by Bree Cariad
The tension in the room tightened and while Barrett and her mother looked at the phone and did not look at Daniel, DeLynn and Cheryl stared at him, waiting for his answer.
“She’s correct,” Daniel said after a moment, “but not because of her. Hyacinth’s a wonderful town but I’ve only ever seen this happen to one other girl and the way she was treated because of it…well, things didn’t end well. At all,” he said, his voice growing a little husky. “I love my daughter, Mr. Roughton, and don’t want to see her having to deal with the turned backs and the snickers as she walks by, or the realization that no man in town would ever want her.”
“Are you serious?” Davis said, his voice going up in shock. “She’s a sweet girl with incredible spunk when she lets it out. Are you telling me the men in your town would ignore such an amazing young woman because some jerk took advantage of her one night? Geez! He drugged her! This was not Chrissa’s fault.” The tone in his voice had gone from surprise to anger.
“He drugged her?” Zachary asked, both he and Barrett having sat up straight at that news.
“She went with her friends on some ski weekend and from the way she described what happened, it sounds like they gave her some form of ecstasy. Chrissa didn’t even remember having sex, though she said she’s had a couple strange flashbacks.”
“Daniel, maybe—” Cheryl began, putting her hand on his arm.
He shook his head. “No. I’m sorry, Cheryl, but Chrissa’s not coming home. Not until after the baby’s born.”
Her lips tightened and she pulled back. “Maybe we should discuss this at home.”
He looked up and they stared at one another for a moment. “All right.”
“Well, while you take care of that on your end, I’m going to continue to work with Chrissa here. She needs a sense of self, so as long as she decides to stay, I’ve found a couple possible jobs. Work and making her own money will help her feel useful and as if she has a choice in things. I think it would be best to cut these calls down to weekly rather than daily. If she decides to talk to you, she can always call. Plus, she hopefully will stop hiding the moment my phone rings.”
Neither of the Carrolls responded.
“All right,” Zachary finally said. “Thanks, Davis. DeLynn and I really appreciate it.”
“You’re quite welcome. And I hope you and your girl come to visit. I’d love to meet the woman who captured Zachary Styles’s attention.”
Once Zach put the phone back in his pocket, the Carrolls once again took their leave.
“He’s a stubborn one,” Liz said after they were gone.
Barrett nodded. “I can’t blame Daniel for wanting to keep her safe, but that opportunity is now out of his hands. And keeping her at arms’ length is just going to make things worse. DeLynn, has she called you again?”
“No. I’ve been leaving daily messages just to let her know I’m thinking about her. And Deeka’s been doing the same.”
“Would this town truly treat her so badly?” Zachary asked. “I guess I can understand there would be some nasty behavior by some, but by the whole town?”
“The incident Daniel is referring to happened several years ago,” Barrett explained. “Deeka and I moved in a few months after it happened, but it shook this little town up. What Daniel’s forgetting is that it wasn’t just that a few people were unkind, but that the girl’s family turned against her. They shunned her. The girl committed suicide before the baby was born. I’m sure that’s what he’s imagining right now, Chrissa, with a bullet through her skull.”
“No!” DeLynn shouted, fear unlike anything she’d ever felt grabbing hold of her. “No! We can’t let that happen. Not to Chrissa.”
“Shh,” Zachary whispered, pulling her onto his lap. “Davis and the rest of us will do everything we can to help Chrissa make her way through this, honey.”
“But that’s what he’s doing,” she whimpered. “He’s shunning Chrissa. He might not realize that’s what he’s doing, but he is.” Sobbing, she pressed her face into his neck. There had to be something they could do to convince her friend that she was still a part of their lives.
“What happened to the father of the baby?” Zachary asked, rubbing her back.
“He had to leave town. I guess it was pretty nasty after she died. Threats of all sorts of stuff toward his family. All of the religious leaders and the town council got together and I’m not sure how they did it, but they got the town through it. I don’t think Chrissa would be as ostracized as he thinks. Everyone still remembers that horrible event. I think most of us would go out of our way to make sure it didn’t happen again.”
“I swear, every day I end up so exhausted,” DeLynn said with a sigh. “And now with this worry…”
“I’m sorry, DeLynn,” Barrett said, sorrow in his voice. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you understood that’s where her father was coming from. But I do think we need to start talking about more positive things. We love Chrissa and I hope like mad she comes back the feisty girl she’s always been, though maybe with a little more sense. As such, unless we have an idea on how to help or when we have a phone call, let’s try to talk of other things. Like you two.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Liz agreed. “Worrying about Chrissa isn’t going to change anything. Let’s focus on what’s good and maybe we can fold her into that when she returns.”
“So what about us?” DeLynn asked.
“Well, you are now in stage three.”
“I can’t remember. What’s involved with stage three?” she asked with a yawn.
Standing up, Barrett went into his study and came out with their courting form. “Stage Three: Mr. Styles must assume less passive control and begin to take on the mantel he will assume completely upon matrimony. This will include giving specific commands he will expect her to follow and discipline applied if not followed up to, but not including, corporal punishment.”
