The Price of Trust

by Amanda Stephan

  "Not too good. Are you getting tired of me telling you all about my troubles?" she asked, looking at him pensively.

  "No," he said, concerned. "I think of your problems as my problems. What happened?" He pulled into a parking space, shut off the truck, and turned to her.

  She told him quickly about what had happened and handed him the envelope, her face grave.

  "What's this?" he asked grimly.

  "Open it," she said quietly.

  He opened the envelope, letting two pictures slide out onto his lap. He picked one up. It was a picture of him and Carly at the diner the night before, laughing. Someone had circled his face, and put an X over it, with the words "Better get rid of the farm boy before he gets hurt!" written above his head.

  He picked up the next picture. It was a picture of Carly and Ian eating at an expensive restaurant. The same person had drawn a heart around both of them.

  "Turn it over," Carly said quietly. The slight tremor in her voice didn’t escape his notice.

  He turned it over. Someone had written in all capital letters:

  YOU'LL ALWAYS BE MINE! I'M COMING TO GET YOU.

  SEE YOU SOON!

  "Do you think Ian slid this under the doors?" he questioned, looking at her uneasily.

  "No." She sighed. "I think it was someone Ian sent to scare me. I think if he were here, he would have shown himself by now. He's not the very patient type." She smiled wryly.

  "Why would he tell you that he's coming to get you? That doesn't make sense," he said musingly, scratching his chin. "You could just run again."

  "He sees you as a threat. Ian hated to see me by other men, especially the handsome ones. He'd blow up at me if I even smiled at someone else. That was what my first beating was about." She looked out the window, shivering involuntarily. "So, he probably wants me to run. He'd just have me followed again, and you'd be out of the way."

  He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her closer. "Are you cold?"

  "No." She smiled up at him. "I was just remembering. We should probably go in now."

  "We're okay for a couple of minutes." He refused to let her go. "Carly, why didn't you call me last night?"

  She shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't want to seem like an idiot calling you that late. What if it was just a drunk?"

  He frowned at her. "But what if whoever it was had broken into the store?" He hugged her tightly. "What if you'd gotten hurt? Don't be so stubborn next time, do you hear?"

  "I'm sorry," she said meekly. "I just didn't want to bother you for something that could have been silly." He glared and yanked a piece of her hair.

  "Ow!" she said, rubbing her head.

  "That's what you get," he said, getting out of the truck.

  She got out on her side, opening the door before he could do it for her, smiling at him obstinately. He grabbed her hand and held it tightly, not letting go when she tried to pull it back. They walked in silence to the church door. He stopped, turning her toward him.

  "Carly. Promise me that if something like this happens again, you'll call me," he said urgently. "Even if you just have a feeling. I'd rather come and make sure you're okay than to have something happen to you." He took her other hand, his eyes pleading with her.

  "I promise," she said, smiling tenderly at him.

  "I worry about you." His expression softened. "And I want you to be safe."

  "Guess what?" she said, looking over his shoulder. "Billy Pruit just pulled up. Look." She nodded her head in Billy's direction. He turned and stared, letting go of Carly's hand as Billy came sauntering up to them, a scowl on his face.

  "Hi, Billy," she said kindly. "Glad you could make it."

  "Yeah, well, I just didn't have nothing else to do tonight," he said moodily.

  "Billy," Joe said, holding his hand out to shake. Billy hesitated, took his hand quickly, and let it go as if he'd been burned. He turned toward Carly, dismissing Joe.

  "Are you two ready to go in?" she asked nervously, trying to ease the tension between them.

  "Yep," Joe answered tersely as Billy pushed between them into the church, making Joe drop Carly's other hand. He glared at Billy's back as Carly grabbed his hand again, smiling anxiously at him.

  If there was a difference in the attitude of the church people when they saw Billy Pruit walk inside, it was very slight. They were very friendly to him, shaking hands and trying to make him feel welcome. There were a few stares of disbelief, Angie being one of them, and it was obvious that he felt uncomfortable.

  "Hello there, Billy." Sam and Sue came over, shaking his hand kindly and nodding at Joe and Carly. "We're glad you could make it here tonight."

