Seasons (30 page)

“Let me get that young man in hand,” Jason said before leaving the kitchen to call Patrick inside. It warmed her heart to
know that Patrick considered himself a part of her family, so much so that he had run to defend them, conveniently forgetting
that Randi was to handle everything.
Oh, man! Maxie must have really said something volatile,
she thought.

“This was a mistake,” Jaci remarked to C.J., who was busy taking a large tray of chicken wings out of the oven, and to Lena
who was making more iced tea.

“I don’t know why I let them talk me into this fiasco. Even if the man had come and tried to have some sort of face-off with
me, I would have been all right. Why do they think I’m such a wimp that I couldn’t have handled him? Heck, I’ve got so much
pent-up anger toward that guy, I could probably toss him out of here with one hand. I prayed that I would be able to keep
my cool with him. I’d convinced myself that I had forgiven him and put everything behind me. But I tell you, I could hardly
speak civilly to him when he walked in the door. I don’t recall ever being that cold to anyone. This lets me know I’ve still
got lots of praying to do.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Lena said. “You have a right to those feelings, Jaci. The bottom line is, the man dogged you
and abandoned his child. Any way you slice it, it comes down to that. There is no justifiable story he can tell, or action
he can take at this point, to dispute that fact.”

“But I’ve still had to accept my own guilt and responsibility in the matter. I have to keep reminding myself of that.”

“Girl, we been over this how many times over the years?” C.J. almost yelled. “I’m totally out of patience with you in this.
Yes, you made a mistake. Because you were in love with him! You didn’t set out to use him, and then disappear, like he did.
You know what? I agree with Jason and Randi. I’m glad this is happening with all of us here. If he could have gotten you alone,
Maxie would have been pushing all your buttons and had you crying in his arms, asking
him
for forgiveness.”

“Woooo!” Lena said, laughing. “Did you see how he was checking you out when he came in? Even before he realized who you were,
his eyes were traveling. Why do you think J.P. jumped up and got between you like he did? He was sending a hands-off message
to Maxie. Now that jerk knows he has more than you to deal with, and if he’s smart, he’ll slither on back to where he came
from.”

M
ost of the guests had finally left. Randi and John were still outside talking to Maxie and watching Sean and Patrick, who
had finally settled down and were now sitting at a table eating. Jaci, C.J., and Lena were busy cleaning up and putting the
leftovers away. Jason was half-lying on the sofa, flipping channels on the television. The baby, who had been asleep in Jaci’s
bedroom, started crying, and Jaci left the kitchen to go see about her. She came back with the baby in the crook of one arm,
retrieved a bottle from the refrigerator, and put it in a pot of water to warm. While the milk was warming up, she walked
back over to Jason and handed him the baby. He took the baby and began talking to her. The baby stopped crying and listened
with a wide toothless smile.

“Now, look at that. We already know she’s going to love men,” Jaci said, laughing.

She got the warmed bottle and headed toward the hallway leading to her bedroom. “Come on, lover boy, follow me. I’m not about
to break up that love affair, but you can continue your conversation after I feed her.” Jason stood carefully, maintaining
a tight hold on the tiny baby. Although she had come a long way, she was still too small for him to feel comfortable holding
her. When they got to the bedroom, Jaci took the baby from him and placed the bottle into her eager little mouth. Jason stretched
out across the bed with his hands behind his head and watched them, making idle conversation about the happenings of the day.
He was relating something John’s dad had said when they heard footseps in the hallway. Since the master bedroom was the only
room at that end of the hallway, they knew someone was coming to that room. Jaci was laughing, but when the expression on
her face changed, Jason looked around to see who had entered the room.

Maxie stood there taking in the scene, an indecipherable look on his face. “Uh, Jaci . . . we need to talk, just you and I,
privately. Any idea how long it’s going to be before everyone leaves? I just need to know if I should cancel my flight or
not.”

J.P. saw red. He jumped up from the bed so quickly that Jaci almost lost her hold on the baby. “Man, I suggest you get on
to the airport and catch your plane. You don’t have anything to discuss privately with Jaci.”

