by Gail Sattler
Garrett and Robbie stood as well. “Why don’t you invite your friend in?”
While he felt infinitely better about Robbie and their past together, Mike didn’t think it was a good idea to introduce the woman he loved to the woman he once said he would marry. “I really should be going. Maybe another time.”
They walked him to the door where they both took note of Patty sitting in the car pretending to be reading a book. It was barely noticeable, but he saw Robbie and Garrett quickly exchange smiles.
“Tell you what,” Robbie said. “We haven’t decided on a date yet, but why don’t you bring your friend to the baby dedication? That will also give us all a little more time for this to sink in. We’ll let you know when it is.”
Mike smiled. “That sounds like a good idea.” He paused before he walked away. “Thank you again for seeing me, Robbie. You have no idea how much this has meant to me.”
“Same.”
Mike turned and walked to the car where Patty was waiting for him. He slid into the passenger seat, but she didn’t drive away. Without using a bookmark, Patty tossed her book into the backseat, grasped the steering wheel with both hands, and turned toward him.
“Well? How did it go?”
He hadn’t expected it to go so well, nor had he expected to feel so good after it was over. Robbie hadn’t come right out and said she had forgiven him, but he could tell she had, long ago. She’d even been praying for him, and the knowledge touched him deeply.
He knew Patty also had been praying for him, and he felt both humbled and blessed because of it. And now, added to his relief from the burden of seeing Robbie, Patty’s beautiful smile almost made him lightheaded. He wanted to tell her he loved her, but there were still too many unknowns looming in his future.
He smiled. “It went great. I’ll tell you all about it when we get home.”
Mike walked into the garage and stood still, staring unseeing at his car. For the first time in a long time, his car was in his own garage.
He had settled with the insurance company for the costs of the accident, but in addition to that, it was time for the renewal of his annual premium, and his rates had skyrocketed. After more than two months without an income, for the first time in his life, money was getting tight, and he really was having to watch where the money was going.
Patty often cajoled him about needing to save money, and he could no longer dispute her reasoning for not renewing the insurance when he couldn’t drive. Patty had a car of her own to drive; she really didn’t need his, and it was an expense he could no longer afford. Patty had driven the car into his garage and parked it permanently. Last night the insurance had expired at midnight.
Her friend Colleen had come to pick her up immediately after supper, and shortly after that, Claude had picked him up to go to the step ten meeting. “Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.”
Mike fiddled with the knot of his tie and left the garage. As always, God’s timing was perfect. Bruce was due any minute to pick him up. This morning was his court appearance, where he was going to promptly admit to the judge how wrong he’d been.
Chapter 13
Patricia entered the courtroom. Mike was already at his place in the front, sitting stoically beside a man whom she assumed was his lawyer. Bruce sat behind him in the front row. She quietly walked to the front and sat beside her brother.
“This is it, the big day,” he whispered as she shuffled into the seat.
“Yes.”
Patricia shuddered. She’d never been inside a courtroom before. Her only experience with court was court scenes on television. The real thing was far less dramatic. Everything was very formal. All the men at the front wore suits, including Mike. Even Bruce was wearing a suit, which was rare. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her brother in a suit, including church on Sundays.
Even from the back, Mike looked dashing in his suit. She had seen him in a suit only once before, on the day he’d shown up for lunch after what had been his last attempt to find a job before this court fiasco was behind him. At the time, she had laughed and teased him about trying to impress her father. She thought she was being very funny, but Mike hadn’t laughed.
Unlike then, there was nothing funny now. This was the day they had been waiting for, the day that would be the catalyst to Mike’s future.
He turned his head slightly, and she could see when he saw her out of the corner of his eye. He gave her a nervous smile, then turned his face forward and continued to sit stiffly with his hands folded on the table in front of him.
Mike’s case was the first of the day. Still, the minutes dragged like hours.
“All rise!”
Everyone stood, the judge entered, and the court session began.
The way the clerk read the charges against Mike seemed so cold, and the sterile atmosphere in the courtroom made it worse. It was hard to believe that the Mike she knew and loved was the person who had behaved so callously only ten weeks ago. By the mighty hand of God in his life, he was a changed person. He had put his life in order and was moving forward again.
“And how does the defendant plead?” the judge asked.
Mike’s lawyer stood. “My client pleads not guilty, your honor.”
Mike jumped to his feet. “Wait, that’s not what I said. I’m guilty!”
The lawyer turned to him. “Sit down, Mr. Flannigan,” he whispered firmly. “I’m following your father’s instructions.”
Mike didn’t sit. He turned to the judge. “I plead guilty, your honor.”
The lawyer nudged him. “Stop it, Mike. You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“I do know what I’m doing. I was wrong, it was my fault, and I’m guilty.”
“But I can—”
The gavel sounded.
“Order!” the judge called with a firm voice. “Counsel, please approach the bench.”
Patricia forced herself to breathe. She didn’t want Mike to go to jail. She wished he could be let off. But he really was guilty and, in the eyes of the law, he deserved whatever the justice system handed down to him.
