by Darla Jones
“Not worthy?” she cried. “What does not worthy mean? Are you in love with someone else?”
He shut his eyes again and dragged a deep breath into his lungs. “I told you there was no one else.” He stomped to the closet, got a suitcase, and began packing his belongings. “If you refuse to leave, then I will,” he declared with a stubborn set to his jaw.
Tears filled Jean’s eyes while she watched him cram his clothes in the suitcase and then fling a few suits over his shoulder. He walked out of their bedroom without looking back and then the front door slammed shut behind him. Jean stood there in her beautiful satin gown and cried inconsolably. Why? Why is he doing this? Their marriage couldn’t end this way.
****
On Sunday morning, LynAnn sat in her favorite pew at the First Baptist Church. The late morning sun glimmered through the stained glass window on the east side of the church and drenched her in a warm, tinted glow. She loved stained glass. It felt tranquil and soothing. The children were downstairs in the basement, and besides the stained sun rays, she had one complete hour of peace and quiet. The title of today’s sermon was Will You Go to Heaven? And as usual she tuned it out.
Her eyes were open, and probably everyone around her thought she concentrated on the young minister’s words, but her thoughts traveled far away, back to last evening when Jeff held her ever so sweetly in his arms. She toyed with the opal around her neck. She couldn’t guess what the future held and how long Jeff would be part of it. Because of his past history with women, his attraction to her could only be an infatuation until some other woman came along, and then he would be gone…off on another conquest.
“We are all sinners,” Reverend Tom Barnes shouted, and LynAnn’s mind jolted back to the present. The minister was handsome, she supposed. With wavy brown hair cut a little too close, he wore wire rimmed glasses. A short man at only about five foot six, he had a nice build. LynAnn noticed plenty of the young female congregation craved his attention.
The final hymn ended, and Reverend Barnes extended his arms in the air like Moses receiving the Ten Commandments and started the benediction. When the prayer ended, everyone lined up in the back of the church to shake the minister’s hand.
“Ah, LynAnn, so good to see you again,” the minister’s tone was soft as he shook her hand and held it longer than necessary. “I’d be pleased if you’d have dinner with me this evening.”
As if someone had suddenly waved their arms to hush the crowd, the entire congregation went mute and waited for her reply.
“I’ll have to give your invitation some thought,” she replied graciously, self-conscious as if a laser had beamed in on her, and thankful the nose-out-of-joint parishioners began chatting again.
He released his grasp. “Fine. I’ll give you a call later.”
“Sorry, but we do have plans for today.” Her excuse was valid. Jeff was taking them to Kennywood.
The minister nodded, and breathing a sigh of relief, LynAnn loped out the door like a prisoner making a break for freedom. This was not the first time the minister had invited her to dinner, and she knew he would call later in the day extending his invitation again. Eventually, she’d refused to answer his calls, and by now she thought surely Rev. Barnes would have given up. But today was different; she had to get home.
When she pulled her Subaru into her parking space at home her children could barely contain themselves, anxious to get to the amusement park. Her own enthusiasm faded when she spied Jean sitting on the front stoop. Her friend’s elbows were propped on her knees and her head hung down. “Play out front for a bit while I talk with Jean,” she instructed her wiry children and then approached her friend. “Jean, are you okay?” When Jean lifted her head, she knew she wasn’t. Her eyes were swollen, and her cheeks stained with tears.
“He’s gone. Stu’s gone.” Her voice was low and solemn, as if the man had died.
“What?” LynAnn couldn’t believe what she heard. The couple’s problems must have gotten much worse.
“Last night.” Fresh tears flowed from her eyes. “He packed a bag and left.”
Sitting beside her friend on the step, she reached for her hand. “Oh, Jean, I’m so sorry. I really don’t know what’s gotten into him.” Jean sobbed, so racked with pain her shoulders shook, and she gathered her into her arms. “There’s nothing I can say right now to make you feel better.”
“He said he was leaving for my sake, and I should find someone else,” Jean cried. “First, he says he loves me, and then he says he doesn’t and he’s through.”
