Tidings of Joy

by Margaret Daley

  “How’s the morning sickness been?” Tanya asked, deciding to take the focus off her and dating—or rather, lack of dating.

  “Much better. I haven’t had any trouble in a week. And now that I’ve started wearing maternity clothes, my outfits are more comfortable.”

  “The next four or five months will go by so fast. Before you know it, your baby will be here. And then the work will really start.”

  Beth pulled a set of salad tongs out of the drawer. “I understand Sean helped Crystal today shoot baskets.”

  “Is there a secret left in this town? That just happened this afternoon.”

  “I didn’t know Crystal shooting baskets was supposed to be a secret. The basketball hoop is out in the open where anyone can see it. It’s a bright yellow. A little hard not to see it, if you ask me.”

  Peering out the window, Tanya found her daughter sitting with Craig, Beth’s stepson, talking. “I don’t think she wants it known all over town. I think someone is harassing Crystal at school. I wouldn’t want the fact she’s practicing basketball to be something she’ll get teased about. She loves the game and that could kill it.”

  “Harassing Crystal? Who?”

  “She won’t say. She has a crush on a boy who doesn’t return the feelings. It could be him, but I don’t think so.”

  “Let me do some checking around, discreetly, of course. If someone is, I’ll find out and let you know. That’s unacceptable behavior at Sweetwater High.”

  “It’s unacceptable behavior anywhere, but you and I know it goes on all the time.”

  “Sadly, it’s true. C’mon. Let’s join the men.” Beth grabbed not only the large salad bowl but two bottles of dressing.

  “What can I take outside?”

  “I have tea already on the table, but get the pitcher of ice water just in case someone wants that instead.”

  Tanya withdrew the green plastic pitcher from the refrigerator and started for the door.

  Beth paused before opening it and peered over her shoulder at Tanya. “I also heard that Chance built the basketball hoop for Crystal. That was nice of him. He’s very helpful to have around.”

  Tanya narrowed her eyes on her good friend. “And?”

  “Nothing. Just an observation I was making.”

  “And half the townspeople, I bet.”

  “What can I say?” Beth shrugged, then pulled the door open.

  Chance, being the closest person to Beth and Tanya, relieved Beth of the bottles of dressing and placed them on the long picnic table, already set for dinner. Her friend murmured her thanks, her gaze shifting to Tanya as though she shared a secret with Tanya. She glanced away, feeling the warmth creep up her face. Honestly, some people in town were downright nosy. She’d forgotten that about Sweetwater. She shouldn’t have since not that long ago she had been the major object of gossip with her husband’s arson conviction, his demand for a divorce and then his death last spring. And from that, she knew she didn’t like being the center of attention one bit. Thankfully the past few months everything had settled down.

  “Come and get it,” Samuel called out to the kids as he placed the grilled meat on the red tablecloth.

  Allie, Craig and Jane, Samuel’s three children from his previous marriage, hurried toward the picnic table. Crystal followed in her wheelchair and positioned it at one end while Tanya sat on her daughter’s left and Chance on the right. For just a brief moment it seemed as though they were two families sitting down to enjoy a meal together. Then Tanya had to remind herself that wasn’t exactly right—even when Chance’s gaze captured hers and held it for a few extra seconds while the Morgans sat down.

  “Let’s pray,” Samuel said and bowed his head over his empty plate.

  After saying his thanks to the Lord, Samuel began passing the food—a platter of barbecue chicken, the tossed green salad and a bowl of corn on the cob, cooked over the grill. The various aromas of the meal wafted to Tanya, teasing her appetite and making her stomach rumble.

  “Well, at least I know that Tanya is hungry,” Beth said, laughter dancing in her eyes.

  “I forgot to eat lunch. I’m not hungry. I’m starved.” Tanya took the platter and forked a piece of chicken, then passed the food to her daughter.

  When everyone’s plate was full, Samuel asked Chance, “What do you think of Sweetwater so far?”

