She grabbed the broom and handed it to Alexander. “You take the left side, and I’ll take the right. We’ll get it done in no time.”
He stared at the broom, then at her. He opened his mouth, clearly wanting to say something, but then closed it as he shook his head slowly. “All right. Let’s do this.”
The smile he gave her told her that he understood. Maybe he did want to comfort her further, but he seemed to understand that wasn’t what she needed right now. And he seemed to accept that.
She resisted the urge to hug him as he gave her a rough smile and turned to go to the other side of the church. He didn’t know it yet, and it wasn’t an emotion she wanted to explore, but God had brought him into her life for a reason.
* * *
It felt wrong to Alexander, intruding on this moment between father and daughter. But one of the firemen had needed to talk to Pastor Roberts, and Alexander had gone in to get him. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop. But hearing the sadness in Janie’s voice as she talked about the past and her unexpected pregnancy brought even more shame to Alexander.
He’d spent the past few days working closely with her. Nothing about their interaction could convince him that she was the mercenary she had been painted as. There had to be a reasonable explanation for her actions. But how was he supposed to find it? How could he get her to open up to him? And how was he supposed to do it in the middle of all this activity?
Once again, it seemed wrong to take advantage of the situation.
When Janie went to the broom closet, it gave him the opportunity he’d been looking for. After telling the pastor that he was wanted, Alexander went to the closet.
“Can I help?” he’d asked, grabbing one of the brooms. It felt good to be useful. To some extent, he understood why Janie had been working so hard and keeping busy. It was easier to stay busy to take his mind off the troubling things in his heart.
As they fell into the rhythm of sweeping the interior of the church, he found comfort in the work. Funny, he’d never felt the same at his job. Even though he’d always justified his hours at the desk as being the means to an end, something that would be helpful to others in the future, he hadn’t found so much satisfaction in it as he did in these simple tasks like sweeping the floor.
He’d never seen the value in menial work, other than something he needed to get done. But now, it seemed to be something more. He paused at the end of the row and turned to see Janie, who had stopped sweeping for a moment to hug an elderly woman. He’d watched her hug a lot of people the past few days, her generous giving spirit warming his heart.
Until earlier in the churchyard, he hadn’t seen her receive comfort from anyone else. Something stuck in his throat at remembering that moment. He’d never felt so useful. Wanted. Needed. Like he connected with her in a more meaningful way than he’d ever connected with anyone else.
He wasn’t supposed to like her. But when he tried hard to see her as the villain, she would do something sweet and heroic like comfort this elderly woman, and he couldn’t reconcile it with what he’d been told about her.
This was why having a menial task like cleaning up the mess in the sanctuary was a welcome relief from everything troubling him. But just as he began sweeping again, Janie and the old lady approached him.
“Mrs. Peterson, this is Alexander. He’s the one who helped me rescue your horses and dog, and he also had the presence of mind to grab your scrapbooks.”
Before he could respond, the old lady had wrapped her arms around him, giving him a squeeze tighter than he would have thought her frail body capable of.
“Bless you, dear boy. My sister Elaine sent them to me to look at, and when she heard about the fire, she berated me for letting a family treasure get lost. But it wasn’t lost, thanks to you.”
All the while, the older woman kept hugging him and smiling at him as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Yes, he’d sensed they were important. But he hadn’t known just how much that small action would mean to this woman.
Even though he had never considered himself much of a hugger, he found himself squeezing the old woman back.
“It was my pleasure. I’m just glad I saw them. I can’t imagine what other treasures you must have lost. I wish I could have done more.”
Mrs. Peterson released him, then turned to smile at Janie. “You got everything. Janie took the safe from my room as well as our wedding picture. And all my animals are safe. Everything else is just stuff. I have the things that mean the most to me, and that’s what matters.”
He’d heard much of the same over the past few days. Stuff could be replaced, but people couldn’t, and the blessing they were all thanking God the most for was that no lives had been lost. Even the local ranchers had all managed to get the livestock to safety.
“I did what anyone would do,” he told her honestly. “I’m glad I could help.”
Before Mrs. Peterson could respond, his cell phone rang. He didn’t have to look at it to know who was calling. It was the senator’s ring tone.
A reminder that as much as Alexander wanted to be a part of this community, he had bigger issues at stake.
Chapter Five
“I’m sorry,” Alexander told the ladies. “This is an important call I need to take.”
As he walked away, he answered the phone. “Hello.”
The senator didn’t return his greeting, but instead jumped right in. “Well? Do you have her signature yet?”
Alexander stepped out of the building to give himself more privacy and surveyed the area around him. This town was completely devastated, and the senator wanted results that had nothing to do with the tragedy.
“It’s complicated,” Alexander said. “I’m sure you’ve seen it on the news. Almost her entire town has burned down. I’ve been helping with the rescue and relief efforts. She’s been equally busy with them, and there hasn’t been time to sit down and talk about the agreement.”
