Indemnity: Book Two: Covenant of Trust Series (23 page)

“
Mrs. Dad said I had to go to class. I guess she’ll teach me everything.”

“
Mrs. Dad? You mean Bobbi?”

Jack nodded. “But I don’t call her that. She’s a grown-up.”

“
You’re all set, then. She and God are just like this.” The preacher crossed his fingers tightly. “Your dad’s the same way.”

“
If they know so much, how come they aren’t the leader guy?” Jack asked. “Do you know more than them?”

“
That’s a good question. God picks out things for us to do, things that we are just right for. Sometimes, it’s being the leader guy, sometimes it’s being a really good mom or dad.”

“
So what’s my job gonna be?”

“
It’s a little early to tell, but we’ll keep working on it as you get bigger, okay?” The preacher put a hand on his desk and stood up. “Enjoy yourself today, and keep asking those good questions, Jack.”

“
We better get to class or Mrs. Dad’s gonna come looking for us,” Jack said. “Bye, Mist ... I mean, Pastor Glen.”

“
See you, Jack.”

His dad shook hands with the preacher. “Thanks, Glen,” he said. “Let’s go pick out a Bible.” He led Jack downstairs to a brightly colored hallway. A small bookcase held several of those books. His dad pulled one from the shelf and opened it up. “Can you read this?”

He turned the book over in his hands. “It looks like a baby one. I’m in first grade now.” He pulled the books out one by one until he found a safari one. “How ‘bout this one? Can I have this one?” He handed it to his dad.

“
It says ages six to eleven. You qualify.”

“
Great!” Jack opened the book and held it up to his face, breathing in deeply. “It smells good. Now I can go to class.”

“
With Mrs. Dad or with the first-graders?”

“
Mrs. Dad today. Since she asked.”

“
She’s right in here.” His dad opened the door across the hall from the bookcase.

He took a deep breath and stepped inside. Mrs. Dad smiled, and waved him over to the group of kids seated in the floor. He had a book now. This would work out.

Glen Dillard stuffed his notes in the back of his Bible, but before he could stand up, his wife burst into his office.

“
Glen! I need to talk to you!” She shut the door behind her, and took a deep breath.

Glen guided her to sit down in one of his chairs. “Honey, you’re shaking. What in the world’s going on?”

“
That little boy,” she said, pointing back toward the door. “The one with Chuck. Glen, he’s one of my kids.”

“
Okay ... So?”

“
Chuck’s the deadbeat,” Laurie said. “I mean, he’s not a deadbeat, but this is the kid whose mother gave me that story about the dad showing up all of the sudden, trying to take her son away. It was all lies, Glen. That woman has lied to me for weeks.”

“
What’s her name?”

“
Tracy Ravenna.”

It wasn’t a case of mistaken identity. The little boy introduced himself as Jack Ravenna.

Laurie buried her face in her hands. “Chuck had an affair with Tracy Ravenna,” she whispered. “You should hear her talk about him.” She raised her head again. “None of it’s true. To think I believed her!”

“
Honey, it’s okay.” Glen knelt in front of her and held her hands in his. “You had no way of knowing.”

“
What am I supposed to do now? I can’t listen to her talk about Chuck like that.”

“
Well, you call her on it. Tell her who you are and how you know Chuck.”

“
But why would she do it? What purpose does it serve? I’m practically a stranger, for crying out loud.”

“
Some people lie easier than they tell the truth.”

“
I’ve got to apologize to Chuck.” Laurie stood and paced toward Glen’s desk.

“
Why?” Glen leaned on Laurie’s chair to balance himself as he stood.

“
Because I thought horrible things about him.”

“
Sweetheart, I don’t think you’re responsible for what you thought. You didn’t know it was Chuck that Tracy was lying about.” Glen shook his head. “That didn’t even make sense to me, and I said it.”

“
No, I understand what you’re saying,” Laurie sighed and stopped moving for a moment. “Can we go see Chuck and Bobbi later? They should know about the other side of Tracy.”

