You're Gone (Finding Solid Ground) (24 page)

“Now that I know she’s calm, I think that I ought to head back over to Charleigh’s house, and finish up the work, if y’all don’t mind
,” Cord spoke softly. “Tell her that I hope she feels better.”

“Thank you, Cordell,” Madie said. “You did the right thing, bringing her back here.”

“Well, ma’am, I figured if anyone could get through to her, make any sense out of what she was sayin’, it would be you.” He backed toward the doorway. “I’m gonna go. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Take your time. We’ll be fine here.”

When he was gone, Madie turned to look at her sister. She wouldn’t dare say what she was dying to in front of Cordell, but now that it was just them, Madie needed to vent. Hearing what Claudia had said, it aggravated the hell out of her.

Something needed to be said— or done— to let that
awful woman know who she was messing with. It wasn’t just Charleigh that Claudia was picking on. It was the whole clans of Randalls and Matthewses.

And Claudia needed to know what would happen if ever the impulse to act on those threats arose.

“You know what I’m thinking?” Madie asked.

“You’re not going to go up there, are you?”

“No, though I should. I’m simply going to call and try and make nice with my nasty daughter-in-law,” Madie said. “Then, I’m going to call Terry and see what kind of legal action can be taken to keep that wicked woman away from Charleigh, and those babies once they’re born.”

“You really think Claudia will do something, sister?”

“There’s not a doubt in my mind,” Madie replied. She stood up and went to find her address book. “Whether she tries to do something through the courts, or those babies simply vanish without a trace, Claudia
will
try something.”

“Well, then, we just need to figure out something to stop her in her tracks.”

Gavin stepped through the opened front doors of the church with his mother on his arm. From there, he could see that a crowd had already gathered in the chapel. But the people of Magnolia weren’t there for any kind of church services, they were there to give condolences and show their respect for his uncle and cousin.

In the air was that eerie kind of silence a person always hears at a funeral, only the low hum of whispers, maybe because they were afraid speaking at their normal volume-level would wake the dead. At least that was the way Gavin thought of it. What made it even more eerie was that there weren’t any caskets in front of the pulpit, only two enlarged pictures of the deceased. One for Greg, and one for Jamie. And there were floral arrangements hanging on metal displays and potted plants placed on the floor around them.

Linda tapped him on the shoulder. He leaned down to her ear-level. “Son, I think we should go to the dining hall with the rest of the family.”

Oh, wouldn’t Charleigh love to see his face. Especially on a day like this.

“No, you go ahead,” Gavin whispered. “I’ll just find a seat in the back.”

His mother nodded and went on her way.

As he said, Gavin found a seat on the very last pew, at the farthest end from the center aisle. Sitting alone, it gave him a chance to look around at all of the people. Almost everybody he could think of was there in the church. The mayor and her husband. The county sheriff and his family, who just happened to be related to one of the deceased men’s ‘widow.’ If that’s what you wanted to call Charleigh since she and Jamie had been only a matter of days from tying the knot.

Mister Healy, who owned the grocery store, was sitting in the pew next to Mister Mason, who owned the Hardware store. Neither man
ever
went to funerals. It was rumored that the reason was the two old men believed that they would be attending their own soon enough.

Gavin looked up to the front of the church. He looked at the two pictures of the smiling men. His Uncle Greg hadn’t been around town during the time Gavin was growing up, but he always sent some pretty good Christmas presents. He always remembered his nieces and nephews, and his brothers and sister’s birthdays, even if it was just a card with a couple hundred bucks in the mail.

He hadn’t known Jamie. Didn’t give himself the chance to. Mainly because the guy was standing between Gavin and the second most important thing he wanted in life. Charleigh. Of course, Brea, his daughter, was the first.

Seeing them around town together, even when he was with Andrea, just got Gavin’s goat. But Charleigh made it pretty clear the last time that they’d seen each other that they didn’t have a future. From what he got out of their conversation, they probably wouldn’t have even had a past
, either, if she would’ve listened to her heart and not been so scared to be alone. Hearing that still hadn’t been such an easy thing for him to swallow, either.

A group of five adults who Gavin didn’t recognize came and sat down on the pew beside him. He scooted closer to the armrest to make room for all of them.

