Gold in the Fire and Light in the Storm

by Margaret Daley

  “Beth, you have to learn to turn it over to the ones doing it.” Samuel lowered his voice. “Enjoy some of the free time with me and my family. It’s the last week in March and spring break. You need to play some.”

  “Well, when you put it that way…Any orders on what you all want?” Beth stared out the picture window at the pear trees laden with white flowers and the red tulips and yellow daffodils gracing the length of Felicia’s house across the street.

  “I’ll let you surprise us. I’ll bring dessert and my two youngest children and pick you up in an hour.”

  “How about Jane?”

  “That’s the best piece of news I have. She’s meeting some friends at the church to help clean up the garden. Joshua organized it.”

  “Maybe we should help them.”

  “Have you forgotten my black thumb? Besides, I think Jane wants me to stay away. Ryan is one of the group. He’s been calling here the past week every night.”

  “Then I’ll see you three in an hour.”

  When Beth hung up she sighed heavily, still bothered that she was left out of the planning for the auction. She’d done it for the past ten years. But with the letter she had received yesterday, she knew for certain she wouldn’t be here come the Fourth of July. She would be in Brazil working at a mission along the Amazon River. She still couldn’t believe how fast everything was proceeding. In the next few months she had a lot to do—getting her passport, getting a physical and a whole series of shots.

  But for the moment she had a picnic to plan and an afternoon to spend with Samuel and his children. She noticed a bounce to her step as she walked into the kitchen. What was next—whistling while she worked? But she couldn’t contain her excitement. For the trip or for seeing Samuel? She didn’t know the answer and didn’t care.

  Opening the refrigerator, she inspected its contents, trying to decide what two young children would want to eat on a picnic. Remembering back to her picnics with her brothers and sister, she quickly settled on making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with sliced fruit and chips. Nothing fancy, but then children rarely wanted that.

  She set about preparing the food, then put on a new pair of jeans she had bought with Jesse the past weekend after their get-together at Alice’s Café with Zoey, Tanya and Darcy, who had brought along her baby daughter. Wearing her new orange blouse and tennis shoes, Beth tied her curly hair back with an orange silk scarf, a few strands of hair escaping. She was ready to go when Samuel rang the doorbell exactly an hour after his phone call.

  Beth grabbed a navy blue sweater in case she got cold from the breeze off the lake and went to answer the door. “Hi! I’m so glad you asked me to go with you all. I needed a reason not to do some yard work.”

  “I work hard to avoid yard work. Glad we think alike.” Samuel pointed to a basket on the table in the foyer. “Is this the food?”

  She nodded. “What’s for dessert?”

  “Nothing. The kids want to come back to the ice cream parlor on Main and have some after our picnic. Is that okay with you?”

  “Ice cream. Let’s see. Next to banana cream pie, vanilla ice cream with hot caramel topping is my favorite dessert, so I guess it’s okay with me.”

  “I hear Miller Point is a nice place to have a picnic.”

  “There are several places around the lake that are nice. Miller Point is fine with me.”

  “With spring break the kids have been eager to do some things outside. Craig and Allie brought some fishing poles to see if they can catch anything. Do you fish?”

  “Nope, but I don’t mind watching.”

  Samuel lifted the basket and allowed Beth to go first. He shut the door and made sure it was locked before descending the steps. Beth slid into the front seat and turned to greet Allie and Craig.

  “Will you help me pick some wildflowers? I’ve seen some pretty ones from the road,” Allie said as her father started the car.

  “Sure. There was a time I knew the names of a lot of them. But I haven’t gone wildflower picking in years.” She’d been so busy doing other things she’d forgotten how much she liked doing something simple like that. She and her sister used to walk along the lake and collect wildflowers to put in a vase on the kitchen table. They had always tried to get as many different colors as possible. Her sister had called it a rainbow bouquet. “Miller Point is perfect for that. There’s a meadow not far from the lake’s edge.”

