by M. L. Ray
“Well, I don’t know that I would say I’m back. I had to come back and sign some papers for the bank, and then I’m headed out again.”
“What?! Well…I mean…you just got into town….we have to get the girls together and catch up before you disappear on us again. We all…”
Jenna waved a hand to stop Missy’s statement, “Really, I don’t know if I’ll have much time for anything else but taking care of the paperwork while I’m here.”
Missy looked crestfallen and then put on a bright smile, “Don’t you worry about that. I’ll arrange everything for this evening. Oh, let me get your breakfast.”
Jenna watched as Missy practically skipped back towards the kitchen window. What have I gotten myself into?
“Here you go,” Missy sat down a plate, handed Jenna a napkin wrapped bundle of silverware, and then pulled ketchup, hot sauce, and a bottle of green chili salsa from the apron around her waist. “Dad says ‘Hi’,” Missy told her, indicating the large smiling man leaning out the kitchen window and waving wildly in Jenna’s direction.
“Hey there, Jenna!” The big bear of a man with the full beard and the longer greying hair, pulled back into a ponytail was grinning at her broadly and Jenna found she couldn’t help but respond back in kind.
“Hey, Mr. Waldrop. How are you?” Jenna waved at him and offered him a sincere smile; her first since entering the boundaries of the town. It’s nice to know that some things haven’t changed around here.
“Good, Jenna. It’s good to see you back home. You let me know if you need anything while you’re here.” George emphasized his statement with a wave of the spatula in his hand.
“Thanks, I will.” Jenna watched him duck back inside the kitchen and then smiled at Missy, “Your dad was always my favorite.”
“Mine too! Now, you enjoy your breakfast and then come back here around 7 o’clock tonight. Dad promised to make up a tray of his special nachos for us and I’ll make sure the backroom is cleared out and ready to go. I’ll get ahold of the girls and make sure they all know what time to show up as well.”
“Missy, you really don’t have to go to so much trouble.” Jenna tried to be firm as she shook her head, but Missy was already on a roll and wouldn’t be deterred.
“Nonsense. The prodigal friend has finally returned. We’re going to celebrate and I warn you now, we’re all going to be trying our hardest to get you to change your mind.”
Prodigal friend? Celebrate? Really? Jenna kept those questions to herself, fixating on the end of Missy’s statement. “Change my mind? About what?”
“Staying in Cathedral Hills! Things have never been the same with you gone.” Missy looked like she had tears starting in her eyes, but then she carefully pulled herself back together and gave Jenna a tremulous smile. “I really missed you. Please come and see the girls. We all missed you so much…”
Jenna looked at the young woman she had once called a friend, her emotions all over the place. Everything Missy was saying was the exact opposite of what she had believed these last several years. She was so lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t respond to Missy.
Missy took her silence as agreement and gave her another brief hug, “Great! See you this evening.”
Jenna watched her saunter off to help other patrons. Stay in Cathedral Hills? No! That can’t happen. There are too many bad memories here and I’ve worked too hard to get myself all together. I’m going to take care of business this morning and then I’ll head back to Ridgway. Even if I have to walk to get out of this town before tonight!
Chapter 2
Trey Cottrell watched his mother leave his office with a shake of his head. His parents, Terrence and Mary Cottrell, were the town’s spiritual leaders. His father pastored the small non-denominational church, while his mother made sure that the women of the community, both young and old, were being taken care of.
Currently, she was seeking donations for the women’s auxiliary fund. This year they were determined to see that every struggling family received the help they needed. The list of services she wanted to provide was staggering, and she not only wanted financial support, she expected Trey to head up the manual labor side of things. She already had a list of several households that were in desperate need of maintenance around their homes before winter set in.
Mary had already started recruiting the men from the congregation and she expected Trey to help organize them into work parties this coming weekend. The list of needs was long and varied, but Trey wasn’t worried; the men of his father’s congregation were a very talented group of individuals who were very generous with their abilities and resources. I love living in a small town!
Chuckling, he returned to his desk and the stack of paperwork sitting on the corner. Fifteen minutes later, he was interrupted by his secretary Mrs. Withers as she announced he had a young lady wanting to speak to him.
“Send her in,” Trey told the woman over the intercom, wondering why she hadn’t been more forthcoming with information about his new visitor.
When he saw the young woman who entered his office, he knew why Mrs. Withers had withheld more information. Jenna Baxter, in living color! She looks good, but nervous. Why?
“Jenna, welcome,” Trey told her, seeing the shock upon her face as she entered his office and hesitantly walked forward.
“You know who I am?” she asked, gingerly walking towards his desk and trying to ignore the fact that the man standing behind a large mahogany desk was gorgeous!
“Yes. Do you not know who I am?” Trey asked, his ego suffering slightly that she hadn’t immediately recognized him. He’d only been the young man who saved her life so many years before and gotten her away from the abusive, drunken man her father had become after his wife died.
Jenna looked over the gorgeous man standing in front of her and tried to place him in her mind. He looked familiar, and she felt she should know who he was, but the memory eluded her. She glanced at the nameplate sitting on the front of his desk and then covered her mouth on a gasp. Trey Cottrell, Branch President! Wonderful! The president of the bank wanting to foreclose on her parent’s estate was Trey Cottrell? Great! The sarcasm lacing her mental conversation was almost too much to contain.