“So you’re saying it’s time to up my game?” Zachary asked in amusement.
“Basically. The two of you need to choose one or two things that she will follow without question and when she doesn’t do them, you will discipline her in any way but a spanking. It’s time for you to start becoming her head of house.” Barrett’s words were simple but carried a lot of weight.
Her head of house. Pulling her head back a little, DeLynn looked up into Zachary’s face, her fingers softly trailing along his strong jaw. “Are you ready for this?” she asked quietly.
He looked down and his soft brown eyes softened even more if that was possible. “Yes, I am.”
She wasn’t sure if it was them starting this new stage or the fact that Chrissa started sending her a text every once in a while, but DeLynn’s life evened out again. Zachary and DeLynn decided on three rules: that she would send him a text before going to bed each night and each morning as she got up, that she would go to him with any stress or discomfort, and the hardest for her was her promise to become more involved with student organizations on campus.
“I know it won’t be easy,” he said when he first brought it up, “but I truly feel this is important, DeLynn. Get to know more people and become more of a fixture outside of class. I need for my future wife to be as involved in the school as I am.”
It was the comment about her being his future wife that made her agree so quickly. Of course, actually doing something didn’t come easy to her. Thankfully, her new friends were more than willing to help. As it turned out, the four of them met for lunch every Friday and had included her in the invitation. With the Chrissa conundrum, she hadn’t gone for two weeks but with her promise to Zachary ringing in her ears, she walked into the restaurant on the next Friday and looked around. The four of them were ensconced in the booth they had been in when she was with them last.
Jon looked up and his face lit up. “Lynnie!” he called and relieved he was happy to see her, she moved through the tables toward their booth.
“Hi. Can I join you?”
> “Can you join us,” he scoffed moving over and patting the seat next to him. “Sit down, chickie. We’ve been wondering where you were at.”
“I had a bit of a home emergency,” she muttered, shrugging. “I don’t remember if I told you about my friend who disappeared?”
“Yep,” Heather said, nodding.
Before DeLynn could continue, their waiter walked up and she ordered the first thing her eyes fell on when she looked at the menu. Once the waiter left, she continued. “Well, Chrissa called me out of the blue. Turned out the people she was with dumped her in the middle of a strange city with no money. Thankfully Zachary knew someone there. But, anyway, it was kind of stressful for a couple weeks.”
“How is she?” Talin asked with interest. “Did she say why she left?”
“She hasn’t said, but I think things just got to be too much and as her friends wanted to go, she went too. As it turned out, she’s pregnant and that’s when they deserted her.”
Jon, who was halfway through his salad, froze and slowly turned toward her. “They dumped her because she’s pregnant? What kind of friends are these anyway?”
“The fair-weather kind?” she guessed.
“So how is that gonna come across in your town?” Christine asked. “Isn’t that kind of a no-no?”
“Well,” DeLynn said, grimacing, “her father won’t allow her to come home until after the baby’s born and to be honest, she seems to be doing well where she’s at. Zach’s friend Davis seems to be helping.”
“Davis Roughton?” Heather asked, her eyes lighting up.
“Yeah. You know him?”
“Only met him once,” she admitted. “He came to spend a few days in Longdale with Zach while they were getting their masters. Such a nice guy. Huge! Not fat, but the man’s got muscles upon muscles.” Jonah moaned, making her laugh. “Oh yeah, he’s a hottie. But he’s got the softest expression most of the time. Zachary says he’s a puppy unless someone he loves is threatened and then he’s someone you don’t want to mess with. Sounds like Chrissa’s in good hands.”
Her food arrived and as they talked, DeLynn relaxed.
“Lynnie, if you don’t want to answer this you don’t have to, but someone was talking about Hyacinth the other day and mentioned their courting program. What is that?” Talin asked.
“Oh, well…” DeLynn paused, trying to figure out how to answer. Remembering how accepting the four of them were, she began to explain. “It’s kind of our version of dating, I guess. Chrissa used to call it dating with a purpose. When a girl hits eighteen, she’s considered courtable. Men, usually somewhere between twenty-six and thirty-two, can ask to come to dinner at her house to start getting to know her. If things go well, he can ask for another one and another. At some point, he may decide that she’s someone he might want as a wife and he applies to her father and the town council to court her. If they agree, she’s asked and if she agrees, they enter their courting year. There are twelve stages you go through, each one to bring you closer and to build a loving discipline relationship. You have to either be engaged or married by the year date or the courting is disbanded.”
All four of them stared at her for a moment.
“Wow. So are you courting Zachary?” Jon asked.
“Yeah,” she said, smiling. “He’s amazing.”
They all grinned at that. Realizing that they might be able to help her, she cleared her throat. “We’re in our third stage right now and I won’t go into the particulars but one of the things he’s asked me to do is to get more involved with student organizations on campus. I’m completely out of my element. He’s shown me the list of them and given me contact info, but it’s hard for me to just go.”
Heather grinned. “Want some help?”
Relieved, DeLynn nodded. “Please. I have no idea what to do.”
“We’re all involved in several organizations,” Talin explained. “I’m with student government, the political future, United Nations, and a couple smaller groups.”