LynAnn shook her head in disbelief. Why had Stu suddenly become so distant? Telling her to find someone else. The man couldn’t be thinking straight.
After a time, Jean blew her nose on a soggy tissue in her hand in an effort to gain her composure.
LynAnn felt helpless to soothe her. “Jeff is taking us to Kennywood today. Why don’t you come with us?” she suggested. “Try to get this off your mind.”
“No.” Jean shook her head. “I came here because I wanted to take a walk. I need to think. I want to be alone.” With a slow and painful effort, she gathered herself up and plodded off down the sidewalk, her head bowed. She moved slowly, her humped posture making her look more like a seventy-nine-year-old senior citizen instead of her young twenty-seven years.
LynAnn watched the sad woman as she trudged away with a heavy heart. She hoped her marriage wasn’t falling apart, but the outlook seemed grim.
“Come on, Mom. We have to get ready,” Matt called to her and they all headed into the house.
LynAnn dressed herself and the children in shorts, and Cassie insisted on wearing her tiara, and of course, Matt wanted to take his laptop. While helping Matt with his hair, she remembered the Sunday edition of the Delta Daily was probably in their mail box. “Cassie, will you please see if the newspaper is at the door?”
Cassie sped off, and when the little girl returned with the newspaper, she frowned and had a frightened look on her pretty face.
“What’s wrong, honey?”
“Nothing, I guess.” She shrugged her little shoulders.
“Looks like something is wrong to me.” LynAnn realized there was a problem.
Cassie studied the floor for a few seconds. “It wasn’t our regular paper boy. A big man handed me the paper. He said, ‘Hello, Cassie. Aren’t you a pretty little girl?’”
Shocked, but not wanting to frighten her daughter further, she tried not to let her own fear show. “Did you know this man?”
Frowning, the girl shook her head. “Mommy, how did he know my name?”
LynAnn tried to make light of the incident, yet an eerie feeling nagged at her. “Probably he was someone who knew me and heard me talk about you. Maybe it was one of our neighbors. I’ll go see if he’s still outside.”
She hurried to the doors, throwing them both open, saw no one. Then she trotted to the end of the sidewalk and looked both ways down the street. About half a block away an elderly woman walked her dog, but there was no one else in sight.
When she returned inside, she questioned the girl. “Have you ever seen him before, Cassie?”
Thoughtful for a time, she finally replied, “I think he was standing outside the fence at daycare one day last week. He watched us play. I didn’t talk to him. I knew I not supposed to.” The little girl wrapped her arms around her torso as if a chill hit her.
LynAnn gathered her into her arms and gave her a big hug. “Don’t worry, honey. You did the right thing.”
The problem was soon forgotten by the girl when her brother grabbed her tiara and sped off with it. “Gimme my crown,” she screeched and raced after him.
LynAnn soon dismissed the incident herself. The man was probably delivering the paper instead of their regular paper carrier. She would let the daycare know about the man outside the fence though. Cassie wasn’t one to make up stories, although she did have quite an active imagination.
When Jeff and Jon arrived, they were also dressed in shorts. Jeff had
on a T-shirt and she couldn’t help admiring his hard biceps. His shorts exposed his thick, muscular calves. He positively had to work out since attorneys lifted files filled with papers, not weights.
On their drive to the park in West Mifflin, the children were too excited and noisy to tell him about Stu, and by the time they reached the park, it was hot and muggy and crowded. They headed for Kiddieland, and the children rode trains, cars, boats, and flying big ear elephants. After a while they got hot dogs and cold drinks and sat on a bench to eat. While the children were busy planning their next rides, LynAnn had a chance to talk with Jeff.
“Stu packed up and left Jean last night.”
“You’re kidding. I don’t believe it.” His lips faded into thin lines.
“He told her to find someone else.”
“What?” A thick lock of brown hair fell over his forehead. “I tried to talk with him, but it was useless. I don’t know what his problem is. Of course, we’re not on the best of terms right now, and he told me to butt out.” He reached for her hand. “How are you doing today, sweetheart? I didn’t scare you away last night, did I? Are you thinking of kicking me to the curb again?”
