“What? You’ve met someone?” Chastity guessed.
“No, you forget. I’ve sworn off the male species.”
“And I bet they’re crawling out of the woodwork to you, aren’t they?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
Chastity wondered if her friend would notice. It happened to Chastity not too long ago. If history were to repeat itself for her friend, than she would meet someone without even expecting it.
“Yeah ... yeah. Okay so back to the ‘you’ part. What’s up?”
“Well,” Anne paused. “I just bought a ticket to Oklahoma City.”
Chastity screamed into the phone. “I’m so excited! When are you coming?”
“Today. Is that too soon?”
“Don’t be ridiculous! You don’t need an invitation. I am lost without you so much that I can’t even pick out a stupid dress for my own wedding. Get here! What time will you arrive?”
“I arrive at four p.m. on Southwest.”
“I’m so excited.” Chastity repeated herself. “How long are you here for? Can you stay long enough to help me out with this dress situation?”
“Well, I can definitely do that.” Anne said in a cryptic tone.
“Okay? So a week? Longer?” Chastity asked.
“Well I just bought a one way ticket.”
“What? What does that mean? Are you moving here? What about your restaurant?”
“I’ll tell you everything when I get there. I need to go. They just called me for boarding. See you soon.” Anne giggled.
“Alrighty then! I’ll be down at the baggage claim to pick you up later today. I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
“See you soon Chaz.” Anne smiled when she hung up. She picked up her carry on and handed her ticket to the flight attendant. She was on her way to wherever the wind took her and for now that was Oklahoma.
Chapter 37
It was a normal Wednesday night. After the last person had said their goodbyes to the pastor, Jim started shutting the lights off and locking up. His heart was full tonight. He had a baby on the way, and although he couldn’t imagine being a father, he already loved his child so much.
If I love my child this much already, I can’t imagine how much more you love me Father. He silently prayed. Becoming a father gave him a whole new insight to God’s love and how deep it ran. Smiling, he locked the door and looked for his wife. Hope was already waiting for him in their car. He could see her singing to herself inside, and knew she was singing some of her favorite songs to their unborn child.
He slid inside next to her and smiled. Jim knew he had to be the luckiest man alive. Even though times were tight, and a baby wouldn’t help out financially, he knew God always provided exactly what they needed. No matter what his bank statement read every month, Jim felt he was the richest man with all he could ever desire. All he had to do was look in the seat next to him to realize that.
Jim laid his hand on her belly and leaned over to kiss Hope. She wasn’t due with their child for another four months, but she was showing like she was due any day.
“Are you sure this is your first?” He teased and rubbed her belly.
“It will be your last if you don’t watch your mouth!” Hope smirked. She knew he was teasing - but who wants to be reminded of how big they are?
“You know you’re the most beautiful mom in the world.” Jim reassured. Within seconds Hope’s face was glowing again. It didn’t take much to make her happy.
Jim started the engine and took the short drive home. His engine rumbled more than purred. “Maybe one day we can afford a new ride, but for now old Bessie gets the job done.” He patted the dash of his ’64 Oldsmobile, as it strained to reach its destination.
“I’m surprised it still turns over.” Hope laughed.
“If it ain’t broke…” Jim’s recanted the start of his favorite saying. “Speaking of – I think Anne’s on the mend.”
“Good.” Hope sighed. “I know it’s never easy being single in today’s world. Lord knows I couldn’t handle it.”
“She’s a good girl, but she’s had a rough time of it. She knows we’ve been praying for her though.”
“We should have invited her to church tonight.”
Jim smiled at his wife’s eager heart to take anyone in that needs care. “Honey we’ve invited her in the past plenty of times. You can’t force someone until they’re ready. All we can do is offer or suggest, and then pray that God does the work.”
Jim and Hope pulled into the quiet parking lot of Anne’s café, where they lived in the apartment upstairs.
“Lord knows we’ve been blessed by her many times over.” Jim reflected on their history with Anne. “First with my job, and then with this place for our family. The fact that Anne allows us to pay next to nothing for this upstairs apartment is unreal. I feel like we owe her so much.”
“Mmm-hmmm.” Hope agreed. Jim rounded the car to help her from the passenger seat. They walked around the back of the café to the walkway that led up to the door of their apartment. Slowly they made their way up the stairs to unlock their back door. Hope barely made it to the top without catching her breath. It had been a long night, and both were ready to call it a night.
“This baby is wearing me out.” She puffed.
Once inside, Hope made her way to the bathroom to get ready to go to bed and to go pee for the sixth time that evening. She smiled at Jim before making her way through the door.
“Love you.” She whispered and patted him on his backside.
Jim laughed in response. “That will only get you in trouble.”
“You know better than that. I have to go pee every five minutes lately. It wouldn’t be worth your time.”
Jim just shook his head and walked toward the kitchen. Everyone warned him his sex life with his wife would drastically change once kids entered the picture. He didn’t think they meant while his wife was pregnant though. He smiled as he opened the milk container. He would be okay with whatever changes took place in his marriage, because they were about to bring a precious child into the mix. God had blessed them so immensely that he’d never complain about a temporary setback in any other department of his life.