The senator made a frustrated noise. “I didn’t ask you to go there to do relief efforts. I asked you to get a signature.”
Clearly, the senator didn’t understand how important this was. Maybe the news media was underestimating the amount of damage that had been done. “With all due respect, sir, the situation here is quite bad. Even if I weren’t helping with the relief efforts, she is. So how do I take her away from something vital to her community, especially about something that she doesn’t want to talk about? She’s already thrown out your investigator, and as you said, it’s a delicate matter. She refuses to talk about the past, so it’s going to take time to get her to open up.”
There was silence on the other end for a moment—maybe the senator was looking up the news reports so he could see for himself.
“Maybe I chose the wrong person for the job. I was told you could get results. Where are your results?”
Unbelievable. This community had just suffered a catastrophic fire, and all the senator cared about was a signature to keep Janie from talking about something she wasn’t inclined to talk about anyway.
“I don’t think she’s as much of a threat as you perceive her to be,” Alexander said. “I have given her every opening possible to bad-mouth your son, and she’s refused to do so. She refuses even to say his name. If I didn’t know the full story from you, I would be completely in the dark about her situation. You’re barking up the wrong tree.”
“She’s gotten to you, hasn’t she?” The anger in the senator’s voice was more intense than Alexander had expected. “She’s a seductress, that one. Seems so sweet and kind, wears a mask to make everyone believe she’s completely innocent. But let me assure you, she is a viper.”
So the senator had been saying. But as Alexander turned to make sure no one was within earshot, he saw Janie walking Mrs. Peterson to her car. She was no viper. But he’d also seen the evidence from the senator about everything she’d d
one. Once again, he wondered how to reconcile the two sides of the story.
“She hasn’t tried anything with me. She’s made it very clear that she doesn’t date. Again, though she has been given plenty of opportunities and openings to discuss the past, she has staunchly refused. She’s not a threat.”
“So long as I keep making her payments,” the senator said. “But what then? What happens when she demands more money?”
He had a point, and it was one Alexander had been thinking about a lot. Though he’d prayed that she wouldn’t lose her house in the fire, she had. She did have insurance, though the insurance adjusters said it would take time to process the claims. He wasn’t sure what Janie would do. She’d admitted to him that her job working for the community resource center had ended, but now, with the local elementary school also lost in the fire, everyone who worked at the school was faced with their jobs being in limbo. Her part-time job was gone, and now her full-time job possibly no longer existed.
Not that Janie had mentioned it to him. But he had been talking to one of the local teachers, who wasn’t sure how everything was going to be handled. They were having an emergency school board meeting later in the week, so until then, no one had answers.
Would this drive Janie to enough desperation to ask the senator for more money?
“I think we need to wait and see a little longer,” Alexander said. “With the fire, everyone’s financial situation is precarious. Let’s see if she asks for more money. If she does, we can use that as the leverage we need to get her to sign. If she doesn’t, then I think we let it go. She’s not a threat.”
“In politics, we don’t wait and see. That’s a loser’s game. All it would take is my opponent finding Janie, talking to her and offering her more money before she has a chance to go to me. No, you’ve got to get her to sign now. The election might be a year away, but we have to be prepared.”
Janie was coming toward him, which meant he didn’t have much more time.
“With all due respect, sir, does anyone know she exists?”
There was a brief silence, then the senator said, “I don’t believe so. But that doesn’t mean they won’t find out. And if they do, it could ruin us.”
Janie had stopped to talk to another person getting ready to enter the church. Over the past few days, he’d seen no sign of her being as greedy as the senator said.
“I don’t think pressuring her is the right answer. You tried that, and it backfired. I’ll spend more time here, trying to get close enough to her to get a signature. I’ll also know if someone from your opponent’s side is poking around. As you said when you sent me, I have reason to be here. None of them do. If I see anyone, we can rethink our strategy.”
The strained silence made Alexander wonder just how angry he’d made the senator with his suggestion. People didn’t talk back to him. They said, “yes, sir,” and did exactly what he asked.
“My investigator did say that Janie was difficult. If you scare her too much, she’s liable to go to the other side to get back at me. We’ll try it your way. See if this tragedy makes her ask for more money. If she does, we’ll use it as leverage to get her to sign. But if she doesn’t, you will remain in play, keeping watch and looking for an opportunity to get her to sign.”
It wasn’t the answer he’d hoped for, but at least it was an answer. And at least it allowed him to remain here longer, and not just for Janie’s sake.
He hadn’t been lying when he’d said they’d all been too busy for him to talk much with her. He hadn’t even gotten the chance to speak much with his biological family. Everyone had been busy, giving aid and doing what they could for the community. As it was, Alexander had given up the cabin he’d rented and was sleeping in a sleeping bag in the great room of Ricky’s house, along with several other men who had been displaced by the fire or had given up their rooms or homes for those who needed them.