“
Probably should wait until Chuck takes the boy back home. You don’t want to talk about his mother in front of him.”

“
I don’t want to talk
about
her at all,” Laurie said, pacing again. “But it’s not right for her to be lying about Chuck like that. He’s worked too hard to make up for what he did.”

Glen glanced up at the clock on his wall. “Are we okay on this for now?”

“
What? I’m sorry. You have to preach. I shouldn’t have hit you with this now.”

“
Yes, you should have because it upset you, but if we’re okay for the time being, I should go, so people don’t start wondering.”

“
I’m fine. Just embarrassed for overreacting.”

Glen squeezed her hand, and then lightly kissed her cheek. “I love you.”

Chuck tugged at the seatbelt, stretching it around Jack to buckle the boy in the backseat.

“
So when can I come back?” Jack asked.

“
Wednesday, after school. You can come home with Mrs. Dad just like Shannon does.”

“
No school bus?”

“
Is that a bad thing?”

“
No. I just always ride the bus. It’ll be different.” Once Chuck got in and closed his door, Jack asked, “You packed my Bible, didn’t you? I want to show it to my mom. I don’t think she has one either.”

“
We can get her one.”

“
I don’t think she’d want a kid’s Bible. She’s old. Almost as old as you.”

“
We’ll pick out a grown-up one then.” Chuck glanced at Jack in the rearview mirror. Tracy seemed so hard, so unreachable. Was God going to use that little boy in the backseat in all his plainspoken innocence to bring her to Himself?

When Chuck pulled into Tracy’s driveway a few minutes before five, Jack sighed deeply. “I guess this is goodbye.”

“
I’ll walk you in. You can’t carry that suitcase of yours anyway.”

“
Great! Thanks!” Jack scrambled out of the car.

Chuck got the suitcase from the trunk and took the porch steps two at a time to catch up with his son. “Shouldn’t we ring the bell first?”

“
I live here,” Jack said. “I never ring the bell.” The little boy pushed the door open. “Mom! I’m home!” he called, leaning his head back.

Chuck stepped just inside the front door with the suitcase. He glanced out at the street, hoping no one saw him go in.

Tracy made her entrance a moment later, dressed in her standard at-home outfit of shorts and a tank top. Chuck silently wondered if she wore the same type clothes in the winter, but then he stopped himself.
Don’t even start thinking about what she wears.

“
Jack! I missed you!” Tracy held her arms out and Jack ran to her. She hugged the boy tightly, and kissed the top of his head. “This was the longest weekend of my life.”

Watching mother and son, Chuck felt like an intruder. He shifted his weight and looked away. As he glanced around the living room, Chuck was sure he caught the scent of after-shave. Tracy hadn’t passed the weekend alone. Jack would notice. The kid sniffed everything. But what if ... what if it wasn’t a big deal to Jack for his mother to have men there?

“
I missed you, too, but it was great! I have a grandma, and a aunt and a uncle and some cousins and stuff, and I played football with my brothers on the same team, and we went to church—”

“
Jack, slow down,” Tracy said. “You can tell me all about it.” She turned, and finally acknowledged Chuck’s presence in the room. “You’re out unsupervised again, no bodyguard? Did your wife decide I wasn’t so bad after all?”

Chuck ignored her comment. “He’s a great kid. We had a good weekend. I’ll see you Wednesday, Jack.” Chuck waved to his son and turned to leave.

“
Now Chuck, I made you mad,” Tracy said, stepping toward the door. “Don’t leave angry.”

“
I’m not angry,” Chuck answered, his hand on the door handle.

“
Wait, Dad!” Jack stepped around his mother. “I forgot to tell you! I learned the Bible verse quicker than anybody else did this morning! Wanna hear it?”

“
Sure,” Chuck said. “What was the story?”

“
Jacob and his brother, and Jacob lied to his dad and tricked him, and he had to run away from home.”

“
That’s a good story,” Chuck said.

