* * *
Gil must have been in a deep sleep because he wasn’t aware of anything until he felt someone poking him on the shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Bert and Daisy hovering over him with worried looks on their faces. Of course, Bert was the one poking him and continued to do so.
“You okay, Mr. Preacher?”
Gil was still trying to clear the fog from his mind when Daisy said, “We brought you some supper, Pastor. It’s only soup, but Stella said that would be best for tonight. She said that sometimes a bump on the head like you took could cause nausea for a while.”
A few minutes later, he was trying to spoon some soup down when he looked up and saw Richard standing behind Daisy and Bert.
Richard chuckled and said, “Don’t look like I needed to worry none about you Pastor. Looks like you’re being taken care of right nice.”
Gil finished most of the soup while being watched by all three of them. Finally, when he set the bowl down on a tray, Richard stepped up and cleared his throat.
“Well, seeing as how you’re probably not up to it tonight, I thought it might be best if I moderate the business meeting.”
Gil started to protest, but quickly realized that it would be better if Richard did for two reasons. Number one was that his mind might not be quite clear enough yet. And the other reason was that it would give him a chance to watch and see how they were accustomed to running a business meeting here before he had to do it himself.
They all four walked over to the church together and when they entered the sanctuary, Daisy and Bert sat with the rest of the residents from the home. Gil followed Richard up to the front where a lectern had been placed in front, below the platform.
Soon the room was filled with almost as many people as there had been for the Sunday Morning service. Gil was surprised until he noticed Jake Hollis sitting with a rather large group of people who were talking noisily among themselves. Yes! Now, he knew. More people came tonight because they expected fireworks and Jake had his whole clan there probably planning to cause some. Well, Gil certainly hoped they would all go away disappointed tonight, at least in that respect.
Gil watched as Richard called the meeting to order and then led in prayer. When he raised his head again, he looked around the room and said, “I suppose I should say that it’s nice to see all you folks here tonight. But I sure hope we all remember one thing, and that is that we are in God’s house and we’re here to conduct His business . . . not ours.”
A low murmur traveled around the room but no one spoke up. As Gil watched Jake, it seemed as if he was struggling with whether to say something or not, but remained silent.
Richard went through the first part of the meeting with various reports being presented and then asked for any new business. That was when Jake stood and said, “I make a motion that we bring back the Sunday evening service and have it at six o’clock.”
He sat down and a man near him seconded the motion.
Gil looked around the room and it didn’t look as if anyone was surprised that Jake had made that particular motion or that anyone seemed opposed to it either.
There was little discussion on the motion before it was passed with no opposition. Gil noticed that quite a few people didn’t vote either way. He hoped Richard had taken note of who didn’t vote since he didn’t know very many people yet and he thought that that knowledge might prove to be helpful later on.
After the meeting adjourned, Gil was standing near the rear of the sanctuary when Jake Hollis and his clan approached the door.
Gil stuck out his hand and said, “It’s good to see all of your family here tonight, Jake.”
Jake looked over his shoulder and there was no one but his family there. “Just remember our bargain, Preacher. I did my part.”
With that, Jake walked out and his family followed him obediently and quietly.
A few minutes later, Gil was walking with Richard back to the parsonage and Gil could barely keep his eyes open. Once inside, they sat in the living room with Gil in his recliner and Richard in an armchair facing him.
“Well, Pastor, I for one am glad to see the Sunday evening service come back, but I’m not so sure about the rest of the meeting.”
Gil was fighting to stay awake and he couldn’t get his fuzzy mind to focus on what Richard was saying. And he was still trying to figure out what Jake had meant when he mentioned a bargain, so Gil didn’t think he should bring it up to Richard just yet.
Instead, he said, “I was watching Jake and his bunch all evening. It seemed that they had to have a group discussion every time anything came up.”
Richard snorted. “Don’t know why. They always vote the way Jake tells them to anyway.”
He scratched his head and said, “I’m more than a little worried though. Seems that things went a bit too smooth tonight. Did you notice that a bunch of people didn’t vote either way on the Sunday evening motion?
When Gil was only able to nod, Richard continued, “I just know that Jake’s up to something, but I can’t put my finger on it yet, but I will. You can count on it.”
Gil’s head was nodding now and Richard clapped a hand gently on his good shoulder. “Come on Pastor, I think you need to get yourself off to bed.”
With that, Richard half-guided, half-supported Gil up the stairs and to the doorway to Gil’s bedroom where Richard said, “Well, good night Pastor. I’ll see you tomorrow sometime.”
Gil didn’t hear Richard leave and he didn’t even get undressed. He did manage to slip off his shoes though just before he crawled into bed, sling and all and was asleep almost immediately.
Chapter Six
Jo woke up early Friday morning. She’d slept pretty well, but she’d gone to bed with so many things on her mind that they were still just going round and round in her head.
Foremost among all those thoughts was the fact that someone was harassing both her and the new preacher. She’d found a bag of rotten apples on her landing yesterday. She didn’t have to think much to know what the meaning was on that one, same as the skunk and the rattlesnake. There’d been something new almost every day.
