Work. It’ll be late. Put J to bed by nine.
By nine? He knew that. What was he, the baby sitter?
As his anger hit the boiling point, he looked at the phone and wanted to throw it across the room. Instead, he hit two buttons and listened to it ring. Figuring it was better not to let Jaden hear this conversation, he went into the kitchen to do the dishes. He didn’t want to do the dishes. Surely they could have done them when they ate.
“Hello. This is Caleb.”
“Hey.” Eric stacked the plates, letting them clank together the way that Dani hated.
“Hey? What’s up?”
Only then did Eric really think that he shouldn’t have placed this call. He thought about making some small talk about the windows or when they would get the trees pulled up. But all of that scrambled with the accusations and hurtful things his brain was screaming at him to say about her.
“Eric?” Caleb asked again, concern lacing the question. “What’s going on?”
Ache such that he couldn’t remember ever feeling jammed into his chest and refused to let him breathe. His hand stopped and touched the table to steady him before trailing up the side of his neck and holding there. It did absolutely no good. “I think I’m done, man.”
“Done? What do you mean done?”
Unable to keep moving, Eric collapsed into the chair and put his face in his hand. “With Dani. I think…”
“Okay. Okay. Whoa. Hold on. Slow down there. What’s going on? What happened?”
That was the thing that probably made no sense. Nothing had happened. They hadn’t had a fight or a screaming match as they had been known to do in the past. It wasn’t that. It was the complete loss of feeling—good, bad, frustration, anger, sadness. He was just done. “Nothing.”
Caleb’s side went quiet. “What?”
“Nothing,” Eric said as hot anger jumped on him like a lion attacking, ravaging his spirit like a predator ripping into the flesh of its prey. “She didn’t do nothing. I didn’t do nothing. I’m just sick of it all. I’m sick of being second to whatever else she has going on. I’m sick of her not even thinking to let me know what’s going on in my own home. I’m just sick of it.”
“Is… is she there?”
“No, man. She’s still at work. If that’s really where she is. I don’t know. I don’t even care anymore.”
“You sure about that?”
A different kind of anger, a deeper more malevolent kind sank over him. “What does that mean?”
Caleb’s slow exhale took long enough for Eric to get a tiny hold on the emotions slashing and burning their way through his soul, but it wasn’t easy.
“Listen, man,” Caleb finally said. “I’m not great at this stuff by any stretch, but have you ever considered playing offense?”
Eric snorted and backed up an inch. “Offense? What does that mean?”
Every breath Caleb took sounded through the phone. “I’m going to try to explain this, but I think tomorrow you need to call the pastor and get the legit way of doing it.”
“Doing…?”
“Okay, the way the pastor explained it to me is that it’s like a football game. You’ve got the offense and the defense, right? The defense is trying not to let the offense get any yards, and the offense is trying to take the ball across the goal line and score.”
“Yeah? What does that have to do with…?”
“Just hear me out, okay?”
That stopped his protests. “Okay,” Eric said with a nod Caleb couldn’t see.
“Okay. If you’re married, you’re on the field. You’re in the game. And right now, you’re playing defense. You’re trying to keep the bad things from running over you and scoring, and let’s be honest here, they’re cleaning your clock. It ain’t pretty.”
Eric wanted to ask how he knew that, but he kept the question to himself.
“What you might not realize is that Satan is the opponent on the field against you.”
Satan? Eric wanted to ask. He wasn’t even sure he believed in some being named Satan, and now, Caleb was saying he was… what fighting him? Playing against him? It was a full three seconds before he got the words to protest, however, Caleb continued before Eric had a chance to say anything.
“If you stay on defense, Satan is going to win. He will. You will not. Your marriage will not. It won’t last a sustained attack because you can’t play defense well enough to win a game no matter how good you are. You have to learn to play offense.”
“But how…?”
