From The Ashes

by Claire Sanders

  Judith glanced back at Jacob, saw him strap a tool belt around his lean hips, and felt that peculiar lurch in her stomach again. “We’ll be down to see you later.”

  “Looking forward to it,” Jacob called as he headed down the path towards the church.

  ****

  A few hours later, Keneisha’s boisterous laugh sent Pumpkin scurrying out of Chloe’s lap. “Hey, Miss Judith! You in there?”

  Before Judith could make it to the front door, the girl bounded into the front room where Judith had been giving Chloe her first art lesson. “Whoa there, Keneisha,” Judith said between laughs. “If you don’t slow down, you’ll be out the back door before I get to say hello.”

  “Hey, Chloe,” Keneisha said. “Whatcha doing?”

  “Painting. Want to see?” Chloe held up the watercolor tablet.

  “Ooh,” cooed Keneisha appreciatively. “That’s a girl dragon, isn’t it?”

  “I painted it the same color as Pumpkin. Do you like it?”

  Keneisha gazed at Judith. “Did you teach Chloe how to do that?”

  “I did.”

  “You gonna teach me, too?”

  “If you want.”

  “Hot dog! When you gonna teach me?”

  “Now’s a good time.”

  “Yeah, but my momma sent me to get you. She said you were supposed to come down to the church right now, and that I wasn’t supposed to take no for an answer. So…you coming?”

  “What do you think, Chloe?” Judith asked.

  Chloe smiled broadly. “I want to show Jacob my picture.”

  “Then I guess we’re going.”

  Keneisha and Chloe ran down the path, the sound of their laughter floating back like dandelion seeds in the wind.

  Judith followed the girls until the forest path opened to the large clearing where the church stood.

  Six long tables covered with bright, colorful cloths and laden with food sat in front of the church. Men, women, and children stood in small groups, as if waiting for a signal to begin eating.

  “Here she is, Momma!” Keneisha shouted.

  “About time,” Beverly said as she stepped forward and took Judith’s arm. “Miss Judith, this here is the congregation of the All Saints Community Church. We’ve been working all morning, and now it’s time to give thanks and enjoy a meal together.”

  Henry Washington stepped forward. “But we couldn’t begin without our guest of honor.”

  Judith stared at him. She was the guest of honor?

  “You’re about to eat some of the best food in Texas,” Beverly crowed.

  “But first we’ll give thanks to our Lord God,” Henry added. The group quieted and Henry lifted his face towards the sky.

  Judith bowed her head and closed her eyes. When she felt a familiar hand slide into hers, she eagerly interlaced her fingers with Jacob’s.

  “We give thanks to you, O Lord!” Henry shouted.

  “Amen!” shouted the band of men and women.

  “Where there was hatred, You brought love.”

  “Yes, Lord!”

  “Where there were those who would destroy, You built us up!”

  “Praise the Lord!”

  “Where there was wickedness and deceit, You sent us generosity and help!”

  “Hallelujah!”

  “Thank you, Jesus! Your Name be praised!”

  A last round of praises echoed through the woods.

  Judith opened her eyes to see Jacob smiling down at her.

  Chloe wedged herself between them. “Look, Uncle Jacob. I painted a dragon.”

  Jacob pulled out Judith’s chair and waited for her to sit, then lowered himself into a chair and set Chloe on his knee. “Let me have a look at that,” he said. He unfolded the paper and examined Chloe’s artwork. “I think you’re pulling my leg. Judith drew this. Not you.”

  “Tell him, Judith,” Chloe demanded. “Tell him that’s my dragon.”

  “I give you my word.” Judith held up her right hand. “That is a Chloe original.”

  Jacob gave a low whistle of appreciation. “That’s one fine dragon, Chloe. Just wait until your mother sees it.”

  “I know,” Chloe answered in a serious whisper. “Can I go play with Keneisha now?”

  “Sure,” Jacob answered, allowing her to wriggle off his lap.

  Judith watched her hurry away to join the other children. “You sure are good with kids.”

