Heart of Gold

by Beverly Jenkins

  “You asked, I answered.”

  “Understood and appreciated, but really? To me, that makes no sense.”

  “I’m not you, man.”

  The atmosphere in the room turned tense. Reg could tell by their faces that no one approved, and that was their choice. He stood. “Look, I need to get back and make sure Zoey’s okay.”

  “You just got here,” Trent pointed out.

  “I know, but I’d only planned to stay for a few.”

  They all mumbled what passed for understanding, but everyone knew the deal. His abrupt departure was just an excuse to get out from under the gun.

  “Talk to you all later.”

  On the short walk home, Reg looked up at the stars and wondered what had happened to his idyllic life. Now that he’d publicly admitted what was going on inside, he needed to find a way to get Roni to understand, though he doubted she would. All in all, he felt like a spoiled brat, pouting because he wasn’t getting his way . . . and, truthfully, it wasn’t who he wanted to be.

  C H A P T E R

  15

  While the residents of Henry Adams filed into the Dog for the monthly town meeting, Bernadine looked over the agenda. She had no idea how things would go when she presented her proposal for adding new residents, but she was hopeful that her neighbors would embrace her vision for the town’s future.

  As always folks spent the first few moments greeting one another and finding their seats. Marie Jefferson, sporting her cat-eyed glasses, stood talking with Genevieve, Clay Dobbs, and Bing Shepard, who was still getting around on a cane. The kids, led by Crystal and Eli, came in and took a booth in the back. Reverend Paula and the Paynes sat with Jack, Tamar, and Mal, while Lily and the eye-patch-wearing Devon sat at a table by themselves. Bernadine noted that the Garlands weren’t in attendance. She assumed they were home, taking care of Zoey.

  Once everyone was settled in with their beverages and the nibbles provided by Rocky and her assistant chef, Siz—who was sporting a new kelly-green Mohawk—Trent stood and brought the meeting to order.

  “Okay. Let’s get started.” He turned to the first person on the agenda, Sheila Payne, who let people in on the idea of a townwide Thanksgiving celebration.

  “I know that some of you may have plans to visit family elsewhere that day, but those who will be here, please join us.”

  “Who’s cooking?” Bing asked.

  “I thought maybe everyone could contribute a dish, just to keep Siz and Rocky from being too tired to enjoy themselves.”

  Everyone seemed to find that agreeable.

  Preston stood and asked, “Can we invite our biological parents?”

  The surprised-looking Sheila turned to Bernadine for an answer.

  She shrugged and replied, “I’ve no problem with that, as long as your parents here don’t mind.”

  Sheila said, “Preston, I think that’s a marvelous idea.”

  Bernadine knew he’d been longing to meet his NASA scientist mom in person and that recently they’d been communicating via e-mail. She wasn’t so sure about extending an invitation to his crazy grandmother, but that would be his decision to make. The kids had their heads together, and she guessed they were discussing the possible attendance of their bio parents.

  Mal asked, “Are we inviting uncle Thad and the Oklahoma crew?”

  Tamar replied with one word: “No.” And the look on her face made it plain she had no plans to debate the issue, so Mal chuckled and didn’t press. The visit by the Oklahoma clan for Trent and Lily’s wedding last year had been quite memorable. Bernadine was okay with not seeing them anytime soon.

  Sheila’s voice brought her back to the meeting, “The Ladies Auxiliary will be handling the logistics, so please let us know by November fifteenth how many people in your family will be attending so we can plan for seating and that kind of thing. We’d like to hold the gathering here at the Dog, but if we have to move to the rec, that’ll work too.” She took her seat.

  Next up was Gary, and he gave a quick report on the store. “Business was booming this weekend, as everyone knows, but I need to beef up the night crew janitorial staff, so if you know of anyone in need of work, have them drop by the store.”

  Bernadine instantly thought of her sister, who’d refused to attend the meeting. It was a good thing she’d be interviewing with Reg Garland for the assistant’s position. Although janitorial work was a good and honest way to make a living, Diane would probably rather be boiled in oil than push a broom or clean toilets.