“I’m getting to that. Hang on. First, you have to know that Satan is in this game to win it. He doesn’t just want to win, he wants you defeated, destroyed, off the field, out of the game. Permanently, and he’s playing to make sure that happens. He plays for keeps. Do you hear me? He is out to destroy everything you love and hold dear, and he will if you let him.”
Suddenly the anger didn’t feel so angry. It felt more scared and confused than anything. “Okay?”
“He wants to take you out. He wants to take Jaden out. He wants to take Dani out. And he will stop at nothing to make sure that happens.”
Eric’s spiritual gaze turned from being livid with Dani across the field to the real opponent. He felt it happen, saw it happen even. “He’s winning.”
“You’re right. He is. The question is, are you going to let him?”
All the strength drained from his body. He was facing an unbeatable foe, a predator stalking, attacking, and circling for the kill; however, in that moment as hopeless as it seemed, he knew the answer. “No.”
“Good. That’s a start. But you wouldn’t go into a football game without a game plan, would you?”
Eric licked his parched lips. “No.”
“No. You wouldn’t because you’d get killed.”
Killed. It was what he saw when he looked at the being’s eyes. He couldn’t really define it, but evil melded and twined in its hate-filled eyes as it stared at him. He nodded his understanding of Caleb’s words.
“You listen to me, God put you there, in that house, with this family, with Dani for a reason. He wants you to protect her from this thing that’s out to destroy her. Do you see that?”
“Yeah.” And he did with every part of him.
“Okay. Good.” Caleb let out a breath. “Now the next thing you have to know is that you’re not alone on the field.”
“Dani’s on it with me.”
“Yeah. Right. That too. But so is God, and God doesn’t lose if you let Him fight. Remember that verse a couple weeks ago that the pastor was talking about? The one about standing and seeing God win the battle for you?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Good. Then you have to realize that’s the real reality. God will fight this thing through you and with you if you let Him, if you call upon His Name and let Him fight. But you have to have enough faith to ask for His help. You’ve got to call out to Him. Pray for His strength and help like you never have before.” The words stopped for only a second. “Here’s a secret. God wins. He does. In the end love wins. Grace wins. The pastor always says he’s read the end of the book, and at the end, God wins. But you have to believe that now, in the midst of this battle. If you do, that gives you hope. It gives you strength to stay on the field and fight. I really don’t believe you’re done. You may be done with doing it how you have been doing it, but I don’t believe you are really prepared to walk off this field and let Satan have Dani and Ja.”
Tears burst into Eric’s eyes at the very thought that he and God were the only ones standing between his family and certain destruction. “No. I’m not. I want to go on offense.”
“Great. Good. Then here’s what you do. First, get a pen and paper. I’m going to give you a prayer the pastor gave me.”
Eric scrambled up and was back in a flash. “Okay.”
“Write this down: Satan and all your minions, you are hereby cast out and away from… name the person or place you are casting him from. So like away from Dani,
or away from Jaden, or away from this house… whatever fits the situation. You are hereby cast out and away from here by the Holy Blood of Jesus Christ. That’s important because the demons don’t listen to us, but they have to listen and obey the Name and the Blood of Christ. Then you can say, ‘And you are sent to the throne of the Most High God to be dealt with there as He sees fit.’ Then start talking to Jesus, put Him in charge of the situation, ask Him for the protection of His angels to come around you all, ask for Him to surround you all with His love, give you His strength, whatever. Just beg Him to help you stop being on defense all the time.”
Not a scrap of him understood any of this on a rational level, but Eric felt it so deeply, he couldn’t deny his need for it. “Okay. I will. Thanks.”
“And Eric, just so you know, we’re all praying for you too.”
He closed his eyes, grateful beyond what he could put into words. “Thanks.”
Dani’s eyes would hardly stay open as she drove through the streets teeming with night life. After seven, downtown came alive with little pubs and cafes serving patrons who lived much more exciting lives than she ever would. She could see them even now, sipping martinis and eyeing someone new. Someone new. What a nice idea.