  Craig screwed up his face into a frown at the very mention of flowers. Beth added for his benefit, “You are welcome to help us, Craig. I don’t want you to feel left out.”

  “No way. That’s for girls.”

  “Son, when you get older, you’ll realize giving flowers to a girl becomes very important to a guy,” Samuel said with a smile.

  “Not for me,” Craig muttered, staring out the side window as his father drove toward Miller Point.

  “What about Susie? Mary Ann says her older sister likes you and you like her,” Allie said in a singsong voice.

  “No, I don’t!”

  “Yes, you do. You talk to her when she calls.” Allie stuck her tongue out at her brother, who returned the gesture.

  Samuel slowed his car, pulled over and said, “If you two are going to fight, we can go home to do that.”

  Both crossed their arms, lifted their chins and turned to look out their respective car windows. Beth bit the inside of her cheek to keep a straight face. This little skirmish between brother and sister brought back bittersweet memories of raising her siblings. There had been times when they had been constantly at each other’s throat and she had wondered if she would ever have any peace in the house again. Now she had more peace than she knew what to do with.

  Samuel resumed driving. “Sorry about that, Beth.”

  “No problem. I’m used to it. You ought to hear some of the students at school.”

  Five minutes later Samuel pulled into a parking area near Miller Point. Allie and Craig were out of the car the second he turned off the engine. They raced toward the water, one going east along the sandy shore and the other west.

  “I knew I was going to have a problem when I found out Allie’s new best friend’s older sister liked Craig. Allie is constantly teasing him and he isn’t taking it very well.”

  “Sort of like he teases Jane about Ryan?”

  “Yep. There are times I sneak out of the house and seek some quiet at the church.”

  Beth laughed. “I’ve been there. I know what you mean.”

  Samuel opened his door. “Let’s spread the blanket under that maple over there.” He gestured toward the largest tree in the area.

  Carrying the blanket while Samuel took the basket, Beth walked beside him to the maple. Craig ran back to the car to get his fishing rod while Allie explored the shoreline, picking up some stones to examine and pocketing one.

  After setting the blanket down and spreading it out so only part of it was shaded, Beth tossed back her head and let the warm rays of the sun bathe her face. Inhaling lungfuls of the rich air, she let the peacefulness of her surroundings seep into her. The chirping of the birds and the soothing serenade of the insects combined with the water lapping against the sandy beach to complete the ideal picture.

  She turned toward Samuel, who had already opened the basket to peek inside. “Again I want to thank you for this wonderful suggestion. It’s beautiful. Today no one should spend any time indoors.”

  “It’s one of those perfect spring days that reconfirms God’s presence.” He closed the lid.

  “Does the meal meet with your approval?”

  “You could have brought just about anything and I wouldn’t have cared less. I’m not a picky eater, as opposed to my daughters. One is a vegetarian and the other only likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, any kind of sweet and spaghetti.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh, I almost forgot, and hamburgers and French fries.”

  “Not your healthiest food.”

  “Nope. I’m only hoping it’s a brief stage s
he’s moving through.” He flipped his hand toward the basket. “But I can see you must have read Allie’s mind. You have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. How did you know?”

  “Not many children their age hate PB and J sandwiches.”

  “True. You know children well.”

  “Raising three and teaching hundreds does have its advantages.”

  Allie raced toward the car and retrieved her fishing rod. She joined her brother, who sat on a large rock jutting out over the water. Passing her pole to Craig, Allie watched as he baited the line.

  “What’s he fishing with?”

  “Bologna.”

  “Grant you, I’m not a fisherman—or is that woman? Oh, well, I’m not one of those, but I’ve never heard of bologna being used to lure fish to your hook.”

  “Allie screams if we use anything live like worms.” Samuel moved back to sit on the blanket. “Surprisingly they have caught some using bologna, so Craig goes along with it.”

