by Mary Manners
Light the Fire
11
“Earth to Miss Rena.” Erin waved a hand in front of her eyes. “Are you listening?”
“Oh. Sorry.” Rena struggled to focus. “I spaced out there for a minute.”
“Thinking about Cody?”
“Yes—I mean, no!” Her face burned. She reached for the script. “Let’s review your lines once more before we call it a day.”
“OK. Maybe this time I’ll say them without any hints. I should be able to do that, don’t you think? The play’s just a few weeks away.”
“You’ll do fine.” Rena plastered on a smile. “Let’s give it a whirl.”
Following a successful run-through, Rena gathered her purse and notebook and walked to the vending machines. She wasn’t really hungry, but she hadn’t eaten much since the lobster tail last night, which still roiled in her belly. So she forced herself to make a selection.
Turkey on wheat.
She unwrapped the cold sandwich and nibbled, though stale bread and the odor of mayonnaise made her stomach revolt. Her cell phone rang and she fumbled through her purse.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Rena.”
“Kelsie!” She spoke around a mouthful of crust.
“Mrs. Kelsie Daniels.”
She forced down the bread. “That has a nice ring to it. Wow, this is a treat. I didn’t expect you to call.”
“Kyle and I are just coming up for air, and we thought we’d check in to see how you are.”
“I’m...” Miserable, she wanted to finish, but refused to dampen Kelsie’s dream honeymoon. She quickly changed the subject. “How’s the weather there?”
“Absolutely gorgeous. And the beach is so beautiful—powdery white sand and sparkling blue water as far as the eye can see. And the food! I’ve gained five pounds, I’m sure, but I’ve enjoyed every delicious morsel.”
“You’re coming home Saturday night?” A wave of longing nearly knocked Rena over. She missed Kelsie, and needed to talk.
“Yeah, we’re due in at nine o’clock.” Kelsie paused, and Rena heard Kyle’s voice in the background. He was probably on his cell phone to Cody. Her belly curdled at the thought. She focused on Kelsie’s voice. “Hey, are you OK?”
“Of...of course.” Rena struggled to brighten her tone. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You just sound—”
“Enough about me.” Rena tossed the remainder of the sandwich into a trash can. “Do you want me to come pick you and Kyle up from the airport?”
“Cody’s already offered. But I expect you to ride along with him. We want to see you both.”
“Oh...um...”
“Rena, talk to me.”
“I’m fine. I’m just a little tired. I had dinner with my mother last night, and you know how she wears me out.”
“No kidding. Been there, done that. Go recuperate, OK? And say hi to Cody for me.”
“Sure.” She’d be glad to say hi...if he ever spoke to her again.
****
Cody struggled with a serious case of guilt. He’d purposely changed his volunteer days at the rec center to avoid Rena. Oh, he wanted to talk to her. But he also knew there was no point trying to reach her without some help.
So here he sat at the front table in Donatello’s Deli, waiting. Sunlight warmed him as it poured through expansive windows overlooking the parking lot. He saw the unmistakable amethyst-blue SUV pull in. A few moments later, the restaurant door swung open.
“Cody...so good to see you.”
“Hey, Pastor Marcus. Thanks for meeting me for lunch.”
“My pleasure.” He was stout, and premature balding at the crown of his head gave the impression he was a bit older than early forties. “It’s a treat to eat something that doesn’t involve gooey peanut butter and sticky jelly.”
“The bag lunches are getting old?”
“Just a little. But Celia gets a kick out of packing me a sandwich.” It was common knowledge that Marcus’s nine-year-old daughter had recently made it her mission in life to prepare his lunches. The problem was, the only things she could make reasonably well were peanut butter and jelly or boloney and cheese on white. She always cut the sandwiches into neat triangles, though, after she removed the crust.
Marcus, whose wife had died three years ago following a head-on collision with a drunk driver on the I-40 and Broadway exit ramp, didn’t have the heart to suggest she try something new. So he endured the meals in silence.