  “You’re not so bad yourself. Ever thought of having some?”

  “Some what?”

  “Kids.”

  Judith choked on her lemonade. Where had that question come from? Of course, she’d thought about having children. But that was one of the many hopes she’d given up in exchange for safety.

  Jacob clapped her on the back and grinned. “Does the mention of kids always affect you this way?”

  “Of course not.”

  “So…have you?”

  “Ever thought about having kids? Sure.”

  Why was he talking about this?

  Beverly slid into the chair on the other side of Judith. “There’s a lot of people here who want to meet you, Judith. You ready?”

  “Do I have a choice?” Judith asked so quietly that only Jacob could hear.

  He slid an arm across the back of her chair and leaned close. “They want to thank you. That’s all.”

  A dark-skinned woman beamed as she thrust a plate in front of Judith. “Hey there, Miss Judith. You ready to taste the best fried chicken in Texas?”

  “You hush,” another woman said as she elbowed the first one out of the way. “Everybody knows you make the best fried chicken, but I make the best candied yams. Here, Miss Judith, you take some of this.”

  A third woman used her ample hips to nudge away the first two. “Hold on there, Miss Judith. Don’t eat so much chicken and candied yams you don’t have room for my strawberry cake.”

  Person after person paid their respects, bestowing plates of food on Judith until the table overflowed with aromatic dishes.

  Judith scooped up a bite of food and leaned towards Jacob’s ear. “You’ve got to help me eat some of this food.”

  Jacob chuckled in a low and intimate way. “I’m willing to give it my best effort, but it looks like you’ve got enough to feed the Texas National Guard. By the way, you look a lot better than you did yesterday.”

  Yesterday? If only she could erase the entire day. “Are you referring to when I was covered in mud?”

  A slow smile crept across Jacob’s face. “Seeing you wet and muddy was a revelation.”

  A revelation of just how stubborn she could be. Judith decided to play it safe. “How’s that?”

  “The first time I saw you, I thought you were pretty, but probably not my type. But when I saw you yesterday, slogging your way down that muddy road bound and determined not to accept help from me, I got to see a whole different side of you.”

  “Yeah. The muddy, wet, stubborn side.”

  “And that was the revelation.”

  “That I look good in east Texas mud?”

  “No. That I’d seen the worst you could be.”

  “Wow, Jacob,” Judith said drolly. “Stop before you embarrass me with all this sweet talk.”

  He laughed. “You see, the girls I’ve dated all start out the same. They’re sweet and obliging, never complain about a thing. But then, after a month or so, their true natures come through.”

  Judith jumped on her chance to change the subject. “You’ve dated a lot of the local girls?”

  “Oh, one or two.”

  “That’s all?”

  “What about you? Have you ever had a steady boyfriend?”

  “We were talking about you.”

  “So we were.”

  “And you were going to tell me about true nature.”

  “I was going to tell you about your true nature.”

  There was no talking her way out of this. “According to you, my true nature is quick-tempered and stubborn?”<
br />
  “Yep. And kind to children, generous to strangers, and courageous.”

  Courageous? She’d spent most of her life hiding from real and imagined dangers. No one had ever described her as courageous. Perhaps the change the Holy Spirit was shaping in her was beginning to be apparent. But talking about herself made her uncomfortable. It was time to change the subject. “What about you?”

  “What about me?” Jacob asked.

  “What’s the worst thing about you?”

  “Hmmm. I’m not sure. Maybe there isn’t one.”

  “Maybe I should interview those old girlfriends.”

  Jacob paled slightly at that suggestion, but was saved by Henry’s timely arrival. “Are you going to sit in the shade for the rest of the day, Jacob, or do you still have some work left in you?”

  “Henry, my friend, you couldn’t have asked at a better time.”

  ****

  Jacob ambled away from the table. His walk was loose-gaited and easy, his stride carefree. It would be difficult to paint such a walk, to capture the loose animation in a frozen moment, but Jacob’s walk said he was confident in his body, at home in his skin. He exuded masculine poise with every stride.