  Beth eased down next to Samuel, everything about the day feeling so right. It seemed natural to her that they were sitting and watching the two children fish as though they had for years. Samuel was easy to talk to. He made her feel important, special, very much a woman. If she hadn’t had her life planned, it would have been easy to fall for him. Why had someone come along when she had stopped looking for a husband, a man to love? She had to keep focused on her trip in the summer.

  Samuel rested one arm on his bent knee, never taking his gaze off his children. “How are your plans coming along? Have you heard back from the organization?”

  “Yes,” she said with less excitement than she would have thought. “I received my acceptance a few days ago.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Brazil.”

  “Where the dart landed?”

  “Yes, that was as good a way to decide as any. The world is full of places I haven’t been to.” Beth crossed her legs, stretched out in front of her. “I’m going to be assigned to a mission at the upper reaches of the Amazon just before the border with Peru.”

  “The Amazon! That’s a far cry from Sweetwater.”

  “Yes, but what an adventure. I’ve decided to keep a journal of my travels. I may write a book one day. I’ve always wanted to, and this will be my chance to do good for God and fill pages and pages with the new things I’ve learned.”

  “I wish I could capture your enthusiasm and give some to Jane.”

  “Her grades are improving. She doesn’t complain to me anymore while we’re working.”

  “That’s good, since you’re doing her a favor. Have I thanked you in the past week?”

  Beth smiled. “Yes, every time I come over.”

  “Okay, I’ve probably carried the appreciative-dad role just a little too far, but because of you Jane is doing better and she doesn’t complain like she used to about going to school.”

  “Soon I’m going to approach her about using the resource room when she needs help. It’s staffed with two special ed teachers who assist students on IEPs with their class work, any long-term assignments and taking tests in a quiet environment where there aren’t very many distractions.”

  “She won’t do it.”

  “She’ll need something after I’m gone if she runs into any trouble. Right now she’s using me, but next year I won’t be here.”

  Samuel flexed his hands, then curled them into fists. “I know.”

  The tight edge to his voice caused Beth to angle her head to look him directly in the eyes. “I want her to learn to advocate for herself and not to be ashamed of needing help with certain projects. We all need help from time to time.”

  “From where I’m sitting you look pretty together.”

  “Well, I’m not all the time.”

  “When?”

  “The night you took me to Andre’s. I was a basket case.”

  He quirked a brow. “You were?”

  “I haven’t dated much. Not very good at it when I have. If you haven’t noticed, I’m shy.”

  “You could have fooled me. Of course, I haven’t dated much either.”

  “So neither one of us is an expert at dating.”

  “I know a solution to that.”

  “What?”

  “Go out on another date with me.”

  Her heart skipped a beat, then began to pound. “I…” She was at a loss for words.

  “If you don’t say yes soon, I’m liable to be set back years with this dating.”

  “By all means, we wouldn’t want that.”

  “Then it’s a yes?”

  “Yes,” she said with a laugh.

  Chapter Seven

  Beth slipped from the extra-large booth at Alice’s Café to grab the coffee. She poured some for Tanya and herself. “I’m glad Alice doesn’t mind us monopolizing this table for several hours.” She held up the glass pot. “Any other takers?”

  “No, strictly tea for me.” Zoey dunked her used tea bag into her hot water and added some sugar. “I’m thinking about getting another macadamia cookie. Anyone else want one?”

  Darcy placed her hand over her stomach. “Not me. It’s gonna be weeks, probably months, before I can fit into my clothes again. Dieting is the pits.”

  Jesse raised her mug. “Here’s to the day when we don’t have to watch our weight.”

  “I’m afraid I’d be dead by that time,” Beth murmured, sitting again in the booth next to Tanya.

  “Me, too.” Tanya cupped her chin and rested her elbow on the table, looking despondent, deep lines carved into her expression.

  “What’s going on, Tanya?” Beth asked, realizing that for the past half hour her friend had said little.

  A heavy sigh escaped Tanya’s lips. “I didn’t want to say anything, at least, not till the end, because I hate to put a damper on our gathering.”