The waitress brought over two sodas in tall glasses.
“What’s on your mind, Cody? Something’s troubling you. You read like an open book.”
“I do?” He sighed and leaned back in the chair. “That obvious, huh?”
“Yes.” Pastor Marcus angled his head and steepled stout fingers beneath his chin. “So spill the beans.”
“I don’t even know if I’m doing the right thing, coming to you, Marcus. But I need some help, and I don’t know who else to turn to. Jeanne’s overwhelmed taking care of the kids, and Kyle’s gone on his honeymoon. And you’ve helped me to get through everything that happened with Caden. I value your guidance.”
“Tell me, then.”
“It’s Rena.”
“Ah, Rena. The intelligent beauty with the sweet voice who can swing a hammer with the best of men, rescue wayward teens of the world from their own insecurities, and read picture books with a flair that can reduce grown men to tears.”
“That obvious, huh?”
“That you care for her? I’m afraid so. It’s certainly nothing to be embarrassed about...caring for someone.”
“There’s something gnawing at her, Marcus, something dragging her down. It reminds me of—
“The dark place that you know so well.” Pastor Marcus finished.
“Yeah.” The memory gave Cody a gut-punch. He’d been a mess following Caden’s death, a tornado on a path of destruction. The anger and emptiness had nearly consumed him. But Kyle had been there, and Jeanne, and Pastor Marcus, too. They’d hauled him back from the brink when he’d wanted nothing more than to succumb to the murky depths of his pain. “I want to help her, but I don’t know how.”
“Tell me what you do know.”
Cody related what had happened with Rena’s mother, and how Rena had shut him out afterwards. He didn’t mention the baby specifically, because he didn’t want to breach Rena’s trust. It was enough to say something difficult had happened in her past, something heartbreaking, that she flat-out refused to discuss.
“I don’t think her parents—I mean her mother—have been supportive at all. Maybe her father has...I don’t know. He just sat there through dinner while her mother burned destruction like a flaming torch. It was awful.”
“Sounds pretty serious.”
“No kidding.” Cody balled his hands into fists and pressed down on the table. “I wondered if you’d talk to her, you know, in that casual way you have.”
Marcus rubbed the stubble that crept across his chin. “Bring her to Bible study Saturday evening and I’ll see what I can do. She seemed to enjoy the fellowship the last time she came.”
“She did. But she’s hurting, Marcus. And I know how rotten that feels.” It was Marcus who had ultimately pulled him back from the brink of self-destruction and helped him reclaim his faith.
“Have you prayed about it?”
“Of course. But—”
“Let’s pray again.” In the crowded restaurant, without hesitation, Marcus bowed his head.
****
Rena drained her cup of chamomile tea and glanced out the living room window. Sunlight danced low on the horizon through trees across the street, but it was still too early to change into pajamas and curl up in bed with a good book. She sighed. Maybe she’d pull herself out of this funk with a little exercise. Heavy rain throughout the morning and most of the afternoon had caused work on the Shelter the Homeless project to be canceled for the day. The clouds were finally dispersing and a long run might coax som
e of the uneasiness from her belly and the fatigue from her bones.
She wondered for the hundredth time what Cody was doing, and reached for the phone. Her hand paused mid-air before it touched the receiver. She knew she owed him an apology for the disastrous dinner fiasco, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. Instead, she debated which running shorts to wear on yet another solo Saturday evening.
Talk about pathetic. Kelsie was right...it sure was lonely sitting home alone on a Saturday night.
She stumbled into her bedroom without bothering to turn on the light. Sunlight filtered around the edges of the closed blinds that covered both windows. Without looking, she grabbed a pair of shorts from her bureau drawer and changed out of her jeans, then added a T-shirt and running shoes before heading for the door. Three hard, fast miles would do her a world of good. Maybe she’d just keep running right into the next county.
She tucked her house key into the hidden pocket of her shorts, opened the front door, and shrieked.
