Down by the River

by Lin Stepp

  Margaret came over to hang over her shoulder. “Listen to this.” She started to read from the brochure. “The well-known and beloved inspirational writer Reverend Vincent Westbrooke will be at the campus again for another lecture on his best-selling biblical series Faith 101.” She stabbed her finger at the words.

  Pointing down farther on the page, she read more. “At only twenty-five, Westbrooke has become a renowned authority on the Bible, with his ongoing spiritual series that invites the reader into a deeper study of the books of the Bible. In this campus lecture, Vincent Westbrooke will discuss his newest book, being released this month, entitled Isaiah, which is Westbrooke’s fourteenth book in his acclaimed Bible study series.”

  Margaret flounced over to sit down in a chair across from Grace now. Tears hugged the edges of her eyes. “There were people standing in line to get tickets to this lecture, Mother. The lecture is free, but, according to one of the people at the college, the auditorium is often packed for Reverend Westbrooke’s lectures. So tickets often go fast.”

  Grace poured Margaret a glass of juice and cut her a piece of banana bread and pushed it toward her. Margaret drank and ate without seeming to notice what she was doing. “This woman told me she owned every one of Vincent’s books. She said it was a wonderful blessing he lived in this area and was willing to give his lectures at the college so frequently.”

  She pulled out a paperback book and tossed it down in front of Grace. “I went to the bookstore to see if they had any of Vincent’s books. They were sold out of the new one that’s just come out. I bought the first one on Genesis so you could see it.”

  Margaret got up to pour herself a cup of coffee then, noticing Vincent’s breakfast dishes in the sink. “If that man had still been here when I came back, I’d have really given him a piece of my mind!”

  “Why are you so angry, Margaret?”

  She sat back down and burst into tears. “I didn’t know any of this about him. It’s just more of those secrets he’s kept from me!”

  Grace smiled. “Margaret, again I need to remind you that you have hardly encouraged Vincent to confide in you. You do your best to ignore him.”

  “Well, that was because I thought he was only a little nobody preacher in a poky mountain town!”

  Grace eyed Margaret thoughtfully. “And so you feel differently about Vincent now that you know he is a well-known writer as well as a preacher?”

  Margaret stirred her coffee savagely. “He knew I didn’t respect his being only a preacher. I made that clear often enough. And he never corrected me. Never told me he was a writer, too. Or that he was a best-selling author.”

  She reached a hand across to poke her finger again at the book she’d laid in front of Grace. “Do you know the publisher is starting to reprint these little books in other languages? Read on the back side of the book! The series is being called ‘one of the most insightful and understandable Bible study series of the century.’ Can you believe that? I could simply kill Vincent! I can’t believe I had to learn about this by finding a flier about him at the campus.”

  “Why should Vincent have told you about this?” Grace found it hard to follow Margaret’s logic.

  “Honestly, Mother. You know he’s attracted to me. Why wouldn’t he have told me this if he wanted me to like him?”

  Grace shook her head and gave Margaret an indulgent smile. “Maybe Vincent wanted you to like him for what he was and not for his accomplishments.”

  “They’re the same thing.”

  “No, Margaret, they’re not. Character is who we are. Accomplishments are just the icing and the way we use and express our gifts.”

  “Oh, pooh. That sounds like something Vincent would say.”

  “Are you trying to say you would have found Vincent more attractive if you had known he was an accomplished writer?”

  “Well, of course. You can’t allow yourself to be attracted to simply anyone. Jane always told me I needed to be careful to guard my heart so that I could marry well. She said it was one of the most important things a person with a gift could do. Or any woman, for that matter.”

  Grace winced. “And you believed that?”

  “Why shouldn’t I? She said you married up in status and married well when you married Daddy. She said I could at least do as well.”

  Grace blew out a breath. “Margaret, I married your father because I loved him. The fact that his family was wealthy didn’t factor into my decision.” She chose her words carefully now. “There were times when I thought the finances and the emphasis on them in the Conley family more a curse than a blessing. They seemed to judge everyone too critically as to whether they were monied or whether they were not. That often worried me.”

