leah.

  “I used to pray I wasn’t related to you, you bitch,” Dean said, holding Geraldine close.

  Leah closed her eyes. She heard the sirens in the distance. Reggie came to her and began undoing the wires.

  “See to Jacob first,” she said. “She hit him pretty hard on the side of the head.”

  As soon as the police came and took Geraldine, Dean went to Leah, who sat on the blanket rubbing her wrists.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  She nodded her head. “About what she said…”

  Dean placed a hand on either side of her face. “I don’t care. It doesn’t matter.”

  “Is Jacob going to be all right?”

  “He might have a concussion, but I’m sure he’s fine.”

  “I need to go see him,” Leah said as she stood. “He’s going to need a friend. And he needs his brother.”

  Dean nodded. “We need to talk to the police before you can see to Jacob, but I’ll take you.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  They brought Jacob back to Susie’s house after his release from the emergency room. He wore a band-aid on his forehead. The doctor gave instructions to watch him carefully over the next few hours. Leah was relieved when the doctor said there didn’t appear to be a concussion.

  “You can stay here as long as you want,” Susie said once she settled Jacob on her sofa in her living room.

  “Thank you,” Jacob said. “I’ll probably spend the night like the doctor suggested, but then I’ll go back to the parsonage tomorrow.”

  “Do you want me to call Donald about Sunday?” Leah asked. “You’re not going to feel like writing a sermon.”

  “You can call him and ask him to find one of the lay ministers to fill in,” Jacob said. “Can you also ask Donald if he can meet with me as soon as possible?”

  “Sure. Today?” Leah asked.

  “If he can come over tonight, that’s fine. I’m going to resign as minister.”

  Dean came from the kitchen with a bottle of water that he placed on the TV table next to Jacob.

  “You’re going to resign from Sunshine Church?” Dean asked.

  “Yes. It’s time. I’d been thinking I’d give them notice so they could find my replacement. But now, I don’t think I want to do that. I’m going to do as Dad suggested, starting with a trip somewhere I’ve never been.”

  “Any idea where?” Dean asked.

  “I haven’t been to many places. I could just open a map of the world and drop a finger. I’d probably find a place I’d never been.”

  Susie walked over to the corner of the living room where a globe of the world hung on a maple stand. “Spin it and see where you land,” she said when she placed the globe and stand on the floor next to Jacob.

  He closed his eyes and gave it a spin. He opened his eyes. North America faced him. He closed his eyes again and lifted his forefinger in the air before placing it down on the globe.

  “Vancouver, Canada,” Leah said. “I’ve heard that’s a great place.”

  “It is,” Dean said. “I went to a tattoo convention there a few years back. Beautiful weather, especially this time of year. So what do you think, Jacob? Vancouver?”

  “I think it sounds like the perfect place to start,” Jacob said. He looked up at Dean and smiled for the first time that day. “What about a trial? Will I have to testify?”

  “Yes,” Dean said. “But the charges of child abuse are up to us, if we want to bring them. Joe said since we were both under sixteen when they began, there’s no statutory limits for pressing charges.”

  “I’d like it to be all over,” Jacob said. “The thought of facing her again makes me sick.”

  “It’s too soon,” Leah said. “I think you should go away. When it’s time for the trial on the kidnapping charges, you can come back then. You and Dean can decide what you want to do about the other at that point.”

  “I don’t know what I want to do about it either,” Dean said. “But I promise you, if I decide to press charges, and you don’t want to, I won’t draw you into it.”

  “I promise you the same thing,” Jacob said, and the two brothers shook hands.

  “One other thing I need from you,” Dean said. “I hope it’s not too soon to talk about this, but I’d like you to be the best man at my wedding.”

  “Your wedding?” Leah looked up at him, not understanding what he meant.

  Dean turned away from Jacob and looked at Leah.

  “Our wedding. If you’ll have me, I’d be honored to be your husband.” Dean knelt on one knee and pulled a ring box out of his pocket. Inside, a ring with a small diamond in the shape of a heart sparkled back at Leah.

  “Dean, Jacob.” Leah looked from Dean on his knee to Jacob on the couch. Jacob lay there grinning at her.

  “He already asked me if it was all right,” Jacob said. “At the hospital. I told him it would make me very happy to see you two lovebirds together. Aren’t you going to answer this poor man’s question? He’s getting kind of old to be on his knees all day.”

  Leah turned back around to Dean and put her hands on either side of his face. Tears flowed down her cheeks, but she made no sound. Dean stood up, still holding the ring box.

  “Yes. Yes. I’ll marry you,” she said.

  Susie started clapping and Jacob whistled. Reggie walked in the front door to find Dean and Leah hugging, and Susie leaning over Jacob and kissing the top of his head.