  "Red invited me," he said almost defiantly, daring anyone to make fun of him for being there. Carly hoped Sam wouldn't be offended and gave an anxious glance toward Sue.

  "Yeah, she told us that. We think it's great you're here," Sam answered mildly. "You're welcome to sit with Sue and me if you want to." Sue nodded, mustering a smile.

  "She said I could sit with her," Billy said loudly, jerking his thumb toward Carly. She turned beet red with embarrassment. She saw Angie looking triumphantly at Joe with a smirk on her face as if to say ‘I told you so.’

  She took a deep breath, squeezed Joe's hand, and said loudly, "I sure did. Joe and I would love to have him sit with us, wouldn't we, Joe?"

  "Yep. He's going to sit with us," Joe said politely. Carly looked over at Angie and smiled at her. She turned and stalked to her seat, looking as if she had just eaten a lemon.

  Joe led Carly to their usual place next to Todd and Kelly, who were watching them in amazement. Carly and Kelly always sat next to each other in the middle of the bench, but Todd had made her sit at the very end of the pew, making it impossible for anyone but him to sit next to her.

  "Go ahead, Billy," Joe offered politely, intending to sit next to Billy himself with Carly safely on his other side.

  "I'll sit by her," he said roughly, looking at Carly.

  "Okay," she said, smiling sweetly. "You go ahead." Joe glowered at him as he walked past. Carly sat next to Billy, with Joe sitting very close on her other side. He put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her slightly away from Billy. She found the whole situation amusing and grinned brightly up at Joe.

  The service went pretty well. The pastor preached a wonderful salvation message, and Carly managed not to glance over at Billy, praying fervently for the Holy Spirit to deal with him instead. She did look over at Joe, who looked grave and serious. He was paying a great deal of attention to the message, and she hoped he was praying for Billy as well. He glanced at her, winked, and pulled her a little more toward him and away from Billy. She felt a little thrill run through her and gave a contented sigh.

  As soon as the service was over, and he could get away, Billy shot out of the church like a bullet without a word to anyone.

  Angie snorted behind them. "Well, I don't think he liked his first church experience."

  Carly turned and glared. "Maybe the Lord was dealing with him," she said hotly, her face burning.

  "Oh I'm sorry," she said mockingly, putting her hand to her mouth. "I didn't know he was that important to you." She gave Joe a significant smile. "Better watch out, Joe."

  "He's so important," Carly said before Joe could respond, "that Jesus died for him, Angie. Maybe you should try to remember that and have a little compassion." She stalked away, leaving Joe, Todd, and Kelly staring after her.

  "What's your problem? Why are you so nasty?" Joe asked contemptuously, turning to glare at Angie.

  She batted her eyes innocently. "I just don't want to see you hurt again."

  "You're just jealous," Kelly said angrily, turning to follow after Carly.

  "Jealous? Of Carly?" She laughed derisively after her. "Why would I be jealous of that ugly redhead?"

  Kelly turned and walked back to her, her face dark red with anger.

  "You're jealous of her because she's got something you want," she said quietly, lo
oking over at Joe. "And you know what, I think you'd better get used to seeing them together."

  She glared hatefully at her. "What are you talking about?" Kelly shrugged her shoulders as she took Todd's hand and walked away.

  Angie turned to Joe, her face red with anger and jealousy. "What's she talking about?"

  He looked at her without pity. "That was Kelly's way of telling you that I love Carly and that we're going to be together for a long time."

  "Are you going to marry her?"

  Joe's face was as dark as Angie's was now pale. "I'm not going to answer that."

  "Why not if you love her?" she said spitefully, her face contorted.

  "Because I don't want you to know before her," he said quietly, walking away. She stood motionless for a minute, staring after him in dismay.

  "Are you still coming over tomorrow morning?" Joe asked, driving Carly home after church.

  "Yes." She tried to hide her mischievous smile and looked out her window. "You know the worst thing about you driving me home?"

  Pulling into a parking spot, he turned off the truck before answering. "It's too short."

  "What do you think Billy thought tonight? Do you think he was offended?"

