A Husband for All Seasons (15 page)

Vicky gave Erica her phone number. “Call me and we can get together and plan some of the meals before we go shopping.”

Vicky's boss wasn't happy about her three weeks' absence during one of the store's busiest times and she fired her. Vicky volunteered to finish the week to give the manager time to find a replacement. She didn't tell her parents or Chad about the situation, but she did talk to God about it. The only answer she received was to go back to college and prepare to follow her dream.

The next day she went to the OSU registrar's office, discussed student loans and registered for the winter semester. In the meantime, she had to have an income.

“God,” she prayed silently, when she entered the business office, “I need a job. I'll take anything that's available.”

She talked to the director of volunteer services first, a prim elderly woman who had been a Biology professor before she retired. Vicky explained about the missionary tour and that she had been fired.

“I'll be starting classes next quarter, but I need a job before then. And I'll have to continue working while I'm studying.”

“You've been one of our best volunteers,” the director said, “and I'll go to bat for you. If at all possible, you'll have a job as soon as you come home from Haiti. You're being faithful to God's call, and He never leaves faithful followers out on a limb. One way or another He always provides.”

After she left the hospital, Vicky went to see her parents, rather than taking the coward's way out and telling them on the phone.

“Vicky!” her mother cried. “Why didn't you tell us? You know we put aside money for your college education. We'll pay your tuition and you can move back home to live. Your room is just as you left it—waiting for you to come home.”

Tears stung Vicky's eyes. It was comforting to have good rapport with her parents again.

“It may come to that,” she said, “but let me try it on my own first.”

“Have you settled on a major?” her father asked.

“No. I signed up for twelve hours of basic, required subjects. After so many months away from college I'll have to ease into studying.”

“Have you considered that this trip to Haiti may impact what kind of vocation you pursue?” he said.

“Yes, I expect it to, but I couldn't wait until I returned from there before I made some provision for the next few months.”

“Promise me something,” her mother said. “We aren't going to meddle in your decisions, but will you please come to us if you need financial help?”

“Yes, that I will promise. I just pray it won't be necessary.”

 

Her phone rang before she got back to the apartment. She signaled, turned toward the curb and stopped before she answered.

“Vicky, this is Chad. I bought two Creole dictionaries today, which will help us communicate with the Haitians. If you aren't working tonight, can you come by so we can study some of the common phrases? I'll order in lasagna and salads.”

“Yes, I'd like to do that.”

“What time is good for you?”

“I can be there by half past six.”

“I'll ask Grace to eat with us, too. She brought up a peach pie this afternoon.”

“Looks like everyone else is contributing something. What can I bring?”

“An appetite.”

“That sounds like a good arrangement,” Vicky answered humorously, deciding to wait until later to tell Chad she didn't have a job.

G
race insisted on washing the dishes and tidying up the kitchen so Vicky and Chad could start their language lessons. Chad didn't argue because Grace didn't approve of his housekeeping methods. They moved everything off of the table to the sink cabinet. Vicky wiped the tabletop with a damp cloth and dried it and they sat side by side. He gave her one of the dictionaries and he opened the other.

Vicky slid a pen and notebook close to her right arm.

“I had two years of French in high school and I think the Creole pronunciation is similar.” She flipped through the small book. “Most of these words are spelled almost like French but not quite. For instance, hello or good morning in French is
bonjour.
In Creole they drop the
r
.”

“I studied Spanish in high school and German in college, but I don't have any French. You'll have to help me.”

Vicky flipped through the book. “This is a good
dictionary. The pronunciation symbols are easy to follow. As long as we keep these books with us, we can find our way around in Haiti.”

“And of course Floyd can speak both English and Creole. We can always rely on him. But I still want to be prepared for the times Floyd isn't with us.”

“Let's each pick five words or phrases that we think are most essential and focus on them tonight.”

“Okay, I'll go first,” Chad said. “I'll start with
okay
because I use it a lot.
Oke
is okay.
Wi
is Yes.
Mesi
is thanks.
Non
is no.
Eskize nwen
means excuse me. Nothing hard about this!”

“Maybe, but the Haitians might not understand us. I'll choose some questions that we may need.
Mwen malad
means I'm sick.
Eske ou ka ede nou, souple?
is translated ‘Can you help us, please?' We'll probably use that phrase often.”

Grace finished the dishes and sat down at the table listening to them.

“Humph. You'd better find out how to say, ‘do you speak English?'” she commented.

“A good idea,” Vicky agreed. “Here it is.
Eske ou pale angle?
And since Erica and I will be buying food items, we'd better learn to say,
Konben
? That's ‘how much?' or ‘how many?'
Eske ou gen?
means ‘do you have?'” Vicky giggled. “Here's a good one—
Kote nou ye?”