  “What the heck is going on?” Reggie asked.

  “Dean and Leah are getting married,” Susie said. “Isn’t that the most romantic thing you’ve ever heard?”

  “Married? I don’t get it,” Reggie said.

  “You need to pay closer attention, Reg,” Jacob said. “These two were made for each other.”

  “There’s one other thing,” Leah said as she looked up at her new fiancé. “You need to mark me with one of your tats.”

  “You bet. Want a snake like mine?”

  “I want a heart put right here.” Leah pointed to the spot over her own heart. “It has to be red and tasteful. Do you think you can handle that?”

  “I can handle anything you want me to handle,” Dean said, and he picked her up and twirled her around the room.

  “Isn’t this so romantic, Reggie?” Susie asked as she moved next to him. “Right here in my living room.”

  “Sure, sure.” Reggie patted Susie and then walked over to Dean and shook his hand. “I don’t know what happened here, but you Davis boys sure know how to take a lemon and squeeze it until it’s a sweet lemon drop.”

  “Get out of here, you two,” Jacob said. “I’m fine, and you probably need to talk about some things. Susie’s going to help me research Vancouver.”

  “First, I’ll call Donald,” Leah said. “And then I’m going to sit this man down and make him commit to a date.”

  When she finished her call, Leah hopped on the back of Dean’s motorcycle and pressed herself as close as possible. He handed her a helmet.

  “It’s not required, but I don’t want a hair on that beautiful head of yours damaged,” he said.

&
nbsp; CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  “I hope you get that log cabin built soon,” Reggie said as he struggled to pin a small yellow sunflower on Dean’s white guayabera shirt. “I can’t even turn around in here without bumping into you.”

  “It’s a whole lot more fun with Leah than you, buddy,” Dean said. He grabbed his white cotton pants off the bed. “Glad you didn’t stab me with that thing.”

  There was a knock on the door. Reggie opened it to Jacob standing outside the motor home.

  “How’s it going in here?” he asked as he leaned his head inside.

  “I’d invite you in, but Reggie takes up a lot of space,” Dean said. “How we doing on time?”

  “Leah and Susie are on their way. You ready to go?” Jacob asked.

  “Just as soon as I tie these pants. Leah wanted casual, she got casual.”

  Dean’s white linen shirt fit tight across his torso but fell loosely down his stomach. The white cotton gauze pants and white fedora with the gray band would fit right in at South Beach, but Leah didn’t know that. She asked that he look casually debonair. He’d do anything for that woman, even if it meant wearing pants that tied at the waist.

  Reggie stepped out of the RV to let Jacob come in. The close quarters barely held two men, especially two men as tall and burly as Reggie and Dean.

  “I’ll be out here keeping an eye out for the girls,” Reggie said as Jacob stepped inside.

  “Thanks for doing this, Jacob,” Dean said. “It’s more than Leah and I could ever have hoped for.”

  “I’m glad you understood why I wanted to marry you. Reggie is better as the best man anyway. It may be his turn next.”

  “I hope so. Are you OK?”

  “I’m fine and honored to be able to join two people so much in love together in marriage. Two people I love very much.”

  “I’m a lucky man.”

  “You are, and don’t you ever forget it. If you do anything to hurt Leah, you’ll have to deal with me.”

  “Don’t you worry about that, brother. I want to do everything I can to make her happy for the rest of her life.”

  “I hope one day, I’ll feel about someone the way you do about her,” Jacob said. “How did you get over it? Over what happened with Geraldine.”

  “I didn’t, until I met the right woman. I’ve had lots of women, but I used them. Like I was getting back somehow. Then the day I first saw Leah in the church hall, I couldn’t get her out of my head.”

  “Let’s hope the same will happen for me. Maybe in Vancouver.”

  “Thanks for sticking around until we could arrange the wedding. You’re our only family.”

  “And the two of you are my family as well.”

  Reggie rapped on the door. “They’re pulling up to the barn right about now.”

  “Is everyone else in place?”

  “They’re all here. Now come out here and meet your bride.”

  Dean stepped out of the RV just as Leah stepped out of Susie’s car. He caught his breath. He’d never seen anything so beautiful in his life as Leah standing there with her hair loosely pulled up at the back of her head. A crown of baby’s breath encircled her head. The strapless white gown, with the gold embroidery on the bodice, fit tightly across her breasts. The skirt of the dress billowed at the waist. Simple, yet elegant, and exactly what Dean expected of the beautiful woman who’d captured his heart. He laughed when he saw her feet. She wore white flip-flops with silver glitter on the straps. As he walked toward her, his eyes filled with tears. He put his shaking hands in his pockets.

  “You are the loveliest vision I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said as they came together.

