A Place Called Destiny

by Emma Easter

  Mike laughed out loud and then fixed her with an angry stare. “You really think I’m going to let her stay here with you while you’re living in this abomination?”

  “The real abomination was living with you and your wife,” she said.

  Mike shrugged. “If you don’t come back home, I will make sure you never see Emily again.”

  “I’m never going back to live with you. Never ever again!”

  Mike stared at her for a long moment, and then he nodded. “Then you will have to learn to live without your daughter, Rachel.” He opened the door and left the house before Rachel or Keith could say anything more.

  After he left, Rachel sank onto the sofa and covered her face with her hands. Keith immediately went to her and put his arm around her. “Don’t worry, Rachel,” he said. “We will find a way to get you to see Emily again and bring her to stay with you. This is not that strange town you lived in before you came to Destiny. We have laws here that are on your side.”

  “But what can we do?” Rachel asked, looking at Keith with tears in her eyes.

  “We will go to the police,” he said. “They will pay Mike a visit and get him to let you see your daughter. After that, we will try to get a job for you and then you will go to court and fight for custody.”

  “But it will all take such a long time, Keith.”

  “I know,” he said. “But I think it will be worth it in the long run. For now, though, we will go and get the police involved so you will at least be able to visit your daughter.”

  Rachel nodded and then stood up. “Just give me a minute,” she said. “Let me go and change and then we will go to the station together.”

  After she left, he kept thinking about how her presence in the house had already made his life even more complicated. Not only did he have to worry about getting the finances for rebuilding the church and the town, he had to go on this journey with Rachel to get custody of her daughter from that wicked Mike. He sat down on the sofa and sighed. It was going to be a long journey and a difficult one, but he would do anything for Rachel. She was worth it all, even if right now he did not know if they were meant to be together.

  Chapter 14

  The Destiny police station was much smaller than the one Rachel had planned to take refuge in when she was fleeing Fallow Creek. She walked into the police station with Keith, feeling slightly afraid. The only explanation she had for the way she felt was the constant indoctrination they’d been put through in Fallow Creek about law enforcement agents not being friends to their way of life.

  As though Keith sensed her fear, he put his arm lightly around her shoulders and smiled at her. “It’s okay,” he said.

  She gave him a small smile and then took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She noticed only two officers in the building and remembered Keith had told her there were only three police officers in the town, including the sheriff.

  Keith greeted them warmly and smiled when they thanked him for all that he was doing for the town. After he had made them promise to attend the open ground service on Sunday, he led Rachel down a narrow corridor and to a slightly open door that had the name “Ezra Reed” etched into the wood.

  Keith turned to Rachel and said, “The sheriff,” and then knocked lightly on the door. Without waiting for an answer, he entered the office and Rachel followed him in.

  A bald, fifty-something-year-old man looked up at them through his glasses. He closed the file he had been perusing when they came in and smiled widely at Keith. He turned to look at Rachel with a curious expression on his face and turned back to Keith. “Hey, Pastor!” he said. “You came to see me today.”

  “Hi, Ezra,” Keith said. “We are actually here for something very important.”

  The sheriff pointed at the seats in front of his desk and Keith and Rachel sat down. He kept looking at Rachel curiously and Keith said, “This is Rachel Cad…” he turned to her with an embarrassed look on his face.

  She smiled to let him know it was okay and then said, “Dalton, that is my maiden name.”

  “Rachel Dalton,” Keith said to the sheriff. “She moved to Destiny a few weeks ago.”

  The sheriff nodded. “So, what can I do for both of you?”

  Keith turned to her and said, “Can you tell him everything?”

  Rachel pressed her lips tightly together. The last thing she wanted was to tell yet another person in Destiny about her past crazy life, but she had to if she hoped to ever see Emily again. She took a deep breath to try to let go of her nervousness and then began to tell the chief about her so-called “marriage” to Mike in Fallow Creek. Shame washed over her as he raised his brows and gave her a strange, puzzled look. She pressed on and told him about running away from Mike and coming to Keith’s house because she couldn’t bear to continue to live the polygamous lifestyle any longer.

  She paused for a few seconds to catch her breath and then continued. She told him about her desire to take her daughter to live with her once she could get on her feet and then finally told him about Mike’s unexpected visit and his threat.

  “I know Mike,” she said. “He meant what he said about not allowing me to ever see Emily again unless I come back to him. If I ever go back to that house to try to see my daughter, I know he will not let me leave again.” She cried. “I don’t want to go back, but I want my daughter.”

  Keith put his arm around her shoulders again and Ezra Reed held out his hand. “Don’t you worry about it, ma’am,” he said. “I will send Officer Gamble with you when you are ready to visit your daughter and make sure your husband…” — he cleared his throat — “the man you’ve been living with doesn’t touch you and lets you leave without any hassle.”

  Rachel smiled tentatively and nodded. Five minutes later, she and Keith left the police station together. She felt more hopeful after the promise that the sheriff had made to her. When she went to Mike’s house to see Emily and get her things, a police officer would go with her. Mike would have to behave himself. Most of all, she would be able to see Emily with no problems.