A nearby car door opened, and Sam, Janie’s son, came barreling out toward him.
“Mr. Alexander. Mr. Alexander. Guess what?”
Sam didn’t seem to notice Alexander was on the phone, and while Alexander hadn’t spent much time with the little boy, he was often Janie’s shadow, trailing her as she helped others.
“Hey, buddy. I’m on the phone. Give me just a second and you can tell me what has you so excited.”
He turned his attention back to the call. “I’m sorry about that. As I said, things are crazy here, with the fire.”
“Just get results,” the senator said, then hung up.
It wasn’t the best conversation he’d had with the senator, but at least he was willing to trust him and give him a little more time to make everything work.
Alexander shoved his phone back in his pocket and squatted down to eye level with the little boy. “What’s up, buddy?”
Sam grinned. “Remember I told you about my favorite dump truck?”
Alexander didn’t, but it wasn’t for lack of paying attention. Everyone in this town had some favorite possession they’d been telling him about, and it was hard to keep them all straight.
Alexander smiled as Rachel came up behind them.
“I’m sorry, I saw you on the phone but couldn’t stop him. Sam wasn’t intruding, was he?”
Alexander shook his head. “No, I was just finishing up. But Sam here was telling me about his dump truck.”
“The fireman wouldn’t let me go to my house,” Sam said. “He said it was too dangerous for little kids. But then Jed, one of the other firemen, the one who let us ride in the fire truck over the summer, told me he’d have a look around. And then he brought out my dump truck.”
Rachel’s daughter, Katie, had joined them, carrying the remains of a metal dump truck. It was misshapen, and worse for the wear, but you couldn’t tell it by the smiles on the kids’ faces.
“It’s my dump truck, too,” Katie said. “We saved up our allowances and joined them together to buy it.”
Then she held it out to Sam. “I got to hold it for a while, so now it’s your turn.”
Sam grinned as he took the dump truck from Katie. Then he held it up for Alexander. “See? We’re going to fix it up just like new.”
Rachel looked at him like she wasn’t sure what he was going to say, and that she hoped he would somehow find a way to be encouraging. He didn’t blame her. The little boy had lost so much.
“I think, with a little bit of elbow grease, you could do something special with it,” Alexander said.
Rachel made a little noise, like he’d said the wrong thing. He didn’t have any experience with kids, but he was trying his best. Thankfully, Sam and Katie grinned.
“There was a story in the Bible,” Sam said. “About these three guys with weird names. We learned about them in Sunday school. They were put in the fire to burn them, but God saved them, just like our dump truck.”
Rachel made a noise. “That’s Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and they came out of the fire completely unharmed.”
The kids’ faces fell, and for someone who seemed to think that Alexander wouldn’t do a good job at explaining fire survival to the kids, she wasn’t doing so hot herself.
“But I’m sure that God did give you your dump truck as a sign that the fire can’t destroy everything,” Alexander said. “Even though a lot of precious things to us were destroyed, we all have the stuff that matters the most, don’t we?”
The kids both nodded, smiles filling their faces once more.
“That’s what Mom says,” Sam said. “You’re smart, just like her.”
Sam must’ve heard Janie’s voice somewhere in the background, because at that moment the kids both turned to her.
“I’ve got to go show her my dump truck.”
The kids took off running, leaving Rachel standing there with him. They hadn’t spoken much since their first meeting, other than to share the logis
tical information necessary for working together on the relief efforts.
“I know,” he said. “I probably didn’t do the best job talking to them. But I’m not used to kids, and I’m doing my best.”
Rachel shook her head. “No. It’s okay. I wasn’t doing so great myself. I was actually going to thank you for trying. You didn’t sign up for any of this. You just wanted to meet Ricky and get closure on an uncomfortable piece of your family history. But you stayed. You jumped in when you could have easily left.”
Rachel was making him sound like a hero. He wasn’t, but he couldn’t tell her that. Yes, he’d stayed because they needed the help. But he’d had another, more selfish reason for staying.
“I did what anyone would have done.”
Rachel shook her head again. “Really? Not from where I’m standing. Ricky’s ranch was booked solid with guests. Not a single one of them stayed to help with relief efforts. It’s not what anyone would do.”
He hadn’t given a thought to any of Ricky’s other guests. He’d just assumed that they were somehow taken care of.
“I appreciate what you’re saying,” he finally said. “But I’m not a hero. Not any more than every other person in this town working tirelessly to take care of everything.”
Rachel nodded slowly. “All right. If that’s how you want to play it, I respect that. I know I haven’t exactly been friendly to you, and we haven’t had much of a chance to talk. I was hurt by your rejection when you first found out about me, but now I can see that it probably was just as shocking for you and you didn’t know how to process it. You needed time.”
He hadn’t noticed any hostility in her, and hadn’t thought she was holding anything against him. But before he could reassure her of that fact, she continued.
His True Purpose Page 6