After drinking down a glass, Jim placed the glass in the sink and turned back to their bedroom. As he turned out the kitchen light, something caught his eye. A white envelope sat glowing, illuminated by the moonlight shining through the kitchen window. It was just a few inches from the front door of their apartment. Someone must have slipped it inside the apartment from inside the café.
“Hey honey! Did you see this?” Jim promptly picked it up and scanned the front. Anne’s large looped handwriting was scrawled across it.
To Jim and Hope – with all my love
A wide smile spread across his face. To them, she was family and it was nice to know she felt the same.
“Nuh-huh,” Hope stuck her freshly washed face out of the bathroom to look down the hall at her husband. She was in the middle of brushing her teeth, but continued to mumble. “Wha is it?”
“It’s some sort of note from Anne?” He cocked his head and looked confused.
Hope quickly spit out her toothpaste and yelled from the bathroom. “Well open it!”
Jim quickly ripped it open – only what he found inside was not a thank you note. It wasn’t a letter. It was the title to the building. Paper clipped to it was another legal envelope.
“What the …” he started, but stopped short when he realized the title had been legally notarized and signed over to Jim and Hope … debt free.
“It’s awfully quiet out there. Good stuff?” Hope asked and poked her head out again. Jim looked to be in shock. His eyebrows were up, and he was staring blankly at the paper was in his hands.
“Jim?” She said, hoping something wasn’t terribly wrong.
“Come here,” he said softly, breaking his trance-like state. He slowly pulled out the envelope from the paperclip and handed it to Hope. “Open it.” He
shook his head.
She peeked over his shoulder to see what he’d been starting at. “Oh my heavens. What in the world is she thinking?” Her hands started shaking as she opened the envelope.
Inside, Hope discovered another unbelievable surprise. She pulled out a check along with a scrap piece of notepaper. She stared down at it for a few seconds in disbelief, and then looked up over it to meet Jim’s urgent eyes. She sucked a breath in and put a hand to her mouth.
“Let me see.” Jim took it from her and staggered back when he saw what she held in her hands. His back bumped against the hallway wall. It was a check made out to Jim for $25,000.00. Hope reached out to steady him. “What is she thinking? Giving us all this?” Jim could barely find his voice.
Hope took the title from his hands and handed him the note that accompanied the check. “Did you read this yet?”
Jim shook his head. “I was too caught up in the legal mumbo jumbo.” He promptly read aloud, “Jim, here’s your raise this year. You deserve it. Take care of Hope and your baby. Don’t worry about me. I’ve decided to pick up and move elsewhere. I’ll contact you guys soon.”
“This is just too much.” Hope cried. Jim grabbed her hands, and led her to the couch. He dipped his head for a few seconds, before looking back up to his wife. He was crying. “We can’t accept this.”
“It doesn’t sound like we have a choice. From the sounds of it, she’s gone. And she’s left you responsible to run her – your own business.”
“I can’t believe we own Anne’s café! And we have a nest egg to boot!”
“God is good!” Hope pulled his hands into her lap and bowed her head.
“Yes, He is.” With a grateful heart and a sense of awe, Jim bowed his head and joined his wife in a prayer of thanks. They also prayed that Anne would be safe wherever she landed.
Chapter 38
Chastity circled the baggage claim drive through area a few times before finally seeing her friend. She honked the horn to get her attention, and pulled over into the pick up lane. Anne grinned and waved wildly at her friend through the windshield. Chastity jumped out and grabbed her for a big bear hug.
“I can’t believe you’re here! You look really good Anne.” Chastity pulled back and surmised her friend’s eyes and face. They held peace.
“I am good. It’s taken a while…but I’m good.”
Chastity reached down to load all four bags into the back of her SUV.
“What do you have in here?” She grunted on the last one before closing the back hatch of her car. “You bring your whole closet?”
“Well that is the point of a one way ticket.” Anne nodded.
“You know you could have shipped some of it to yourself, and saved on bag fees through the airlines. I’m surprised they let you take all that on board.”
Anne laughed. “You don’t think that’s my entire closet do you? I have about five boxes coming in a few days to your place. And I’ve shipped the rest with the movers.”
Chastity groaned. “Where am I going to put all of it?”
“Well once we find me a place, you won’t have to worry about it.”
Chastity started the engine, looked over her left shoulder for oncoming traffic before pulling out of the terminal pick up. “Your own place? So does that mean you’re staying here?” Chastity said in awe.
“Yup. I’m going to become an Okie!” Anne said excitedly.
“Oh my gosh Anne.” Chastity laughed. “What in the world are you thinking? I mean … I’m so happy that you’re going to be here, but wow.”
“I know. I just kept thinking day in and day out – how nothing was keeping me there. The only thing I have close to family is you. And it’s not like Brent would ever amount to anything in my world.”
“I’m so sorry.” Chastity didn’t want to discuss anything painful.
Anne waved her off. “Don’t worry about it. I think he did me a favor. I mean how am I supposed to be happy by investing in a man? They only let you down. And like I said – I think you’ve found the last functional guy out there. The rest are so absorbed with their wants and needs that they can’t see past anything else.”
