by Irene Brand
Aimee didn’t look at Samantha, but she heard her scuffing her shoes on the tiled floor. “I guess I was afraid. It’s not so much that I don’t want you to help Chloe, but poor kids scare me. I’m afraid I might end up like them sometime. If anything happens to you, I wouldn’t have anyone to take care of me. It’s not easy being the child of a single mother and no father.”
“Samantha, you should have told me sooner,” Aimee said, shocked and almost in tears. “It’s not likely that anything is going to happen to me, and if it did, Dad and Mom would have welcomed you to their home in a heartbeat. And Grandmother Blake would have been there for you. You would have been well taken care of.”
“But still no dad,” Samantha whispered.
Aimee’s heart thudded. “But I’ve always thought you wouldn’t want me to get married again. That’s one reason I haven’t dated before. Wouldn’t you resent a stepfather?”
“Depends on who it is, I guess. Some guys aren’t so bad.”
“It might have been better if we’d had this talk years ago,” Aimee said with a sigh. But she knew she wouldn’t have wanted anyone for a husband except Jacob. Maybe Samantha was hinting that her relationship with him wasn’t so bad. But since she couldn’t yet promise Samantha any future with Jacob, she ignored the insinuation in Samantha’s comment.
Although Jacob had once looked forward to the bicentennial celebration, all he wanted now was to get it over with and know that Megan Russell had left town. When she had called again last night, he’d finally agreed to meet her in Pioneer Park as soon as the dedication ceremony was over.
When he reached the courthouse square, Jacob made his way to the platform. He saw Aimee and the girls and waved to them. Shortly after the festivities opened with the singing of the national anthem and a speech by the mayor, Jacob took his seat among the planning committee members and others who would participate in the program.
Jacob found it difficult to focus on the various presentations. His thoughts kept drifting to his upcoming meeting with Megan. He wished now that he’d told Aimee about her call, or that he had refused to see Megan. Time seemed to crawl until he finally stood and walked to the podium.
A hint of expectancy settled over the audience and Jacob lost some of his stage fright. “At this time,” he said, “I’ll ask Andrea Horton, wife of David, and their two children to come forward and unveil the plaque, which will be subsequently placed on the Wall of Honor in the office of the local board of education.”
A well-dressed, somber-eyed woman, seated on the front row, stood and motioned for her children to precede her to the platform. Although the Harwoods had lived in Benton for years, he didn’t remember seeing Mrs. Harwood before. Jacob had heard that she was somewhat reclusive, a sharp contrast to her husband who was always in the public eye.
The two children appeared to be in their teens. The daughter bore a remarkable resemblance to the photograph of Dr. Harwood, which had been placed under a glass shield in the center of the plaque.
Smiling with an effort, Jacob presented his speech, ending with, “It’s my pleasure, on behalf of the city of Benton, to honor David Harwood today as an educational and civic leader of this city for many years. His death left a void in the leadership of our city. However, our city is proud of his legacy.”
Jacob handed Mrs. Harwood a remote that would pull the curtain from the front of the plaque. The curtain rolled back to reveal the bronze memorial, and he read the inscription on the plaque.
When he finished, Jacob handed Mrs. Harwood the microphone. She hesitated briefly before she took it, and seemingly speaking with an effort, she said, “My children and I are thankful for the honor you have paid David today. He was very fond of the people of Benton.”
Jacob shook hands with her and her children and walked with them off the platform. As Jacob’s eyes followed her and the children to their seats, he was stunned to see Megan Russell sitting directly behind the Harwood family.
Although he hadn’t seen her for almost twenty years, he knew it was Megan. He turned away, hoping he had shown no sign of recognition.
Two hours later Jacob reluctantly drove into Pioneer Park where he’d arranged to meet Megan. He felt that he was being disloyal to Aimee to come here at all and certainly without telling her that Megan had returned.
