by Arlene James
Kendra pulled open the door and tugged Jack through it. At the same time, Harv lunged forward and practically shoved Jack out in his urgency to close and lock that door. He shut off all the lights for good measure and disappeared into the back of the building, while Jack stood there watching through the grimy window and shaking his head.
A battered sedan had joined the pickup truck in the parking lot, and it’s driver, a thin, middle-aged man in boots, jeans and a plain white, long-sleeved shirt, got out. He flipped a friendly wave at Jack and Kendra as he slipped past them on his way to the door. Finding it locked, he first looked down in surprise before trying again to push his way through, only to back off and scratch his graying head.
He stepped up to the glass and peered inside, cupping his hands around his eyes. “What’s going on, Harv?” he called out. “Let me in!”
“He’s closed,” Kendra said helpfully.
The man stared as if she’d suddenly grown a third eyeball. “Closed! Earl never closes!”
“Earl?” Jack echoed. “I thought his name was Harv.”
“Yeah. Harvey Earl.”
Jack staggered back a step, coming up against the bumper of his own truck. “Y-you wouldn’t know, would you, if he’s any kin to Joe and Patty Earl?”
“He’s Joe’s father, but Joe, he’s been dead for some time now.”
Jack’s jaw dropped. “He lied to me.”
“I never lied!” the fellow exclaimed.
“No.” Jack shook his head, focusing. “I didn’t mean you. You’ve been...helpful. Thank you.”
“No problem,” the man muttered, walking uncertainly back toward his car. “Strange doings. The Anytime closed, folks calling folks liars...”
“Wait!” Jack called, just as the man started to slide behind the steering wheel of his sedan. “Do you, by any chance, know anything about a family, who lived around here fifteen to twenty years ago, with the name Wallace? Brian and Isabella Wallace. They had four kids, two sets of identical twins, a pair of boys and a pair of baby girls.”
The man considered then shook his head. “Naw, I sure don’t. Did they live north or south of this here street?”
“North.”
“Well, there you go. I live south. Don’t never go on the north side.”
Bitter disappointment swamped Jack as he watched the fellow drive off. Kendra stepped up to his side and laid a hand between his shoulder blades.
“I’m sorry, Jack.”
Sorry. He was sick of sorry. Whirling around, he stomped over to the door of the breakfast diner. Doubling up his fists, he aimed a trio of shuddering blows on the glass, shouting, “I want to talk to you, old man!”
Harvey Earl’s head appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Go away before I call the cops,” he blustered.
“Call them,” Jack said. “You can tell them why you threw out your grandson.”
Harv seemed to think on that before easing forward to skirt the counter and approach the door. When he hesitated, Jack rattled the door. Finally, the old man reached out and threw the bolt, stepping back as Jack pulled open the heavy glass panel.
“I—I didn’t know who you are,” Harv offered lamely.
“You knew,” Jack accused, aware that Kendra followed on his heels as he advanced into the room. “What are you so afraid of?”
Harvey looked away briefly, then mumbled, “I ain’t afraid of anything. It’s just...” He shook his head. “I don’t want no trouble with the Wallaces.”
“Colby,” Jack said coldly. “My name is Jack Colby. I don’t even know Brian Wallace.”
The old man’s eyes narrowed. “I heard he took one of you boys and Isabella took the other.”
“That’s right. They split two sets of twins when they went their separate ways. The question is why they did it.”
Harvey tilted his head. “Your ma still ain’t talking?”
“She’s in a coma,” Jack informed him, the tragedy of it draining away the last of his anger.
“That’s too bad,” Harv said. “My Joe was sure sweet on that girl. I told him he was wasting his time, but...” A slyness came over Harvey’s face. “Maybe she had more time for him than I thought.”
“You’re not sure?” Jack pressed.
Harvey appeared to choose his words carefully. “Joe always claimed you boys were his. Didn’t have no reason to doubt him.”
Somehow, Jack found that difficult to believe. “If that’s so, why didn’t you try to claim Grayson and me?”
“Didn’t know where to find you, now did I?” Harvey returned smoothly. He seemed to relax then, putting on a smile that Jack supposed was meant to pass for affable. “Who’s this Colby fellow your mother hooked up with, anyway?”
Stiffening, Jack frowned. “There is no Colby fellow. It’s just a name.”
“I hear tell there’s a ranch, though, a big ranch.”
“It didn’t come from anyone named Colby,” Jack said, suddenly feeling that he ought to watch his words. He changed the subject, asking baldly, “Do you know why my folks split up, why they broke apart the family?”
Harvey Earl rubbed his chin with a beefy paw as if calculating his reply. Finally, he shook his head. “Can’t say as I do. But that don’t mean we can’t be family. I wouldn’t mind seeing that ranch of yours.”
“I bet you would,” Jack murmured, feeling an urgent hand on his shoulder. He turned, but no one stood behind him. Kendra waited to one side, observing warily. Suddenly, Jack had to get out of there. Reaching out to snag her hand, he said, “This was a mistake.”
He shoved through the door, towing her behind him.
Harvey Earl followed them, calling, “Don’t be a stranger now.”