The room went silence. People were twisting around toward the back of the chapel. Gavin and the others sitting beside him turned to do the same. In the doorway of the double-entrance, the Matthews family stood. Charleigh was in the very front of the group with a guy and a girl Gavin recognized from pictures around his Gram’s house as his cousins, Kevin and Jenna.

Charleigh’s face was pale; her cheeks were already streaked with tears. Her eyes were fixed on the pictures down that long walkway ahead of her. Gavin watched as the others began to move forward. Only Charleigh stood still, blocking them from moving far.

Jenna reached over and took her hand. It seemed to startle Charleigh as she looked over at the young girl beside her. Gavin noticed how she visibly jumped by the contact. Jenna said something to her, and they both slowly began to move together toward the seats reserved for the family in the very front.

Madie and Lenore walked side by side, holding hands.  Next was Will, the next eldest child of the Matthews family, followed with his wife Lilly. With tears in her eyes, Linda, the only daughter, was on his other side. Austin, the youngest, was right behind with his hand on his sister’s shoulder.

Then, there was Chris and his wife, Laura-Kathryn. They were followed by all of the grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins. Gavin was the only Matthews not among the group.

His eyes followed them. He was mostly focused on Charleigh. She looked sad and tired. Lost. It made Gavin wonder, maybe if he hadn’t screwed up the way he had with her and they were still married, if she would look the same way if it had been his funeral.

Gasps were uttered at the sight of Charleigh stumbling. Kevin and Jenna both reached out to her. Her Uncle Josh, who sat close by, got up from his seat to help her. But she quickly recovered, waved them all away, and continued on her way.

When everybody was final settled, Pastor Wilkerson got up from his seat behind the pulpit and began to speak. He began with a prayer, and the church choir sang a few hymns. When they finished, Daniel Wilkerson talked about Greg, and the years they had known each other.

“Every afternoon after school— and sometimes
during
school,” He said, getting a quiet chuckle from the mourners, “you could find Greg and Mike down at that little creek behind the schoolhouse with a couple of cane poles and a can of worms. It’s gone now. The new baseball complex was built over it a few years ago, but every time I go down there for a ball game, I always find my mind wandering back to those few times I skipped school to go fishing with them.”

About Greg’s accomplishments, his family, his business.

“Magnolia is a small farming town. It’s the kind of place all the youngsters dream of leaving behind and few ever do. Greg made the dream become a reality. He went to New York, against his father’s wishes, and married his sweetheart. He raised three great kids, and ran a multi-billion dollar company. But what was more important is that Greg kept his faith until the day he died. He…”

After that, Kevin had to block out what the preacher was saying. It was all a pack of lies. Wasn’t this guy, a man of God, always supposed to tell the truth? There was no reason for Pastor Wilkerson to sugarcoat the truth about Greg Matthews, because all three of his children had always known the
real
truth.

Maybe his father did get out of the town he hated, but he didn’t go to New York to marry his ‘sweetheart.’ It had been obvious to Kevin from an early age— to Jamie and Jenna, as well— that his parents had a rocky marriage until the day he died.

And as for his father’s faith, Greg had
never
gone to church. Not even on the rare occasions that their mother dragged them all to Mass— always with a Nanny in tow— to show off her new cosmetic procedures to the rest of her over-done friends. The only thing Greg Matthews had faith in was the all-mighty dollar.

Beside him, Charleigh began to wail with sorrow. It occurred to Kevin as he reached over for her
hand that the preacher was now talking about Jamie.

“I only met Jamie a handful of times. The first was almost a year ago when he came to
church with his grandmother Madie for the annual Christmas show. He came to town with a ton of burden bearing down on his shoulders, and I could see it in his eyes. Jamie was a lost young man. But I think he came to town at just the right time, because there was a young woman here who was just as lost, and I’d like to think she was waiting here for him.”

Charleigh closed her eyes, squeezing Kevin’s hand tightly, as the tears continued to flow. What Pastor Wilkerson said hit Gavin extra hard because he knew that he was the reason Charleigh had been so lost in that time of her life. It also made him realize that he had never been what Charleigh needed in a partner. Jamie
was
, all along. He’d acted so foolishly about his cousin’s relationship with Charleigh, when what he really should’ve done was back off. Now it was too late to admit that to anyone but himself, or to make amends.

