Indemnity: Book Two: Covenant of Trust Series (9 page)

“
I don’t necessarily want her destroyed,” Bobbi muttered. “I just want her to go away.” She read the psalm again.
So what’s he really asking for?
She pulled her notebook out of the back of her Bible and began listing David’s requests.
He wants God to hear him, not abandon him, deliverance, show me what to do, teach me.

She shifted in her chair to get more light on the page. “Cause me to hear Your loving kindness in the morning.”
That’s a good one. Tomorrow morning would be good, Lord.
Then she read the next line. “For in You do I trust.”

“
It’s the trust thing again,” she said, shaking her head, and then she read the psalm once more.

Father God, You are good and faithful, but this terrifies me. Chuck isn’t as strong as he thinks he is. This woman ... she’s evil, and she’s up to something, but Chuck refuses to see it.

She sighed and shifted sideways, then drew her legs up under her.

I hate feeling like this, being at odds with my husband and with my boys, and I’m afraid of what You might be asking me to go through.

What if Chuck left her this time?

Help me let go and give this to You. I need Your peace.

Saturday, August 4

Chuck sensed the daylight before he opened his eyes, and stretching his arm out, he felt the cool pillow on Bobbi’s side of the bed. She never came upstairs. He hurried down to the kitchen as quickly as he could.

Bobbi was in her usual morning place at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. She wore yesterday’s clothes, and looked up at him with the bleary eyes of a long night.

“
Did you sleep?”

She took a long sip. “Not really.” Tired fatalism replaced the combative edge in her voice.

“
Bobbi, I’m sorry. I don’t want it to be like this.”

“
Like what?”

“
I don’t want this tension between us.”

“
Then you’re ready to listen?”

“
I’ve been listening.”

She shook her head and gulped from her cup. “Never mind.”

“
Stop building this wall, please. I cannot go through this without you.”

“
You’re doing just fine.”

“
That’s not true.”

“
You left before I woke up yesterday, never bothered to call me, and spent the day researching Tracy Ravenna.”

“
I explained all that.”

“
You’ve shut me out, Chuck.” She pushed back from the table, widening the distance between them. “From the moment that woman walked through the doors of the law firm, she had your undivided attention. And now here she is again and you’ve dropped everything else to focus on her.”

“
Because I want to get it resolved quickly.”

“
There will never be a resolution,” she muttered, then finished off her coffee, and set the cup down on the table hard, a preface to rendering her verdict. “You feel this passion about what to do, so I’m going to take for granted that it’s God leading.” Chuck smiled slightly. “I’m not convinced, but I can’t seem to get any other answer from Him.”

Chuck slid into a chair beside hers. “Honey, how could God tell me one thing and tell you another?”

“
He couldn’t. One of us is wrong.”

“
I’m not wrong. Not now, not on this.”

“
Of course you aren’t,” Bobbi said.

“
So you’re giving me a green light?”

“
A very yellow light.”

“
Fair enough,” Chuck said. No one could have changed Bobbi’s mind like this except for God Himself. “I’m going to file papers Monday acknowledging paternity and asking for DNA testing to prove it.”

“
I know.”

“
Then I’m going to ask for joint legal custody.”

“
Which means what exactly?”

“
Jack will still live with his mother, but we have to make any major decisions together.”

“
Together. That’s what I’m afraid of.”

Sunday, August 5

“
Any sign of Brad, yet?” Bobbi asked Shannon when she bounced into the kitchen.

“
Nope.”

“
It shouldn’t take him an hour to get from church to the house.” Something was going on. Work, or school coming up. Or maybe he just didn’t want to spend the afternoon in the same house with her and Chuck. After Friday night, she couldn’t blame him for that one.

“
He said he had to get gas.” Shannon pulled a raw carrot off a serving dish.

“
It doesn’t take an hour to buy gasoline.”

“
That’s what he said. Can we eat anyway? Grandma and Uncle Rita and Aunt Gavin just got here.”

“
Uncle Rita and Aunt Gavin?” Bobbi questioned, as Shannon collapsed in giggles.

“
I mean
Aunt
Rita and
Uncle
Gavin. They’re all here. I just saw 'em.”

“
We’ll give Brad fifteen more minutes, and then we’ll start without him. Think you can last that long before you faint from hunger?”

“
Maybe, if I have three more carrots.” Shannon inched the vegetables from the tray. Bobbi winked at her, so she took one extra carrot and skipped back out of the kitchen. Moments later, Bobbi heard Rita’s voice.

“
Shannon, is Mommy in the kitchen?”

“
Yep.” Shannon’s answer was muffled by at least one carrot in her mouth, probably two or three.

“
The roast smells wonderful,” Rita said as she came through the doorway, carrying a casserole dish. “You sure hash brown casserole is okay?”

“
It’s perfect,” Bobbi said.

“
I don’t know how you do it.” Rita set the dish on the counter.

“
Do what?” Bobbi asked. She sliced the roast beef, and carefully arranged it on a serving platter.

“
Get everything ready so fast.”

“
I did most of it last night. You’re actually getting a warmed over lunch.”

“
It’s better than my options at home. Oh, Gavin’s bringing in the pie. That is, provided he makes it past Joel.”

“
I better come up with a plan B then.” Bobbi rinsed the carving knife, and then dried it on the dishtowel draped across her shoulder. “I’ve been to the grocery store already since Joel got home. Honestly, I don’t believe Brad ever ate like that. Brad’s not here yet, is he?”

“
No. Ann pulled in right behind us though.”