A red SUV was parked near the fountain, and when he pulled into the parking lot, Megan stepped out of it. The years had not been kind to her. She was overweight, and the heavy makeup she wore did little to conceal the lines around her eyes and forehead—wrinkles too deeply etched for someone her age. Her expression was tight with strain, and Jacob wondered if she was also uneasy about their meeting.
Looking around the park, she asked, “Can we go someplace and have dinner? This is pretty public.”
Jacob shook his head. Uncompromisingly, he said, “Not as public as a restaurant, and I don’t want to be seen with you. I’ve worked hard to rebuild my reputation in Benton, and I probably shouldn’t have met you at all. But I’ve never completely let go of the past, and I don’t think I ever will without learning why you ruined my reputation without a word to set the record straight.”
“You’ve never married?” Megan said, and her eyes searched his face, as if she was trying to read his thoughts.
“Not yet,” he answered shortly.
“Does that mean that you’re planning to be married?”
“We didn’t come here to discuss my marital plans,” Jacob said coldly. “What do you have to tell me?”
For a long moment Megan looked at him, and Jacob grew uncomfortable under her gaze, before she said, “If it will make you feel any better, I’ve always felt mean that I let people think you were the father of my daughter.”
“So the baby was a girl?” he asked. “Where is she, by the way? How has her life been?”
“She’s with my parents this weekend. They’ve been very supportive. Karen and I live with them. I couldn’t have made it on my own.”
Apparently the father of the child had given no support to Megan and the little girl. Jacob looked at his watch. “I can’t stay long,” he reminded her.
She took a colored photo from her pocket. “This is my daughter. David Harwood was the father of my child.”
Jacob was speechless in his surprise, but he didn’t doubt her word. The girl looked just like Harwood. Bile rose in his throat, when he thought of the town’s efforts to honor a man who had not only fathered a child out of wedlock, but also let another man be blamed for what he had done.
He didn’t doubt that Megan was telling the truth, and suddenly incidents in the past surged forward in his mind—things that made more sense to him now. Why Megan had suddenly taken an interest in after-school activities. Why she seemed happy one day but stressed out and bitter the next.
“Can’t you understand now why I couldn’t tell?” Megan asked in a pleading voice. “Think of all the things he’s accomplished in this town. None of that would have happened if people had known. He was already married when he came to Benton, but we fell in love. His wife was pregnant, and when I got pregnant, too, I tried to seduce you so you’d think it was your child. I loved David too much to ruin his life.”
“But you didn’t care if you ruined mine,” Jacob said bitterly.
Much of the despair that Jacob had experienced years ago resurfaced. The humiliation, the degradation, the sense of rejection he’d known then rushed back as if he was eighteen again. He felt unclean even to be in Megan’s presence, and he wished he had never heard this sordid revelation.
He turned his back on his high-school girlfriend, walked to his car, settled wearily into the seat and drove away. He felt emotionally and physically ill. For years he had condemned himself for not marrying Megan and giving the child a name. Now to realize that she had attempted to seduce him because she needed a scapegoat to protect David Harwood opened the old wounds Jacob thought he’d put behind him.
He had only driven for a few yards when he stopped an
d backed his car to where Megan stood. He got out of the car and took her hand.
“I shouldn’t have been so harsh with you, Megan. I know now what it’s like to really love someone. I’d go to any length to protect her, so I understand why you tried to use me. Perhaps I should have done more to help you, but I was young, too, and terribly hurt.” He squeezed her hand and released it. “I forgive you, Megan, as I pray God will forgive me for my harsh thoughts about you.”
He got into the car, took one last look at her tear-streaked face and headed toward Benton.
Chapter Seventeen
Aimee was seated far back in the crowd, and she didn’t make eye contact with Jacob during the whole program. He had waved before he took his seat at the rear of the platform where she couldn’t see him.
She’d kept putting him off when he wanted to talk about the future, but now in spite of anything, even Samantha’s objections, she would marry him if he asked her. She knew she loved him, and that he was the right man for her.