She’d also heard that little things like that were happening over at the church too, especially at the house where the preacher lived. Maybe it was a little more serious over there though since there’d been shots fired and a threatening note left.
She sat through breakfast, listening to Carla go on about Mr. Bates. Jo still hadn’t had her little talk with Carla about her teacher. Maybe she could get Floyd to do it. No, that wouldn’t be fair to either of them, and knowing Floyd, it would probably end in disaster anyway. Besides, Floyd had been rather moody lately, and she had a feeling she knew why. Sue Ann had had dinner with Mike Bates last night. Jo wouldn’t be surprised if Mike was in jail this morning.
Thinking about that, Jo realized she was in for another Sue Ann invasion this afternoon with a blow-by-blow account of that particular event.
Finally, when Carla left for school, Jo made up her mind. She was going to go talk to that preacher and see if they could somehow work together to stop all this nonsense, before someone got hurt.
She dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She didn’t think shorts would be appropriate for going to the church even if it wasn’t Sunday.
On the short drive over to the church, Jo tossed ideas around about how to start the conversation, but nothing really sounded good to her. Once she was standing outside the church office, she still didn’t know what she was going to say.
She looked at her watch and realized it was only nine o’clock. Would the preacher even be in yet? Better yet, would the church secretary, Betty Lewis, be there? Jo wasn’t about to be alone with the preacher. He was a man after all and she knew what all men wanted.
While she was standing there trying to decide if it was okay to go on in or not, Betty came around the corner of the building and saw her.
“Well good morning Mary Jo, it’s nice to see you.”
> All she could come up with was “Hi Betty, nice to see you too.”
Betty smiled and picked up the conversation. “How is Carla doing? She’s a junior this year isn’t she.”
When Jo simply nodded, Betty said, “My, my, before you even know it, she’ll be gone and you’ll be all alone.”
Yes, Jo had thought about that very thing, especially since school started last week. But she wasn’t here to talk small talk with the church secretary. Why was she here though? That was a good question and she still wasn’t sure what she’d say if either Betty or the preacher asked.
Betty opened the office door and motioned for Jo to go in ahead of her. The older woman went to her desk and dropped her purse on the corner then turned back to Jo.
“Did you want to see the pastor, Jo?”
Jo tried to smile and was barely able to nod her head. She wasn’t sure if she could trust her voice yet. She was glad the woman hadn’t said something about seeing her in church last Sunday. She didn’t want to have to explain that.
Betty opened a door to the left of her desk and disappeared inside but was back in the doorway quickly.
“Come on in Jo. Pastor will see you now.”
Jo was frozen to the spot. She didn’t want to go through that doorway. She didn’t want to go back home either. She looked at Betty and could tell from the sympathetic look that suddenly appeared on Betty’s face that she knew Jo’s problem. After all, the woman’s husband was Floyd’s chief deputy.
The kindly older woman walked over to where Jo stood, unable to move, and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Jo, we’ll leave the door open and my desk is just outside it.” She looked into Jo’s eyes. “But if you want, I can go in there with you.”
Jo nodded and Betty apparently knew which option Jo was choosing because she led the way into the pastor’s office. Once inside, she took a seat in one of the visitor chairs and patted the other one for Jo to sit in.
As soon as Jo sat down, Betty said, Pastor, this is Mary Jo Early. She . . .”
The preacher leaned over his desk with his hand outstretched to Jo. “Yes, Ms. Early and I have met. It’s nice to see you again.”
Jo tentatively reached out, placing her hand in his. She was glad when he only squeezed it lightly and let go quickly.
He turned toward Betty, giving her a questioning look and Jo knew he was wondering why Betty was in there with them. Betty only shook her head slightly and the preacher nodded back then turned his gaze back to Jo.
She leaned back against her chair and took a good look at the preacher.
As she had noticed that day in Sue Ann’s shop, he wasn’t very tall, probably about five nine or ten. Again, she marveled at the unusual shade of light red that his hair was. It was short and parted on the left. She couldn’t help but wonder again how he could not have any noticeable freckles? His skin seemed to be as pale as hers was.
Jo tried to start the conversation. “I’m sorry about your accident the other day.”
He smiled and raised his left arm in its sling. “Well, I’m glad to say that I feel considerably better than I did even yesterday at this time. It still hurts, but I can at least move it around some and my head finally feels as if it plans to stay attached to the rest of my body.”
She couldn’t help it. She had to laugh at that especially with the degree of seriousness that he said it.
The smile left his face and he said, “What can I do for you this morning Ms. Early?”
“Jo please.” She looked down at her clenched hands in her lap. “You can call me Jo.”
“Okay, Jo.” He gave Betty a strange look as he said, “And you may call me Gil. It’s so much better than pastor or especially preacher.”
She stared at him almost openmouthed. She had heard much about how the last preacher had demanded a strict formality when anyone addressed him. Her eyes again drifted to his unusual hair.