“Let's see if I can figure it out. I studied the words for an hour or so this afternoon. It must be something you think we need to know. I've got it! ‘Where are we?'”

“Good. Now let me find one more. Just in case some of us get sick, we could use this,
Kote lopital la?
”

“Where is the hospital?” Grace said and Vicky and Chad clapped their hands.

“Maybe you'd better go with us,” Chad said. “We could use another cook.”

“Nope! Downtown Columbus is far enough away from home for me.”

That comment made Chad wonder if he would be successful in his plan to buy the house from Grace, who stood up and started toward the door.

“I won't interfere with your lessons any longer,” she said. “I'm going downstairs now. Thanks for supper.”

They worked for another hour before Chad pushed back from the table. “My mind has taken all it can for one night.”

“But we've learned a lot.”

“Enough to find our way around the country if we have to. Let's rest awhile. How about some ginger ale?”

“I'd like that,” Vicky said as she stood and stretched. “I've been sitting too long—my legs and back are stiff.”

She shuffled into the living room and went through a series of leg stretches while Chad put ice into two glasses and poured ginger ale from a two-liter bottle.

When he joined her, she took a long drink from the glass. “I lost my job today.”

He stared at her, an incredulous expression in his eyes. “What?”

“My boss wouldn't give me permission to leave for three weeks, so she fired me. I'll work a week until she finds someone to replace me.”

“That's quite a sacrifice to make to go on this trip, isn't it?”

She shrugged her shoulders and sat on the couch. “Not really. It isn't a rewarding job.” She continued to tell him about her day—enrolling for classes at OSU, getting a promise of a job at the hospital and of her parents' approval of her plans.

“I feel good about the whole situation, especially the response from Mom and Dad. It's good to know I can go back home to live if I have to, but I hope it won't come to that.”

Chad knew that he was assuming a lot and heading off on a tangent in his dreams, but for the past few days he kept thinking of buying Grace's home and bringing Vicky here as his bride. Not once had he seen any indication from Vicky that she considered him any more than a friend, so was he just building disappointment for himself to even consider such a scenario? Was it possible that her unfortunate romances, especially the last one with Damon, had left her without any desire for love?

 

Remembering their instruction from Floyd, Chad and Vicky planned to be at the Columbus International Airport three hours before their departure to Haiti. Because of the large amount of items the mission group was taking, they had to be at the airport earlier than most passengers.

Vicky's parents volunteered to bring her to the airport, and to Chad's surprise, Grace insisted that she would drive him. Her car was ten years old, but he sneaked a peek at the odometer and saw that the mileage was only ten thousand. As he might have expected, she was a careful, competent driver, but she didn't want to park in the airport garage, so she left him at the loading level.

She unlocked the trunk and he motioned for the skycap to unload his luggage to take into the terminal. He had loaded it into Grace's car, but Chad wanted to be as cautious as possible. He was cognizant of the fact that Haiti wasn't the best place in the world for him to have a relapse of some kind so he intended to accept help when possible.

“Chad, you be careful,” Grace said, and he was startled to see tears in her eyes.

“Don't worry Grace. I'll be back in three weeks—no doubt a wiser man than I am now.” He reassured her.

“I'm just a foolish old woman. Don't pay any attention to me. I always wanted a son and I guess I've sort of adopted you in my mind. I should have known better.”

Chad put down his bag and pulled her into a bear hug. “I've got more parents now than any man should have, so one more won't matter. In this case, I'll adopt you instead of the other way around.”

“Well, this is a touching scene,” a man said and Chad looked up to see Steve Lanham watching him with a broad smile on his face.

“Hi, Steve. Meet my third mom. This is Grace Lashley, my landlady. Grace, this is Vicky's father.”

Grace swiped away her tears and shook hands with Steve.

“Vicky has mentioned you,” Steve said. “We got here a short time ago, and I took our car to the garage. Need any help?”

“No, the skycap is waiting to take in my luggage, so I'd better go. Don't worry about us, Grace.”

Chad and Steve waved Grace on her way before they went inside the terminal.

“I couldn't have found a better place to live,” Chad said. “She's a wonderful person.”

While they waited for their departure time in the crowded waiting area, Chad and Vicky were seated apart from their fellow travelers. This gave Chad the opportunity to tell Vicky about his conversation with Grace.

“I hoped I'd have a private moment with you,” he said. “Grace insisted on preparing my breakfast this morning. It was her contention that I wouldn't have another decent meal until we got back from Haiti.”

“Obviously she doesn't have much confidence in Erica's and my cooking abilities.”

His mouth twitched with amusement. “I hadn't thought about it that way.”

“But she's probably right,” Vicky said, grimacing in good humor.

“I've been praying about my idea of buying her house, but the time has never seemed right to broach the subject. But while we were eating, I felt encouraged to mention it.”