Jennifer apparently hadn’t been able to slip away from her father’s group, but after the ceremony, she joined them.
“Mrs. Blake, it sure would be nice if you’d let Sam come for a sleepover tonight,” she said. “Dad is still calling the shots at home. I’m grounded from going out. I don’t blame my parents. I was getting too wild, but I’m just plain bored.”
Aimee had noted an absence of the flippant, adultlike air that Jennifer had been exhibiting for a year or more. She believed that during her convalescence, the girl had come to terms with her behavior.
“I won’t agree until I talk to your parents. Now that school is out, I’m willing to ease up on the restrictions. I’ll call from my cell when we get to the car.”
“They’ll say it’s okay,” Jennifer said confidently. With a cute grin, she added, “Riding herd on me is getting to be a bore.” She looked at Chloe, who had seemed quieter than usual, perhaps awed by Jennifer’s dominating personality. “You might as well come, too, Chloe. Madison is away this weekend.”
Chloe’s face turned red, and she stammered, “I’d like to, but I don’t know what Grandma will say.”
“Let’s see if Jennifer’s parents agree, and then I’ll check with your grandmother,” Aimee suggested, secretly pleased that Chloe was being included.
Aimee spent the next two hours confirming with Mr. Nibert that Jennifer could have a sleepover, getting permission from Mrs. Slater for Chloe to go, stopping by Chloe’s home for overnight clothes, going to her own home for Samantha to pack and then delivering all three girls to the Nibert home.
It was seven o’clock when she finally semicollapsed in the lounge chair, disappointed that there wasn’t a message from Jacob. He hadn’t been calling as often as he had, and she made herself believe that it was because he was too busy with the bicentennial. But his responsibilities were behind him now, and she hoped he would contact her. When he hadn’t called by eleven, she went to bed. She was still awake when the phone rang an hour later. Startled and fearful, she picked up the phone.
“Aimee, this is Stella Milton. I hope I didn’t wake you up.”
“No, I’m in bed, but I haven’t gone to sleep. My mind is still full of today’s activities to rest.”
“It was a nice day, but I didn’t call to talk about that. Jacob hasn’t come home, and I’m worried about him. I thought you might know where he is.”
Aimee chose her words carefully, for she didn’t want Stella to know that they weren’t seeing each other much. “I haven’t talked with him today,” she said, “and I don’t know where he is.”
“I guess I’m a worrisome old woman, and I don’t often check on Jacob’s whereabouts, but I had a message from his grandfather, and I wanted to pass it along. I’ve tried his cell phone and the phone in his apartment. I suppose I wouldn’t be worried if I hadn’t noticed that he’s been preoccupied the past few days, as if he’s worried about something. I haven’t seen him like this since he was a boy.”
“Have you tried the office? He might have gone there after the ceremony,” Aimee suggested.
“I didn’t call the office because the switchboard would be off,” Stella said. “I contacted the security guard at the complex. He said that Jacob came there this evening, but he didn’t see him leave. I’m worried.”
Throwing back the covers, Aimee said, “Samantha is at a sleepover, so I’ll go check on him. He loaned me a key to the office a few weeks ago so I could borrow some counseling videos he had received. I haven’t returned it.”
“I probably should go with you,” Stella said.
“No, that isn’t necessary,” Aimee assured her. “I’ll call you as soon as I find him. Don’t worry. I’m sure he’s catching up on work he’s missed the past couple of weeks.”
As she quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, Aimee wished she was as confident as she pretended to be. Fearful pictures of what she might find at Jacob’s office flitted through her mind. To calm her nerves, when she was dressed, she knelt beside her chair, and with her hand on the Bible, prayed for God to guide her.
Because Saturday-night traffic wasn’t heavy in the section of Benton where Jacob’s office was located, Aimee arrived at the security gate more rapidly than she anticipated. She punched in the entrance code, waved to the guard and drove to the parking lot in front of the building. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or alarmed that Jacob’s car was still parked in the lot. Light shone from his office window.