First I ran into Missy, and now Trey! I guess it was too much to expect to come back to such a small town and not run into people from the past. Take a breath and do what you came here to do.
“Uhm…I…I didn’t realize you…,” Jenna broke off, overwhelmed with so many emotions she couldn’t find words to express what she was feeling at the moment. Gratitude. Fear. Thankfulness. Worry. Anger. So many emotions surged through her. She felt her knees give out as he hurried around the desk and took her elbow, keeping her from collapsing on his very plush carpeting. “I’m alright…”
“Sure you are. Come sit down.” Trey kept hold of her arm as he led her over to the large leather couch. “Sit down.”
He waited until she complied and then hurried to his office door, “Mrs. Withers, could you bring some coffee in?” Glancing back at the young woman sitting on his couch, he turned back and added, “And see if you can find some chocolate around here someplace.”
“Chocolate, sir?” Mrs. Withers asked with a raised brow. It was universally known around the bank that Trey hated the stuff, yet here he was asking for it. When he nodded anxiously, she nodded back, “Alright, I’m sure I can find some in the break room. Shall I bring it in?”
“Yes. The faster the better.”
“Mr. Cottrell, is everything all right?” the secretary asked, trying to see behind him and into the office.
Trey glanced back at the young woman who was looking more and more distraught and shook his head, “I really don’t know. Bring that coffee in, okay?”
Trey turned back into his office and slowly approached the couch; seating himself on the opposite end and watching Jenna try to hold herself together. A memory of another time when she’d been trying to hold herself together flew through his brain and
instead of seeing a well put together young woman, he saw a battered teenage girl trying valiantly not to give in to the terror of her circumstances.
That had been a long time ago, yet he could still see the young teenager who’d had her life disrupted so violently when the only parent she had still living lost control. He mentally shook his head as he remembered those days and the ones that had followed. Cathedral Hills had been rocked by the events of that night, and then the surrounding days, weeks and months had caused more upheaval and heartbreak. Now she’s back! Maybe everyone could finally get some answers to their questions.
“Jenna?” he asked softly, pleased when she raised her eyes to his own, even though his heart tripped at the unshed tears he saw brimming in her own. “I assume you’re here about your parent’s estate?” He’d written the last letter personally, expecting to receive another terse letter from her point of contact, Teresa Martinez. The woman had made several phone calls on Jenna’s behalf, having first faxed over the proper documentation allowing her the right to do so. Trey had looked over all of the communication to date, and been concerned that Jenna wasn’t taking care of her parent’s estate herself. Thus, his letter practically demanding her physical presence in Cathedral Hills before the end of October.
Glancing at the calendar on his wall, he saw that only eight days had passed since he’d sent that letter off. She must have gotten the message and finally decided to take things seriously. I only wish she had returned to Cathedral Hills under better circumstances. I don’t want to be the one to foreclose on her parent’s house. God, give me wisdom to know what to do here.
While Trey was lost in his thoughts, Jenna was trying valiantly to maintain her tenuous grip on control of her emotions. Jenna swallowed back the tears that were still threatening to spill over onto her cheeks. The last time she’d seen Trey Cottrell he had been backing out of an office at the Four Corners Women’s Shelter, his hands tucked into the pockets of his baggy jeans, as the staff assured him she would be taken care of. He’d left and never come back.
The words of her counselor came back to her and it took all of her remaining mental energy to focus on the task at hand, rather than the memories of the past. “I received several letters from this bank – your bank – and there seems to be a problem with the mortgage not having been paid since my father’s death?”
Trey allowed her to bring herself back under control and took his cues from her, “Yes. I personally drafted that last letter. I’ve already pushed the boundaries of what our board of directors will allow in regards to the missing mortgage payments.”
Trey had written that letter? How did I miss that piece of information? Oh yeah, I only read the first few lines and then folded it up and put it away! Idiot! You should have read the entire letter so you could have been prepared for whom you were going to have to deal with. Jenna shook her head, “The house should have been more than paid off with the life insurance money. I personally signed the paperwork, turning the entire proceeds over to this bank, with a letter to deposit any overages into an interest bearing account to be held in trust for a future cause. I have a copy of the notarized form right here.”
Jenna reached into her large bag and pulled out a manila folder containing all of the paperwork related to her parent’s estate. Her father’s death had come and gone, and Jenna had gone on with her life as if nothing had happened. She’d made an effort to reconcile with her father three months after leaving Cathedral Hills, but he’d still been mired in alcohol and grief over his wife’s death. The conversation had been more destructive than anything and the impetus for a ten-day slide into drugs and alcohol that had ended with Jenna in rehab for the first of many such mandatory stays. Don’t go there! You’re done with that part of your life. Focus on settling your parent’s estate and taking the money held in account and getting on with your future.
She pulled out the correct form and handed it across the couch to Trey. “There should have been more than two hundred thousand in excess funds.” Funds that are going to let me go far away from here and start a new life. One that doesn’t include memories of the past!