  “That’s a loaded question.”

  “First impressions.”

  “Welcoming, friendly and beautiful with the lake nearby. When I went jogging yesterday and today, I had several people stop me to introduce themselves. When they heard we were friends, I got the rundown on you and the fine job you’re doing as the Reverend of Sweetwater Community Church.” Chance stopped for a few seconds, moving his food around on his plate before he added, “Several today wanted to know why I wasn’t in church this morning.”

  Knowing the subject was a touchy one for Chance, Tanya said, “I keep promising myself that I’ll start jogging, but I never seem to get around to doing it.”

  “What’s stopping you?” Chance asked, his gaze linking with hers.

  For a few seconds a connection zapped between them, making Tanya wish that they were alone so she could pursue his reluctance to attend church. Somehow she felt it was at the heart of what had wounded him. “I’m not very motivated to exercise since it isn’t one of my favorite things to do. I know it would be a good thing to do, but it’s so much easier to come up with a reason not to jog. It’s not hard to talk myself out of it when I think about it. There’s always laundry to do or the house to clean.”

  “You need a jogging partner,” Beth said and pointedly looked from Tanya to Chance.

  Tanya took a sip of her tea to hide her smile at the obvious hint her friend had thrown out to Chance.

  Being the gentleman she was discovering Chance was, he asked, “Want to jog with me tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow I work late. I won’t be home until after six. I usually grab something for Crystal and me to eat on the way home.”

  “That’s okay. I can wait until then.”

  “I doubt I could keep up with you.”

  Chance chuckled. “You are good at coming up with excuses. I haven’t been running for long. Don’t worry about me. I’ll stop by at seven, and we can go jogging by the lake until it gets dark or one of us tires.”

  “Well, then it’s settled, Tanya. You’ve got yourself a jogging partner.” Beth shifted her attention to Crystal. “How’s the paper coming?”

  “Done.”

  “Good. I’ve enjoyed reading your work. You’re a talented writer, Crystal.”

  “This paper was easy.”

  “You wouldn’t know it from the moans from some of your classmates. There are so many ways you can deal with the subject of prejudice in our society. You would think I asked them to write a book instead of five hundred words.”

  “That’s a good subject for a sermon.” Samuel lifted a chicken leg and took a bite.

  As each Morgan gave his or her opinion about prejudice, Tanya slid a glance toward her daughter who was suddenly quiet, her head down as she played with her food, eating little. She also noticed Chance didn’t say much, either.

  As Jane declared, “You can’t let people get away with putting you down. You’ve got to stand up to them.” Tanya saw Crystal stiffen. Her reaction to the conversation only confirmed Tanya’s earlier suspicion.

  “Goodness, Tanya and Crystal probably aren’t used to the lively discussions we have at the dinner table.” Samuel caught Tanya’s attention. “Sorry, we got carried away. Let’s solve the world’s problems another night. We’ve got guests.” His gaze swept each person sitting at the table to make sure his point was understood.

  Silence ruled for a few minutes while everyone finished eating.

  W
hen Beth went inside to get the dessert, Samuel said, “Chance, if you’ve got any free time with your new job, I sure could use someone to help with the finances at the new youth center. Think you have some time?”

  “Sure.” He would help Samuel any way he could since the reverend had been there for him on more than one occasion.

  “You might even want to help out at the center,” Samuel added with a grin as his wife came out with a chocolate cake.

  While Beth sliced the dessert and passed the pieces around, Chance pictured himself entrenched in the life of Sweetwater. He rubbed his sweaty palm over the napkin in his lap before reaching for his fork to eat his cake. A job. Working at the youth center. Next, he would start going to Samuel’s church. He knew that would make Samuel and Tanya happy, but he couldn’t go under false pretenses. That wasn’t right.

  “I have some cake left. Anyone want seconds?” Beth asked with Samuel and Craig sliding their plates toward her.