In her heart she could already hear the disappointment in Eric’s voice, the accusations, the disappointment and criticism. Or maybe he would give her the silent treatment. Why hadn’t she called or texted him again? She knew why.
She didn’t have the time nor the emotional energy for yet another problem. She had enough of those to go around. PeoplePower. The name raked across her like burning hot coals. The phone lines were practically burned to the ground with all the calls about the lawsuit, and now Anston wanted her and Joel to go to Scotland and work with the other lawyers in person. She knew that made the most sense, but Eric was going to throw the hissy fit of the century when he heard. Not that she blamed him. She didn’t even like it when he went to Greensboro.
Pulling up to the house that was mostly dark save for only a few lights, she pressed the garage button and angled in carefully. The last thing they needed was for her to ding the SUV by being stupid. Parked and home, she shut the thing off and made herself crawl out, her body registering the overload she hadn’t really given ten seconds’ worth of thought to until now. So much for her New Year’s resolution to get to the gym and lose a few pounds. At this point mere survival was looking like best case scenario.
When she walked in the back door, she stopped in concern. A second and the washer sloshed and spun again. The washer? Who would be doing wash at this hour? Worry slid over all the other horrible thoughts, and taking her fear in both hands, she walked into the kitchen. “Eric?”
“Yeah, hon,” he said from the living room, and she heard the rustling of papers. It took only a moment for him to appear at the doorway. He looked haggard and drawn. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she said, lifting and laying her things on the table. “What’s… what’s going on?”
“Uh.” He glanced up the stairs. “Jaden’s asleep. I just checked on her a bit ago. I was doing some wash, but I wasn’t sure if you did the towels first or the whites. I hope I did it right. I wasn’t sure.”
True worry for him came over her, much as it had standing in the kitchen in Ridgemount when Derek and Jaycee went missing. “What…? Are you…? Is everything…?”
“I made supper.” He came up off the doorframe and strode across the kitchen to the refrigerator. “Ja ate with Carly earlier. I hope you don’t mind Alfredo sauce. That was all I could find.” At the microwave he put the plate in and set the timer. “So, is… everything… all right… at work?” A breath and he turned and leaned against the counter, arms folded, ankles following suit.
“Uh.” She thought about saying it was fine, lying through her teeth, but the breath betrayed her. “I don’t know. The whole Scotland thing…” Shaking her head, she tried to keep the sword hanging over them from sounding in her voice. If she lost this account, they would have two mortgages, neither of which they could afford, and it was all her fault. “Some outfit, environmental something-or-other sued to get the project stopped, and well…”
“Stopped?” He seemed with no more explanation to understand the gravity of the situation. “It’s not going forward?”
“Not at the moment, no.” Putting her head down, she gave in to the understanding that she had failed them all immeasurably.
“But… it can be?”
Behind him, the microwave dinged, and he spun and retrieved her supper. She sat at the table, basically collapsing into the chair.
“Right?” he asked, continuing the conversation she hadn’t really continued with him. “You can negotiate or counter sue? Something?” He set the plate in front of her, and Dani put her head on her hand, a move she surely would’ve heard about had she been at her mother’s table. A fork appeared and then a glass of water. She took a drink, amazed at how good it tasted.
She hadn’t even thought of food since the bomb had exploded in the middle of her life. A bite. Two. And she took another drink. After only a brief delay, he sat down in his chair at the head of the table, and his gaze took her in. There was no way she could look at him or answer his questions, so she simply ate slowly, being grateful he wasn’t badgering her. At the moment she had no strength left to fight with him.