Cody stood there, towering over the doorway, fist raised to knock on the door.
“Sammy, no.” The dog jumped up. He clamped huge paws onto Rena’s shoulders like a long-lost friend and gave her cheek a sloppy lick.
Before her mind could register, Rena screamed again.
“Sammy, bad dog. Sit.” Cody gave the mutt’s collar a yank and he fell back to rest on his haunches. “Rena, are you OK?”
“Just scared senseless.” Her heart stampeded. The room swirled to a dizzying gray. “I-I think I just aged ten years.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, you don’t look any older.”
“Very funny.” Trembling, she crouched to rub Sammy’s neck. “What are you doing here?”
“I left you a message on your cell phone this afternoon. Didn’t you get it?”
“My cell phone?” She turned to search the coffee table, where she usually laid the phone when she was in the house. Books and magazines were scattered across the table, but no phone. “I must have left it in the car. I didn’t hear your message.”
“I came to pick you up for a Bible study, and from the looks of things I’m just in time. Were you about to go for a run? Or maybe...um...” His gaze did a slow sweep. “...join the circus?”
Mortified, Rena realized she’d paired her faded purple flowered shorts with an orange and green tie-dyed shirt that had a rip at the hem. The combination was just this side of hideous. “I...um...I’m surprised you came. I haven’t heard from you since...”
“Yeah, I know. I’m...”
“Don’t say it. I’m the one who’s sorry. I owe you a huge apology.”
“No you don’t. It wasn’t your fault, Rena.”
“But it was.” She scooted to the side as Sammy barreled into the living room. He found a spot on the forest-green area rug, chased his tail in a trio of circles, and settled down with a sigh. “I know what my mother is like. I knew I was sending you into the lion’s den and I didn’t even warn you.”
“Why?” His blue eyes narrowed with confusion. “Why’d you do that?”
Rena shrugged and lowered her gaze. “My dad needed help. And besides...you scare me, Cody.”
“I scare you? Rena, I promise I’d never—”
She pressed a finger to his lips. “Not like that, Cody. You don’t scare me like that. It’s just...” She turned away, unable to finish as tears suddenly pooled in her eyes. “I like you Cody…very much.”
“It’s OK.” Cody’s touch was gentle on her shoulder. He gathered her into his strong arms and simply held her tucked up against him. “I like you, too.”
****
Rena tapped the office door. “Pastor Marcus, do you have a minute to talk?”
“Sure.” He looked up from his cluttered desk. A canary-yellow memo pad held notes for Sunday’s sermon. “Come on in. Coffee?”
“Yes, thanks.”
He smiled and motioned to a chair near the desk. “I’m glad you came by. Please, sit down and make yourself comfortable.”
She took the cup of coffee he poured from a carafe perched on the file cabinet and settled into a wing-chair across from him. “You have so many photos. It must have taken years to collect them.” They covered the wall behind his desk like a patchwork mural.
“My wife had a fondness for photography. She never left the house without her camera.” He reached for a picture edged by a silver frame. “This is my daughter, Celia. She just turned nine.”
Rena took the photo. “She’s beautiful.”
“Takes after her mother. Susan was beautiful, too.”
“What happened...to your wife?”
“She passed away three years ago—car accident.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Rena handed the photo back to him.
“This is her.” Pastor Marcus pointed to a black and white photo of a smiling redhead holding hands with Celia. They stood on the shore of a beach, beneath a cloud-swept sky, and Rena could almost feel the salty breeze caress her cheek.
“My, she was beautiful.” Rena studied the photo. The two looked so happy, frozen in time. For a moment, Rena wondered what she and Allie might have shared, had the fire not taken her.
“How’s Bible study going?”
She drew her gaze from the photo. “OK. Good.”
“Cody and the others do a wonderful job. I’m partial to the food, myself.” He patted his ample belly and the edginess in Rena’s own stomach eased a bit. “Nobody goes home hungry, I assure you.”