  The colonel stood up next and announced the establishment of his Hall of Shame for shoplifters. Since this was the first Bernadine had heard of it, she asked, “Is that legal?”

  “No idea—but if stores can post bounced checks on their walls, which I’ve seen, I don’t see why it wouldn’t be.”

  She thought he had a point. It would definitely make any potential thieves think twice, or at least it should. She’d have to consult with her legal people, but admittedly she liked the idea.

  Barrett sat down again, and Trent asked if anyone had a concern or issue they wanted to talk about. Devon raised his hand.

  “Yeah, Dev?”

  “Zoey’s got a broken arm. Big deal. When’s she going to paint the fence?”

  Boos and catcalls followed that. Trent looked as if he couldn’t believe his ears. Apparently Lily had had enough. Next they knew, she had Devon by the collar and was quick-stepping him to the exit. Chuckles followed that.

  “What are we going to do with him?” Trent asked no one in particular.

  “Cage match.” Genevieve called out, laughing. “Him and Zoey. Two out of three. My money’s on Miss Miami.”

  Howls followed that.

  Trent used his gavel to restore order. Once it was restored, there were smiles on faces all over the room. “Okay. If no else has a legitimate issue, I’ll turn this over to Bernadine.”

  She stood and told them about her plans to open the town to new residents. “In order to keep this town alive, we need new residents. I know this isn’t something we’ve discussed before, but it’s vital that we do. Your thoughts?”

  Marie was first. “I think it’s a great idea, if only to fill up that big, beautiful school we’ve built. Be a sin to waste the potential there.”

  Bernadine saw Jack nod his head in agreement.

  Clay asked, “Who’s going to decide who gets in and who doesn’t?”

  “I figured we could form a small committee.”

  “Are you going to, like, advertise?” Siz asked.

  “Maybe, but I already have a list of people who’ve written to me in the past two years, wanting in. In fact, one of them is a clerk at Gary’s store. Her name’s Gemma Dahl. Her grandson, Wyatt, is already enrolled at the academy. She was born in Franklin. She came back here recently to get Wyatt away from the gangs. They beat him to the point where he was hospitalized.”

  Wow, she saw Eli mouth.

  “And I don’t expect you kids to say anything about that to him, okay?”

  They nodded. She could tell by their shocked faces that they hadn’t known this about their new classmate. “I think she and her grandson could use a safe haven.”

  “Does she need help moving her stuff?” Trent asked. “The Dads can certainly help.”

  His offer made her heart swell with emotion and pride. “I’ll ask her.”

  “Do you have anyone else in mind?” asked Tamar.

  “I do. Crystal, will you tell us about your friends in Dallas?”

  “Really?” Crys asked excitedly.

  She nodded. “Go ahead.”

  Crys stood. “Kiki—her real name’s Kelly—and her husband, Bobby, are super nice. Bobby’s working two jobs and is getting his GED. They have twin babies—”

  “I love babies!” Genevieve interrupted in an excited voice.

  Laughter followed.

  Crystal continued, “Kiki and Bobby drive this wack van that you can hear a mile away, and they live in a little bitty plac
e with a broken window. They’re on aid and food stamps. I’ve known them since middle school. When I told them how great Henry Adams is, they told me I was stupid for running away—which I was.”

  That drew smiles.

  “Kelly does hair, and Bobby wants to open a business pimping cars, so he’d be perfect at the garage.” She turned to Trent, who gave her an encouraging nod. “Can they please live here with us? Please?” she asked genuinely. “Oh, and Bobby has a lot of tats because he used to be a banger, but he quit all that the day Tiara and Bobby Jr. were born. That’s the twins.” She looked around expectantly.

  Reverend Paula asked, “He’s left the gangs behind?”

  “Yes. He’s working so hard, trying to give the twins a better life than he had. He grew up in foster care, too.”

  Tamar asked, “Are you sure they’d be okay moving all this way, Crystal?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Positive.”

