Deceived: Lured from the Truth (Secrets) (18 page)

I nod. “That’s for sure.”

“But it’s only because you don’t understand. You see in the glass dimly, but someday you’ll see face-to-face.”

“I don’t see how.”

“I was like that … once.” She begins to tell me about what happened after she ran away from her abusive uncle and cousins. “The Davis family took me in. I mean, Reverend Jim’s parents. Oh, he wasn’t a reverend then, but he was a very special person. I could see it. And everyone who met him knew Jim was brilliant and gifted … and special. His parents ran a cattle station outside of Melbourne and they took me in as if I was their own. Jim had just returned from his mission and was managing the business for them. But he began to question his parents’ church — God’s Eternal Family. Despite his doubts regarding their doctrine, he remained active in the church.”

She sniffed. “And he tried to make the elders understand his thoughts, but they rebuked him and eventually exiled him from fellowship. But by then he had many devoted followers who respected his insight and teaching.” She sighs. “He was truly inspired. He could even predict the future.”

“How so?” I demand.

She lists a number of events. Everything from politics and the environment to the global economy. “When everyone else was losing money, the people following Jim’s teaching were profiting. God was blessing them above and beyond what they could imagine.” She waves her hand. “That’s how he was able to purchase this place — for cash. How he was able to develop it and do all that he does. God blesses Reverend Jim unlike anyone else.” She looks intently at me now. “It’s because Reverend Jim is God’s chosen prophet.”

I sigh. “I know, I’ve heard all that before. And I was starting to believe it. But now I’m confused. I just don’t understand this thing about multiple wives.”

“Do you not understand we are living in the last days? Have you not listened to the reverend’s sermons? Can you not see the signs of the times?”

“Yes, I know about all that. And it makes sense.” Okay, it doesn’t always make sense, but I try to believe the reverend’s teaching. I wanted to believe it.

“Not only Reverend Jim, but other prophets have predicted that in the last days, one man will have many wives. It’s in the Bible as well as the real testament. It’s simply what must be. To question this is to question all of the teaching that surrounds the last days.”

“But I don’t understand,” I tell her. “I don’t want to question, but I don’t understand why one man would need more than one wife. Why isn’t one wife enough?”

“It’s because the world is so full of evil.” Her eyes grow wide. “Sin abounds everywhere. You’ve heard the reverend preach on this. Men in the world are especially vulnerable to sinful desire. They are easily tempted by the evil lust of their flesh. Your own father allowed his sinful lust to destroy your family. Now your mother is alone, right?”

I barely nod, trying to get this.

“Because of the sinful lusts of men, there are not enough good men to go around. For that reason one good man must take in numerous wives — to love and protect them and to create a happy family unit and to raise righteous offspring. Surely you can understand that.”

“If you really believe that, why don’t you become a sister wife?” I ask, trying to put it more gently. “I mean, don’t you want to be part of a family like that too?”

She sits up straighter. “I told Reverend Jim long ago that because of my past, I prefer not to marry. He understands and respects that. He says that remaining single is an exceptional gift. A gift I’ve been blessed with.”

“And you’re happy?”

She nods firmly, and then we both just sit there in silence. Finally she points to the alarm clock by her bed. “But it’s very late and my shift begins early. Unless you have some very important questions, I must go to sleep.”

After a very sleepless night, I get up and shower and dress. Then, still feeling thoroughly confused and fairly dismayed, I leave for work. My feet feel heavy today, and I’m trying to decide what to do. In the darkness of night, I felt a desperate need to escape this place, but with the sun shining brightly in the clear blue sky and seeing all the natural beauty around me, it no longer looks so cut and dried. As I walk down the path from the cabin, I realize it’s not that easy to sort everything out.

I’m just going past the bench when I notice a pebble on the big stone — Josiah’s sign that he’s left a message for me. Surprised, I pause to sit on the edge of the bench and bend my head as if to pray. Then I slip my hand down and extract the rolled-up note.