“I’m...learning a lot from the study, and I’m thankful Cody’s taken the time to bring me.”
“Well, I’m sure he’s enjoying your company.”
“I don’t know about that.” She twined her fingers in her lap. “I’ve been somewhat...difficult.”
“Who isn’t difficult from time to time? We’re only human, after all.”
“Well, I’m the valedictorian of difficult. Gold stars all around. Yessiree.”
“I see.” A smile twitched his lips beneath a bulky moustache. “Any particular reason you’ve felt...let’s say...out-of-sorts?”
“I don’t know.” She sighed. “Oh, that’s not true. I do know. But...I’m not sure I trust you enough to share. I’m sorry to be so...blunt.”
“I understand your dilemma. Will it help ease your worry if I promise that whatever you say to me will go no farther than this room?”
“You won’t tell Cody?”
“Of course not. Only you can do that.”
An internal debate filled her gut with a colony of stinging wasps. When she finally relented, the floodgates opened.
“How much time do you have, Pastor Marcus?”
The sincerity of his smile eased the stinging. “As much as you need.”
“Then I’d like to talk with you. I have to...share this with someone. Keeping everything inside is killing me.”
“Let it out, Rena.” He leaned forward and propped his elbows on the desk. “It’s just you, me, and God here.”
Light the Fire
12
“Nice whiskers.” Cody eyed the dark wispy lines Rena had penciled from her button nose across both cheeks. “And those red and white striped tights really take the cake. Your legs look like two delicious candy canes.”
“Thank you...I think.” She adjusted a tall striped hat over cinnamon-blonde curls pulled into a tight bun.
“I know what you’re gonna read!” Seth jumped up and down at Cody’s side. His dark hair billowed in gravity-defying waves. “The Cat in the Hat, right?”
“What a great detective you are! I’m so glad your Uncle Cody brought you to help today.” Rena marveled at how closely Seth resembled Cody. They both had expressive deep-blue eyes capped by wavy, dark hair. To the unknowing stranger, Cody might have been Seth’s father instead of his uncle. “You’re exactly right.”
“We read that at preschool. The cat is really naughty. Mrs. Nielson said he shoulda had a time out, or maybe even two time outs.” Seth scrunched his face, clearl
y imagining the horror of this fate.
“Maybe it was the whiskers that made him naughty.” Cody teased.
Rena leveled a look. “Perhaps you need to go stand in the corner for a time out of your own, Mr. Jamison.”
“You’d better behave, Uncle Cody.” Seth gave him a solemn look. “Miss Rena looks like she means it. And you don’t wanna miss the story. It’s really, really good!”
“You bet it is.” Rena agreed. “And then I’m gonna read Green Eggs and Ham and guess what?”
“What?” Seth’s eyes were round as blueberry bagels.
“We’re gonna make some.”
“You mean green eggs and...and ham?”
“Yes.”
“Can I eat it, too?”
“Of course. That’s the best part.”
“Awesome.” Come on, Uncle Cody. Let’s find a place to sit.”
“You go on, sport. I’ll be right there.” Cody released Seth’s hand and the boy scampered across the carpet.
“He’s so sweet.” Rena smiled as he settled down beside Jilly in front of the rocking chair. “I’m glad you brought him.”
“He’s a living, breathing little ball of unrestrained energy.”
Rena saw the love in Cody’s eyes. “Takes after his uncle, huh?”
“That’s right.” Cody nodded. “When he heard about Sammy playing the part of Clifford last week, he begged me to bring him along this time. And I thought it would be a good opportunity to spend a little quality time with him without Jackson, who’s in school right now, and Tommy, who’s at daycare. Seth needs that once in a while, being the middle kid and all. Sometimes he gets lost in the shuffle.”
“Well, he and Jilly seem to be hitting it off.”
“Yeah, smooth with the ladies. He gets that from me.”
Rena laughed. “You’re a legend in your own mind.”