  “Do we want to take a vote?” said Bernadine.

  Bing seemed to speak for the group. “Let’s just get them up here. If they don’t fit, we’ll figure out what to do when the time comes, but from what Crystal is saying, sounds like these young people could use a hand.”

  “I agree,” Tamar said. And who was going to argue with the resident matriarch?

  So it was decided that Henry Adams would open its arms to Crystal’s friends, and that they and the Dahls would become the town’s first new residents.

  Crystal had tears in her eyes. “Thank you.”

  “Anything else, Bernadine?” said Trent.

  “Only, if anyone wants to be on the committee to help me evaluate the other requests, just let me know.”

  And with that, Trent’s gavel brought the meeting to a close.

  The Garlands were indeed at home. Zoey’s pain was still sharp enough that she needed her pain meds, so she’d slept away most of the day. Her injury presented a dilemma for her parents—what should they do about her punishment? As a doctor, Reggie knew happy patients healed more quickly, so he and Roni talked of rescinding her lockdown and allowing her to watch some television until she was well enough to resume serving time in the hole for the issue with the weights and visiting Mr. Patterson.

  “I think that’s a good idea, Reg,” Roni said. “No sense punishing her at this point. She’s already laid up as it is, and life’s given her hard head its own special kind of smackdown.”

  “I agree.”

  “You think she’s learned anything from this?”

  “Who knows. We’ll have to see what the future holds.”

  They were seated in the living room. Monday Night Football was on, but they weren’t really paying it much attention. His use of the word future made her ask, “So, what about us? I can’t be the girl you want me to be, Reggie,” she said softly. “I’m from a family of musicians, it’s in my blood. I’ve compromised with the studio, and it still hasn’t made you happy.” Her tone was statement, and not accusatory. “What else can I do?”

  “Can I tell you that I liked our life better when you needed me more?”

  “Yes.”

  “How can I say this? After the shooting, you were like this fragile little bird who needed me to hold and shelter and take care of you.”

  “And you helped me heal, baby. I wouldn’t be whole without you, but people do heal. As a doctor, aren’t you happy when your patients get well and go on with their lives?”

  He looked away for a long moment, as if seeing something visible only to him. “I do, but this is different.”

  “How so?”

  “I don’t know. It is. Inside is this fear that one day you’re going to wake up, look at this short, funny-looking guy with the glasses you married, and wonder what you were thinking.”

  “You don’t think I love you? Is that what this is about?” She found this hard to believe, but she was relieved that he’d finally opened up.

  He shrugged. “I think you clung to me because you were that broken little bird, and marrying me was a comfortable choice at the time.”

  “Oh, Reggie, baby. No.”

  He held up a hand. “Hear me out, please.”

  She waited.

  “I keep asking myself why, at the end of the day, you’d choose me. Roni, you’re a beautiful, magnificent woman. You’re rich, you’re famous, and you could have any man in the world.”

  “But I chose, and continue to choose, you, Reginald Jackson Garland. You.”

  “I understand that, but I’m so lost right now, and yes, resentful too about your career. I have so many issues pulling at me, I think I’m losing my mind.”

  “So, do you want out?” she asked quietly.

  He nodded. “I think so. At least for a little while.”

  The wind went out of her for a few moments, and her love for him keened with sorrow, but she buried that for the present and drew on the strength that was at her core so she could say without faltering, “Then go and do whatever it is you need to, to realize that I love you madly and want no other man but you. Zoey and I will be here.” She wondered how he could doubt how much she loved him, cared for him, needed him in her world.

  He stood. She stood. He opened his arms. She went to him and let herself be held against his heart, and she held him against hers. “I love you,” she whispered.

  “I love you, too. I just need to sort some things out, okay?”

  “No, it isn’t okay, but that’s how much I love you. Go to the wizard and get a brain and come back to me. You hear?”

  He smiled bittersweetly. Both had tears in their eyes.

  “I’m closing down my practice. I want to spend some time with my parents. I’ll leave in the morning.”