She blushed when she realized that he had caught her looking at his hair again. He laughed aloud this time. “I can’t blame you for staring at my hair. It’s not exactly a normal shade of red is it? You don’t know how many times I’ve wished I had brown hair or blond or even a normal shade of red like yours.”
She stared into his eyes this time and knew that he wasn’t making fun of her own red hair as so many kids had when she was growing up. He seemed sincere. She’d thought that the first time she’d met him and then again, when she heard him talking to the church on Sunday. Maybe she had done the right thing by coming to see him today.
She squared her shoulders and spit it out. “I’ve come here today because we’re both being harassed by a couple of bullies and I think that if we work together, we can put an end to all of this nonsense for good.”
He started to say something but she rushed on. “They’re attacking you because they think you’re a threat to them and they’re attacking me because I won’t join them.”
She stopped for breath and he waited this time for her to continue. She glanced at Betty who gave her an encouraging nod.
“You see, I’m not your normal bar owner. I’m not running a bar and grill because I want to. My parents died in a boating accident two years ago and left the bar and my teenage sister to me to take care of.”
He said, “I’m sorry.”
She nodded and kept going, “On top of all that, the mortgages on it are more than the bar is worth so I can’t afford to sell it.”
She took another deep breath and finished. “I would love to turn the place into a restaurant but I can’t afford the renovations it would take to make the switch.”
She deflated and leaned back in her chair waiting to see how he would react.
Betty reached across with her arm and pulled Jo into a hug. “I’m proud of you dear.”
* * *
As the woman in front of him leaned back in her chair, seemingly out of breath and Betty wrapped an arm around her, Gil took a moment to survey Mary Jo Early. He hadn’t been able to get a good look at her that time they met in the hair shop. She was short but not too thin or especially too heavy the way most short women he’d known were, such as his mother and his Aunt Eunice who were both on the heavy side. Her red hair was a normal shade if a little darker and it fell in natural waves down to her shoulders. Her face had a generous sprinkling of freckles but they added to her overall wholesome look.
He realized that now both Betty and Ms. Early were staring back at him, waiting for him to say something.
“Okay, Ms. Early.” When she started to speak, he said, “Okay, Jo. I think that would be a good idea, but what do you suggest we do?”
She blushed slightly. “I guess I didn’t think that far ahead. I just knew that both of us were being harassed and that we should do something about it before someone gets hurt. I’ve got my little sister to think of.”
He didn’t know what to say to that and was glad that Betty was sitting in on this meeting when she said, “Why don’t you bring Floyd in on this discussion, Jo?”
Jo brightened and reached into her purse to pull out her cell phone.
Gil groaned at the mention of the big sheriff.
Jo stopped with her fingers hovering over her phone. “Is there something wrong?”
Gil didn’t want to say anything, especially since Richard had told him that the sheriff was Mary Jo Early’s cousin. But both women were staring at him, waiting for an answer.
He frowned and said, “It’s just that the sheriff hasn’t been too nice to me since I came here.”
Jo looked at Betty who shrugged her shoulders. Then Jo turned back to him. “I think that Floyd is probably just trying to warn you not to give me any trouble like the last preacher did. He’s only trying to protect me. He’s been doing that since I was a little girl. But he shouldn’t be doing it anymore and I wish he’d stop. I can fight my own battles now.”
Betty spoke up for the first time. “Pastor.” He tried to give her the same look Jo had given him. “Okay, Gil. But it’s going to take some time
to get used to that. It was always Pastor Dawson before, never even Pastor Bill. Anyway, I think that if Jo can get you and Floyd together in the same room with her, she may be able to get him to begin looking at you a little better.”
“Thank you Betty.” Jo smiled at her then turned that smile on Gil. “That’s exactly what will happen. I’ll make sure of it.”
Wow! That smile lit up her face in such a way that Gil was literally captured by it.
When he realized that Jo was waiting for an answer from him, he said, “Okay, if you both think it will do any good. Go ahead and call your cousin.”
He purposely used the word cousin rather than the sheriff. He wanted to emphasize that he was only consenting since she assured him that it would be okay.
She spoke for a moment into the phone then disconnected and said, “He’s out on patrol in his Tahoe and will be here in about five minutes.”
Great! Gil still didn’t look forward to the rest of this meeting. He didn’t trust that big sheriff even if he was Jo’s cousin.
While they waited for the sheriff to arrive, Betty tried to keep the conversation going but Gil was too concerned about the sheriff coming and Jo didn’t seem inclined to talk either.
Gil looked out his window and noticed the sheriff’s vehicle pull into the parking lot in front of the office. That was when he realized that there weren’t enough chairs for everybody.
“Ladies, why don’t we move into the conference room next door where there’s more seating?”
Betty jumped up out of her chair and said, “Oh no, you don’t need to do that. I’ll just go back to my desk and Floyd can have my chair.”
Gil had rather hoped they could move to the larger room because his office was small to begin with but with that big bully in there too, it would seem tiny. But then, as he thought about it, maybe it would be better if he could keep his desk between him and McCracken.
No Easy Solution (Crowley County Series Book 1) Page 9