  “Nonsense.” Jesse waved her hand in the air. “That’s what these gatherings are for. To help each other through the rough times. Has something else happened to Tom? Is he hurt again?”

  Tanya shook her head, her eyes watering. “No, I…” She swallowed hard. “He wants a divorce. I received the papers a few days ago.”

  “You did! Why didn’t you tell us immediately?” Zoey asked, stirring her green tea.

  “I’m embarrassed.” Tanya hung her head, staring into the black darkness of her coffee.

  Beth laid her hand on her upper arm. “There’s nothing for you to be embarrassed about. You can’t control what Tom wants, especially with him in prison. Have you talked to him since you received the papers?”

  “He doesn’t want to talk with me or see me. I don’t know what to do about it.”

  “Oh, Tanya, I’m so sorry.” Tears pooled in Darcy’s eyes and began to roll down her cheeks. “My hormones are running rampant.” She wiped the wet tracks, only to have more tears flow. “I’m not gonna be much help. You talk to her, Beth. You’re always so sensible.”

  Beth slipped her arm about Tanya’s shoulders and pulled her friend toward her. “Give it some time. Maybe he’ll come to his senses.”

  “I don’t think so, but Reverend Morgan is going up there today to talk to Tom. He came by this morning to see how I was. I don’t know what I would have done if it wasn’t for our new reverend. His words have kept me focused on what’s important—my daughter. I can’t let this cause a setback for me. I just can’t.”

  “Samuel does have a way about him,” Beth murmured, picturing the man under discussion.

  “Samuel does?” Jesse arched a brow. “Hmm. That sounds awfully cozy, if you ask me.”

  Beth shot Jesse an exasperated look. “I’m not asking you. Don’t you start, Jesse Blackburn.”

  Tanya smiled. “You two need to stop it before Alice throws us out for causing a scene. Beth, don’t you know you’ll never be able to change Jesse’s nature? She’s a born matchmaker.”

  “I would refer to her as a born busybody.”

  “Busybody!” Jesse clasped her chest, her mouth
forming a large O. “I can’t believe you said that about me.”

  “If I don’t shut you down immediately, you’ll weave a fantasy with me marrying our minister and having his baby.”

  The grin on Jesse’s face was pure mischief. “I don’t have to. You’re doing a great job of it yourself.”

  “Now I know why Beth is sitting at one end of the table and you at the other.” Zoey shook her head, then took a swallow of her drink. “If I remember correctly, we were going to discuss Crystal’s birthday coming up in a few weeks. She’ll be fourteen—only two years to her sweet sixteen birthday.”

  “My daughter is growing up,” Tanya said, pulling herself together as the conversation turned to Crystal’s birthday.

  Beth relaxed back, noticing that Tanya was no longer teary eyed. In fact, she was sipping her coffee and throwing herself into the party planning for her daughter. While listening to the discussion, Beth said a silent prayer that Samuel’s trip to the prison would be successful.

  Samuel sat at the bare table in the bare room at the prison, waiting for Tom Bolton’s appearance—if he appeared, and Samuel was beginning to feel he wouldn’t. He checked his watch for the third time and wondered what he should do if the man refused to see him, too. As the minutes ticked away, frustration coiled in Samuel’s stomach until it ached.

  Then suddenly the door swung open and a man walked in with a guard behind him. Tom limped to the table, his eyes downcast. But even though his face was averted, Samuel saw the swollen lip and cut under his eye. He blew out a breath of air, hoping God would guide him in what he should say to this man.

  After Tom eased into the chair and the guard backed away to stand by the door, Tanya’s husband finally lifted his gaze to Samuel’s. The despair in his eyes shook Samuel to the core of his being. This was a man without hope.

  Tom blinked, and the despair was replaced with anger. With his arms folded over his chest, his hands fisted and his eyes narrowed, Tom said nothing as he stared at Samuel.

  Samuel coated his dry throat and scooted his chair closer to the table, placing his elbows on its wooden surface. “Your wife asked me to come and see how you were.”