  In contrast, she must look like a scared chicken, running from every raindrop, sure the sky was falling. Except Jacob had described her as courageous. Maybe he saw something in her that she couldn’t see in herself.

  Jacob climbed a ladder to the roof. His muscles rippled with power as he swung himself onto the top of the building. How deftly he used his tools. His hammer flashed with each strike, his body able to answer whatever demand he put on it. He was a man comfortable with hard labor, well-acquainted to the rigors of work.

  Judith had never known a man who used his body with such power. The only man she’d ever been physically close to was her father, and he worked at a bank. But she couldn’t imagine Jacob working in an office, wearing a suit and tie every day.

  When Jacob’s gaze connected with hers, Judith’s knees weakened. This, too, was a new emotion. She’d never felt so strongly attracted to a man as she did to the tall, handsome male who smiled down at her. She returned his smile and felt her face warm from his attention. So many things had happened since she’d followed the Holy Spirit’s prompting and faced her many fears. Could meeting Jacob be one of the things God had planned for her?

  She wasn’t ready for more than friendship. But it was true she felt things for him she’d never felt for any other man.

  “What are you staring at, Judith?” Beverly’s voice startled Judith.

  “What? Oh…uh, nothing. Just watching the men work on the roof.”

  Beverly followed Judith’s line of sight, and then smiled. “Oh, I see how it is. Jacob’s making eyes at you.”

  Judith ducked her head and stood. “Let me help you clean up this leftover food.”

  Beverly clapped her hands together and laughed. “That’s all right, honey. I met my husband at a church picnic and we did some flirting of our own. Nothing wrong with looking.”

  Judith could try to disagree, but Beverly had seen the truth. Denying what had probably been plainly evident would be futile. “Hand me a trash bag and I’ll get started.”

  “Not going to talk about it, huh? Well, that’s all right, Miss Judith. Just as long as I’m invited to the wedding.”

  Judith removed a trash bag from the box in Beverly’s hand and began discarding the used paper plates and cups. The sooner she got away from the topic of romance, the better for herself and her blushing face. “Have you seen Chloe?”

  “She’s playing with my girl. They know not to go too far away.”

  Judith cinched the trash bag and carried it to one of the large waste receptacles behind the church. “What else can I do to help you?”

  “We’re about done with the cleaning. Do you want to work on the parking lot or paint the woodwork?”

  Judith looked at the asphalt covered lot. Workers were cutting weeds and repainting the lines that marked the spaces. “If it doesn’t make any difference, I’d rather paint the woodwork.”

  “Makes no difference at all. Come on, friend, and I’ll introduce you to the man with the paint.”

  Judith spent the rest of the afternoon painting the new wood the workmen had used to replace the rotten boards. She listened to the camaraderie of the workers, their good-natured teasing and exchange of family news. These people cared for each other. Christian fellowship sustained and nourished them. Many years ago, her grandfather had built a church for the benefit of one congregation. Now, she continued his legacy by lending it to other worshippers. Henry, Beverly, and the rest of the congregation depended on her. She would need every ounce of courage she had to see this through to the end.

  When the last of the work had been finished, Judith stepped outside and took a deep breath of the fragrant early evening air. Sunlight streamed through the lower branches of the pines as the workmen and their families packed their belongings.

  Jacob ambled towards her, his tool belt slung over one shoulder. A breeze fluttered his sandy hair and the fading sunlight haloed his form. He was all man, strong, yet gentle, determined, yet patient. Jacob smiled at her, a slow, good-to-see-you-again smile, and she imagined running to him, wrapping her arms around his chest and holding on.

  Her heart jumped in surprise. She’d done no more than hold his hand a few times, yet the need to be closer to him was nearly overwhelming. Who was this man that he could affect her so deeply?

  “Ready to go home?”

  Her throat was too dry to answer. She nodded.

  “Where’s Chloe?”

  Before Judith could answer, Beverly closed the trunk of her car and shouted. “Keneisha! Chloe! Time to go home!”