“To have these two lives, among many others, cut much too short is a tragedy…
But long after this day is over, they will remain a vivid memory in the minds of their family… Greg and Jamie will live on and be embodied by the tiny miracle bestowed upon the ones who loved them the most… What was born in sin, may it be raised up in Jesus Christ… Let us pray.”

And every head in the church bowed, all eyes were closed, as a blessing was asked. The mourners said, “Amen,” in unison.

***

When the funeral was over and all of the guests were gone, Charleigh sat quietly curled up at the end of the couch in Madie’s living room, picking at the armrest. The family matriarch and her sister were at their regular places in the chairs next to the cozy hearth.

Jenna was in her guest bedroom, taking a nap after the strain of the day. Kevin was upstairs, packing his suitcase because they had an early flight out of DFW the next morning.

There was a long-lasting feeling of quiet sadness in the air. No one mentioned it, but they all felt it. The three women silently pondered what to do next. What to say. They were all left exhausted by the day, by the emotions, and so each left the others to their thoughts.

For Charleigh, the funeral was a significant step forward in her life. A painful one, but just as significant. It didn’t mean, however, that she was letting go of Jamie, not in the very least. If it wasn’t for those two tiny lives depending on her, Charleigh might still be hiding underneath the covers, where she could wallow in the pain and sadness and self-pity. Where she could hide from life.

She was thinking about what Pastor Wilkerson had said about her pregnancy, kind of feeling sorry for herself. Feeling a whole lot angry that she would be put on public display like that, even at the funeral for the man who she loved with every part of her. Couldn’t people just let her live in peace, without all the shame? Why did
she
always have to be the one they make out to be the example? Charleigh knew that having premarital sex was sinful, but it wasn’t as if she’d had just a one-night stand with Jamie and conceived the twins. They’d been created through a whole lot love and commitment, and because of that, she didn’t regret it.

Charleigh thought about getting up, going home and taking a nice long soak in the tub. It wouldn’t take any of the pain away—
‘That’ll go away in time, darlin’,’ they all said; Blah, blah, blah! —
but maybe then her tensed muscles might loosen up. She uncurled her legs, barely touching her feet to the insoles of her shoes on the floor beside the couch, when Kevin walked into the room.

Madie and Lenore raised their heads from their own thoughts to see what he wanted.

In his arms was something that was so familiar to Charleigh. The last time she saw it, though, had been months before as it boarded a plane in the arms of a different man, who was unknowingly headed toward his untimely demise. It was the suitcase that Jamie had taken with him on the business trip to New York.

Oh, my
, Charleigh thought as her throat tightened with emotion.

Kevin stopped at the end of the couch, letting the bag set on the armrest.

“I thought you might want to have this,” he said to her.

She could only nod, afraid of what might come bubbling to the surface.

“Would you like to look through it now, or I can put it by the door for you to take when you leave.”

“No, now…” Charleigh cleared her throat. “Now would be okay.”

Kevin set it down on the coffee table in front of her. He sat down on the couch beside her and unzipped the bag. Inside, there was the normal things that a person would take on a trip. Jamie’s t-shirts, socks, boxers. His toothpaste and toothbrush and mouthwash. There was body wash and face wash. Shave lotion and his electric razor and cologne. There were some used q-tips and bubblegum wrappers.

Charleigh picked up one of the white undershirts— like it was a piece of priceless treasure
— which it was to her— and brought it up to her face to breathe in the scent. No one could possibly know how much such a frivolous article of clothing meant to her. Just that simple thing brought the image to Charleigh’s mind of Jamie sitting right there beside her.

“Charleigh,” she swore that she heard him say her name.

“Charleigh,” Jamie said again, tapping her on the shoulder to gain her attention. “I think you might want to see this.”

She opened her eyes to see Kevin, and not Jamie, holding a long, rectangular jewelry box out to her. Taking it, Charleigh opened it to reveal the most beautiful piece of jewelry she could ever imagine, but even in her most ideal dreams could never make it so perfect. It was a silver link bracelet with more than two dozen tiny, silver charms.

Madie and Lenore came over to look. One woman settled on the armrest behind Charleigh, the other behind Kevin.

“Oh, that’s beautiful,” Lenore said with awe.

“Yes, it is,” Charleigh whispered.

It brought a memory back of the last time Charleigh was with Jamie.

Jamie had pressed a kiss to her temple as he held her in his arms. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?” He’d asked.