Goodness and Mercy

by Vanessa Davis Griggs

  He snickered. “Yeah. You think you’re slick, don’t you? I guess you want to tell her what I’ve been up to now, don’t you? Get a little payback for what I’ve done to you?”

  “Who me? Be the one to let your wife know what a jerk she’s married to?”

  “She won’t believe you. She knows how much I love her. Tiffany understands jealous women. Women who are envious of what other women have are known to lie. When it comes to my wife, I’d keep my mouth closed if I were you. But you and I will talk some more. Who knows, maybe you’ll confide in me some other little dark secret you haven’t shared with anyone else. Or just maybe I’ll stumble across some more information all on my own. So, we’ll just say good-bye . . . for now.” He leaned down to give her a kiss on her cheek.

  She quickly pulled back before his lips could touch her. “Don’t do that!” she said.

  “Oh, so I guess it’s okay for Clarence to come by, spend a little time here doing God only knows what and for how long, but not me.”

  “You were watching my house? You’re spying on me, too?”

  “No. I parked across the street. I was about to get out when three cars pulled up into your driveway. One guy parked your Solara, got out, then got into the car that pulled up behind the Corvette. The two of them left. Clarence got out of his Corvette and stood outside talking on his cell phone. With three cars pulling up in your driveway like that, I decided I should stick around and see what was going on in case you needed some help. I wasn’t spying on you. Trust me: I have more to do with my life than follow you around. I was merely coming to apologize, and to try to make right what I may have inadvertently done. And I know you don’t believe this, but I’d really like for us to be friends.”

  “If you want to make things right, then do me a favor: keep my name out of your mouth. Now, why don’t you go home to your wife and quit trying to figure out how you can get me into bed.”

  “Because I know what I want, and for the most part, I usually get what I want.” He started to trace her jawline with his finger. She jerked back. He smiled. “You’ll see.” He leaned in closer to her face. “I’m a very patient and persistent man.”

  “Get out of my house. I’m not interested in you. And I don’t know any other way I can say it to you. I’m not interested.”

  “I hear what you’re saying. You think you want pretty boy,” Darius said. “I’ve tried to tell you that he’s not the right man for you.”

  She opened the door wider. “Leave now or I’m going to call the police. And I’ll thank you not to darken my door again.” She said it slowly, distinctively, and deliberately.

  He grinned as he strolled past her and out of the door. Turning around once he had crossed the threshold, he blew her a two-finger kiss and grinned. She slammed the door in his face. She hugged herself, then quickly realized just how much her body was trembling.

  Chapter 35

  Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name’s sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm: if they come and pray in this house.

  —2 Chronicles 6:32

  Zachary wondered why Gabrielle hadn’t called him back. He broke his own rule and called her again at ten-fifteen. Still, no answer. On another front, he was excited about the progress his house had taken. Queen had contacted an employment agency and hired someone to come clean and get the house in shape. The woman they’d sent had done an amazing job. Both he and Queen were more than impressed with her work and her decorating style. And if Queen was impressed, this woman had to be good.

  Zachary knew Queen was good at turning on her charm, but she could be sneaky, too. She had a way of disarming a person’s defenses so she could find out exactly what she wanted to know or what was really going on with them that they may not have intended to tell. But Queen had nothing but positive things to say about the new housekeeper. She couldn’t wait for Zachary to meet her.

  So, when Queen received a call from the employment agency Wednesday morning stating that after this week, Gabrielle would no longer be working in their home, understandably, Queen was taken aback.

  “Did something happen?” Queen asked Ms. Daniels at the agency.

  “No,” Ms. Daniels said.

  “Then why are you changing her out? I really like her.”

  “It wasn’t us. She was the one who requested that she be reassigned.”

  “She asked? Did something happen here that I’m unaware of ?” Queen asked.

  “She didn’t say anything happened. She just asked if she could swap assignments with someone else. But let me assure you, the person we’ll be sending out next week will be equally as good, if not better. We want you and Doctor Morgan to be happy. In fact, I believe I have the perfect person to replace her. I think you’re really going to like the new person as well. Unfortunately, she can’t start until next week after she finishes a job that’s due to end this week. But Gabrielle has agreed to finish out this week with you.”

  That bothered Queen. Maybe something had happened between her and Gabrielle. Maybe she’d asked Gabrielle one too many questions and one of those questions had offended her. She hadn’t gotten that impression. In fact, they seemed to have gotten along splendidly. She’d been ecstatic that Gabrielle would be taking care of the house. She felt they could trust her. Now, she didn’t know. Maybe she’d been mistaken about Gabrielle.

  Queen decided she would talk to Gabrielle about it when she got there.

  “The phone company is scheduled to come and put in the landline today,” Queen reminded Zachary when he walked into the kitchen before leaving for his office.

  “Yeah, I remember.”

  “It’s sad how long it takes these days just to get a new phone. They couldn’t even give me a specific time. Just said between nine and five, so I don’t have a clue what time they’ll be here. And I have an errand I must do today. But now I don’t want to leave the new housekeeper here since she seems to be flaking out on us. I thought she was going to turn out to be someone we could trust when no one’s here. Now, I don’t know. So if I need you to come home for lunch today while I run my errand, do you think you could do that in case the phone company decides to show up while I’m gone?”