“
Yeah, and the verse is ‘You will know the truth and the truth will make you free.’ ’Cause Jacob told lies, so he wasn’t free.”

He gave Jack a quick high-five. “Great job, but that verse was too easy for you. You’ll have to get a hard one next time.” Chuck turned to leave, but Tracy followed him onto the porch.

“
Sounds like you bonded,” she said.

“
Tracy, you had a guy here.” Chuck surprised himself when he said it out loud.

She crossed her arms and smirked. “Are you jealous?”

“
That’s not good for Jack. He shouldn’t be exposed to you bringing guys in all the time.”

Tracy’s eyes narrowed and she leaned in close to Chuck. “It’s none of your business,” she hissed. “I don’t owe you an explanation. I don’t owe you a confession, and I certainly don’t need you, of all people, to police my personal life.” She pushed a finger in Chuck’s chest. “You are no different from me.”

“
That’s where you’re wrong.” Chuck stepped back, widening the space between them. “I’ve been forgiven and that’s why you hate me.”

“
I don’t hate you. There’s only one person in this world that I hate.”

“
And that’s your father.”

Chuck waited for her to react, to explode, to come clean, something, but there was only silence. A long, uncomfortable silence. “Tell Jack I’ll see him Wednesday.” Chuck could still feel her icy stare as he got in his car.

Bobbi scooped an Indonesian blend into the basket of her coffeemaker, and pushed the brew button. Leaning over the kitchen counter, she breathed in deeply, savoring the rich aroma, and she finally allowed herself to relax. She survived the weekend. Now she had two days to regroup before it began again.

It was hard
not
to love Jack. He reveled in his new family, soaking in each experience. So eager to please, but desperate to fit in, every instinct pulled at her to shelter him, and build him up. He wasn’t hers though. He belonged to that woman.

She jumped when the phone rang. “Bobbi, this is Laurie Dillard. Is Chuck home, too?”

“
Yes, let me get him.” Bobbi started to lay the phone down.

“
Actually, if Glen and I can invite ourselves over, I’d like to talk to you both for a minute.”

“
Sure. I just put Shannon to bed, so we can talk like grown-ups.” Hopefully this wouldn’t be a performance review of her stepmother weekend.

“
Who was that?”

She never heard Chuck come in behind her and start unloading the dishwasher.

“
Laurie. She and Glen are coming over. She needs to talk to us.”

“
I hope she didn’t try to buy Tracy off, too, and she’s coming to confess.” Chuck put a stack of plates in the cabinet.

Bobbi smiled at her husband. “I don’t think you have to worry. Laurie is about as different from Rita as two people could get.” The coffeemaker kicked off, and Bobbi poured a cup for herself. “Do you want a cup?”

“
No. How do you drink that stuff so late and still go to sleep?”

“
A delicate balance of tolerance and exhaustion.” Bobbi took a sip. “Actually it makes me sleepy. It’s all warm and soothing going down. Everything gets relaxed. It’s a wonder I make it upstairs to bed every night.”

“
Well, the day your doctor tells you to cut out caffeine, I’m moving out.”

“
Hey, I’ve gone twenty-seven months, three pregnancies, without it. I can handle it.”

“
Spoken like a true junkie.” Chuck grinned and closed the dishwasher.

“
So you never told me, what did ... how did it go this evening? Taking Jack home.” Bobbi leaned against the counter and took a long drink from her cup.

“
She’d had a guy there,” Chuck answered slipping into one of the kitchen chairs. “I could smell the after-shave, so I know Jack could, too. She told me it was none of my business.”

“
Which it’s not,” Bobbi replied, flatly.

“
But that’s not good for Jack.”

“
You’re not responsible for what he learns when he’s with her. You probably can’t undo it in the short time you have with him. All we can do is fill him up with as much that’s positive and good that we can, and trust God for the rest.”

“
You don’t sound like a woman unsure about raising him anymore.”

“
We aren’t raising him. You have visitation rights. His mother is the one who’s shaping him.”