But a stranger was exactly what Jack felt like, even to himself. He shuddered and felt Kendra’s free hand skim up his arm.
“Are you okay?”
“Of course I’m not okay,” he snapped. “How can I be okay when that hateful old man in there could be my grandfather?”
“He’s not,” Kendra stated flatly, squeezing his arm. “Even if it does turn out that Joe Earl is your biological father, that man in there is not your grandfather.”
Jack clenched his jaw. “You don’t know that.”
“I know what a grandfather is,” she insisted.
“You don’t even remember your own grandfather or if you even have one,” Jack couldn’t help pointing out.
Clutching his hand with both of hers, Kendra said softly, “I know what a grandfather should be, and Harvey Earl is no one’s grandfather. Certainly not yours.”
“I pray to God you’re right,” Jack muttered, starting blindly toward his truck. Please, God. Please let her be right.
* * *
“I’m so sorry, Jack,” Kendra said for perhaps the sixth or seventh time as the pickup truck sped along the highway headed west toward Grasslands and the ranch. She felt just awful at the way things had turned out. “I really thought we’d learn something useful today.”
“We learned that we should’ve stayed home,” Jack grumbled.
Kendra felt a pang of regret. “I can’t accept that,” she countered softly.
At least they’d had the day together. For her, that meant a great deal.
“All I ever come away with is more questions,” Jack snapped. “And frankly, if that old man back there is my grandfather, I don’t even want to know.”
“I can’t blame you for that,” Kendra admitted. Meeting Harvey Earl had cast a pall on the entire trip. “But I still think that learning about your past is important.”
“Is it?” Jack demanded, slicing her with a glance. “You’re still keen to learn about your past, are you?”
“Yes,” she whispered, “and no.”
Yes because she desperately w
anted to know who she was, if she had family, friends, anyone who loved her, and no because bad things could be lurking in her past—and because once she knew who and what she was, she’d almost certainly have to leave Jack. She had to accept the fact that, whatever her name, she could not be from around Grasslands; otherwise, someone would have recognized her by now.
They rode in silence for more than twenty minutes before Jack spoke again. “I don’t blame you because the day didn’t turn out well.”
“It’s okay if you do,” she told him, smiling wanly. “This whole thing was my idea.”
“I wanted to do it,” he admitted after a moment, “but I wish I hadn’t.”
She bowed her head, telling herself that she had no right to be wounded. In his shoes, she’d feel the same way. For her the day had been little more than an excuse to spend a protracted amount of time in Jack’s company. For him, the considerations had been different. He wanted to know who his father was and why his family had split. How else could he accept having a twin, a sister and possibly a half brother about whom he’d known nothing? Without the truth, how did he reconcile the idea that his mother had abandoned half of her children? The amnesiac charity case along for the ride couldn’t possibly figure into all that. Still, it hurt that having her with him didn’t mean as much to Jack as being with him meant to her.
“I only want you to make peace with your past,” she managed after a moment.
“Look,” he said, sounding as if he’d given this serious thought recently, “my situation isn’t really like yours. I know who I am, and that’s what matters. I used to think that I needed to know who my father was and maybe my grandparents. Now, I know how foolish that was. My mother tried to tell me to let it be, but I wouldn’t listen, and just look at her.... I don’t need to know anything else. I don’t want to know.”
“You can’t tell me these questions about your past haven’t been eating at you,” Kendra began, but he cut her off with the slash of one hand.
“Not anymore. I’m done. The past is the past. Let it stay there.”
Sighing inwardly, Kendra swallowed all of the arguments that she wanted to make. She knew Jack well enough now to realize that he would need time to process his thoughts and feelings before he could hear any sort of opinion on the matter. She decided that she would give him the space he needed. In the meantime she would ponder the situation at length, and ask God to give her the right words to help Jack make peace with his past. She couldn’t bear the thought of him careening through life with his heart closed to the truth or, worse yet, those who most loved him.
The sunlight faded, and as the darkness deepened so did the silence. Kendra turned her face to the night-blackened window and tried to escape her concerns by blanking her mind. Somewhere along the way, she fell asleep.
The next thing she knew, she was being shaken awake.
“We’re here,” Jack said huskily.
Kendra straightened, sucking in a deep, cleansing breath, and looked around her. He had parked the truck next to Maddie’s little car in front of the house.
“I’ll walk you in,” Jack said, sliding out of the truck.
Stretching, Kendra frowned at his choice of words, but she put on a smile as he opened her door for her. He backed away as she stepped down.
“You’re not staying, are you?”
He shook his head wearily. “I ought to check on some things at my place. Might as well stay there for the night.”
When he turned toward the ranch house, she had little choice but to fall in beside him. “Don’t you want to tell your sisters what happened today?” she asked.
“Nothing to tell.”
“Jack, please,” she began.
“You get some rest,” he interrupted. “I, for one, am too tired to make sense right now, and despite that little nap, I know you’re the same.”
She couldn’t argue with that. Besides, hadn’t she decided, just before slipping off to sleep, that she would ponder and pray before trying to reason with him? They drew up at the door. He reached around her and opened it.
“I’m sorry for how things turned out,” she said, pausing before going inside, “but I’m glad I got to go with you today.”