“I’m not talking to you. I’m addressing Jaci. Who are you anyway? This is none of your business.”

“I’m her fiancé—that makes it my business. And whatever you have to say, you can say to both of us. Now, we’ve tried to graciously
accommodate your repeated requests to see your daughter and grandchildren. But the first thing out of your mouth was to try
to lie on this woman. Well, I’ll settle that once and for all. You don’t have a darn thing to do with Jaci. You got that?
Nothing! Your only business here is Randi and her children. If that business is finished, then it’s time for you to leave.
There’s no reason for you to call or return to this house ever again. Am I making myself clear?”

Maxie huffed. “I share a child with this woman and any business between us is none of your concern. So like I said, butt out
of this.”

“Man, you don’t share no child with this woman. All you did was plant a seed. You haven’t done anything that even remotely
resembles sharing. And beyond that, Randi is no longer a child. She’s a grown woman, with a family of her own. We won’t even
talk about how you did absolutely nothing to get her to this point. Nothing! You ought to be ashamed to even show your sorry
face anywhere near here.”

“Jason, maybe I sh—”

“No, Jaci, you shouldn’t!” Jason interrupted. “Whatever you were about to say is not happening. This guy gon’ come strolling
into your bedroom like he has a right and start demanding to talk privately! No way! Man, your talking should have been done
twenty-something years ago. That’s when Jaci needed to hear from you. Not now.”

“Well, you’re not her husband yet, and . . .”

Jason’s voice grew softer and more menacing. “For all intents and purposes I am, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll
get out of here before I throw you out.” Jason made threatening steps toward Maxie.

Maxie held up his hand. “Aw’ight, I’m going—for now. Jaci, I’ll call you later because we are going to talk. As for you,”
he pointed a finger toward Jason, “just remember one thing. I had her first.”

Jason moved before the gasp left Jaci’s mouth. Maxie was against the wall with one of Jason’s muscular arms across his throat,
Jason’s other fist was busy punching him. Pictures fell to the floor, and it seemed as if Maxie were going to crash through
the wall at any time. It looked like Jason was trying to punish Maxie for all the hurt he had heaped on Jaci.

By the time Jaci laid the baby down and ran to pull Jason off him, Maxie was sliding to the floor, groaning.

“You know what?” Jason yelled down to Maxie. “Maybe you did have her first. But you had a young, inexperienced girl that you
took advantage of, mistreated, and threw away. I have the best of her. All that she managed to scrape together after you nearly
destroyed her. All that she’s worked hard to become—all the wisdom, courage, strength, beauty, and love that makes her who
she is now. I have all of that.

“You were foolish enough to throw a good thing away. I’m wise enough and man enough to recognize something precious when I
see it. And I ain’t throwing it away. If you having her first made it possible for me to have who she is now, then I guess
I ought to be thanking you instead of beating the crap out of you. But I’m not going to let you disrespect or insult her.
Now get up on out of here, and go somewhere and grow up, old man.”

Maxie struggled to his feet and stood there for a few minutes to gain his balance, then started back down the hallway.

Randi, John, C.J., and Lena stood at the other end of the hallway watching him. They didn’t say a word as they stood back
to let him pass. Jaci’s hands covered her mouth as she watched Maxie move slowly through the door to leave. She turned to
Jason, who was leaning against the wall rubbing his hands, and walked over to him.

“I love you. I love you so much. You just gave me back so much of what he took away from me.” They stood there in a tight
embrace, not noticing as Randi quietly entered the room, picked up the baby, and left, closing the door behind her.

Jason finally lifted his head and said, “If I had known that was all I had to do to get a reaction like this from you, I would
have found him and whipped his tail a long time ago.”

After everyone left, Jaci pulled J.P. down beside her on the couch and snuggled up close to him. “Jason, I have something
to say to you. I hope you’re ready to hear it.”

“What is it, sweetheart?” he asked, looking concerned.

“Well, do you think we can start our counseling soon? It’s time for us to get married.”

He gave a whoop. “Oh, honey! Yes! I’ll talk to the pastor in the morning.”