The entire courtroom was silent except for the lowered voices of the judge, the prosecuting attorney, and Mike’s lawyer. She strained to hear what was being said, but only a low murmur of male voices was audible.
She watched Mike, alone at the front. The decision being made now would affect his whole future, yet he held himself bravely, sitting with his hands folded in front of him. Still, she could tell he was nervous, because as she looked to the side, she could see him tapping one foot. She’d never loved him more.
Both attorneys returned to their places.
The judge folded his hands in front of him and spoke to the courtroom. “Despite advice from his legal counsel, the defendant has pled guilty, and the record will remain as such. Prosecution has advised that the defendant has voluntarily made restitution to rectify the damage he has caused with the injured party, and this is admirable. However, this does not alter the fact that the defendant displayed a flagrant disregard for the law at the time of the infraction. Since this is a first offense, and knowing that the defendant has made restitution voluntarily, has been active in the AA program, and fully complied with the conditions and restrictions of his probation, I hereby sentence the defendant to prohibition from driving a motor vehicle for a period of one year, plus one hundred hours of community service.”
He thunked the gavel on the stand and announced a thirty-minute recess before hearing the next case.
Everyone rose while the judge left the courtroom.
Patricia’s heart pounded in her chest. God had indeed been merciful. He had spared Mike from a jail sentence.
Mike’s lawyer thumped him on the back, and everyone turned to exit the courtroom.
As she also turned, she saw a gray-haired man who looked like an older version of Mike alone in the back of the courtroom. His eyes glimmered as he watched Mike leave the room
, and as soon as Mike passed, he followed.
Patricia felt her eyes burn, but she blinked it back. His father had not had contact with him since he fired Mike, yet he had come to the trial. Mike hadn’t known he was coming.
She turned to the front instead of filing out, leaving her the last person in the room. She hadn’t known if praying for leniency was the right thing, so she’d prayed for God’s will to be done and had then been ready to accept whatever sentence was handed down. She didn’t know enough about how the system worked to know how Darryl told the prosecutor that Mike had tried to make things better for him, but he had, and she thanked God for the difference that fact had made in the judge’s decision.
Bruce also must have submitted some kind of statement outlining Mike’s progress under the terms and conditions of his bail and made comments and recommendations concerning Mike’s progress and the projected outcome of his involvement with AA. He probably also reported his newfound faith in Jesus as his Savior, although she didn’t know which would have more influence in the eyes of the legal system.
Now that it was over, she didn’t know what would happen next. Of course Mike would be relieved and, now that there was no possibility of a jail sentence, she anticipated he would have no difficulty getting a new job. Soon, all would be back to normal.
She wondered if “normal” would include her.
Patricia sighed. It was time to get on with life, whether or not it included Mike. She turned, glanced once more over her shoulder at the judge’s desk and the witness stand, and left the room. Her footsteps echoed sharply on the tile floor until she exited through the heavy door, which she shut firmly behind her.
Many people lingered in the hall, most of whom she didn’t recognize from Mike’s session, and who must have been waiting to go in for the next case. Though the hall was crowded, two people stood out. Mike and his father. They stood to the side of the doorway leading into the courtroom, staring at each other in silence.
Patricia couldn’t intrude. She wanted to say something to Mike about the favorable outcome of the judge’s decision, but this was not the time. This was his time to make peace with his father.
Very quietly, Patricia turned the other way, left the building, and went back to work.
Fortunately, her father didn’t question how things went in court. She wasn’t ready to talk about it. Since she wouldn’t be visiting Mike in jail, she didn’t know when she would be seeing him. Also, Mike would probably be getting another job right away, so he would no longer be joining her for lunch every day.
If he had made peace with his father, that meant he would get his old job back, and in that case, his old ties would be mended, and he would be back in the society circles he was accustomed to, which didn’t include lowly, unsophisticated pastor’s daughters.
Patricia buried herself in her work, trying to keep her mind occupied with anything but what the future held for her—with or without Mike.
When lunchtime came, she went outside, the same as she did every other day. The squirrel joined her, but Mike didn’t. Since he didn’t come to scare it away, the squirrel ate every bit of bread she offered while Patricia left her sandwich untouched. Just in case Mike tried to call the church and she wasn’t there, she left her cell phone beside her on the bench, not caring if the ring would scare the squirrel.
It didn’t ring.
When she returned from her break, she looked for a message on her desk, but her desk was exactly as she left it.
All afternoon, the phone was silent, and Mike did not rush in with an apology for being late. The entire afternoon passed, but when the clock struck five, she had no idea what she’d done all day. All she knew was that Mike hadn’t come, nor had he tried to contact her.
She walked to the parking lot where only two cars remained, hers and her father’s.
She stared at her little white economy compact. She had enjoyed driving Mike’s sports car even though it didn’t suit her personality or the lifestyle of a pastor’s daughter to be driving such an expensive automobile. Now, having her own car back, it further emphasized the differences between herself and Mike.