  Jacob and Judith walked to Beverly’s side and waited for the girls.

  “Where’d they go?” Jacob asked.

  “I told them not to go too far,” Beverly answered. “Keneisha! Chloe! Y’all come on!”

  Cicada song was the only sound that answered.

  “I’ll go look for them,” Jacob answered.

  But before he’d taken two steps, they heard squeals from the nearby forest. The two wide-eyed girls ran out of the woods, their fright-filled screams piercing the otherwise placid evening.

  “Hold on there,” Jacob said as he caught the youngsters. “What’s going on?”

  Keneisha had tears in her eyes and both girls were breathless. “There’s a man,” Keneisha began.

  “He told us…” Chloe said between pants.

  Keneisha wiped her tears on the sleeve of her blouse. “And then we…”

  Jacob squatted to Chloe’s eye level and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “I didn’t know if…”

  Jacob’s brow darkened as the girls tried to tell their story.

  Judith’s heart raced as the many dreadful possibilities flew through her mind.

  Beverly opened two bottles of water and handed them to the girls. “Drink this. Calm down and catch your breath. Then tell us what happened.”

  “Evening, folks.”

  In the twilight, Judith hadn’t seen the man approach. Her stomach clenched when she recognized the face. Dwight Thompson. What was he doing here?

  Jacob stood and positioned Chloe behind him. “Evening, Dwight. What brings you out here?”

  Keneisha buried her face in her mother’s stomach and Beverly put two protective arms around her daughter.

  Dwight smiled. “I was just out driving when I saw these two little girls playing in the woods. I thought they might be lost, but when I went to see if they needed help, they ran away. Sorry if I scared them.”

  Jacob looked back at Judith, and then shifted his gaze to Beverly. “No harm done.”

  Dwight eyed the church building. “Is this the church Henry Washington’s group is going to use?”

  Anger drove out all of Judith’s fears. She stepped to Jacob’s side, not bothering with any pretense of friendliness. “Why are you ask
ing?”

  Dwight laughed softly. “There you go again, jumping down my throat for asking a simple question.”

  “I’m going to take Keneisha home,” Beverly said.

  “Good idea,” Jacob said.

  Beverly guided Keneisha to her car and drove away.

  Jacob faced Dwight. “Was there something else on your mind?”

  “No, I’ll be on my way. That little girl hiding behind your back, she’s your niece, isn’t she?”

  Jacob’s voice was impassive. “That’s right.”

  “Your sister Hope’s daughter?”

  “Right again.”

  “Does your sister know you let her play with black children?”

  Judith’s restraint snapped. She took an angry step towards Dwight. “You’re on my property, and I want you to leave.”

  “You’re as prickly as a razorback, little lady. Well, keep your pants on, I’m leaving.” Dwight turned and sauntered back towards the woods. A few steps later, he turned and called back. “It’ll be an awful shame if this church burns, too. All that hard work up in flames.”

  Jacob nudged Chloe towards Judith, and then stepped closer to Dwight. “I hope that’s not a threat.”

  Dwight held up his hands, palms out. “Not from me, friend, not from me. But we both know it’s a possibility. All I’m saying is it would be a shame if it happened again.”

  The muscles in Jacob’s jaw tensed. “It’s time for you to go, Dwight.”

  Dwight smiled broadly. “You’re right about that. My wife will have dinner waiting for me.” He lifted a hand to wave goodbye and disappeared into the foliage.

  Judith wanted to spit out the sour taste in her mouth, but she settled for a long drink from a bottle of water. Her stomach churned with an insidious blend of anger and fear. One part of her wanted to chase after Dwight and force him to listen to her irate words. Another part wanted to grab Chloe and run to the nearest safe place. She put a hand on Chloe’s shoulder. “Did that man hurt you, Chloe?”

  Chloe shook her head. “He just scared us. That’s all. Me and Keneisha were playing hide and seek and suddenly there he was. We both took off running.”

  Judith gathered the little girl close. “It’s OK, now. He’s gone and you’re safe.”