  Twenty minutes later after Tanya had helped clear the table and he and Samuel had made sure the backyard was cleaned up, Tanya announced, “We probably better go. Tomorrow’s a school day.”

  “Don’t remind me. I still have some papers to grade.” Beth hugged Tanya and Crystal. “See you in class.”

  On the too-short drive back to Tanya’s house, Chance tried to decide how best to bring up the subject of him being in prison. Tanya, I knew your ex-husband because I was in the same cell block. No, that wasn’t good. Tanya, I was innocent, but I went to prison for murder.

  No! I can’t say that. But what can I say?

  No answer came to mind as Tanya pulled into her driveway and climbed out to man the lift for Crystal. Charlie and the teenager headed for the ramp while Tanya grabbed her purse from the front seat. Crystal let herself into the house.

  A light beaming down from the garage near the basketball hoop pooled around Chance. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and tried to form the words to explain his past. Tanya turned toward him, her mouth opening to say something. It snapped closed, her forehead knitting.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, moving toward him.

  Tell her. He sucked in a deep breath to alleviate the tightness in his chest. It didn’t work. He felt as though he were suffocating. Again he drew in some oxygen-rich air and slowly the band about his torso loosened.

  “Chance?”

  “I need to talk to you. Do you have a minute?”

  She peered toward the kitchen door then back at him. “Yes.” She came even closer until she shared the pool of light with him.

  Another deep breath flooded his senses with her scent of lilacs. He thought of a garden in the springtime with Tanya standing in the middle, sun warming her, birds singing, butterflies flittering from flower to flower. The picture brought him peace, and the constriction about him fell away.

  “Up until three weeks ago I was in the state penitentiary….” He paused for a heartbeat. “For murder. My conviction was overturned because the real killer was found and is awaiting trial in Louisville.”

  As he made his rushed announcement, the color drained from Tanya’s features, her body going stiff, her eyes growing round. Silence hung between them for a long moment. Chance saw a myriad of emotions flash across her face—shock, followed by anger, then finally a wary acceptance with a touch of pain in her eyes.

  She brought her hand up to smooth back her wispy bangs. Her fingers trembled. “Did you know Tom?” she asked in a voice that quavered.

  He nodded, his throat closed. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her, to bring up bad memories, but he saw them in her eyes. Raw pain dominated her features now.

  “Is that where you met Samuel?”

  He pushed down his own reeling emotions, determined to finish this conversation with Tanya. “Yes. I became friends with Samuel—and Tom.”

  “Why did you come to Sweetwater?”

  Tell her all of it. The words wouldn’t come. He couldn’t hurt her anymore. And worse, he didn’t want to be sent away—at least, not until he had fulfilled his promise to himself, so he settled on part of the truth. “Samuel and Tom both told me about the town and it seemed like a good place to start over, to put my life back together.”

  “Who were you accused of murdering?” Again she lifted her hand and combed her quivering fingers through her short hair.

  He’d known that question would be eventually asked, but hearing it created a deep ache in his heart that spread to encompass his whole body. “My wife and daughter,” he whispered in a voice roughened with the memories. He had found them, and he would never forget the picture of them, lifeless, staring up at him but not seeing him.

  “Oh, Chance.” Tanya’s face crumpled, tears glistening in her eyes. “That’s how you lost your family, to a killer?” she asked in a raspy voice.

  The worst part was seeing the effect his words had on Tanya. When a tear escaped, he couldn’t resist brushing his finger across her cheek, the feel of her warm skin riveting him to the present. “Yes, they surprised an intruder when they returned unexpectedly.”

  “Then why did you go to prison?”

  Her innocent question produced a humorless laugh that died almost immediately. “That wasn’t what the police originally thought, because my neighbor had overheard a very loud argument between Ruth and me a few hours before. I had to go in to work again and she wasn’t happy with all the hours I was spending at the office. We had been fighting a lot about that subject. Some of our arguments were loud.”