  Rachel sat in Keith’s car staring out the window at the town of Destiny. The sun was setting in the sky and, as usual, she marveled at the people she saw, leisurely strolling to wherever they were going, easy smiles on many faces despite the state of the town now. They were probably glad to just be alive. Hopefully, they would find a way to rebuild their homes and lives soon. Keith was confident that the Lord would provide everything needed to do that, and she was beginning to be as confident in God’s provision and help as he was. It was impossible not to have some of Keith’s resilient faith rub off on her when she was living with him. She turned when Keith placed a hand on her shoulder. “How do you feel?” he asked.

  “A little nervous,” she answered. They were going to Mike’s house now, and as the sheriff had promised yesterday, a police officer followed behind in a police car. A conflicting mix of emotions warred in her — anticipation and fear. She took a deep breath to try to calm her nerves. She was not looking forward to going back to Mike’s house or seeing him again, but she could not wait to see and hold Emily in her arms. It was all she had dreamt about since she’d left the house; or, at least, one of the two things she had dreamt about. The other was about the kind and handsome man sitting beside her now. She turned and smiled at him, grateful that he was here with her.

  He took her hand, and her heart began to race wildly when he wove his fingers through hers. She did not know what to make of it, his threading their fingers together while he drove and focused on the road.

  Don’t read too much into it, she told herself. He was a kind pastor and he was probably holding her hand now to encourage her because she was nervous. Reading way too much into his actions would only lead her to disappointment and heartbreak.

  But her heart revolted. Surely, the look in his eyes when they had almost kissed yesterday, before Mike interrupted, was not one of random kindness. He had looked at her with such intense desire that her knees had weakene
d and her breath had stopped.

  She sighed. Still, a relationship was the last thing she needed now after the relief of leaving Mike. She had to learn to stand on her own feet without a man.

  She looked at Keith again, studying his handsome profile. If there was anyone, though, who could make her forget her decision to find herself without a man, it was Keith. And already, being with him these past few days had made her believe that she could have true love; the love of a good man. It was just that she wasn’t sure she should be involved with Keith. That girl, Jenny, at the store the other day, had clearly been jealous of her. Rachel wasn’t sure what their relationship was. Having already intruded on Olivia’s relationship for years, diverting her husband’s affection away from her, though unknowingly, it was the last thing she wanted to do to another woman. Until she knew he was a completely free man and that Jenny wasn’t interested in him, she would not encourage nor express any kind of feelings toward him.

  She slowly removed her hand from his and then shut her eyes ruefully when he looked at her. The thought that he would believe she did not like him weighed heavily on her heart, but she had no choice. She’d already lived with guilt over what she’d done to Olivia for years and she was done with it. She turned to look out the window again and then, for some reason, she blurted out, “What about Jenny?”

  As soon as the words left her lips, she groaned inwardly and then chided herself. Why did you ask that, Rachel?

  She felt too ashamed to turn and look at Keith, but she could feel his eyes on her.

  “She’s good,” Keith said slowly. “At least, I think so. I haven’t seen her since the day you both came to my store.”

  Rachel’s heart began to pound with hope, but she told herself to calm down. That visit to his store had been just over a week ago. Since there were other means of communication like phones, it was not a big deal for people who were in a relationship not to see each other for a week. Besides, maybe Jenny was out of town. She asked him if Jenny had left Destiny.

  He chuckled and she resisted the urge to turn and look at him. “I don’t think she’s out of town,” he said. “She usually tells me whenever she plans to leave, which is mostly to visit her brother in Denver.”

  Rachel pursed her lips. He certainly knew a lot about Jenny, which meant they might really be in a relationship. Even if there was a chance that they were not, what he’d said just now about Jenny, and the way Jenny had looked at him that day at his store was enough for her to believe that she liked him a lot, or was probably in love with him. There was no way she was going to get in the middle of that after what she’d done to Olivia. She could still see Olivia’s eyes, the way they always looked whenever she and Mike retired to their bedroom together. Even though she hated the idea of sharing a bedroom with Mike when his first wife stayed in a separate bedroom, she had thought she had no choice. Thank God for Destiny and for finally being able to leave him. Now, if the Lord would only help her get her daughter out of that house the way He had helped her escape it, she would be tremendously grateful.

  They began to approach Mike’s house, and she inhaled as anxiety and dread washed over her.

  Keith parked in front of the house, and she turned to smile gratefully at him. If he had been hurt by how she’d removed her hand from his earlier, he did not show it. He smiled broadly and then told her in a soft voice that he would be praying for her while she went in. They had decided that his presence in Mike’s house would only enrage her ex and make matters worse. Since she was going into the house with the police officer, she had nothing to fear, she’d told him. She would ask to see Emily and, after spending time with her daughter, she would get her things.

  She got out of the car and waved at him. Somehow, his smile and promise to pray for her instilled more confidence in her than the police officer already walking behind her as she made her way to the front door.

  She reached the door and turned to look briefly at the young policeman behind her in uniform. He gave her a small, encouraging smile, and then she turned and knocked on the door.

  A moment later, the door opened, and Olivia peered at her. Olivia’s eyes widened in obvious surprise and she exclaimed, “Rachel, you are here!” She looked at the police officer behind Rachel and her eyes grew even bigger. “What’s happening?”

