The Kingdom Land (23 page)

“
But until then I'm going to the
bank,” Ken said. “Since you're closed, take your lunch and I'll be
back before you're done.”

“
I can't wait, the store will
probably fall apart while you're gone,” she teased. Even in the
short time she had been there Laura had appreciated working for
Ken. He didn't take his job or himself too seriously and allowed
other people to do the same.

When Laura got to the break room, she found Barbara
and a box boy already there.

“
You're on break or lunch?” Barbara
asked.

“
Ken sent me on lunch a little early
since he closed me to count me. He's making a quick trip to the
bank.” Laura pulled a plastic container from the fridge and put its
contents of beans and rice and chicken in a pot on the lone
hotplate. She had gotten into the habit of making a large pot of
the casserole and then eating it for the rest of the
week.

Barbara said, “I guess I better get out there. I
don't want Evelyn and Ann to get swamped, and I'm over my time
anyway.” But Barbara still stopped to talk. “How have you been?
We've been so busy with the fair I haven't had a chance to talk. I
saw you in church. Did you like it?”

Laura had the feeling that Barbara could keep talking
and forget about getting back to work. Laura didn't want to talk
anyway. She had said everything to Erik and John. She went to the
hotplate and stirred her rice to look occupied and kept her answers
short.

“
I'm doing fine, just fine. Yes, I
liked the church. I'll be back, but I don't want to keep you from
going back to work with my boring life. We'll talk
later.”

The box boy left soon after Barbara. He felt
uncomfortable eating with Laura as all the boys had talked about
how pretty she was, and he was just a box boy. He left before his
break was done.

The solitude felt good to Laura after the busy
morning. She carefully picked out the chicken from the rice and
slowly ate. Her back was to the door and she didn't notice who
entered. Slowly it dawned on her that whoever it was was just
standing there, staring at her back. Then she heard words in a
voice that made her blood run cold.

“
There's my lovely Laura. Damn, you
look great!” She knew that voice, had heard it a million times in
her nightmares. She knew who it was before she turned to see him,
but she still froze in disbelief when she finally forced herself to
turn.

It was Marcus the man who had raped her. She said
nothing, all her effort going to merely trying to draw a breath. He
stood at the entrance to the break room and she immediately felt
trapped.

“
What are you doing here?” her words
were very weak. “How did you find me here?”

I met you boss going out the door and he said I would
find you in the back. What a nice guy. I think he liked me. I
didn't have to look to find you in Fairfield. I'm working at
Healthy Time, and when we got a call checking your references, I
couldn't wait to see you.”

“
You're working at Healthy Time?
What about Linda? Didn't Linda say anything?” Linda was the one
person who was most upset about Laura getting pregnant and sinning
against the Lord. She was the one who told Laura she could no
longer work at Healthy Time, and yet she hired Marcus.

“
Linda accepted the fact that I made
a mistake and that I've repented. Actually, I've learned a lot from
all of this and my walk is closer to Him than ever.” Marcus had a
laugh in his voice as he mentioned the Lord.

Laura cut him off before he could say anything more.
She had heard all his lines before and this was typical Marcus
talk.

“
What happened to your great job in
Denver that you had to leave so fast to take?”

“
Laura, I can sense a spirit of
bitterness in your voice. I can understand that. I heard you lost
the baby. I was as devastated as you were when I heard the news. I
was coming back and I hoped to make the three of us a family. But,
I guess the Lord just had other plans. His will be done. I lost
that great job cause I wanted to build a family, and I found myself
broke in Billings. So they gave me a job at the HealthRight store.
It's great to see you again.”

Laura couldn't even
answer
. How could he even imply that he
was as devastated as me? He didn't see that blood. He didn't feel
the child alive, and then not. What a creep. If I could believe
anything out of his mouth it would be one thing. It's the same old
Marcus. How dare he come to my world?

“
I'm told there's a nice little
steakhouse in Valier. Your boss said your shift was over at 5:00.
That'll give me time to check into a hotel and clean up and we can
have a nice dinner and talk about the future.”

Laura was still unable to respond. If she had, she
would have screamed so the whole store would hear. Dinner, a hotel
room, and talk about the future: he's not wasting any time. At
least last time he told several weeks of his lies before he made
his move. He's so pitiful, she'd laugh in his face if she weren't
so sick even just seeing him.

“
Sorry, I've got a busy life and I
have to get back to work. Nice seeing you, but I don't want to see
you again,” was all Laura could muster as she headed out of the
break room. She tried to maneuver around him, skirting as far away
from him as possible. He still didn't quit despite her abrupt
ending of their meeting, but reached out for her as she tried to
dart past. Her skin moved in revulsion as she felt him put his arm
around her waist just below her belt line.

“
Laura, I know you're hurt and
bitter. I have it coming, but the Word says you need to forgive me
in order for yourself to receive forgiveness. Let's start over from
the beginning.”

Laura evaded the man's hand and her pace didn't slow.
She knew better than to respond at this point, and sought the
refuge of her work and register. He followed even faster and once
again put his hand on her hip. Laura could no longer hold back.

 

 

 

Chapter
Nineteen

 

 

E
rik's week
could not have been better. He was thrilled at three encounters
with Laura in one week's time, and he felt a kinship had been
formed. Her life had faced many hardships, but so had Erik's. It
was so perfect. It seemed so planned; first his bunkhouse dreams of
her, the fight for her which ended in him finding the Lord, the
“chance” meeting at the Point and the perfect timing at the church.
No person could have orchestrated these events.