  “You mean you wouldn’t care if I didn’t marry well? Jane said money would help pave my way to becoming famous, that contacts would help me get on the right concert tours and into the right schools. She said talent alone isn’t enough.”

  Grace felt disappointed at her daughter’s words. Quietly, she said, “Talent was evidently enough for Vincent. He didn’t come from an affluent family. Many people’s gifts find a way to prominence without them having a lot of financial means.”

  Margaret indulged in another spate of tears. “I keep getting confused here. I always seem to be torn between all the different things people say I should do.”

  “Margaret, you need to learn to listen to your own heart more.”

  “That’s the typical kind of response you always give!” Margaret’s eyes narrowed. “Jane always said you were too sentimental and not practical.”

  “And you believe that’s true?”

  “I don’t know what to believe anymore!” Margaret’s reply was a wail, followed by another sweep of tears.

  It wasn’t the best of times, but Grace told Margaret then about how she had come to know the Lord as a young girl and how it had helped her through life to make the best decisions and to know the right way to go. “It didn’t always mean I knew the right answers. But it meant I had a more reliable source to turn to than just myself.”

  Grace reached across to take Margaret’s hand. “I’m not sure I know the right answers for your life, Margaret. And I certainly doubt that Jane does. But I believe with all my heart that God does. And I certainly think He would like you to be happier than you are now.”

  Margaret’s gaze hardened. “I don’t know about that. Just leaving everything to faith sounds like a cop-out way to handle things, Mother.”

  She got up and gathered up her things.

  “I’m going to go practice the piano,” she said. “I think better when I practice. And I need to vent some of these emotions.”

  A few minutes later, the house filled with the sounds of Margaret’s playing. Grace looked through Vincent’s book while she listened and finished her last cup of coffee. From what she could see, Vincent had presented a guide and help for understanding and thinking about the Scriptures in his little book. But the discussion wasn’t theological; it was just practical and easy for anyone to understand. In addition, from what Grace could see, it was faith-established. While many books seemed to confuse one’s thoughts about the Scriptures, often questioning the Bible’s accuracy and meaning, Vincent’s seemed to strengthen and affirm the Biblical account.

  Grace was reading with rapt interest when the phone rang to interrupt her thoughts. She picked it up and immediately heard Samantha’s anguished voice. “Althea Teague has had a heart attack, Grace. I wanted to know if we could bring Ruby over to stay with you so that Roger, Bebe, and I can go straight to the hospital.”

  “Bring her over anytime. I’m so sorry, Sam.” Grace’s answer was immediate.

  The rest of the morning was tense as Grace waited to get word about Althea’s condition. She knew Jack had gone to the hospital and that Vincent was there, too. Grace had told Sam earlier she would pick up Daisy, and also Jack’s twins, at Bible School when the girls got out later in the day. Grace wanted to do something to help. Sh
e also sent word to Jack, through Sam, that she would be praying for Althea. And she did.

  To Grace’s surprise, Margaret and Ruby Butler seemed to make a quick connection. Margaret sat on the floor playing board games with Ruby now. Before that, they had colored pictures together. Naturally, Ruby had been told her great-aunt was sick and in the hospital. But Margaret’s special attention to the child made the day go easier for Ruby. Margaret showed similar affection for Daisy and the twins after Grace went to pick them up from Bible School.

  At dinner time, Bebe came to pick up all the girls to take them home with her to spend the night. Althea was stable now, and Bebe felt she could leave the hospital to rest. Roger and Samantha were staying longer. Bebe mentioned that Jack had left for a while, but grew close-mouthed about where he was.

  “I’m sure he’ll be back right away,” she said. “Jack has never been good with tense situations like this. Even as a boy, he often took off for a while until things changed for the better. It’s just his way of coping.”

  A short time later, Roger called to talk to Grace.

  “Has Bebe picked up the girls?” he asked.

  “Yes. Is there anything else I can do, Roger?”

  Roger cleared his throat. “Um, yeah … if you would. Althea’s been asking for Jack. I thought you might be willing to go look for him. He might be at the house and not answering the phone. Jack’s like that sometimes when he’s upset. You could drive up and see if his car is there.”