“Man, this is weird. We were having this same conversation a little over a year ago except I was in that seat and you were in mine.”
“Yeah, things can turn on a dime can’t they?”
Chastity lifted her eyebrow and half cocked her head in response. She breathed out and kept driving. It’s not that she wasn’t thrilled to have Anne here on a permanent basis, Chastity just wanted to make sure she wasn’t being rash.
“So what about your restaurant? Did you sell it?”
“Nope. I signed it over to Jim. Of course he didn’t know anything about it. I left him a letter this morning. So he’s going to be completely surprised.”
“You did what?” Chastity sputtered. “Are you sure you want to give up on your deli? Are you sure you aren’t packing up and moving away in efforts to run away from Brent?”
“Ha!” Anne belted out. “Don’t give the guy any credit. Of course not. He’s still dropping by from time to time to check the waters, and the funny thing is …” Anne turned sideways in her seat to face Chastity. “At this point, I don’t feel a thing except pity for the guy. I mean come on! Move on buddy!”
“But you were so heart broken.”
“Yes, but was my heart broken or was I humiliated that I slept with someone and he cheated on me?”
“Good point – which is why Timothy and I have never …”
“Never - in over a year? Come on Chaz. That’s amazing. Two healthy attractive people engaged and you’ve not done the deed?”
Chastity shook her head. “I know it’s unlikely. It’s not like we’ve not been very close or been tempted but …” Chastity’s voice trailed. “My mom’s letter has truly been tugging at me. I know she would be disappointed. And in going through marital counseling, at the church, we’ve both made a commitment to each other to wait.”
“Chaz. You’re an adult.”
“I know and look where that got you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She put her hand up. “That was rude.”
“Well you make a good point.” Anne conceded.
“And it’s not just about my mom. It was about her but now it’s about my faith. She turned back to God and became a very strong Christian before she died. I saw the peace she had because of it.”
“But your choices are your choices Chaz. It won’t affect your mom’s life or thereafter.”
“No you’re right, but this is my choice. Seeing how close she was to God has really inspired me. What started out as just seeing what it was all about has turned into a true peace in knowing God myself.” Chastity saw Anne’s mouth open and continued on before her friend could start again. “Anne, listen. With faith aside - what if the fact that sex would entangle us into something too much for us to handle at this stage? I’m not perfect but maybe I should strive for the best for me and Timothy, and if he’s in agreement than isn’t it worth it to try to do it the right way?”
Anne nodded. She was no one to judge. She’d obviously done it the wrong way and Chastity was right – look where it got her. A part of her had recently felt torn into shreds because she was physically entangled, and with the wrong person. She had always admired her best friend, but today she really wanted to be like her. She saw Chastity as someone who had found herself through finding God. Anne really wasn’t sure, but whatever it was – she wanted it.
“So Timothy agrees to wait too, huh?”
“Enough so that he’s the one who suggested going through premarital counseling. It’s a weekly check and prep for marriage.”
“You guys go to a therapist?”
“No, silly! It’s a program with our pastor.”
“Yeah.” Anne paused. “Jim used to always invite me to church, and I went a few times. My parents took us as kids, but my grandparents never took us unless it was to be seen by her high society friends at what she called high
church. I guess it kind of skewed my vision of Christianity, and I kind of fell off the path.”
“I’m sorry Anne. It’s not all like that.”
“No, I know. Jim has been a real influence in my life though, whether he knew it or not. I know God loves me. I even started trying to pray and have a relationship with him, while you were in Oklahoma and I was dating Brent. It seemed the closer or more time I spent with God, the more strained my relationship with Brent was. He kept telling me church was boring. And then after our breakup, I just didn’t take time to go back.”
“I’ve thought it was boring in the past too. I don’t know. I’m new to the whole thing. I mean I went when I was little, but they fed us snacks and told us cool stories. Now that I’m an adult and I actually go to a church service … it’s different.”
“How?”
“Well for one thing it’s real life messages. Pastor Carter is real down-to-earth. He’s funny for one thing – he’s easy to listen to and entertaining, but he has valid points that tie directly back to the Bible. It’s not in the least bit boring. In fact I find myself glad I’m going each week, and when I miss – I feel like I’m missing something.”
It dawned on Chastity that she missed hearing from God when she wasn’t there. Then a thought quickly interjected in her heart. You can hear from me anytime you want. It doesn’t have to be just at church.
Chastity’s heart jumped. Did she just have a clear message? Knowing she’d be the last person to preach, as she’d never want that done to her, she tried to take it slow with Anne. She didn’t want to go overboard about her faith because it was so brand new and she wasn’t sure where she was in her walk. She felt like such a novice, but was glad she and Anne got to talk about it not just for Anne’s benefit, but also for her own.
“Hello! Earth to Chastity.” Anne interrupted.
Chastity turned to her and smiled. “Sorry lost in thought.”
“Deep ones apparently…everything okay up there?” Anne pointed to Chastity’s head.
Her friend laughed in response. “Yeah, too good. I can tell you one thing. I am so glad you’re here! Now maybe I can finally find my wedding dress!”
Facing Redemption Page 17
