Redeeming Heart (14 page)

Later that evening back at Mac’s Place,
Landon opted for the tranquility of the patio after dinner rather
than in the community TV room. It was still hot, but with September
on stand-by, it was enjoyable with low humidity. He finished
reading some scriptures, but instead of comforting him, Landon had
never felt so alone, more than when he was living in the
streets.

Generations of his family had served God, and
church was weaved into their lives. Yet, there was no gospel music
playing in the background, or his mother’s humming in the kitchen
or his younger cousins reciting Bible verses. There was nothing
around to remind him of his rich spiritual inheritance, which he
had tossed away.

Landon slipped the pre-paid phone out his
pocket. His hand itched to use it, but with fifty minutes
remaining, Landon had to ration each call until payday on Friday.
He would actually get a check at the end of the week for three
hundred dollars—a far cry from his two-thousand-dollar weekly
income, but it was money in his pocket and he would pay tithes on
it—the first time in a long time. Staring at the card, Landon
craved to hear a familiar voice. He reasoned he could spare ten
minutes, punching in his grandfather’s number

Moses Miller’s booming cheerful voice greeted
him after the first ring. “It’s good to hear from you. How’s
everything?”

Not as I would like it.
“I’m reading
my Bible and taking one day at a time. I’m still living in the
shelter. I’m doing a little contract work while job searching.” He
rambled on to get the most out of his call.

“Why don’t you come home? Your grandmother
and I will pay for your plane ticket,” he offered.

Landon smiled. His grandfather was always
generous. “No, grandpa. I can pay my own way, but it may be months
down the road. Plus, I’m sure nobody is forming a welcome party to
see me.” At the moment, Landon was sinking into a pity party, which
was so unlike him. He glanced at the time. He had already used five
minutes and had barely said anything.

“Well, try to make it sooner or later.
Brittani made a surprise appearance at church to show that she was
engaged and made a special effort to introduce us to her fiancé.
The Lord knows I’m praying for her, but the young man appears to be
decent. I’m not sure if he’s a practicing Christian, but I hope he
loves her and will
take care
of the boys. ”

Right.
Landon grimaced. The twins were
his responsibility. Until he lost his job, he paid child support,
even if he didn’t try to establish a father-son relationship with
them. Landon rubbed his head in shame. For the sake of his
children, maybe he should have played the games the mothers wanted
to play about when he could visit, how long and where he could take
them, but his tame couldn’t be tamed, not even by the mouths he
fed.

“When I pulled her aside after church and
shared that you had turned your life around, she sneered and
refused to believe any words coming out of your mouth,” his
grandfather paused. “Forgiveness comes easy with the Lord, but
expect it to be a struggle with man. But the blame isn’t all on
you. She was just as much a part of the act while engaged to your
cousin.

“Since Garrett’s wife is an attorney, she
advised we sue for grandparent visitation rights. You know, I don’t
believe in taking saints to court to settle matters, but I don’t
believe Brittani has fully repented. Rejection causes bitterness,
and I don’t want to lose contact with my great-grandsons or the
others. After your other children surfaced, we tried to reach out.
The only mother who is receptive is Reba, Alyssa’s mother. But this
is only when we reach out to her. Now, Cherie’s mother is a piece
of work. I can’t get past her profanity to reason with her,
especially after you went missing.”

With Kim, Cherie’s mother, it was more about
the missed hefty child support payments he could no longer afford.
When he lost his job, he cut back on that until eventually there
was nothing. “What a lowlife.” He didn’t realize he had mumbled
aloud.

“Yes, we are without Christ in our lives, but
Jesus died for the ungodly, so don’t let the devil throw that in
your face. Smack him with Romans 5:6. You need to make amends with
those mothers first before you attempt to reconcile with the
family.” He paused. “Your parents and I reared you to be a man, so
take care of those responsibilities. If you need anything, you call
me, understand?”

“Yes, sir.” Lance checked the time. He was
already two minutes over. “Thanks for forgiving me.”