Jaci shook her head unbelievingly. “The way I see it, we’d better hurry up and get married before we have to beat somebody
else up.”

“I heard that!” he said. “What in the world has gotten into us?” They both laughed until tears ran down their cheeks, then
settled down with a calendar to work out a wedding date.

“You know it could take a year to plan a wedding. That’s if you do it right.”

“We won’t be doing it right then. There’s no way I’m waiting a year. Can we do it around June or July? That’s six months and
as far as I’m willing to go sweetheart. Heck, as far as I’m concerned we can go to the courthouse.”

“I want to have a church wedding. And weddings, even small ones, are expensive. We know ours won’t be small since we both
come from large families and are part of large churches. I just finished paying for my daughter’s wedding. It’s going to take
me more than a few months to get ready for another one.”

“Is that the only holdup?” He reached into his pocket and pulled a credit card out of his wallet. “Here, use this for whatever
you need. I mean it, Jaci. Use it and do whatever it takes to make it happen no later than June or July. Okay, baby?”

“What about the last Saturday in June if we can get it set up with the church and find a place for the reception and everything?”

“Yes! It’s settled. And we will get everything set up for then.”

T
he first of the year found Jaci thankful she had made it through a relatively quiet holiday season, although she couldn’t
fully relax with the thought of all she had to do to prepare for her wedding. And of course she was unconsciously waiting
for the other shoe to drop with Linda and Wynola. Thankfully, Jasmine was doing fine and getting bigger every day, and Jaci
was back to taking assignments from J.P., even though he wouldn’t send her out of town anymore unless he went with her. More
than once, he had mentioned something about her going full-time once they were married. Jaci refused to entertain the thought.
She didn’t know if she was ready to give up her current position. It wasn’t that she loved the job so much. But it was her
security—her independence, or so she had thought until this mess with Wynola and “Jean White” had entered the picture.

Lord, thank You for Your mercies that are new every morning,
Jaci prayed daily.

With the arrival of February, she panicked. Her wedding was only four months away and there were countless wedding preparations
as well as packing up and storing those things she wouldn’t be moving to Jason’s house. She procrastinated in beginning the
packing process because she dreaded leaving the home she had been so happy in. She rallied those closest to her (Randi, Lena,
C.J., and Sister Sadie) to help with wedding preparations, and they were all busily at work. Randi took charge of the guest
list, along with Jason’s mother; C.J. and Lena worked on the program and reception; and Sister Sadie, an accomplished seamstress,
created the wedding dress she and Jaci had designed. Sister Sadie also organized everything with the pastor and church, assuring
her role as the wedding coordinator. Jaci constantly checked and rechecked her extensive list. Hiring a wedding planner would
have made sense but she didn’t want to spend money on something she could do herself.

In one of their countless telephone conversations, Lena confessed, “Girl, I was wondering what was wrong with you. I know
the story behind Maxie, and I’ve been with you through thick and thin over the years. But I just couldn’t go with you on pussyfooting
around with Jason. You were acting like a crazy woman.”

Jaci smiled. “Is that why you set me up for him when we had that fight over the Linda incident? I hadn’t fronted you on that
had I? Some friend you turned out to be.”

Lena laughed. “I had to do that, girl. You’re never going to find another Jason. And if you know where one is, kindly point
me in his direction. Marry that man, quit that sorry job, and do something you like. Maybe do nothing for a while. God knows
you deserve it. Whatever you do, don’t blow this, Jaci.”

Jaci’s eyes filled with tears of thanksgiving. “It was only God’s mercy that brought us together, and I praise Him every day
for Jason. And Lena, you don’t know how thankful I am for your friendship.”

M
axie gleefully thought about his plan as he and his mother, aunt, and brother traveled to Houston to attend his uncle’s funeral
Saturday morning. It was perfect timing. He knew Jacetta and Gilmore planned to get married in the near future, so he had
to act quickly and carefully. He hated to lose. And the way things stood, he was losing. He wanted Jacetta! And he wasn’t
above using an old woman who had never seen her grandchild and now her great grandchildren to get to her. His plan would work
if Jacetta was at home and his do-right brother kept his mouth shut.