Meet me. 2:30.

I tuck the note into the pocket of my dress and continue on to the dining hall, but before I get there, I’m surprised to be met by Reverend Jim. He greets me with a sunny smile.

“You’re just the girl I was looking for.”

Suddenly I wonder if I’ve done something wrong. “I was just on my way to work. I hope I’m not late.”

“No worries,” he says. “I was just speaking to Eleanor.” He chuckles. “I’m afraid she’s not very happy with what I told her.”

“Oh?”

“She tried to hide her disappointment, but I told her that your cooking skills are needed in another capacity.”

“Another capacity?”

He grins. “Celeste came up with a wonderful idea. From now on, you are going to come and cook for us.”

I’m sure my shock registers on my face.

“Eleanor will forgive me,” he says. “And I promised to send her a couple more kitchen helpers to make up for losing you. But your culinary gift will be better utilized in our home. Do you have a problem with that?”

“No-no,” I stammer, “of course not.”

He pats me on the back. “Fantastic. You can report to Celeste straightaway. She’s waiting for you.”

As I thank him, I feel numb. But as I turn and walk toward his house, I feel trapped. However, when Celeste greets me, she is so warm and kind that I question my feelings. Maybe I’m wrong about them.

“We are absolutely thrilled to have you join us,” she tells me. “I don’t know if Jim told you about my cooking skills, but let’s just say it’s not my best talent.” She giggles. “Having you take this over is absolutely thrilling.” She leads me through a swinging door into a spacious, attractive kitchen. “I hope you’ll feel right at home here.”

“It’s beautiful.” I run my hand over a granite countertop, taking in the large stainless-steel appliances, including an eight-burner commercial gas stove. “It’s a dream kitchen.”

Now Kellie comes in to join us, and I wonder if she will resent me. I know she works here, and I had assumed she was the cook. “We’re overjoyed to have her, aren’t we, Kellie?”

Kellie nods. “Neither Celeste nor I are very good cooks.”

“But Kellie will assist you,” Celeste promises. Now she turns to Kellie. “And will you show Rachel her room?”

“Of course.” Kellie waves to the door on the opposite end of the kitchen. “We’re in the north wing.”

“I didn’t realize there were wings,” I say as she leads me down a hallway.

“It’s not as lovely as the south wing. But that’s because Celeste is the first wife.”

“First wife?” I try not to sound alarmed.

Kellie turns to look at me. “Surely, you know Celeste is the first wife.”

“Well, yes, of course. Are you the second wife?”

Kellie laughs as she leads me up a narrow staircase. “I wish.”

“Oh …” I take in a quick breath. “I’m sorry. To be honest, I’m not sure how many wives the reverend has. Or, uh, how many people I’ll be cooking for.”

Kellie pauses at the landing on top. “Celeste has three children. Jan has four with another on the way.”

I’m stunned. “Seven children live in this house? I mean, I’ve seen a couple, but I had no idea there were seven. It’s so quiet.”

“The children’s wing is on the other side of the house. And they have their own small kitchen in there. That’s Jan’s territory. The kids have breakfast and lunch in her wing.”

“I don’t think I’ve met Jan.”

“She doesn’t get out much. She’s in charge of all the kids. I help her sometimes, especially with her pregnancy. It’s kind of wearing her out. She’s over forty and you know what they say about that.”

“Oh, yeah.” I act like I know.

“I’ll have kids someday, but I’ve only been here a few months, so there’s no hurry. Anyway, you asked how many. That’s a total of eleven to cook for. Well, twelve now that you’re here. It’s a good thing the dining room seats twelve.”

“You mean I’ll be eating with, uh, the family? I thought I was just working as the cook.”

Kellie frowns. “Well, you’re the cook. But you’re joining the family, right?”

I force a smile. “I guess so. It was kind of a surprise.”

“Well, that’s just how Reverend Jim works. He keeps us on our toes.” She opens the door and flicks on the lights to reveal a pale blue bedroom. With a queen bed, a pair of bedside tables and lamps, a dark blue easy chair, and a long matching dresser, it reminds me of a hotel room.