An empty ache settled in her stomach. He had his car back. He probably had his old job back as well and had reestablished the ties to his family and the lifestyle with which he was comfortable. His absence today, and his lack of a phone call, confirmed what she had feared would happen after his court appearance.
He didn’t need her anymore. It was over.
Mike stood at Patty’s door, fiddled with the knot in his tie, rang the doorbell, and waited.
When finally the door opened, Patty blinked and stared at his suit, then quickly glanced to the side where he usually parked his bike. It wasn’t there. Her stunned expression made him smile.
“May I come in?”
“Uh … yes … of course …” She stood to the side to allow him entry. “How did you get here?”
“Bruce dropped me off.”
She checked her watch. “You were at the courthouse all day?”
Mike shook his head. His stomach knotted as he began to think that perhaps coming here like this wasn’t such a great idea, especially when she found out what he’d done. “No. I had some errands to run, and Bruce drove me around. I asked him if he wouldn’t mind dropping me off here. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course I don’t mind.”
“Actually, I was hoping that we could go out for dinner. Someplace quiet, where we could talk.”
“Talk?” She backed up, which he thought rather strange and not like Patty.
“Yes. I wanted to thank you for all you’ve done for me. I want to take you out for dinner.”
“Because it’s over?”
He sighed, and all the tension left him. It had been a long and difficult ten weeks, and the wait was arduous, but it was finally over. The sentence was light and very much in his favor, if he handled himself properly.
“Yes,” he said. “Because it’s over.”
He had tied up almost all the loose ends in his life. He’d done what he had promised and paid for Darryl’s course. He’d had a long talk with his father and made things right there. He had arranged some of the hours of service for his sentence. He’d also made some very difficult decisions regarding the direction of his future.
There was only one thing he had to do now, and that was settle everything with Patty.
“I don’t know. I’m really tired.” She looked up at him. Her eyes glimmered, and she turned her head so she wasn’t facing him.
For a second Mike thought maybe she was going to cry. Either that or she was overtired and was having some kind of female reaction related to the relief from the recent days of constant stress during the long process leading up to his court case. Now that it was finished, he, also, was exhausted—but excited at the same time. He could finally make some plans.
Patty looked up at him with bloodshot eyes. A pang of guilt shot through him. He didn’t feel half as bad as she looked, and he felt bad that his predicament had taken such a toll on her. She didn’t deserve to be saddled with his burdens. He hadn’t slept well last night, but it hadn’t occurred to him until now that perhaps Patty hadn’t either. Still, no matter how tired he was, he couldn’t let the day end without telling her what he had decided. He didn’t want her to find out from Bruce tomorrow, so he had to tell her himself, today.
He stepped forward and took her hands in his. “Please? We can still be home early, in plenty of time for you to get a good night’s sleep for work tomorrow.”
She blinked fast a few times and faced him again. “Okay.”
“We’ll go somewhere simple, and cheap, just for you.” He smiled, hoping his little attempt to cheer her up would help, but instead, she stiffened and pulled her hands out of his.
She picked up her purse from the floor and locked the door as they left. He suggested Sir Henry’s Fish and Chip Palace, but instead of the reaction he hoped for, she simply nodded and turned in the right
direction.
He tried to get a conversation started, but her response was less than enthusiastic. Now he worried more than ever that perhaps this wasn’t the best timing.
The same as every other time they were at Sir Henry’s, they were the only patrons inside, but the drive-thru lineup went on forever. Today, that suited him just fine. Henry was busy, so they had the place to themselves.
They placed their order, and Mike led her to a table. She didn’t say a word, so Mike gathered his nerve and decided to simply start at the beginning. “I talked to your father today.”
“My father? When were you at the church? I was there all day and didn’t see you.”
“I didn’t actually go there, I talked to him on the phone. You didn’t answer the phone when I called, so I figured you must have been outside with your chipmunk.”
She turned her head and stared out the window. “Yes, I managed to feed him the whole piece of bread for the first time in a long time.”
His gut clenched. He was hoping she would say that she had missed him, but she didn’t. Even a comeback that it really was a squirrel, not a chipmunk, would have been preferable to her bland response.
“Daddy never told me you called.”
“Now don’t be mad at him. I told him I wanted to tell you myself. Part of my community service is going to be spending a few sessions talking with the youth group and the youth groups from a few other churches about drugs and alcohol.”
She turned and smiled at him, her first smile in a long time. He couldn’t help but smile back.
“That’s great, Mike. I’m sure they’ll listen to you knowing how much you’ve been through.”
“Yeah. Bruce thinks it’s going to be a great ministry to the youth. He said they’d really listen to me, hearing it from someone who has experienced firsthand where it can lead.”
“Yes, and you’ll also have some stern warnings about drinking and driving.”
He nodded. “You got that right.”
“Especially when they see your car, they’ll see the sacrifice it is to not be able to drive it.”