She inserted her key card into the slot, punched in the code, opened the door and walked quickly upstairs. The door to Jacob’s office stood open, and catching her breath, she hurried inside. Jacob was slumped over his desk, his hands outstretched. She stifled a scream.
“Jacob,” she said, and he didn’t stir.
She rushed to the desk, searched for and found a steady pulse in his neck. “Thank God,” she breathed. She shook his shoulder until he stirred.
“Jacob,” she said loudly.
He raised his head and stared at her. He shook his head as if to clear his vision. “What’s going on? Why are you here?”
She laughed in relief. “Well, you’ve almost scared Stella and me to death. It’s after midnight. Are you sick?”
“Yeah, sick,” he said, “but not the kind of sick you mean. My spirit is sick. I had a few things I needed to do, and I’ve been here since eight o’clock. I took some medication for a splitting headache, laid my head on the desk and that’s the last I remember. I’m not used to taking pain medication, and it put me out. I left my cell in the car.”
Aimee took her cell phone from her purse. “I’ll call Stella and tell her you’re all right.”
While Aimee talked to Stella to put her mind at ease, Jacob walked around the room, swinging his arms. He dropped to the floor and executed several push-ups.
“I’ll go wash my face and meet you in the snack room. I think I’m awake enough to drive home, but I’d better drink a cup of coffee or a soda.”
“Which do you prefer? I’ll fix it for you.”
“Make it a Coke. And fix something for yourself.”
Now that Stella knew that Jacob was all right, and since her cell phone was on if Samantha should need her, Aimee decided there was no better time or place to find out where she stood with Jacob. He came into the snack room while she was pouring the drink over the ice cubes.
They sat on opposite sides of one of the tables. “I’m glad you came, Aimee. The reason I didn’t go home was because I need to tell you something, which I should have told you before this.”
“I’m aware that there’s something wrong between us,” she said. “What have I done to push you away?”
“You haven’t done anything.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, apparently reluctant to speak. “A few weeks ago I had a call from Megan Russell, telling me that she was coming to the bicentennial and wanted to see me.”
His voice was absolutely emotionless, and Aimee felt momentary panic as he
r mind jumped forward.
“At first,” he said, “I refused to see her, but when she called again last night, I went to meet her in Pioneer Park after the celebration.”
Feeling as if the breath had been knocked out of her, Aimee whispered, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know what to do,” Jacob said, and his voice sounded tired. “I kept hoping she wouldn’t show up, and I’ve been almost desperate wondering if her presence in town would stir up that old scandal again. When I met her today, she indicated that she had only arranged to meet me to apologize for the way she’d treated me.”
A tense silence surrounded them, and Aimee clenched her hands until the nails pierced her skin.
Jacob’s voice drifted into a hoarse whisper. “She told me some things that shocked me so much that I don’t know if I should ever repeat them. However, our interview had one important outcome. I’d always wondered if I should have protected her name and married her anyway. After what I heard today, I’ll never think that again.”
Aimee sensed that what Megan had told Jacob had hurt him terribly, and she didn’t want to add to his pain. “You don’t have to tell me anything. What happened between you and Megan is in the past, the same as my marriage to Steve is behind me. I love you, Jacob, love you for what you are now. You’ve become a fine man in spite of that unfortunate experience.”
Jacob lunged out of his chair as if he’d been stung by a hornet. His weariness seemed to have disappeared as he pulled her upward, and Aimee knew she’d said the right words to bring him around.
Jacob snuggled Aimee close for a few precious moments before he held her at arm’s length. “I love you, too, and I’ve wanted to tell you so for weeks, but there never seemed to be a right time. Does this mean you’ll marry me?”
“Yes. That is, if you want to take on me and my teenager.”
Aimee’s feet seemed to be drifting on cloud nine and happiness filled her heart as his hands slipped up her arms, pulling her closer. She put her arms around his neck, and she felt his lips touch hers. After a heady moment, she buried her head in his shoulder.