  Zachary checked his watch to see how he was doing for time. “Yeah, sure.”

  “Great.” Queen sipped her decaffeinated coffee. “I’ll be so glad when I can get back to regular coffee. I don’t care what anybody says, there is a difference.”

  “You need to keep doing what’s right for that little one you’re carrying,” Zachary said. “Well, I need to get going.” He grabbed a slice of bacon off her plate and ate it as he walked. “Call me and let me know if you need me to come home for lunch.”

  She nodded as she held her coffee cup in the air as a way of saluting him.

  When Gabrielle arrived, she felt uneasy. She’d called Ms. Daniels and requested to be reassigned. Her hope was that they could do it today. Ms. Daniels had wanted to know why she wanted to change. She wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything about that client they needed to know about. Gabrielle assured her it was nothing like that. In fact, she liked Queen. She’d been excited about working there, was looking forward to it even. Queen didn’t hound her or act like some well-todo people can act toward people they felt they were better than. And she could tell that Queen trusted her in her home. Queen was sincerely down-to-earth, in spite of her royal name.

  It was because she liked Queen so much that she knew she’d have to make some changes. First, she needed to get out of their house as their housekeeper. Second, she had to kick Zachary completely to the curb. The last thing she needed now was to run into Zachary in his own house, although that would quickly take care of problems one and two.

  Things just didn’t fit. How could someone be so wonderful and be such a colossal cheat at the same time? She had totally misread Zachary, and she prided herself on being a truth-o-meter. She could usually tell when s
omeone was lying. But she’d absolutely missed this one. He’d told her that he wasn’t married or in a relationship with anyone; clearly that wasn’t true. And on top of everything else, his wife was expecting a baby.

  Gabrielle knew she was being a coward by not answering her phone when Zachary called or by not calling him back. Anyone with just a little chutzpah would tell him what she knew and be done with it. But her plan was to first get out of their employment. Then she could let him know that the jig was up. She would bust him with the unadulterated truth. She could see God’s hand here. How ironic that, of all the houses in which she could have gotten a job as a housekeeper, she would be assigned to Zachary’s house and meet his wife. This had to be God looking out for her, protecting her.

  When Gabrielle arrived at the Morgan’s home, Queen didn’t waste any time letting her know how upset she was that she was leaving them. She asked if there was anything she’d done to upset her or to cause her to leave. Gabrielle assured her it had nothing to do with her at all. She hated that Queen felt she was the cause of her leaving when she absolutely wasn’t. But she couldn’t tell Queen about Zachary—that would break her heart, not to say what it could do to their marriage. If Queen found out about Zachary, she would have to do it without her assistance. As far as Gabrielle was concerned, this was an a and b conversation, and she was going to c her way of out it.

  That Wednesday, Gabrielle went about doing her work. She got a lot done. The house was really shaping up. She was amazed at just how many decisions Queen allowed her to make about where things should go. She would have thought Queen would have relegated her to more menial tasks while she put things in their proper places. But instead, Queen stressed to Gabrielle that how she arranged rooms or put things away was fine with her. The plan was to empty boxes and to make the house feel more like a home.

  Queen had said she needed to run an errand. Gabrielle told her that since she was there, she could go if she needed to. Queen didn’t respond to her offer to leave one way or the other. Gabrielle could tell there was a huge difference in the Queen of yesterday and the Queen of today. One, she was less talkative. Gabrielle was starting to see she’d likely offended Queen by asking to be reassigned. If only she could explain, then Queen would understand and even appreciate what she was doing. For sure, Gabrielle couldn’t afford to lose her job. And if Queen was to find out about her and Zachary, she knew between the two of them, one would likely end up out on the street. And it most likely wouldn’t be Zachary. It wasn’t worth taking the risk. Being in Zachary’s house like this, she and Zachary were bound to run into each other sooner or later.

  Based on what Queen had asked her when she arrived, she deduced that Queen hadn’t mentioned her name to Zachary yet. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be calling her house and leaving those nice little messages on her answering machine. He would have figured out what was going on and most likely called her to say that they needed to talk, so he could further bury the truth from his wife. Was it possible there might be two Doctor Morgans ? Probable, but unlikely. She just needed to make it through two more days and she would be home free.

  Queen came into the den to see how things were going. Gabrielle had to admit: she had a knack for cleaning and decorating. Queen acted as though she’d never seen some of these things before even though it was apparent they were items from a previous home.

  “Look at this room,” Queen said as she looked around and smiled. “Wow! You’ve done an amazing job. Amazing! But you know what this room needs?”

  Gabrielle scanned the finished room. She was glad Queen was pleased and seemed to have warmed back up at least somewhat to her. “Pictures, maybe?”

  “Precisely! But I believe all the photos are in one box. And I’m not sure where that box is.” Her cell phone began to sing. “Excuse me a second,” she said. “Hello.”