  The policeman told her they were here to make sure Rachel was allowed into the house to see her daughter, gather her things, and then leave without any problems. He had a smile on his face, but the tone of his voice was firm.

  Olivia opened the door wide, and Rachel and the police officer stepped into the house. Rachel took a deep breath and looked around the living room. She didn’t know what she was expecting it to look like. It still looked mostly the same with its expensive furnishings, but the spiral staircase seemed to go on and on as though reaching towards the sky. The ceilings were very high. Now that she had been staying at Keith’s tiny house for a while, it seemed way too high, and the living space too large.

  Olivia looked at Rachel and then at the police officer and said in an uncertain voice, “So, Rachel, you’re not planning to stay?”

  “No,” Rachel answered.

  Olivia looked quietly relieved and once again a thread of guilt ran through Rachel. She felt even more confident of her decision to leave Mike, even though she might not get full custody of Emily immediately. It was simply the right thing to do even if she did not loathe Mike, which she did for making her live this sinful life for so long. Not that she did not blame herself, but a large part of the blame fell on him as well.

  “Emily is in her room?” Rachel asked Olivia.

  Olivia nodded. “She is.”

  Rachel began to climb the stairs and then she paused. “What about Mike?” she asked over her shoulder. “Is he home?”

  “He’s upstairs, in his bedroom. I want to warn you, though, Rachel. You know you have to pass his bedroom in order to get to Emily’s room. Mike will probably know when you pass by. He checks on Emily at least a hundred times a day now. I think he has gone mad with paranoia.”

  Olivia’s kids ran down the stairs, yelling and chasing each other. They stopped in the living room as they saw the officer and stared up at him with uncertainty in their eyes. The police officer smiled at them and the boys gradually smiled back. They turned to Rachel and then came to hug her briefly before running out of the house, chasing each other once more.

  Rachel looked at the police officer and then her eyes settled on Olivia. “He will be coming upstairs with me so that Mike will not try to stop me from seeing Emily or leaving the house.”

  Olivia still looked uncertain and followed Rachel and the officer as they climbed the stairs.

  At the top of the stairs, Rachel paused again for a few seconds while she tried to gather herself together. She squared her shoulders and began to march to Emily’s room, hoping that somehow Mike would not see or hear them walk past. But she knew that was unlikely. Even if he were asleep, Mike was a light sleeper and had always been extremely wary of his environment, even at home. Now that Olivia said he checked on Emily way too many times a day, the probability of them not being seen or heard was very small.

  She prepared herself to confront him as she marched past his room to Emily’s. She entered Emily’s room and immediately rushed up to her baby’s crib. A sob of relief escaped her lips as she looked down at Emily, and she lifted her out of her crib. She held her baby close to her, feeling her soft body, and then pressing Emily’s cheek on hers.

  Emily chortled and Rachel held her slightly away to inspect her. “You look well.” She smiled at her.

  Emily grinned as though she understood what her mother had just said. She reached out and grabbed a handful of Rachel’s hair, and then chuckled again, her blue eyes sparkling with mirth.

  “I can see that you’re happy to see me,” Rachel said, tears in her eyes. She never wanted to be separated from Emily again, but she knew she couldn’t stay with her daughter right now. She swung around wh
en Mike’s voice thundered from behind her, “What on earth is happening here?”

  Mike was standing at the door staring angrily at the police officer and then at her. He pointed at the officer and then looked at Rachel with fury in his eyes. “What is he doing in my house and why are you here with him, Rachel?”

  The police officer calmly told Mike what he had said to Olivia at the front door. Mike interjected between his words. “I don’t care about what you’re saying! You are intruding. I need you to leave right now!” He turned to Rachel when the police officer didn’t move. “Tell him to leave now!”

  Rachel hugged Emily close and said, “I won’t. I have to gather all my things first and then I will leave your house forever.”

  Mike glared at her. She knew from the look on his face that he’d thought he had won. He had thought she was here for good, unable to stay away from Emily any longer. Well, he was wrong.

  She started to carry Emily out of the room to go to Mike’s bedroom so she could get her things, but Mike blocked her.

  “You’re not taking my daughter out of this room.”

  The police officer started to intervene, but Rachel shook her head. She turned around and went to place Emily gently in her crib. She would cause no problems today. All she wanted to do was see her daughter and then get all her things out of this house. She lingered for a while at the crib looking down at Emily and cooing at her. Finally, she sighed and began to head toward the door.

  Mike was still standing there, blocking her way. She looked at him and he gazed at the officer, who was standing behind her. She smiled slightly, knowing the police officer was looking at Mike, daring him to try to stop her from leaving the room, the house.

  Mike huffed and then stepped away from the door. Rachel went out of Emily’s room and walked to Mike’s bedroom. For almost a minute, she glanced around the room, and then the bed, shuddering. The room and the bed brought back memories that she wanted to forget completely. She turned around and flung the closet open. Bringing out the large suitcase that Mike had used to pack her things and his when they’d left Fallow Creek, she opened it and began to yank her clothes out of the closet and throw them into the suitcase.