Marriage Seasons 04 - Winter Turns to Spring (11 page)

“Bring your dog and come on back,” Pete offered as he led the way past displays of fishing tackle, thermos bottles, life jackets, and sweatshirts with Lake of the Ozarks logos screened on them. “But keep it down. I’ve got some guys meeting here, and I don’t want anyone spreading the news that I let a dog into my place. Yvonne Ratcliff is a little flaky, but she does know a thing or two about the lake. Without my summer vacationers buying gas and bait, I’m barely making the rent these days. I sure can’t have the health department breathing down my neck.”

Brad took a bite of his breakfast wrap. Who would be meeting in the back of Pete’s shop at this hour of the morning? Usually the only people up and moving were construction workers preparing to start the day and bartenders or lounge singers—like Yvonne—preparing to end it.

“Are you really going to do that?” Charlie Moore was asking Derek Finley. “I’ll be honest, my friend. I don’t think it’s wise.”

To Brad’s surprise, he recognized most of the men seated on the folding chairs arranged in a circle near the coffeemaker. Several of them owned homes in Deepwater Cove. Steve Hansen, the local real estate broker, spotted him and smiled.

“Well, if it isn’t Brad Hanes,” Steve said. “Pour yourself a cup of java and join us.”

“Brad?” Charlie looked up as if in disbelief. “Are you here for the Bible study?”

“Bible study?” Brad took a step backward. “I just came in for some coffee.”

“Sit down for a minute anyhow, young fellow.” Charlie patted an empty chair beside him. “Is that Yappy?”

Pete spoke up. “I know it’s against the rules, Derek. Don’t turn me in, okay?”

“My jurisdiction is the lake,” the patrolman returned.

“Hey there, pup,” Charlie said, his warm eyes focused on the ball of fur in Brad’s arm. “What’re you shivering for? It’s just me. I bet you smell Boofer, don’t you?”

Brad didn’t have the heart to admit he’d kept the dog in the chilly car all night. Charlie held out his arms, and Yappy slid happily into the warmth of the older man’s flannel-shirted embrace. Pete handed Brad a large mug of hot black coffee, and before he knew it, he was sitting with the other men.

“Welcome to the men’s Bible study group,” Derek Finley said, handing Brad a booklet. “Steve has been leading us through the Gospel of John. We meet on Wednesday mornings, but I’m afraid you’re a little late today, Brad. We’ve just finished up this week’s lesson. At the end of the meeting, we share our prayer requests. This is a closed group—meaning we’ve all given our word not to talk to others about anything that is said in here.”

“Okay,” Brad said, reveling in the hot coffee sliding down his throat and settling into his stomach. “I don’t plan to stay anyhow.”

“All the same—” Derek eyed him—“this is private. We’ll have to ask you to abide by our rules.”

“Sure. Whatever.” Brad cupped his hands around the warm mug and studied Yappy. The pup had fallen asleep in Charlie’s lap and was snoring loudly enough for the whole group to hear.

Derek grinned at the dog as he spoke again. “We’ve taken part of the format for our group from the Gamblers Anonymous meetings I attend, Brad. That promise of confidentiality makes it easier for a man to speak his heart.”

Gamblers Anonymous?
Brad couldn’t help but gape at the Water Patrol officer. He had no idea that this straight-shouldered, upright citizen of Deepwater Cove had ever known trouble of any kind in his seemingly perfect life. Derek Finley—a gambling addict?

“I was telling the other men that I’ve offered to try to teach Cody Goss how to drive,” Derek explained. “Steve thinks that with his wife and daughter coaching him day and night, Cody’s about ready to take the written test. If he gets his learner’s permit, someone needs to step up and help him learn how to handle a car on the road. I’m willing to take on the job.”

“I’m opposed to the whole kit ’n’ caboodle,” Charlie spoke up. “The wife and I had enough car troubles to make me extra wary. I realize you mean well, Derek, but you’ve got one set of twins at home and another set on the way. Cody is a good-natured young fella who wouldn’t hurt a fly, but I’d eat my hat before I’d trust him behind a steering wheel.”

“He already dented Jennifer’s car,” Steve reminded the young officer. “Why that daughter of mine let Cody take her nearly new hybrid out for a spin I’ll never know. The kid didn’t even manage to get out of the parking lot before hitting a lamppost.”