“I didn’t realize I was going to be living here. Do you think they’d mind if I remained at the cabin? With Miriam?”

Kellie laughs. “You’re kidding, right?”

I give her a blank look.

“You’d rather live there than here?” She waves her hand. “This is a really nice room, Rachel. Much better than living with Miriam. I should know. I was with her for a full year before coming here. You sure don’t hear me complaining.”

I bite into my lip, gauging my words. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. What?”

“Well, living here like this … well, does it mean I’m expected to be a, uh, a sister wife too?”

Kellie throws back her head and laughs loudly. “Are you serious?”

I shrug, feeling foolish.

“No, silly. You’re just the cook.” Now she frowns at me. “Don’t tell me you’re hoping for something more.”

“No, not at all. I just, uh, wondered.”

“Well, Jim — I mean the reverend — he told me that three is the perfect number.” She holds up three fingers.

“Three?”

“Wives.”

“Oh …” I nod in relief.

“Besides, he’s so busy running this dairy and preaching and everything. I honestly don’t think he has time for any more wives.”

“How would you feel if he did?” Even as the words are out, I wish I could grab them back.

Kellie scowls. “Well, I really don’t think I need to worry about that. As the reverend says, we shouldn’t worry about tomorrow. Today has enough trouble to keep us occupied.”

I nod. “Yes, you’re right.”

“Anyway,” she narrows her eyes at me, “I don’t see why you’re concerned about that. I thought you were Josiah’s girl.”

“Yes,” I say eagerly. “I mean, I hope so. Josiah and I really do care about each other. I mean, we’re good friends.”

“You’re lucky. Josiah seems like a good guy. And the reverend thinks of him as a son.”

I nod again. “Yes. You’re right, Josiah’s a good guy. A really good guy.” Now I feel bad for the way I ran out on him yesterday. I’m so relieved he wants to meet with me tonight. Maybe when I tell him about this — about being moved into his uncle’s house — maybe he can help me figure things out. Because suddenly, it seems clear. Crystal clear. I can’t stay here. It’s not what I thought it was … it’s not how I want to live my life. I want out.

“Celeste told me to go with you to collect your things.” Kellie turns off the lights. “She wants you all moved in here with plenty of time to fix lunch, because the deacons’ wives are coming today.” I can tell by the way she says this, it’s no small thing.

“Oh?” I follow her back down the stairs. “How many guests will there be?” I realize there are six deacons, but I have no idea how many wives that makes.

“Twenty-three counting Celeste and me. Jan will be with the children.”

I quickly do the math. “That’s more than three wives per deacon.”

She laughs again. “Well, three might be Reverend Jim’s special number, but he rewards his deacons differently. Now we better hurry if we want to have lunch ready by one.”

As we walk across the grounds to the cabins, Kellie rambles on about which wives belong to which deacon. I’m surprised she can keep them all straight. “I’m kind of like Celeste’s assistant,” she explains when we reach my cabin. “She expects me to handle a lot of stuff. But I don’t mind.”

She goes in with me, watching as I remove the dresses from the closet as well as my own personal things, cramming them all into the bag. Before I leave, I suddenly remember my paycheck from Nadine’s. I had slipped it under the mattress. But I don’t want to leave it behind.

“Ready?” she asks.

I go over to my old bed, pretending to straighten it. “I wonder if I should leave Miriam a note.” I slip my hand underneath the thin mattress, feeling around.

“Oh, don’t worry about her. She’s used to losing roommates.”

Finally I locate the envelope holding my check, but as I remove it, I realize that Kellie is watching me closely.

“What’s that?”

I hold it up with a sheepish smile, explaining that it was my final check from the place I worked before coming here.

“But why were you hiding it?”

“I, uh, wasn’t really hiding it,” I say. “Just keeping it safe.”

She reaches out for it. “I’ll see that it gets to a safe place.”