As Eric watched her, he no longer saw only her. Instead, he saw Satan, that malicious horrific being standing over her, licking his chops as he hovered in for the kill. Closing his eyes, Eric willed every ounce of strength he possessed into his spirit. Satan, that’s it. You and all your little uglies are hereby banished from this place. Get away from Dani. Get away from me. Get away from Jaden. You are cast out and away from all of us by the Holy Blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and you are all sent to God’s throne so He can deal with you there however He wants to. His eyes tightened even harder, Jesus, please. Please, Jesus. We need You here. We need You. Help us. Help Dani. Help me. Please. Don’t let Satan win this. Don’t let him near Dani or Jaden. Help me get him away from them. Help me, Jesus. Please…
The whole prayer took what felt like a half-an-eternity, but when he opened his eyes, he realized it had only been a moment or two. Her gaze came up to his, and his cleared to see her, no presence behind her.
“What are we going to do?” she asked, and her face crumpled in fear and sorrow.
“Dan… Oh, sweetheart.” He stood for only a step and then fell to his knee at the foot of her chair before pulling her in to him. “Baby. No. It’s okay. We’ll handle it. We’ll figure it out.”
“They want me to go to Scotland, and what if we can’t… What if they win? What if…?”
Eric let out a long breath, put his head next to hers as he held her in his arms. “We’ll figure it out. I promise you. We will. We’ll figure it out.”
When they got into bed, Dani knew things would surely go back to how they always were. The guy in the kitchen earlier was nice, but he was a fantasy. She had no real way to explain what any of that had been anyway. However, when she clicked off her light, she felt him turn over, toward her, and annoyance drained into her. Of course…
His movement toward her only exacerbated her irritation. He couldn’t be serious. She was exhausted. How could he not see that? She’d had the day from the pit of hell, and now he wanted…
Slowly, slowly, he slid toward her until he was right next to her. She should have thought to get in with room to move, but she hadn’t. Now she was trapped.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered when the stillness had taken over again. Every thought in her head and heart slammed into those words with such velocity that they shattered into a million pieces and scattered around her.
“What?” she asked, sure she hadn’t heard him right.
“I am,” he said only slightly louder. “I’m sorry about your day, about the whole Scotland thing.”
Now she was positive she hadn’t heard him right. Slowly she rolled from her si
de to her back so that she was looking up at him in the darkness.
Gently he smiled, reached up and brushed his fingers through the edge of her hair. Somehow in the middle of his gaze, she lost her will to fight, and the tears came up again. She shook her head and sniffed them back.
“What’re we going to do?” she asked, giving voice to the cadence of awful thoughts marching inexorably through her mind.
In one motion he gathered her into his embrace and kissed her head. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out.”
Dani wasn’t any surer of that when she awoke the next morning, but when she rolled and found herself in bed alone, she heaved a sigh and dragged herself up. One way or the other she had to face this awful day.
“Baby girl,” Eric said, putting his hand on Jaden’s sleeping frame. “Time to get up or the sun’s gonna beat you.”
A small moment and she moved an inch.
“All those books aren’t going to learn themselves,” he said. He reached for her covers and pulled them back slowly. “Come on. I’m making scrambled eggs and French toast if you get up now. Otherwise, it’s cold cereal and oatmeal.”
“I don’t like oatmeal,” Jaden said, the sleep weighing down the words.
“Then you’d better get up, or you’re getting oatmeal.”
When Dani made it down to the kitchen to start breakfast, she found eggs, pans, and bread already out and on the counter as well as coffee dripping into the pot. Confused, she poured herself a cup just as she heard him come in.
“Oh,” he said, and she heard happiness in his voice though that made no sense at all, “I was wondering where you were.” Coming over beside her, he put his hand on her back and leaned in to peck in her direction. She wasn’t sure it made it all the way to her, but she flinched just the same. Without comment, he set to work on breakfast. “I was going to make French toast and eggs. You want some?”
Her eyebrows went up and then v-ed in the center of her head. “Uh? Yeah, I guess so.” It didn’t sound at all certain even to her.
Raising Attabury: A Contemporary Christian Epic-Novel (The Grace Series Book 5) Page 26