Love Life & Circumstance (7 page)

Footsteps brought his head up and around. Shock robbed him of speech. Carrie Floyd limped between the pews, her gaze glued to the casket. He sat still as her sobs echoed in the small room. Seth’s usually laid back manner vanished. What the hell was she doing here? He rose and closed the distance to where she stood beside the casket. Bleary eyes rose to meet his gaze.

“You have to be fucking kidding me. You came here high.” The words hissed through his teeth.

“How could you do this to her? Bring her here with him, after what he did.” Carrie’s voice wobbled, but miraculously the words didn’t slur. They did succeed in pissing him off.

“What the hell? I think that’s my question. I’m taking care of her. She’s here because you were driving drunk. She’s dead because you got behind the wheel of a car and fucking ran from the police.”

“It wasn’t my fault.” The wail bounced off the walls. Seth looked toward the foyer to see several heads turned in their direction. Heat crept up his neck and stained his cheeks.

“Keep your damn voice down. There are other mourners here.” He gritted out between clenched teeth.

Carrie laughed hysterically. “You think I care about that hypocritical bastard. All of this is his fault.” Each word went an octave higher. Seth reached out and grasped her arm. In the back of the room, the attendant cast worried glances at the open doors.

“He wasn’t driving the car. You were. The facts speak for themselves.”

“Facts!” Carrie screamed. “You want facts.” She snatched away from him and hobbled toward the door. “I think everyone needs to hear the facts.”

“Would you be quiet?” Seth hissed grabbing her again and pulling her to a stop. She rounded on him eyes blazing. “Please shut the door.” He called to the attendant as Carrie struggled in his hold.

“No. I won’t be quiet. He preached tolerance and compassion. He stood in his pulpit and repeated the scripture. He claimed to be a man of God, but when Bethany asked him for help with the baby, he threw her out of the church. Refused to tell his son the truth.”

Seth’s entire body froze where he stood. “You know who the father is?” Bethany had never said a word, claimed not to know.

“Of course I know. She was my best friend. She told me everything.” Carrie swiped at the tears streaming down her face, but didn’t lower her voice. “When he refused to acknowledge Elijah’s baby, she lost it.”

“Who’s baby?” The deep baritone cut through the room. Carrie jerked out of Seth’s grasp.

“Yours, Elijah Deacon. Bethany was pregnant with your baby. She went to your father, and he kicked her out. Demanded proof.”

“No fucking way, my father would have told me.” Elijah frowned as he stepped further into the room.

The girl snorted. “Like hell he would. He told her if she came anywhere near you he’d have her arrested. Said the Chief was his best friend, and he wouldn’t hesitate to call him.”

Seth watched the color drain completely from the other man’s face, and his temper skyrocketed. “Are you happy now, the man’s father is dead and your making accusations against him.” Seth didn’t hesitate this time. He jerked her toward Bethany’s casket. “I’m sorry she disturbed you. I’ll make sure she leaves.”

“No. I want to hear what she has to say.” The big man turned and grasped the double doors and swung them shut on the gawkers in the hall. Rhett, Jr. tried to step through, but Elijah shook his head and closed the doors in his face. He turned, his eyes flicking from Seth to Carrie.

“Talk.”

Seth let go of Carrie’s arm and took a seat on the first pew. Elijah slid into the third pew and propped his arms on the seat before him. Carrie paced in front of sprays of flowers and assorted plants.

“I tried to get her to stop drinking when she found out she was pregnant. She was doing better.” She stabbed a finger at Seth. “You know she was. Then we went to see Pastor Deacon. He called her a Jezebel, said she’d never know who the father was because her womb was diluted. I’ve never see her so upset. She went back to drinking and started smoking.  All of this, every bit of it is his fault. Bethie was doing so good. She wanted this baby, but he kicked her feet out from under her.”

“Why? Why didn’t she come to me?” Seth yelled this time. His fist slammed into the wooden bench.

“Or me? If I’m the father, why did she go to my dad?”

“She tried. She went to the work site but you were gone. Your father was there, he told us to follow him to the church. We thought he was going to listen, but it was just to get her away from the crew.” Carrie said bitterly; the tears still falling as she stopped at the casket and reached in to smooth her fingers over Bethany’s cheek.

“And she never came back.” Elijah’s quiet words seemed to calm the distraught girl.