The workweek was also easy on the farm. The summer
fallow had been plowed and it was two weeks before hay season and
then harvest. The only chores were getting the machines ready for
haying and harvest. This meant Erik and Henry could work in the
shade of the shop and eat every meal at the dinner table rather
than from a paper bag. Erik could finish the workday without a
layer of dust on his body and he was in the bunkhouse early to
study the Scriptures between his thoughts of Laura.

It was also the week of the Cascade County Fair that
was an opportunity to get away from the farm and all the questions
of the last few days. As long as he could remember the farm would
shut down, and they would all go to the fair. Erik loved the taste
of the fair's Pronto Pups. They weren't like the corn dogs he could
find at the store or bought at a service station. These Pronto Pups
were fat with dough and the covering had a taste that could not be
duplicated. He'd spend more money than he would admit to win a
stuffed animal at the games, and then watch the younger kids ride
The Whirling Storm.

Friday was the best day to attend. Thursday was set
up day, and the weekend was too crowded on the midway. Friday was
perfect. When the family quit work at noon and he changed to his
town clothes, he had his plans set. He hadn't told John or his aunt
and uncle, he knew what their response would be, but he had planned
all week to stop by the WinRight store and see if Laura wanted to
go to the fair. He would pick up a few items as if that was the
only reason he was there, and then he rehearsed what he would say
to Laura.

“
Laura, how has your week been? I
got off early to go to the fair. It happened at the last minute so
I'm just going alone, but I would be glad to show you around if you
want to go.”
Erik had practiced the words
for days in the bunkhouse. He chose the words carefully to make
sure it didn't look like a date. He wanted to give her the
opportunity to say no, and for him not to look like a fool if she
did. It was a perfect plan, and one that held his thoughts for the
past days.

He checked his hair in the rearview mirror when he
pulled in front of the WinRight store, and brushed his pants of any
last dust as he walked in the front door.

Erik hadn't seen Laura at the
checkout stand so he checked the aisles to see if she was stocking
shelves. As he came to the end of aisle Nine, he caught a glimpse
of her to his right at the far side of the produce section. He saw
her, but she didn't see him. When he came closer he saw a man with
her. Erik first thought it was a boyfriend she hadn't bothered to
mention.

He had never seen the man before. He knew he wasn't
from Fairfield. He wore a leather coat on a hot August day, and no
one from Fairfield would do that. Erik didn't know him, but Laura
obviously did as the man arm was forcefully holding her waist. Erik
stopped his approach. His first guess was wrong. Erik felt Laura's
panic. This wasn't a friend. Laura pulled loose to escape. It was
clear she was in trouble. Laura shook loose from the man's hand at
her waist and turned to walk away. The man once again put his arm
around Laura, and his grip seemed even more forceful. Laura spun in
anger to face him.

Erik moved as quickly as he had at the Mint Bar. But
this time his mind moved even quicker.

“
Laura, there you are,” Erik said
loudly. “I was afraid you had already gone home to change. I know I
said I'd pick you up at five, but I thought I'd see if we could go
earlier.” He then looked at the man with no hesitation in his voice
as he continued.

“
Laura and I are going to go to the
fair. We talked about it all week.” He then looked back to Laura.
“I'm sorry I'm early, I can come back at five if you
prefer.”

Laura's looked changed from “what?” to “I
understand.”

“
No, actually right now is perfect.
I just got done with my last break and I'm sure Ken will let me off
early. We've been slow today. Marcus, I think you can find your way
out of the store, and Highway 2 will take you to the Interstate
back to Billings.”

Marcus realized he had no alternative but to give a
last insult. “I can find the way just fine. Nothing I care about
here, anyway.”

“
You're right. There's nothing for
you here, so I would expect never to see you here again.” Erik was
as surprised to hear the conviction in his voice as he had been
when he punched the farmer.

“
Have it your way. I got mine,”
Marcus shouted over his shoulder as he walked down the aisle. His
own vanity made him look back so he could see the shocked look on
their faces. Instead he saw Laura in a tight embrace with the other
guy.

Laura had grabbed Erik to give a clear message to
Marcus, but she held the hug longer and harder than planned. She
finally slid away, but stayed much closer than normal. Neither
spoke for a long minute.

“
Well, I hope more strangers give
you a hard time if I get a hug like that.”

Laura blushed. “I'm sorry.”

“
Sorry for what?'

“
For being in strange situations
every time I see you, but thanks, Erik. Your timing couldn't have
been better.” Even after the long hug, Laura was visibly
shaking,

“
I guess you really are my knight in
shining armor, but this time I hope I don't get fired.” Laura
looked around to see how many people had seen her push Marcus away.
Only Barbara and the box boy seemed to have seen what happened. The
box boy wouldn't say a word except maybe to his friends with a
much-expanded story. Laura presumed Barbara wouldn't get her in
trouble.

“
Who was that guy? Some guy you
seeing?”

“
No, no way. I knew him for a short
time and it's a long story that I don't want to go into. Ken called
my old job in Billings for a reference and that guy found out I was
working here. That guy is like a vulture. How dare he come close to
me?” Laura's shaking had ceased as it was replaced with anger
towards all of Billings.

She couldn't get too mad since Erik would want to
know more, and Ken was just getting back from the bank. Barbara
whispered something to Ken and he headed straight to Laura

“
Laura what's going on? Are you
okay?”

“
That man you talked to is no friend
of mine. Ken, if that man ever comes into this store again, please
let me know first so I can leave out the back door. He is not my
friend, and I'll call the police if he comes back here
again.”

“
I'm sorry, I didn't know. He seemed
like a nice guy and he said the right things.” Ken was more
occupied by being ashamed of his mistake than any thought of
reprimanding Laura. “I won't do it again.”