  "I don't know," he said thoughtfully, playing with her hair. "He left so fast, I didn't have a chance to see his face or talk to him."

  "That Angie. She makes me so mad. I can't believe she tried to make it sound like I was interested in him. I hope no one took her seriously."

  "Everyone knows that she's jealous of you, even if they did hear her, which I seriously doubt."

  "Did you take her seriously?" she asked anxiously. "Because if it's going to affect our relationship, I'll avoid him and just pray for him."

  "Our relationship? It's about time you admitted that we have a relationship," he said, tugging on a piece of her hair lovingly.

  She made a face at him. "Well, we don't have to have a relationship if you don't want one," she retorted, scooting away.

  "Come back here!" He laughed, pulling her back. "Of course I want a relationship with you, you turkey! Anyway, what I was going to say before you interrupted me,"—she punched his arm— "I'm glad that you had the nerve to invite him to church. But I didn't like how close he sat to you."

  "He didn't sit close to me! You kept pulling me away!" Carly giggled.

  He laughed heartily. "Well, I had to make sure he didn't put the moves on my girlfriend, didn't I?"

  She looked at him with a wicked twinkle in her eyes. "Your girlfriend? You've never asked me to be your girlfriend."

  "Don't you think we're too old for all that?"

  "Too old?!" She huffed, trying to look offended.

  He looked adoringly at her, taking her hands in his. "Yes, too old. 'girlfriend' and 'boyfriend' just seem so high schoolish. Don't you think we're old enough to know what we want?"

  Her stomach flipped at the look he gave her. "I don't know what you're talking about.”

  "I don't want you for my girlfriend," he said quietly, leaning closer to her.

  "Oh my. Well. Um, I've got to go," she said uneasily, scooting out of the truck before he could stop her. "Bye! I'll see you tomorrow!" she said as she ran to the door.

  "Carly! Come here!"

  She pretended not to hear him as she unlocked the door and quickly ran inside. She locked the door behind her, waved, and was gone, leaving him to look after her, astonished.

  He watched for the light in her apartment to come on before he started the truck again, thinking about what had just happened. Grinning, he sat for a moment longer, looking at her window, hoping she would look out and wave.

  There she was! His heart beat faster. She waved, smiled, and let the curtain fall back into place.

  He whistled happily all the way home.

  Chapter 16

  The alarm went off the next morning at 4:00 a.m. Carly sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes tiredly, wondering why it went off so early. Joe! She jumped up out of bed excitedly, remembering that she was going to surprise him. She showered and dressed quickly, put her hair up, ate an apple turnover that Sue had sent over, and finished getting ready. She put on her coat and shoes, picked up her keys, and ran to meet Kelly at the bed and breakfast.

  She locked the doors to the store and started walking. It was bitterly cold out, and she walked fast to keep warm, enjoying the scenery as much as she possibly could. She walked quietly up the porch steps, not wanting to disturb anyone, and peeked in the front window.

  Kelly opened the door. "Come in," she said quietly. "I'm almost ready. Is it cold?"

  "It's freezing out!" Carly said, shivering, following her into the kitchen.

  "Did you have anything to eat? My aunt left us some doughnuts if we want them," Kelly said quietly. "Do you want some coffee?" she asked, sipping from a steaming mug.

  "Thank you," Carly whispered gratefully. Kelly handed her a doughnut and poured her a cup of coffee.

  Carly looked admiringly around the cozy kitchen. Everything had a homey, country look to it. From the blue and white china plates that adorned a huge hutch sitting along one wall, the blue gingham-check curtains that dressed each of the windows and the bay window with a table for that two overlooked the flower garden. But what drew her attention, and admiration, the most was a beautiful fieldstone fireplace that sat in the middle of the room, beckoning to her to sit on its low stone wall and warm herself.

  Carly sighed wistfully. "What a beautiful kitchen!"

  "Thank you. I've always liked this kitchen myself. Whenever you're ready," Kelly said, putting on her coat. Carly swallowed the rest of her coffee, put the cup in the sink, and followed her out to the car.