“No. She was too hurt and so angry.”

Seth broke in needing answers about the wreck. “What happened in the car? Why didn’t you just pull over?”

The girl deflated before their eyes. “I didn’t know what to do.”

“How about not drinking and driving or deciding not to ram a parked car.” Seth bit out.

“I was going to stop when the police hit their lights. Bethany flipped; said she had marijuana in her purse. She screamed at me to floor it. I’d almost convinced her we needed to stop when she saw his truck. Deacon & Son emblazoned on the door. She stomped on the gas, broke my little toe.” She gestured wildly at her foot. “She grabbed the wheel and yanked it to the right. We were going so fast, I couldn’t do anything.” A sob tore free from the girl. “She went through windshield because she didn’t have on her seat belt. I could see her hanging there and I couldn’t move. The air bag and my seatbelt…” Her voice dwindled into quiet sobs.

A pit yawned in Seth’s stomach. The wreck was Bethany’s fault. She’d deliberately rammed Deacon’s truck. He swallowed bile as he staggered to his feet. “I need…”

He passed Elijah and hurried through the door in the back of the room. Without his usual manners, he shoved through the masses of people in the foyer and stumbled through a side exit in search of fresh air. Blindly, he wandered the grounds, his mind churning with Carrie’s claims. His sister was responsible for a man’s death, and not just any man, her child’s grandfather. The full ramifications of Carrie’s story punched a hole in his chest.  Hope. She had a father, a man that could take her away from him.  A man, like him, with no other kin in the world. He needed to get to the hospital. He needed to see her, his last link to his sister.

“I think we need to talk.” Elijah emerged from the darkness. Seth jerked to a halt and lifted his head. Dressed in a light gray suit with a white button down shirt and crimson tie, the man looked like he could have stepped from the pages of GQ. Seth studied him for a moment before nodding.

“Yeah, I suppose we do. I was fixin’ to head to the hospital. Guess I could meet you after.”

“Sounds good. My place again?” Seth nodded, knowing he had no choice. Elijah turned and re-entered the building, but Seth couldn’t face all those people again. He wandered around front and climbed into the Rover. The engine turned over easily and within seconds, he was on his way back to the hospital.

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CHAPTER NINE

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Elijah felt as though the rug had just been pulled from under his feet. Numb from shock, he returned to the room where a constant stream of guests still paid their last respects at his father’s casket. Ignoring their looks of remorse and pity, Elijah scanned through the mill of old familiar faces, seething with fury when his gaze eventually landed on its designated target. His anger intensified, turning the blood in his veins cold with hate. Chief Bussey stood at the head of Chamberlain Deacon’s casket, his head bowed in true remorse for the sudden loss of his lifelong friend. He looked up as though he sensed Elijah’s approach and his usual ruddy complexion significantly paled.

Elijah barely refrained from seizing the police chief and teaching him a lesson in how to eat dirt. Instead, he looked down on the lifeless form of his father and couldn’t help but feel bitter disgust for his treachery against his own son. “How could you preach the Lord’s word when all the time you were hiding the truth from your own flesh and blood? How could you look me in the face every God damn day knowing what you knew?”  His huge hands curled into heavy threatening fists as his eyes flickered up to meet the shocked expression on Bussey’s face.

“And as for you…I oughta teach you a lesson you’ll never forget, you Godforsaken motherfucker. You ever dare show that face by my home again, and the gators will think it’s the God damn Fourth of July ya hear.” Bussey swallowed hard and nodded just as his wife laid a hand against the small of her husband’s back.

“Elijah, what’s wrong? You’re practically trembling dear.”

Her concern soon turned to fear when Elijah growled. “Why don’t you ask the good chief here? I’m sure your husband would be more than happy to explain how he and my father tried keepin’ the truth about my child away from me. I, for one, am just dying to hear how and why the female carrying my youngun was not only turned away and refused any help, but died after being thrown through the windshield of the car that killed my dad. Tell me Police Chief Bussey…I’m dying to know. Were you thankful to God when Bethany Jacobs died so it would stay a dirty little secret that would never be found out?” Elijah saw red and his temper threatened to get the better of him.

“Everyone I ever loved is dead…they’re dead, Bussey. And, not only do I have to mourn a mother and a father, but a child now, too. One I never even fucking knew about because of him and you. GET OUT! All of you. Get the fuck out and don’t bother showing your faces at the burial; it’s now a closed show.”