She regarded him with somber curiosity. “You're sure that's what you want to do?”

“I'm sure. A lot of my future is still up for grabs, but I
am
sure that I want the house. And the strangest thing, I don't think she was surprised. It almost seemed that she
expected
me to make the offer.”

“So she didn't turn you down?”

“No. But she didn't say she would sell to me, either. She quizzed me unmercifully during our drive to the airport. She wanted to know if I intended to
live
in the house or just dodge in once in a while. Did I intend to
get married, settle down and have a family? I got the feeling that if I didn't answer yes to that last question she wouldn't sell to me.”

Vicky lowered her thick lashes. She sensed that Chad was watching her. Her heart was hammering in her ears and her stomach clenched tight but she must not let him see how his words had shocked her. Her courage and determination were like a rock inside her—she would
not
allow him to see into the depths of her heart. She looked up at him with an effort, forcing a smile as she chose her words carefully.

“Well! If you don't show up with a bride in tow, you might as well forget about buying Grace's house, huh?”

Even the thought tore at her insides. The day Chad Reece brought a bride to Columbus would be the day Vicky left Ohio forever.

Her comment hadn't told Chad anything about Vicky's feelings for him. But it sounded as if the thought didn't bother her at all. He was uncomfortable with his inability to figure her out.

“Yeah, it does seem that way. I will probably have to sign a contract of what I can and can't do with the house, but I'm confident that it will become my home.”

“That's nice,” Vicky said in a quiet voice, which told Chad nothing at all of her feelings for him. He sighed inwardly.

“Do you realize what today is?” he asked.

Surprised, Vicky said, “I'm not sure what you mean.”

“It was one year ago that I had my accident.”

“Oh, I know we've known each other for over a year, but I didn't remember the exact day of your injury.”

With a faraway look in his eyes, Chad said, “Yes, a year ago today, and do you know, when I flew to Pittsburgh for the first game of the season last weekend, I sat in the bleachers and cheered as loud as I could. It didn't bother me at all that I wasn't playing. I knew then that I was healed. I have my new mission in life, and I'm thankful that God gave me two years of pro ball experience which netted enough money so that I could help others.”

“That's wonderful news.” Vicky took his left hand and held it to her lips.

Erica and the Baxters joined them. Chad's dark eyes flashed with tenderness and longing, as they turned to their new friends and focused on the mission to Haiti now.

 

Two hours later the plane departed from the airport. Chad and Vicky had seats together and remembering how excited she was when she looked out the window on their way to Alabama, he insisted that she take the window seat. In Miami they loaded into a smaller plane that would take them to the airport at Port-au-Prince.

Vicky had her first view of the Atlantic from the air. And except for a few trips to Canada this was also Chad's first trip outside of the Continental United States so he was excited about crossing the nation's boundaries. Because the flight was a short one, the plane didn't reach a high altitude, and as the sky was cloudless, they were able to see the ocean throughout the flight. When the pilot hovered over Port-au-Prince for a landing, Vicky saw palm trees, the surf beating against the beaches and numerous sailboats in a marina.

“This looks like Paradise—what I've always thought Hawaii looked like.”

“Would you like to visit Hawaii?”

“Well, of course, but that's just another dream I never expect to come true.” As the landing gear was released and the plane dropped closer to the ground, she recalled what Floyd Hobson had told them about the political and social situation in Haiti.

“It's hard to imagine that such a lovely place could be filled with crime, corruption, poverty and illness.”

After their year's acquaintance Chad was well aware of Vicky's compassionate nature, and he understood how the situation distressed her. “But we're here to do what we can to alleviate those problems. It may not be much, but we're trying.”

Vicky and Erica shared a room in the La Plaza Hotel for their overnight stay in Port-au-Prince. Chad roomed with Brian Estep, an electrician who had retired the previous year.

After they unpacked what they would need for overnight, Erica said, “I suspect this is going to be the last time we'll have a decent bath for two weeks, so let's take advantage of that nice pool downstairs before we dress for dinner.”

The next morning, Chad and Vicky joined the rest of their group as they loaded into a red tourist bus to see highlights of the city. Chad knew little about Haiti, and he listened intently as the guide explained the history of the city in credible English.

“The explorer Columbus visited our country on his first voyage to the New World in 1492 and claimed it
for Spain. France established a colony here in the early seventeenth century and Spain eventually ceded the western part of the island to the French. In 1804 the inhabitants declared independence.”

Although the tour bus took them to the city's best sites, Vicky couldn't overlook the obvious evidences of poverty everywhere. The bus stopped in one section and they walked among the people. The streets, buses and stores were overcrowded. And while prices on goods seemed low to her, she knew that they were beyond the means of most Haitians. And it was sad to know that government mismanagement and graft was probably the greatest cause of this poverty.