  "Do you think we'll surprise them?" Carly asked, rubbing her hands together as Kelly headed toward the Bairds' farm.

  "I think we will. Like I said, Todd doesn't think I can handle getting up before eight in the morning. He'll be shocked to see me up and alert at this hour!" She laughed.

  An easy, comfortable conversation made the half-hour drive slip by quickly, and before either of them had run out of things to say they were pulling into the driveway.

  "There's a light on in the kitchen," Carly said, disappointed. "I was hoping to catch them off guard."

  "We might surprise them yet," Kelly said, turning off the lights before anyone could notice them. She drove the car noiselessly to the barn, and turned the engine off. They shut their doors quietly and, making as little noise as possible, tiptoed softly up the porch steps by the kitchen.

  Kelly peered quietly into the bright kitchen window.

  "It's Joe!" She motioned for Carly to come look, moving over to give her room.

  Joe was wearing a pair of old jeans, no shirt, and standing barefoot at the open refrigerator, drinking milk straight from the carton. His hair wet and tousled, a towel draped across his broad shoulders as if he had just stepped out of the shower.

  "That's gonna have to stop," Carly said, laughing softly.

  "Oh that's funny." Kelly giggled. "I hope Todd doesn't do that!" She giggled louder.

  "Shh! Someone else is coming!" They both ducked instinctively. They waited a moment and peered inside again. Joe had sat down at the table, and Todd had shuffled into the kitchen, pajamas flapping, hair stuck out everywhere, eyes half closed, yawning. He opened the door to the refrigerator, pulled out the milk, and to Kelly's dismay, drank right from the carton.

  "That's so disgusting," Kelly said, trying unsuccessfully to stop laughing.

  Carly snorted and wiped tears from her eyes. "Shh, they're talking. Maybe we can hear them."

  "Are you going to let Kelly see you like that?" Joe asked, laughing as Todd shuffled to the table and plopped down.

  "I don't have to worry about Kelly. She can't get up out of bed before eight." He grinned sleepily. "You're up early." He laid his head down on his hands.

  "I couldn't sleep," Joe said simply, leaning lazily back in his chair.

  "Are you going to let Carly see you like that?" To
dd asked, yawning. "If you wait much longer, your hair is going to dry like that. You should leave it. She might like the sticking-up-everywhere hairstyle."

  "I'm almost ready." He grinned. "Anyway, I guess I won't have to worry about it until about eight. They're riding in together, remember?"

  "You stay here and watch their reaction while I knock on the door," Carly said quietly. Kelly nodded, grinning.

  Carly tiptoed to the door and knocked softly, watching Kelly. Kelly shook her head. Carly knocked a little louder. She heard a chair scrape across the floor as someone stood up. Kelly came and stood next to her. Joe opened the door slowly, looking out.

  "Good morning," Carly and Kelly said cheerily, walking quickly into the room before either of them could get away. Todd saw Kelly, jumped up, and bolted upstairs without saying a word.

  "Uh, good morning," Joe said in astonishment, still holding the door open.

  Carly giggled. "Nice hair." Kelly doubled over with quiet laughter.

  "Thanks," he said, his face turning bright red. "I'll be right back." He slammed the door shut and hurried out of the kitchen, bounding up the stairs, taking two at a time.

  "Oh, my side hurts." Kelly gasped, sitting down to the table. "That was worth getting up early for." She wiped tears from her eyes, still laughing quietly.

  Carly sat down next to her. "Do you think we surprised them? The look on Todd's face when we walked in was priceless." They both started giggling uncontrollably. "Looks like you're going to have to keep Todd away from the milk jug too!" They laughed quietly, waiting for the men to return.

  "That was mean," Joe said walking into the kitchen and causing a fresh burst of quiet laughter. He grinned, buttoning the cuffs of his flannel shirt. His hair was still wet, but combed into place, and he had put his socks on. "Do I look better?" he asked, posing in front of Carly.

  She looked up at him, her eyes twinkling merrily. "I thought you looked great before."

  "Especially with the milk carton stuck to your lips," Kelly said, burying her head in her arms, Carly quietly laughing with her.