  She wiped her tears. “Whatever you need to do.”

  He placed a kiss on her brow. “Thank you for being so understanding.”

  “It’s either that or start cussing and rocking my neck, and that wouldn’t help.”

  He chuckled softly. “No.”

  They studied each other for a long moment. “I do love you, Reg.”

  “And I do love you. I’ll go up and try to explain to Zoey why I’m leaving, and say good-bye. Going to be hard.” He left the room.

  Roni stood in the echoing silence and prayed he’d come back to her soon.

  Upstairs, Reggie tapped softly on his daughter’s door.

  “Come in.”

  “How are you, shorty?”

  “I feel a thousand times better. My cast itches, though.”

  He walked over and took a look at it. “Your arm’s healing. The itch is normal.”

  Zoey looked into his face and must have seen the remnants of his tears. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

  Reg didn’t lie. “For just a little while.”

  “This is all my fault! All my fault,” she cried. “Please don’t leave. I’ll be good. I promise. I’ll do everything you and Mom say.”

  He sat down on the bed and pulled her onto his lap. She threw her uninjured arm around his neck, and her broken sobs shattered what was left of his aching heart. “This isn’t your fault, sweetheart.”

  “Yes, it is. I was the one who got Mama to sing again. I was the one who broke my arm because I didn’t listen. I’m sorry. Please.”

  He rocked her while tears ran down his face. “Oh, Zoey, don’t cry.”

  “I’ll be good. I will. I promise. Please!”

  Reggie looked over and saw Roni standing in the doorway, her face wet with tears. He turned back to his child. “Zoey, this is something I have to do so that we can be a family again. Please don’t cry. I’m coming back. I promise.”

  “No, you aren’t. You’re going to be gone forever, just like Leah’s mom.”

  “No, I won’t.”

  “Yes, you will. Mom, please make him stay!”

  “I wish I could, cupcake, but I can’t.”

  “Then send me back to foster care so you can be happy again,” she pleaded. “I’ll be okay.”

  He saw Roni’s hand fly to her
mouth in horror. He felt the same. Was this the price he had to pay? Would the end result be worth—this? “Zoey, listen. No one’s sending you anywhere. I love you, and I love your mom. I just need a time-out to clear my head, that’s all.”

  She snapped fiercely, “You’re never coming back. Never.” Freeing herself from his arms, she scrambled off the bed and ran to Roni, pressed her face against her, and wept inconsolably. The look in his wife’s eyes seemed to mirror the question he’d asked himself: Is it worth—this?

  And in his heart he knew it was. If he didn’t figure things out, he would be gone forever, and their world would never be the same. Rising from the bed, he walked out.

  The following morning, he called Nathan for a ride to the airport. Neither Roni nor Zoey came downstairs to see him off, and he supposed that was as it should be. He felt bad about closing the clinic, but it couldn’t be helped. The kids in the area could go back to the clinic in Hays for treatment like before. The reality of leaving felt no better than it had last night. If anything, he felt worse, and he supposed that was as it should be, too.

  When Nathan pulled the town car into the drive, Reg took one last look around the house that had come to be home. Standing there, he listened, hoping to hear Roni or Zoey moving around upstairs, but only silence returned. Drawing in a deep breath, he rolled his suitcase to the door.

  Nathan put the case in the trunk. Reg looked up to the bedroom windows and saw Zoey framed by her drapes. She resembled a little ghost. He waved. She didn’t respond. Filled with the pain of her rejection, he looked away. When he raised his eyes to her window again, she was gone. Feeling like hell, he got in the car, and Nathan drove him away.

  Upstairs, Roni answered the soft knock on her door.

  “Come on in, baby.”

  “Dad’s gone.”

  Roni was sitting up in bed. “I know.” She patted the bed, and Zoey walked over and sat beside her. Roni drew her close.

  “He waved but I was too sad, so I didn’t wave back. Was that bad?”

  “I didn’t want to get up and see him go either, so we’re in the same boat, I suppose.”