As part of Jenna’s self-imposed therapy, she had asked Teresa to help her discover what she was supposed to be doing with the rest of her life; knowing that for her, a purpose would help keep her from dwelling on the failures of her past. As a result, she now held an associate degree in counseling, and was currently enrolled in an online program that would help her finish the required credits needed for her bachelor degree.
She had used herself as a working case study, and with Teresa’s help and guidance, she was well on her way to becoming a licensed counselor, specializing in young women who had lost their way – whether by their own choices, or those beyond their control. Upon receiving news of her father’s death, she had allowed her goals to be derailed for a short period of weeks. But Teresa had helped her navigate her way through the myriad of emotions that had come with that knowledge, and in the end, she had decided to use the remaining life insurance money to help start a combination half-way house and life re-building center for young women.
She’d already decided to name her program You Are Not Alone, in deference to how alone she had been as she tried to recover her life. She was determined to help as many young women as possible and she had left the money alone until now because she hadn’t been ready to start. Now she was! I just need to get things in Cathedral Hills closed up and then decide where I want to base myself.
Trey watched the thoughts cross Jenna’s face, wishing he knew how to interpret them. She had a determined look upon her face at whatever thoughts had captured her attention. He gently took the form from her hand and looked it over carefully. Mrs. Withers entered with a tray containing tea and coffee, as well as a plate of decadent chocolate brownies she had pilfered from the break room. “Here we go. I wasn’t sure if you preferred tea or coffee, so I brought both, just in case.”
The introduction of a new voice startled Jenna back to her present surroundings. “Thank you,” Jenna told the aging woman, giving her a kind smile as she remembered how kind the woman had been to her after her mother’s sudden death.
“You are most welcome, Miss Jenna. It’s good to have you home once again.” Mrs. Withers patted Jenna on the shoulder after setting the tray down and then gave her a warm smile, “Welcome home, dear.”
Jenna started to correct the woman, but didn’t get the chance. Mrs. Withers vacated the office, shutting the door behind her, and leaving Jenna alone with Trey, once again.
Trey gestured towards the coffee service, “Help yourself.”
Jenna nodded and reached for an empty cup, “Do you want some?”
Trey shook his head, “Not right now. I’ll just read over this paperwork for a minute.”
Jenna fixed herself a cup of tea with sugar and then helped herself to a brownie. She closed her eyes as the chocolate melted on her tongue. Why does chocolate always make things seem so much better?
Trey watched her from beneath his lashes, remembering a similar look of pleasure on her face when he’d been driving her to the shelter. She’d been crying and shivering in reaction to her father’s abusive behavior, and he’d been desperate to make her feel better. He’d found a chocolate bar hidden in his glove box, no doubt put there by his sister, Michelle, and had offered it to Jenna.
She’d taken the treat, and by the time she’d finished eating it, her tears had dried up and she’d looked more capable of handling what was happening around her. She spent the remainder of the drive silently looking out the window, her arms wrapped tight around herself as she had withdrawn from him and his attempts to draw her into conversation. After more than an hour, he’d finally stopped trying and found an easy rock station to help dispel the atmosphere inside the truck.
Trey grabbed his reading glasses, and then began looking over her documentation. As he finished reading the first piece of paperwork, he walked over to his desk, grabbed a tablet, and started making notes for
himself. The paperwork Jenna had given him was all just as she’d explained, however, the insurance money had never arrived at his bank. At least, not to his knowledge.
“Jenna, do you mind if I make a couple of phone calls?” Trey asked, gesturing to the paperwork in his hands.
“No,” she answered, shaking her head. Whatever you need to do to clear this mess up so I can get out of town! “I called the insurance company when the first letter arrived and they assured me a check had already been sent out. I spoke to someone in your loan department when the second notice arrived, but they couldn’t seem to find any evidence of an open mortgage under my parent’s name, so I assumed everything had been taken care of.”
Trey nodded, “Give me a few minutes to try and straighten this all out, okay?”
Chapter 3
Jenna nodded, leaning back against the couch and trying to calm her racing heart. The memories had taken her by surprise as she had made a conscious effort to forget that horrible night, and when she’d seen Trey’s name sitting there on the desk, she had completely fallen apart. That was back then and you’ve already spent enough of your life living in the shadow of the past. Just let it go!
The last time she’d been in Cathedral Hills, she had been a sixteen-year-old kid, her entire world having fallen apart around her ears in the space of a few months. First, her mother had died of an unexpected stroke, leaving her and her father alone in this world.
Her father had taken the loss of his wife hard; very hard. Her once loving father had become bitter and angry at the world. He’d abandoned his sobriety of thirty years, diving headfirst into the closest bottle and refusing to surface.
The more Jenna had pushed, the angrier he had become until he’d started taking his anger out on her – physically. The first time he’d hit her, she had told her friends and teachers at school a story about falling down their stairs at home. Over the next several months, she’d had more and more accidents, withdrawing from after-school activities and spending time with her friends. She sank deeper and deeper into depression and feelings of guilt that somehow she was to blame for her father’s behavior. She’d not been quiet enough! She’d burned his toast! She looked too much like her mother!