The intensity in Derek’s eyes showed he wasn’t going to back down. “Cody doesn’t have the know-how yet, but he will. He’s an artist, and that takes fine hand-eye coordination.”

“But what about common sense?” Charlie asked.

“I believe he’ll catch on if he’s given plenty of time to practice. It may take him longer than the average Joe, but look at who’s out on our highways and waterways as it is. Personally, I suspect Cody will eventually be able to handle a vehicle better than most.”

“You may be right on that,” Charlie finally conceded. “All right, we’ll pray for you, Derek. Cody, too. And now, I’d like to add a request for the Lord’s protection on my trip to California.”

“California?” Brad blurted out around a last bite of scrambled egg burrito.

“I thought I told you. I’m going to visit my son, Charles Jr., and his family for Christmas. Esther and I had planned … we had planned to …”

All at once, Charlie couldn’t speak. His eyes reddened as he tried to choke out words, and Brad recognized the pain on his friend’s face. Wanting to reach out to him yet afraid to let down his guard in front of the other men, Brad took another sip of coffee. He was surprised to see Derek reach over and squeeze Charlie’s hunched shoulder.

“You and Esther had planned to go see the grandkids for Christmas,” Derek finished. “We’ll be keeping you in our prayers, Charlie.”

“We sure will,” Pete Roberts echoed.

Brad had noticed that Pete came and went as customers needed service in the front of his store. Though he had missed out on some of the discussion about Cody’s driving lessons, he was aware of Charlie’s coming journey.

“You’d better pray hard,” Charlie said, forcing a smile to his lips. “I believe this is what they call a road trip. In many ways, I’m looking forward to the company. It’ll keep my thoughts from dwelling on … on things too much. But, men, I’ve got to tell you that I’m not real sure about accompanying Bitty Sondheim home to see her relatives. She makes a mean fajita wrap, but the woman is a little unusual to say the least.”

“Not to mention the lovebirds that you and Bitty will have to keep separated.” Steve Hansen shook his head. “If you hadn’t offered to supervise Jessica and her fiancé, I’d have had to put my daughter on an airplane to go visit her future in-laws.”

“They’ll be all right,” Charlie said. “If Jessica is even half as sweet and wholesome as her big sister, she won’t cause me a bit of trouble. I’m planning to put her with Bitty in the backseat while the boy and I take turns at the wheel.”

Finding it difficult to picture this foursome on a Christmas road trip, Brad studied Charlie. The older man was patting Yappy’s head while the puppy snoozed. Brad didn’t like the idea that his friend would be gone over the holidays. Although he was nothing like the guys Brad considered his buddies, Charlie Moore had become someone to rely on for companionship and good advice about all kinds of things.

When Ashley and he had gotten so angry with each other the night before, Brad’s thoughts automatically turned to Charlie. What would he have done if Esther had acted so nutty? Would Charlie have slept in his car on a frigid December night? How would the Moores have repaired their long marriage after such a blowup? In fact, Brad had almost driven to the house down the street and knocked on the door.

“All right,” Derek said, ticking things off on his fingers. “We’ll be praying for Cody and me as I try to teach him how to drive. And we’ll pray for safety for the road trip crew.”

“Not only safety,” Charlie cut in. “I need God to help me understand Bitty. She’s a Californian by birth, and she’s headed back to the place where all her troubles happened. I know she’s wanting to make peace with her past, but she’s got a lot on her plate. I’m not sure where she stands with the Lord. I’m no preacher, but I’d like to be able to talk to her about God in a way that she can understand.”

“We’ll add that to our prayers,” Derek said.

Brad wanted to shake his head in disbelief. Did these grown men really think that God was going to listen to every little thing they had to say? Brad knew some people believed such stuff, but he never imagined intelligent, educated, successful people like the ones around him actually had faith that God cared about them.

“Unless anyone else has a prayer request,” Steve Hansen spoke up, “I’d like to ask that you men lift me up before the Lord as a husband and father. I’ve already told you about this past spring when Brenda and I ran into some problems. We’re finding it hard to catch our balance again.”

“Is there anything we can do to help you?” another of the men asked. Brad thought he recognized him from the loan department at the bank in Tranquility.

“Mainly just pray.” Steve let out a breath. “For a while there, Brenda felt abandoned and alone. Now it’s my turn. She’s got so much going on that we’re finding it hard to spend time together. The new shop is taking a lot out of her. She’s working hard to get it set up in time for the Christmas rush.”