The thought of the previous evening made her blush, but she squeezed his hand. “I’m still here, Jeff. I figure any man who would drag a woman and three kids to the zoo and now to the park must be quite a guy.”
He ran his free hand down her cheek and then through her wavy hair. “And I’d say you’re a very special woman.” He spoke in a whisper, his voice full of emotion.
She closed her eyes at his touch and couldn’t reply.
They rode more rides, went to the arcade, and ate again. Finally, after many hours the kids looked exhausted, and Cassie’s tiara leaned to the right which happened when the little girl was tired.
Jeff noticed too. “I think we’ve had enough for one day,” he announced to the children, but the boys protested.
“Daddy, Matt and I are six. We’re big enough to ride the Tilt-A-Whirl. These rides here are for babies.” Jon’s lower lip jutted out.
“Yeah.” Matt agreed, tossing his fist in the air for emphasis.
Jeff leaned toward LynAnn. “Think they can handle an adult ride?”
She nodded. “They’re six going on sixteen.”
“I’ll take the boys to the Tilt-A-Whirl. You stay here with Cassie.” Jeff headed off with the boys and left her with Cassie at the Merry-Go-Round. The girl rode round and round until LynAnn became dizzy watching the blurred colors streak by while its twanging music ticked off time in her ears.
After a while, she began to get concerned, Jeff and the boys had been gone for half an hour. She wanted to walk to the other ride, but he’d asked her to stay put. About fifteen minutes later, Jeff walked back toward her. But he was alone. “Where are the boys?” she questioned when he was near enough to hear her.
“I thought maybe they came here with you.” His tone held a worried note when he reached her in front of the ride.
Upset, her stomach churned as she scanned the crowd. “No, I didn’t see them.”
“You and Cassie walk over to the Tilt-A-Whirl with me, and I’ll walk around some more and look for them.”
Anxious and worried, she and Cassie followed him back to the ride where he had last seen the boys. When they reached the Tilt-A-Whirl, the boys weren’t in line, and they watched the ride spin by and they weren’t on the ride either.
“I don’t see them. They’re lost.” She was truly frightened now. The park was huge and doing a slow inspection of the immediate area, about one third of the small boys passing by were towheads like Matt. She tried to keep calm, but inside, her mind reeled and a sickening feeling swirled in the pit of her stomach.
Jeff gave her hand a squeeze. “We’ll find them. They had coupons for the arcade. I’ll check there first. You stay put, LynAnn, I don’t want to lose you and Cassie, too.” He motioned her to a bench.
She agreed and watched as he trotted off at a fast pace. Sitting with Cassie, she could only scrutinize the hordes of adults and kids as they streamed past. Tired, Cassie fussed and whined, but there were no boys. They were nowhere in sight.
Fear of losing one of her children was the reason she didn’t take them to crowded places alone. Child abduction was her worst fear, and her terror grew with every passing minute.
Finally, Jeff’s head emerged above the shorts-clad, happy park goers as he lumbered back toward them, a worried frown etching his face. As he neared, there were no boys with him. “They’re not in the arcade”—he shook his head—“but don’t worry, we’ll find them.” He wearily plopped himself down beside her. “I talked with one of the park attendants, and he said we should go to the Lost and Found and have them paged.”
Without further ado, they headed to the Lost and Found. Jeff carried a weary Cassie. When they got there, they explained their situation to a kindly, older gentleman. “Kids get lost here all the time. I’m sure they’ll show up,” he assured them and immediately spoke over the loud speaker. “Matt and Jon, your parents are looking for you. Come to the Lost and Found area near the water fountains.” Then he got on his walkie-talkie to inform other park attendants. “We have two missing six-year-old boys, one blond and the other brunette…” He went on to describe what they were wearing.
They waited.
Jeff held her hand. Cassie cried. LynAnn wanted to cry, and no matter if the Reverend Tom Barnes thought she was a sinner, she prayed. The boys had been missing for well over an hour. Jeff got a map of the park and studied it intently. Parents and kids of all description walked by and everyone was smiling except them and one little girl who had dropped her ice cream cone. After fifteen minutes, the kind gentleman with the microphone made his announcement again. “Matt and Jon, your parents are looking for you. Come to the Lost and Found area near the water fountains.” He then notified the other attendants the boys hadn’t been found.