“I’m part of an anti-abuse group, partners for peace, and a poetry group,” Christine said.
“I’m in four groups,” Heather said. “I’m actively involved with Zach’s activities, with Christine in the anti-abuse group, new students, and I’m also on the volleyball team.”
“You gotta see her play,” Jonah said with a nod. “She’s really good. And I’m in three groups. Pride, which is probably not surprising, animal welfare, and partners for peace.”
“Wow. It all seems overwhelming,” DeLynn admitted. She just hoped to become involved in one group. Each of them was involved in all sorts of things.
“Start with what interests you,” Jon suggested. “What do you care about?”
Thinking about it as she ate her sandwich, DeLynn had an idea. “Are there any groups on campus to help women our age who are pregnant and alone?”
“Brilliant!” Heather said, her eyes lighting up. “I don’t think there are. Maybe you should start one.”
Her eyes widening, DeLynn shook her head. “I wouldn’t have any idea how to start, let alone run a student organization.”
“I can help,” Talin said. “Being on student government, we have access to student data and I can find out how many single mothers we have on campus.”
“And Zachary would also know,” Heather encouraged. “I bet the churches in town would be willing to offer some sort of help or aid.”
“Oh, the La Leche League,” added Jonah. When they all stared at him confusion, he rolled his eyes. “They’re a huge organization who focus on getting women to breastfeed. I bet they’d be willing to help with information and maybe even help you find donors for help with diapers and stuff.”
“Diaper drive!” Talin squealed with excitement. “Baby food! We could get companies and organizations in town to donate and create a place where student mothers could get their items at a steep discount if not free with student ID.”
“And in time maybe get funded for a house off campus where the mothers could stay with their babies while going to school. Kind like a sorority with the addition of children,” Christine giggled.
“Childcare for when they’re in class or studying,” Jon suggested.
And they were off. All four of them had a tremendous amount of ideas and DeLynn finally pulled out a notebook and jotted them down. With a pledge from all four to help in whatever way she needed, DeLynn was on a high when she got back to campus. Zachary looked up as she entered his office, his ready smile widening at her expression. “Well, someone looks excited,” he murmured, kissing her.
“I went to lunch with Heather and the others and we were talking about student groups I could get involved in,” she told him, unable to sit down due to her enthusiasm. “Jon asked me what I cared most about and I thought of Chrissa and asked if there were any groups on campus to support single students who were mothers. Oh, Zachary! We came up with some amazing ideas.” Pulling out her notebook, she rattled them off as he pulled her onto his lap. “I know this is probably more than I can do, but just the thought we could help someone like Chrissa. There have to be so many young women out there who don’t know what to do and just need a helping hand. I want to be that hand,” she ended in a rush.
Looking into his face, she was surprised to see the pride shining from his eyes. “DeLynn, that’s a wonderful idea. Can I help?” he asked cautiously.
Laughing, she nodded. “I’ll need it. I have no idea what I’m doing. They all said they’d be willing to help, but I’ve never done anything like this.”
Smiling, he hugged her tight. “Let’s start with two things. The first is you need to register as a student group. It won’t be official until the group gets to be a certain size, but by registering, you can go under the school’s non-profit organization status. The second is on Tuesday I’m having a luncheon with some very influential people in town. I think you should come and pitch the group, encourage these men and women to donate items. Not money yet, but what you need is the ba
sics: diapers, baby food, clothes…anything a mother might need for her baby or even a small child. Ah, honey…” Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to her lips. “That’s a wonderful idea.”
It was amazing what having a purpose gave to DeLynn. She studied with vigor, getting her classwork done as soon as it was assigned so that she could concentrate on her idea. When Tuesday came, she was nervous, never having talked to a group before, let alone to ask for items. But she had practiced what she was going to say in front of Zachary, her parents, her siblings, and even Deeka and Curtis so much that as she walked into the dining room of the local hotel at Zachary’s side she was nervous but hopeful.
And it turned out to be easier than she expected. As they ate lunch, different people brought up civic issues that needed to be addressed and one of them asked, “Does anyone know of worthwhile organizations to donate to? I’m looking for a good tax write-off.”
Before she could think or become nervous, DeLynn opened her mouth and said, “Actually, that’s why I’m here. I’m heading up a new organization on the LCC campus for young single mothers who are students and we’re looking for donations.”
“What kind of donations?” another person asked.
“Anything a young mother might need. We hope to create a mini-store on campus where they can get what they need for almost nothing. Diapers, clothes, baby food…that kind of thing.”
“And don’t forget formula,” an older woman in the group said. “That’s hideously expensive. When do you need these things by?”
“We’re hoping to start collecting as soon as possible. We don’t have complete numbers yet, but I know we have at least twenty young single mothers who are also trying to go to school at the same time. I’d like to try and help make their lives a little easier.”
“Besides the store, what else are your plans?”
Taking a deep breath, DeLynn spoke to them about her long-term goals of childcare and a house for them. She was so into it, she didn’t realize she had spoken for twenty minutes and not one person had interrupted her. When she finished, she blushed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to take up all your time.”