  Standing around the front of the barn were all the Deer River folks, along with a few of Dean’s friends from high school. Dean held out his elbow, and Leah put her hand through his arm. They began walking toward the river while the others followed. Bud strummed a tune on the guitar as they walked, and Dean knew the soft melody was one Bud had written especially for this day.

  Leah walked with Dean with her head held high. The tension of the past few months floated away from her as she marched to the river with the man she loved. The ceremony would be over before the heat of September became too much, and the rest of the day would be spent in the finished barn celebrating the love that surrounded the two of them.

  “Welcome all to the banks of the Deer River,” Jacob said when they’d gathered close to the bride and groom. “It is with great pride and pleasure that I join together two people very special to me. Dean, my brother, and Leah, my dear friend, have declared their love for one another and ask that all of you witness their vows and support their marriage.”

  The group cheered and clapped as Dean and Leah stared into one another’s eyes oblivious to the joy of those gathered with them. Finally, they quieted down, and with Susie next to Leah and Reggie next to Dean, they exchanged their vows and became husband and wife.

  “You two are now pronounced married and you may kiss your bride, Dean,” Jacob said. “Dear sister, welcome to the family.”

  Dean reached down, grabbed Leah by the waist, and pulled her up to him. She put her arms around his neck and their lips came together in one long and luxurious kiss. Their guests stomped their feet and hooted encouragement for the kiss to continue. When they pulled apart, Leah and Dean smiled at one another.

  “We’re married,” Leah said.

  “We’re married. Now let’s party.”

  Susie grabbed Leah and gave her a big hug.

  “You’re next,” Leah said.

  “Come here, you beautiful woman,” Reggie said as he grabbed Leah from Susie and gave her a bear hug. “You don’t let this guy push you around, all right?”

  “She’s the one who pushes me all around,” Dean said as he came up to give Susie a hug. “Whatever she says goes.”

  “You say that now, but wait a few months,” Reggie said. “It always changes.”

  “Come on, Reg,” Susie said. “Let them enjoy it for a few weeks before you start.”

  Joshua and Carol came up to hug the couple, and the others took their turns as well.

  “Let’s go to the barn,” Dean said. “Lots of food and drink for everyone. And music, too. Y’ll better be ready to dance.”

  As the others headed for the barn, Dean held Leah’s hand and pulled her toward the river.

  “Are you happy?” he asked when they were far enough away from the others.

  “This is the happiest day of my life,” she said. “Everything is perfect.”

  “We’ll have that log cabin built in no time,” he said. “Jacob said we could live in the parsonage while he’s away and before they find a replacement.”

  “I’d rather stay right here, but I don’t care where we live as long as we’re together.”

  “You’re a remarkable woman.”

  “I don’t know about that. But I’ve learned something very valuable over the past few months.”

  She pulled back the lace of her bodice to reveal a bright red tattoo, less than an inch in diameter on the side of her left breast. She tapped the heart Dean carved on her after she said she’d marry him.

  “Home is right here. A roof and walls are only temporary. Home is wherever we are, whether it’s a mansion, a log cabin in the woods, an RV, a loft in an old barn, or a spot on the earth next to the river. If you’re there with me, I’m home.”

  Dean pulled her close to his chest so she could hear his heart beating. The river flowed slowly down the banks, the birds sang in the treetops, and the crickets chirped in unison. They’d both finally found home.

  The End

  Follow the Behind the Love series in Behind the Bar as Susie and Reggie struggle to discover if love deserves a second chance.

  Thank You

  I am very appreciative that you took the time to read Behind the Altar, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Click here for your copy of the second book in this series, Behind the Bar. The third book,
Behind the Curtain will be released in late 2015.

  I’d love it if you could write a short review on either Goodreads or the retail site where you purchased the book.

  Please contact me by clicking here for the contact form on my website or tweet me @PCZick. I’d love to hear from you directly.

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  About the Author

  P.C. Zick’s career as a writer began in 1998 with the publication of her first column in a local paper. By day, she was a high school English teacher, but at night and on vacations, she began writing novels and working as a freelance journalist. By 2001, she left teaching and began pursuing a full-time gig as a writer. She describes herself as a "storyteller" no matter the genre.

  Her blog and her novels contain the elements most dear to her heart, ranging from love to the environment. She believes in living lightly upon this earth with love, laughter, and passion.

  She resides in Pennsylvania with her husband, Robert.

  Ms. Zick welcomes honest reviews of Behind the Altar on Goodreads and the retail outlet where you purchased this book.

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  Books by P.C. Zick:

  Behind the Love Romance Series – click on cover to purchase

  Release date TBA for Behind the Curtain

  Florida Fiction Series

  Other Works of Fiction

  Nonfiction