More nerve racking, sick stomach waiting.
After another long ten minutes, a uniformed park attendant showed up with the two wayward boys in tow. “I found the rascals,” he declared.
Both frowning, frightened boys hung their heads when they saw their parents.
“Oh, thank God.” LynAnn gave a long cry of relief.
Running to them, Jeff knelt in front of them, sounding irritated and relieved at the same time, he asked, “Where have you two been?”
“Daddy, the man said you were going to meet us at the race car ride, and he took us there.” Jon talked fast. He knew he was in trouble.
Matt chimed in. “We waited and waited for you. The man rode us on the race cars.”
“Did you know this man?” Jeff asked.
They both shook their heads and Jon continued, “After a while he said you probably went to the car and we should go there. But we both said no, and Matt started crying for his mommy. He grabbed our hands and wouldn’t let go. That’s when I started kicking him, and then so did Matt. We ran and ran as fast as we could, and when we saw the park man, we told him we were lost and he brought us here.”
“I didn’t cry for my mommy.” Matt didn’t want to seem like a baby. “I said you would be looking for us.”
The relief on Jeff’s face reverted back to a worried scowl. The boys had nearly been abducted.
Both park attendants listened to their story. “I don’t care for the sound of this. We should inform the police,” the older man suggested.
Frowning, Jeff nodded his agreement and the park attendant got on his phone.
They were found. They were safe. At first, LynAnn was thankful to find the boys, but now she felt frightened once more.
When the two policemen arrived, they questioned the boys. “Can you describe the man?” The younger uniformed man hunkered down at eye level with them.
“He was as tall as my daddy, and he had lots of black curly hair,” Jon related nervously.
Matt piped in, “I kicked him in the leg. He had big boots under his pants. Boots like sol
diers wear. Are we in trouble?” He directed his question to his mother.
LynAnn put an arm around each boy and hugged them. “Absolutely not. You were both very brave.” But the pale, frightened boys couldn’t recall much about their abductor.
“We’ll go speak with the attendant at the ride.” The older policeman seemed to be in charge.
The kind man who used the loud speaker earlier, spoke up. “Feel free to use one of our electric carts. It’s a good distance across the park.” He pulled a map from his back pocket and pointed to an area. “Here’s the race car ride.” After scanning the map, the policemen drove off in the cart.
Although they sat in the shade of a large oak tree, the afternoon heat was relentless. “I’ll get us all a cold drink.” Jeff’s sweat made a vee stain between the shoulders of his T-shirt. He loped off to a nearby stand and returned in a few minutes with a cardboard tray of frosty lemonades. Neither boy spoke as they sipped their drinks and stared at the graveled ground. Once again, they waited.
The policemen returned about twenty minutes later. The older policeman who was in charge strutted toward them, and both LynAnn and Jeff leaped from their seats to meet him. “The only thing the attendant remembered about the man was his mop of curly black hair, and he was probably in his forties. He assumed he was the boys’ father.”
“Oh, he wasn’t much help,” LynAnn groaned.
“No. I’m sorry.” The policeman was concerned. “We’re going to hang around here for a while and see if we can spot him. We’ll also notify all the attendants to be on watch for him.”
After giving the police their phone numbers, they were free to take the boys home.
Exactly the opposite as when they had driven to the park, an unnatural silence hung over the car as they rode home. Cassie dozed. Still fearful, the boys sat in their seats like tin soldiers and although Matt had his laptop, he didn’t open it. Jeff was quiet too, and LynAnn could sense by the set of his jaw and the occasional rubbing of his cheek he mulled over the boys’ near abduction. Occasionally, he reached for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
When they finally reached her place, Jeff turned off his Buick, but did not immediately get out. Instead, he turned and questioned the boys. “When the man said he was taking you to the parking lot which direction did he want you to go? Think carefully before you answer,” he reminded them.