He stood there for a long moment, obviously warring with himself. Finally, he nodded, but then he backed up, tucking his hands into his back pockets. “Good night.”
She felt a flare of panic, as if he was telling her goodbye, but that couldn’t be the case. He would never leave this ranch, so until she did, they would be in some proximity. She would see him again. Of course, she would see him again, if only in church tomorrow. Relieved by that thought, she smiled warmly.
“Good night, Jack.”
“Lock the door behind you,” he ordered. “We’ve got crazy people leaving weird gifts and notes around. Better to be safe than sorry.”
“Yes...all right,” she said.
He backed away, keeping eye contact with her until she stepped over the threshold. Then he turned away and strode swiftly back to his truck. Kendra waited until he got inside and started up the engine. Then, blinded by the headlights as he backed up the truck and turned it toward the drive, she closed the door and set the lock.
The house felt still and empty. She quickly ascertained that both Violet and Maddie were out, probably with their respective fiancés. It was Saturday night, after all. Sighing, Kendra made her way to her room. She took a long bath and tried to read, but she couldn’t seem to concentrate, so she tried to sleep instead, but sleep took its time in coming, despite her physical and mental weariness.
She woke looking forward to church. Not only would worship soothe her soul, she would see Jack and be able to assess how he fared after yesterday’s disappointment. Knowing that, she took special care in dressing, washing her hair and brushing it dry.
Breakfast proved to be a bit of a trial, as she had to explain to Violet and Maddie that she and Jack had learned nothing beyond the fact that the late Joe Earl’s father, Harvey, seemed a strangely unfriendly, even hostile, sort to run a coffee shop. The twins could not hide their disappointment, and both seemed disturbed by the fact that Jack had chosen to once again spend the night elsewhere.
Kendra tried not to take their misgivings too seriously, but she knew that she wouldn’t relax until she saw him again and could discern his mood. She prayed that he would be in a sunnier frame of mind. It wasn’t as if anything had been taken away, after all. It was simply that nothing of any significance had been added to their knowledge. Fortified with that argument, Kendra rode into Grasslands with the twins in Violet’s SUV.
Even before Violet parked the little sport-utility vehicle, however, it became apparent that Kendra would be a fifth wheel if she stayed with the sisters. Landon and Ty waited for the twins on the walkway in front of the church. Spying Sadie Johnson, the church secretary, standing alone near the door, Kendra excused herself to speak to the shy young woman.
“Hello, again,” she said, going up to stand at Sadie’s side.
Sadie ducked her head, replying softly, “Hello.”
Kendra glanced around to find that Violet had linked arms with Landon, while Maddie and Ty clasped hands. Surveying the parking lot, she failed to see Jack’s truck, so she turned a smile on Sadie and made a forthright admission.
“I could use some company.”
Sadie’s eyes rounded almost comically. “Oh. A-all right.” Gathering music began to emanate from the sanctuary just then, and those few standing around started moving. “I guess we should go in,” Sadie suggested meekly.
Kendra smiled and nodded, matching her steps to those of the slender young woman at her side. “Where do you usually sit?”
“Up front,” Sadie told her, picking up her pace a bit. “I like to see and hear...everything.”
Kendra noticed that as she spoke, Sadi
e’s gaze darted to the pastor, who sat opposite the piano, to one side of the altar.
“That’s fine,” Kendra said, wondering if the timid church secretary had developed a crush on the affable young preacher, who was handsome in his own wholesome, boy-next-door fashion.
They wound their way to the front pew, which they had to themselves. Nevertheless, Sadie squeezed into the corner nearest the wall. Kendra took a moment to survey the crowd, looking for Jack, but she finally had to accept that he had not yet arrived. Violet sent her a questioning little shrug, but Kendra merely waved then took a seat next to Sadie.
The worship service did soothe her, but Kendra kept praying silently that Jack had slipped in behind her. Of course, she couldn’t turn around to look. It was impossible to say immediately afterward if he’d been in attendance, owing to the glut of bodies that spilled into the aisle and out the door. By virtue of having sat on the front pew, she and Sadie were the last two to file out through the back of the church. The pastor greeted her with a patient smile and firm handshake, but Kendra noticed that he took a slow, easy pleasure in speaking to Sadie. Kendra felt compelled to give them some privacy and took herself off after a whispered farewell to her shy friend.
Violet and Maddie met her on the walkway, identical looks of concern on their faces. They didn’t have to tell her. She already knew instinctively.
“Jack didn’t show up for church.”
That meant, of course, that his withdrawal this time was very serious.
And it was all her fault.
Chapter Thirteen
As a rule, Jack did not miss church on Sunday, but he couldn’t yet bring himself to face his sisters with another failure, and he clearly could not trust himself around Kendra. She drew him as no other woman ever had. Imagine how she might affect him if he actually knew her name!
Meanwhile, he felt...betrayed. By his mother, by his father—whoever he was—by Kendra, who had been so sure that going to Fort Worth was the right thing to do and even, in a small corner of his heart, by God. Can’t a guy get a break? He then ran through a long litany of unjust and downright absurd tribulations.