  Gabrielle busied herself so she wouldn’t appear to be listening in on Queen’s conversation. Still, she heard things like, “No, they haven’t come yet. Whatever time you can come home, Z. W., will work for me. I told you, I don’t have to be there at a certain time, just as long as I get there before five today. So, if you want to come now or an hour from now, either time will work for me. Whatever is good for you.”

  Gabrielle froze. Zachary will be coming home before I’m out of here?

  Just then, the doorbell rang. “Hold on, someone’s at the door. Maybe that’s them now.” Queen went to the window and peeked out. “It is. I know you’re glad they made it so you won’t have to come now. Yes, Zachary. I love you, too. Bye now,” she said.

  “Great, the phone company is here,” Queen said to Gabrielle. She moved over closer to Gabrielle. “Hey? Are you all right? All of a sudden, you don’t look well.”

  “I just need some water,” Gabrielle said. The doorbell rang again.

  “I have to get the door,” Queen said. “Get some water, then take a break. Perhaps you’ve overdone it. I mean, by the looks of this room, you’d think you were trying to finish this whole house before you leave on Friday.” Queen left and opened the door.

  Gabrielle went to the kitchen and got some water. She pressed the cool glass against her forehead. Those words kept repeating in her mind. Yes, Zachary. I love you, too. She began to pray right there in the kitchen with the glass pressed against her forehead.

  Friday afternoon couldn’t come fast enough for her!

  Chapter 36

  It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

  —Lamentations 3:22

  Gabrielle came home from work feeling good about what she’d accomplished. Two more workdays and she could walk away completely. After Zachary called and told Queen he loved her, for a minute, she’d felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. She didn’t know why she cared. Sure, Zachary had been wonderful. But he’d also proven that he was a deceiver. She hadn’t intended to, but apparently she’d fallen harder for him than she’d realized. The fact still remained, he belonged to someone else. So, that was that. She just needed to concentrate on God and His Word and let that be her main focus.

  Her Realtor called and said someone had made an offer on her house. She had bittersweet feelings about it. She needed to sell the house. She’d prayed about selling it, even done a two-day fast. Actually, a week earlier, she’d tried fasting three days, but the hunger got to her on that second day. She later learned everyone had a hard time on the second day. And if you made it through your second day, the third day was such a breeze that some folks even went on to a fourth day. Still, her heart had been in the right place. She had fasted and prayed with her eyes on Jesus. Now, she was learning that someone had offered exactly what she was asking for it. That was a true blessing.

  “And you’re also not going to believe this,” her Realtor said. “The buyer is paying cash, so you won’t have to wait long for him to take possession. We just need the title search, an inspection, the two of you signing the papers, and that will do it. They’ve set the closing date for a week from today at five. I tell you: somebody up there must really like you. Things are moving somewhat these days in the housing market, but not moving for everybody. And for sure not like this. Most who are buying are still bargain hunting.”

  “Well, somebody does like me. In fact, somebody loves me,” Gabrielle said. “And His name is Jesus.”

  “Okay,” the Realtor said. “But lots of people are praying, and I’m sure Jesus loves them, too. However, they’re not getting an answer like you just got with yours. You’re getting the full asking price. That rarely happens in a good market.”

  “Is it possible we can close at six? I’m not sure where I’ll be working next week, and I don’t want to request to leave early my first week with my new employer just in case my shift there doesn’t end until five.”

  “Six it is, then. I’ll call and make sure that works for the buyer.”

  Gabrielle couldn’t help but grin as she hung up. Things were finally moving. She had been faithf
ul through a few things, and now God was showing His faithfulness. She looked up, pressed her hands in a prayer like way, and said, “Thank You. Thank You.”

  Her phone rang again. She looked at the caller ID. It was Zachary. She watched as she allowed the phone to ring, then let the call go to her answering machine. From the tone of his voice, she could tell he was worried that he hadn’t heard from her yet. He begged her to call him back as soon as she got the message. His worried sound didn’t seem to have panic in it. He didn’t sound like a cheating man who’d just found out he’d gotten caught. He sounded like a man concerned about the whereabouts of someone he really cared about.

  Two more days . . . Thursday and Friday, and she could tell Zachary what was really up with the two of them. Two more days, and she could tell him what a wonderful wife he appeared to have, and how he should be ashamed of himself for what he was doing, not only to her and his soon-tobe child, but to the body of Christ. It was people like him who were giving Christians a bad name—him and Darius.

  Well, as far as she was concerned, everybody could act up if they wanted to. But she was determined—to the best of her abilities—she was going to live her life for Christ. And if that meant she had to be all by herself, then so be it. She would just have to be all by herself.

  Chapter 37

  And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?

  —Luke 18:7

  Gabrielle went to Bible study. She drove the Corsica to church so she could give it back to Johnnie Mae. When Clarence brought her car back to her, she’d called Johnnie Mae to tell her what had transpired. She hadn’t been sure if it was right for her to accept what he’d done—paying to get it out of repo, then paying the entire loan off and giving the car (title free) to her.