“
Shannon said she was here.”

Rita glanced out in the hallway, and then stepped close to her sister. “So is there any more news?”

“
Not really. Chuck’s going to file paternity papers Monday.”

“
What about custody?”

“
That’s the next thing.”

“
Do you think that’s wise?”

“
No, but I don’t have a good argument against it. I was up until about four a.m. Saturday morning going over it and over it, praying, studying, trying to find some kind of answer.”

“
And that was it?”

“
I feel like God’s saying, ‘Bobbi, I told you to trust Me. Now, I’m not answering any more questions.’”

“
How are you and Chuck?”

“
We’ve had some ... frank exchanges of ideas,” Bobbi said with her eyebrow arched.

“
Chuck should trust your instincts.”

“
I’m not sure I trust them.”

“
Has he considered what’s going to happen when Daddy’s little girl has to share some of that attention? What kind of long term impact is this going to have on Shannon?”

“
I haven’t even begun to worry about long term effects,” Bobbi said, pulling a pan of hot bread from the oven. “Thanks.”

“
I’m sorry,” Rita said. “I have more free time than you do, so I worry more. How did the boys take the news?”

“
They were surprised, but not shocked or outraged. They think I’m completely unhinged for having any kind of worries. Besides, after the affair, what’s an illegitimate child?”

“
Well, I think it’s a pretty big deal,” Rita said, crossing her arms. “So does Gavin.”

“
Chuck neglected to mention Gavin disagreed with him.” Was Chuck holding back anything else?

“
I don’t think Gavin told him.”

“
See, this is already causing problems,” Bobbi said, shaking her head. “Ann called yesterday afternoon and she’s inclined to pursue a custody arrangement with Jack, but she’s very concerned about Tracy.”

“
Ann is the only person I know who can take both sides of an argument.”

“
With Jim and Chuck in the house, I’m sure it was a survival technique.”

“
Mom! When do we eat?” Brad called from the living room.

“
As soon as you set the table!” Bobbi called back, and then she turned to Rita. “An hour. It’s taken him a solid hour to get here.”

“
And you’re surprised?”

“
I keep hoping, some day, he’ll be on time for something.”

Brad shuffled into the kitchen, and kissed Bobbi on the cheek, without ever looking her in the eye. “Sorry I’m late.” Then he turned to his Aunt Rita. “Thanks for bringing pie. If it’s a perfect world, it’s one Joel doesn’t like.”

“
It’s peach,” Rita said. “You’re out of luck.”

“
Story of my life.” He shook his head and began getting the flatware from the drawer.

“
So where were you? What took so long?” Bobbi asked.

“
Just driving around,” he mumbled. Whatever it was, he wasn’t telling her. At least not with everyone else around.

Chuck came in and stood in the doorway with his hands shoved deep into the front pockets of his jeans. When no one spoke, he glanced at Rita, then Bobbi and announced, “I’ll get the drinks.” Bobbi nodded at him, and he swung the cabinet door open. “You made tea, right?”

“
I’ve made tea every Sunday afternoon I can remember.” Bobbi watched Rita turn and begin lifting the lids and stirring each of the pots on the stove. “Shannon gets milk.”

“
I know.” He tightened his jaw, never taking his eyes off Bobbi.

“
Dad, her house is for sale,” Brad said.

“
What are you talking about?” Chuck set down the tea pitcher, and looked to Bobbi for help, but she had no idea what Brad meant.

“
Tracy’s house. Over on Bishop.”

Chuck closed his eyes and hung his head for a moment. Then he took a long, deep breath, and slowly straightened back up. “Brad, listen to me very carefully. Stay out of this. We’re taking her to court—”

“
You mean ‘you’ are taking her to court,” Bobbi said.

Chuck snapped his head around and glared at her, then turned back to Brad. “We’re taking her to court, and you’ll soon learn that the slightest thing can swing a case in the wrong direction.”

“
I wasn’t going to do anything. I was just curious, you know.”

“
Yeah, well thankfully she doesn’t live on Bishop anymore. That was a really stupid thing to do, Brad.”

“
Ease up, Chuck. He didn’t hurt anything.”

He lowered his voice, and dropped his shoulders. “Let me handle this.”

“
I didn’t know it would be this big of a deal,” Brad grumbled. He grabbed the knives and forks, and headed for the dining room.

As soon as he was gone, Bobbi slammed the dishtowel on the counter. “Why did you do that to him? Was it really worth embarrassing him?” She never noticed Rita slip out behind her.

“
He’s meddling.”

“
It was completely innocent and you overreacted. You had no business yelling at him that way.”

“
Just like you and Joel.”

“
Excuse me?”

“
Friday night. You asked him what he thought, and then he incurred your wrath for answering you. You’ve never talked to anybody the way you talked to him! Well, nobody except me.”

She slammed a hand down on the counter. Tears brimmed in her eyes. “Listen to us. I hate this! I hate this, Chuck. She’s gonna tear us apart.”

He slipped an arm around her shoulder. “She can’t. I won’t let her.”

She relaxed against him, and he drew her close. That’s all she wanted from him, to defend her, to defend their marriage, but ...
Don’t make promises you can’t keep.

Tracy smiled watching Jack rub his hands together gleefully as the waiter set the pepperoni pizza in front of them. “Mom, make sure this young man gets a good tip,” he said, motioning toward the waiter, who couldn’t help but smile.

As soon as Jack stopped talking long enough to chew, Tracy pushed her plate back and leaned across the table. “Jack, have you ever thought about what it would be like to have a sister?”