  “I’ll be glad to do that, Roger.”

  “Uh … and there’s something else.” He cleared his throat again, obviously uncomfortable. “You might need to look a couple of other places if you don’t find Jack at the house. I hate to ask you to drive around and look for him. But sometimes Jack loses track of time. And Althea is worried about him. She doesn’t need that right now. We need to get Jack up here so she’ll calm down and rest.”

  Grace blew out a breath. “I’ll go look for Jack, Roger. Just tell me the places to look. And give me your cell phone number in case I need to call you and ask anything. I know my way around pretty well now, but it will be getting dark soon.”

  It took checking Jack’s house, his office, and several friends’ houses before Grace found Jack’s car at the Shady Grove and learned whom he’d left with. She got directions from the bartender to Ashleigh Anne Layton’s house and cried all the way there.

  The pain Grace felt in learning that Jack was with Ashleigh awakened her to the fact that she’d been foolish enough to fall in love with the man.

  “Dang you, Jack Teague,” she said out loud as she turned down the road to Ashleigh’s small cottage. “I knew better than to get involved with you. And drat it if I didn’t let you get to me anyway. Here I should be weeping for Althea—and worried about her recovery—and I’m weeping for myself like a lovesick teenager.”

  She stopped her tears by the time she knocked on Ashleigh’s door. And then she had to have a volatile argument with the girl to get inside. Finally, Grace managed to push past the girl. Seeing Ashleigh wearing a frilly nightgown that barely covered her body gave Grace a pretty good idea where she would find Jack.

  Sure enough, Grace found Jack in Ashleigh’s bedroom, sprawled across her bed with the covers partially thrown over his body. He wore only a pair of boxer shorts. Grace wasn’t sure if he was drunk or just asleep, but when he tried to pry his eyes open to look at her, she knew he’d been on a pretty good bender.

  She looked down at him in disgust. What was he thinking to be in a situation like this when his own mother was lying up in the hospital, still not out of the woods from a heart attack? Grace blew out a breath of disappointment.

  With little alternative, Grace told Jack the situation with his mother and waited while he dressed so she could drive him back to the hospital. He was obviously in no shape to drive there himself. While he dressed, Ashleigh went to the kitchen to make him a cup of coffee.

  When Jack finally groped his way into the bathroom, Grace sat down on a chair to wait and then looked up to see Ashleigh watching her from the doorway.

  “Seems like we’ve been in this situation before.” She grinned.

  Grace scowled at her. “You know Althea is in the hospital. This is hardly a time for jokes. To be frank, I’d like to tell people you took Jack to his house after you hauled him out of the bar, if you don’t mind. It would spare the family some sorrow right now. The bartender actually gave me the idea. He said you might have driven Jack home, but if not, he told me how to find you.”

  Ashleigh considered this. “I can do that,” she said at last. “Is Althea all right?’

  “She will be. Right now she’s worried about Jack.”

  “Perhaps you were, too. You’ve been seeing a lot of Jack.” It was an observation more than a question.

  “His girls spend a lot of time at my house, Ashleigh. He lives across the river from me. But we’re not dating, if that’s what you mean.” Grace felt like saying that the girl was welcome to him, from what she’d seen of Jack tonight—but she held her tongue.

  Ashleigh seemed to pick up on Grace’s expression. “Don’t be too hard on Jack. He didn’t have that much to drink. But it went to his head quick. I think I got out of him that he hadn’t eaten all day. I don’t think he meant to get crocked.”

  Ashleigh twiddled with the strap of her nightgown. “I like Jack. I don’t mind to admit it. He knows how to make a woman feel good.”

  She sent Grace an honest glance. “But nothing happened. He was too drunk to get his Johnson up. And he kept talking about you. It kind of took away from the mood, if you know what I mean.”

  Grace looked up at Ashleigh in surprise.

  She shrugged. “Yeah, I thought you’d like to hear that. You’re sweet on him whether you want to admit it or not.”