At this, Brad’s attention perked up. He hadn’t expected such a candid account from Steve Hansen, but it was comforting to know that another man was having troubles with a too-busy wife. It didn’t seem possible that Brenda would yell at her husband for drinking, but maybe they argued about other things.

“If the store was all Brenda had going on, I think we’d be fine,” Steve said. “Trouble is, she’s also been working with me to renovate and decorate several properties we purchased. I’ve got people interested in looking, but the houses aren’t presentable yet.”

“I reckon that wedding is keeping Brenda busy too.” Charlie’s face twisted into a wry grin. “Whoo, I thought Esther was going to have kittens after Charles Jr. proposed to Natalie. Even though she was mother of the groom, Esther got caught up in the planning. Then she and Natalie’s mother started to clash. What a hullabaloo that was. It was all I could do to keep from hightailing it for the hills.”

“Try being the father of the bride,” Steve said. “Seems like every time I walk in the door, there’s some kind of ruckus going on. Cakes, invitations, flowers, bridesmaid dresses, tuxedos, you name it—some kind of tragedy has occurred. If it can go wrong, it has. And now the happy couple is heading off to California and leaving the whole mess in Brenda’s lap. Not to mention the fact that our son—who barely passed his sophomore classes at Missouri State—decided not to come home for Christmas this year. He and some buddies are going to Key West. Brenda’s not taking that well.”

“How is Jennifer getting along these days?” Pete asked. “Last time she was in here to fill up her tank, I mentioned that trip to Mexico. She still didn’t want to talk about it.”

“She’s feeling a little more chipper these days.” Steve glanced at Brad. “She’s been helping Brad’s wife with the necklace project. Evidently that’s going pretty well. Jennifer tells me they’re down to the wire on having everything done in time for Christmas. I always hear her and Ashley down in the basement, talking and laughing like a couple of teenagers.”

Ashley
—talking and laughing? That didn’t sound like the shouting, angry young woman Brad had fled the night before. Why was it that women seemed to get along so well with each other but not with their husbands and boyfriends? Men were the same way. Brad and his buddies never argued over things like drinking or housework.

Marriage was for the birds.

Might as well enjoy a good time with a woman—someone carefree and fun like Yvonne—and then move on. Brad couldn’t imagine what had possessed Pete Roberts to propose to Patsy Pringle. The man had already been married twice. You’d think he would have learned something. Patsy was nice enough in the beauty salon, but no doubt she’d turn into a crab once they got married.

“Anything else?” Derek asked.

When none of the other men spoke up, Steve Hansen launched into a prayer that Brad felt sure could have set a world record. He began speaking as if God were right there in the room with the men and listening to every word. First, Steve ladled out a bunch of thank-yous—for the lake, the snow, families, friends, on and on until Brad was about ready to try to slip Yappy out of Charlie Moore’s arms and sneak out of the tackle shop.

Just when Brad figured Steve was winding down, the man launched into a big apology to God. Sorry for this, sorry for that. Steve—who had earned the right to be one of the proudest guys at the lake—sounded as though he was the low man on the totem pole. And he took everyone in the group down with him. He told God they were sorry for ignoring Him, sorry they hadn’t spent enough time reading their Bibles, sorry for harsh words they might have spoken, sorry for looking at women and having inappropriate thoughts—

Now that one caught Brad by surprise. He had managed to keep his head bowed, but at Steve’s confession Brad glanced up to find Yappy gazing at him with big brown eyes. The pup had heard the arguments and shouting the night before. Though silent, that little dog knew his master had been in hot water. And now … to Brad’s dismay, it appeared that Yappy somehow knew all about Yvonne Ratcliff, too.

Was that possible? Or was Brad’s own guilt nagging at him?

As Steve moved on to ask God for help with each specific problem the men had shared, Yappy decided to clamber out of Charlie’s lap. The older man tried to hold on, but the wriggling pup did a belly flop onto the floor and then trotted over to Brad.

Lifting the dog into his own arms, Brad caught Charlie gazing at him with almost the same baleful expression Yappy had displayed moments before. Though Steve was now praying about protection for Derek and Cody Goss on the road, Charlie seemed to be speaking in silence. It was as if he were conferring, reading Brad’s mind, and transmitting messages of his own.