The Chief aged before Elijah’s eyes and opened his mouth to respond. Elijah held up a hand and shook his head unwilling to listen. Shoulders drooping, the man turned and made his way down the aisle. Elijah glared at the people scattered around the room until they started moving for the exit.

When the room emptied and silence ensued, Elijah looked down upon the husk of a man he’d thought he knew. “I’ll never forgive you this, ever.” With a sweep of his hand, Elijah slammed shut the casket and stalked from the room. Rhett waited outside and true to his usual form, tried to placate Elijah in the only way he knew how. He moved in close, undeterred by the menacing degree of Elijah’s mood and tried to stop Elijah in his tracks.

“Rhett, you really don’t wanna be blocking my path right now. MOVE! And by the way, next time you take it on yaself to walk into my home uninvited, I’ll feed you your ass on a plate.”

Rhett’s eyes widened, and then he scowled. “What’s wrong Eli? Did my turning up mean ya missed out on that sweet piece of ass this morning? Didn’t take our Mr. Jacobs long to forget his sister was dead before he tried to sneak into your pants did it?” Rhett sneered. “Talk about sloppy seconds. If Bethany Jacobs was buried already, she’d be turning in her grave knowing she’d left that little baby of hers to be reared up by the likes of Seth. Dude’s the worst sort of fucking pansy boy there is with that superior attitude of his.” Rhett shrugged and turned away. “Anyways, if it does survive, it’ll be a darn miracle. Rumor has it the poor little fucker was born already addicted to drugs and shit.”

The room started to spin, and Elijah grabbed for the nearest thing to steady himself. Rhett’s whiney matter-of-fact tone croaked, and Elijah glanced up to see his thick fingers clamped tight around his struggling friend’s throat. “Can’t breathe, Eli, please…stop.” Rhett’s face had turned a bright shade of red as he scrambled for air. Elijah loosened his grip.

“What the fuck are talking about Rhett? Bethany Jacobs is dead.” Elijah fumed at Rhett and pushed him back until he was wedged against the wall. “You have exactly ten fucking seconds to explain, or I’ll personally put your ass in one of them caskets permanently, you hear?”

Rhett had known Elijah all his life and knew not to push. When Elijah stepped back and released him, Rhett slumped to the floor and hung his head between his legs. “You like him don’t you?” Rhett’s question confused Elijah. He wanted to know about his child, if it lived or died and the man was asking if he liked Seth?

“Look Rhett, I have a lot on my plate right now, okay. I’ve just lost my dad, have God knows what else to look forward to when I take on all his business dealings. Then, there are the guys that’ll be looking to me to keep things afloat. Shit, I don’t know if I can do this Rhett, but what I do know is that I don’t need your crap right now. So just lay it on the line already. What the fuck did you mean about Seth looking after his sister’s baby? I thought they were both dead.” Elijah ground out and reached out his hand to pull Rhett to his feet.

“Hell no. Ole’ Miss Radbourne, whose son’s wife works at the hospital, said Bethany hung on until that baby was born. Thing’s supposed to be as tiny as a mouse…,” Rhett’s words trailed off as Elijah’s world shifted beneath him.
A dad…I’m a dad…oh God please let it be true.

His mouth felt barren, and he steadied himself against Rhett. “I have to see her, Bethany Jacobs…I have to know.” Elijah knew he wasn’t making much sense, but just seeing her would confirm enough to Elijah.

Hell it wasn’t as if he made a rule of fucking with females; it was more of a show to keep his daddy off his back, or to fit in as he was growing up. Small town Alabama was not the sort of place where the son of a preacher man could go around chasing guys. So, Elijah lived a pretense, acting out the role as the straight guy, fooling around with girls while his heart craved the touch of a man.

But, as much as Elijah knew he was gay, he still hoped, albeit foolishly, that one day he’d have children of his own.
But not in this way.
 His thoughts turned to Seth.
Why hadn’t he said anything about the baby? Jesus, poor Seth. He must be going through hell.
Elijah moved on unsteady legs and Rhett caught his arm.

“Bethany’s next door, if you want to see her.” His tone had gone from strident and angry to low and quiet. “Come on, I’ll walk you over.”