  She smiled at Grace. “Although I like Jack, I wouldn’t mind seeing him hooked up with someone nice. That Celine Rosen did a real number on him in the past. I was only a kid then, but I heard about it. It wouldn’t hurt Jack to have a little happiness. So don’t be too hard on him about this. He was scared. Thought his mother was going to die on him like his father did.”

  Ashleigh looked toward the bathroom. “He came into the bar to have a drink to calm himself down. I didn’t help things. I pushed more on him. Commiserated with him. It wasn’t nice of me, but I was thinking about myself. Figured if I could get a few drinks down Jack that maybe …” She shrugged. “Like I said, I like Jack.”

  Grace made no comment, but she nodded at Ashleigh.

  “I won’t tell anyone Jack was here. I’ll even tell Cody at the bar that I took Jack home. You can let everyone think you found him over at his own house.”

  “Thank you.” Grace managed to say. She did mean that.

  Jack came out of the bathroom then. He was dressed, had washed his face, combed his hair, and brushed his teeth. She could smell the toothpaste. His shirt was tucked in, and he looked better—but, to any close observer, his eyes were still a dead giveaway that he’d had more than a few drinks. And he was still hungover.

  The trip back to the hospital was a tense one.

  Grace expected a spate of apologies from Jack, but none were forthcoming. Yes, Jack had shown interest in her in the past, kissed her, and talked sweet to her a few times, but evidently it meant nothing in Jack’s eyes. And as Grace had told Ashleigh, she and Jack weren’t dating or anything. Even if Jack had called her name out when he was drunk, that didn’t really mean anything. In truth, Grace had been a fool to let herself fall for Jack Teague. She knew very well who he was and what he was.

  Before they got to the hospital Jack finally talked out some of his feelings to Grace, his worry over his mother, what he’d done and why. The regrets he had. She felt little sympathy. But when Jack got off the hospital elevator and confronted Roger and Samantha, Grace reiterated her story of picking Jack up at his home, lying through her teeth.

  Roger gave Grace a pained look when he learned it was Ashl
eigh who’d hauled Jack out of the bar and had taken him home. “Thank you, Grace,” he told her later when Grace had finished her brief visit with Althea, leaving Jack with her in the hospital room. “If I’d known you’d run into as much trouble with Jack as you did, I’d have searched for him myself. I’m sure you didn’t have a pleasant time of it.”

  “I raised two boys through their teens and young adult years.” She gave Roger a matter-of-fact look. “It isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with a man who is a little inebriated.”

  Roger winced. “Yeah, but all this couldn’t have done any good for the relationship you and Jack were building.”

  Grace gave Roger a steely look. “Jack and I have no relationship, Roger.”

  She tried saying those words over and over to herself on the drive back home, but she knew in her heart that the words were a lie. For better or worse, she had gotten her heart wrapped up with Jack Teague. To be truthful, she doubted anything would come of it. But that didn’t make the pain of realizing how much she cared about Jack any easier. She wished she could hate Jack after what she’d witnessed tonight. But it simply wasn’t that easy. When you loved, even foolishly, you tended to love despite all.

  CHAPTER 16

  The rest of the week was difficult for Jack. Not that he expected it would be easy.

  He drove back and forth to the hospital for most of the week, seeing to Althea. It was good to see his mother’s color gradually begin to come back and to see the tubes removed from her little by little.

  Roger asked Margaret to fill in at the real estate office until Althea could come back to work, and to Jack’s surprise, Margaret said yes.

  “It’s not because I like you,” Margaret told him candidly. “But because Roger and Samantha asked me to do it. I like them. And having some extra money before school starts will be nice, too.”

  Actually, Jack found Margaret’s candor and honesty refreshing. Everyone else seemed to be tiptoeing diplomatically around what they really thought of him and how he’d acted when his mother was in the hospital. Even though people didn’t know he’d stayed with Ashleigh Anne Layton that afternoon, they knew he’d been at the Shady Grove drinking, that he’d gotten snookered, and that Ashleigh had driven him home. He’d always be grateful to Ashleigh and Grace for keeping that extra episode to themselves about what really happened that evening. But it weighed on his conscience.