  “Married couples fight. That’s normal.”

  Chance looked off into the darkness that surrounded them. “My fingerprints were on the gun found at the scene because it was mine. The intruder had used my own gun to kill my family. There wasn’t any sign of a break-in. So I became the prime suspect, and they stopped looking for an intruder even though there were a few pieces of expensive jewelry missing. The police felt that I had done that to cover up that I had killed them.” Even to this day, it was almost inconceivable that the authorities had ever thought he would murder his own child.

  Tanya moved to the stairs that led to his apartment and collapsed on the second step. She turned her face up toward him, but he couldn’t see her expression in the dark. “How did they find the real killer?”

  “This past year there were a series of robberies where the man snuck into garages when the homeowners were leaving. While they were gone, he would rob them and leave without anyone knowing until they couldn’t find their jewelry or whatever he stole. Usually he took small, easily fenced items. He would case the houses, so he knew when the occupants would most likely leave and hide near the garage until they did. Then he would slip inside. A lot of people don’t lock the door from the garage into their house. He would count on that.”

  “Until he did something wrong?” He didn’t have to see her to know that anger laced her voice. But was it directed at him or the intruder?

  Chance leaned against the railing, his hands gripping the wood so tight he felt a splinter dig into his palm. He didn’t want to relive this, but he owed Tanya that much. “Yeah, the thief invaded a home that wasn’t totally empty. The homeowner was a former Marine and knew how to take care of himself. When they searched the thief’s place, the police found all the jewelry missing from my house. He had kept it because it was too hot to get rid of right after—after the murders.” The words clogged his throat. He swallowed and continued in a husky voice, “I think he forgot about the jewelry. He lived with his mother. He hadn’t robbed anyone for eighteen months because he had been in jail for assault. Once he got out he started again and with each success got bolder and bolder.”

  “So if he’d left Louisville, you’d still be in prison?”

  He quaked. “Yes. For life.”

  “Are the memories of your family haunting you?”

  “Yes.”

&
nbsp; She attempted to stand, swayed and grabbed the railing, her hand next to his. “I know how that is. If you allow memories to, they can take over your life.”

  He hadn’t thought it possible to tighten his hold on the wood railing, but he did. “I should have been there. Then they might be alive. But I was too busy working!”

  “So even though you are free now, you really aren’t. You’re living in a self-imposed prison, the bars as strong as if they were made of steel.”

  “You sound like you speak from experience.”

  “I’ve been there. Probably still am. I know what guilt can do to a person. Don’t you think I’ve beat myself up over the fact that Tom needed help and I didn’t see it? I was too busy trying to deal with Crystal’s accident and getting her well. My husband needed me.”

  Her words came to a quavering stop. He wanted to hold her, take her pain away, but he didn’t have the right. In fact, after this evening she probably wouldn’t want to have anything to do with him. He would remind her of Tom every time she saw him.

  “I wasn’t there for him, and when he was sent to prison, he rejected any help I tried to give him. My concern was too late and he made it clear he wanted nothing to do with his family.” Tanya released a long breath. “I could understand his feelings toward me, but not his daughter. It tore Crystal up that she couldn’t see her father.”

  “Prison isn’t any place to have a family reunion.”

  She thrust her face toward him. “You sound like Tom! I married him for better or worse, and he discarded me when things got bad.” Her voice rose several levels.

  Knowing he would provoke her further, Chance inched closer until their breaths tangled. “Do you blame Tom?”

  “Yes!” Tanya shouted then immediately covered her mouth, stepping back until the pool of light revealed the shock on her face.

  For a few more seconds she continued to stare at Chance, then she whirled and fled into the house. The slamming of the door reverberated in the stillness and shuddered down his length. His legs weak, he fell back onto the step. He sat there in the dark and watched one light after another go out in the house. Minutes ticked into thirty and still he couldn’t move.