“Always, grandson. You’re my blood and
offspring. The promise of the Holy Ghost was made to me, my
children and as many generations as the Lord has called, and God
has called you as in Acts 2:39. Your mission should be to strive to
be a man after God’s own heart. It takes faith.”

Yeah. His measure of faith was so minuscule
that nobody, including Landon, could see it. They said their
goodbyes after his grandfather said a short, but heartfelt prayer,
then his lifeline was gone.

More now than ever, Landon appreciated his
grandfather being his one-person pep squad. No doubt, other family
members had a wait-and-see attitude about his sincerity. Landon
couldn’t blame them. But the one person who Landon wanted to
believe his change was genuine was Octavia.

Slipping his phone back into his pocket, he
gripped his Bible again. Before he flipped through it, Landon
stared out into the yard. Trees shaded one side of the fenced-in
property. Some men had planted a vegetable garden in the
corner.

His grandfather had told him not to beat
himself up. That was easier said than done. Landon had no felt
shame in messing around with his cousin’s fiancée at the time. He
and Brittani had gambled and lost—Garrett wouldn’t forgive her or
him. Brittani getting married was for the best if the man would
accept another man’s children—his boys. Landon frowned. Of all the
good male role models in his life, why did he have to be the bad
apple in the bunch? He looked up in the sky. “God, was my
redemption even worth it?” He sighed.

No soul is wasted,
God
spoke
.

How does a woman purge another man from her heart? A
few days later, Octavia thought she had the answer. Whether it was
a wise choice or not, remained to be seen. After taking a deep,
cleansing breath, she made the call. “Were you busy?”

James chuckled. “Octavia,” he cooed right
away. “I told you that if you called, I would answer. So, does this
mean you can pencil me in for dinner, say Friday night?”

At least it sounded like a sultry coo to her.
Octavia could use the flattery right now to jumpstart her heart. “I
have my praise dance rehearsal from six to eight. You can come…”
Octavia paused, thinking about the last man who watched the group’s
routine, even though she had to drag Landon against his will, but
that had been God’s will toward his restoration. “We can eat after
that.”

“Two hours…hmm. How about we also catch a
movie or go to the museum on Saturday, then dinner, and maybe a
brunch and play on Sunday?”

She was amused he could piece together an
agenda like that off the top of his head while dodging her
question. “I have a house showing on Saturday afternoon,” she
countered. Was she negotiating a contract or setting up a date? And
with someone whose commitment to Christ was suspect.

“It sounds like you work too hard. I can help
ease your burden by introducing you to people with more buying
power; that way you and I can have more time.”

“That would be nice, but until then, I have
commitments to my existing clients.” Like the Colemans—they had
accepted the disappointing news about the house and agreed to keep
searching. Octavia was determined to find them something in their
price range. “A movie sounds good.” She was also resolved to
getting out more in hopes that God had a man with her name stamped
on his head like an item marked sold.
Lord, help me to stay in
Your will.

“Good luck.” James grunted. “Terri told me
most of your clientele are low-wage earners and take up a lot of
your time and hand holding, but I would like to have that honor of
holding your hand before the weekend is over.”

She tried to conjure up the image of
strolling through a park, holding hands and exploring a new
relationship. When Landon’s face materialized, she shut that image
down. She cleared her throat. “I’m open for anything after church
on Sunday. You’re welcome to attend. My group will be the praise
dancers during morning worship. Will you come?”

“Sure.” He didn’t sound upbeat. As a matter
of fact, she heard an underlining tinge of annoyance.

“James, this is my personal invitation to
Jesus the Great Shepherd Church for you to accept or decline. Be
upfront with me.”

“I am. Shall I pick you up?” Instead of
giving him her home address, she gave him the church’s. “Octavia,
this can work between us, but it’s going to take some compromising
on both our parts to get to know each other. Agreed?”

“Yes.” When they ended the call, Octavia
exhaled. Before the weekend was over, she would find out how much
compromising James was talking about. “Okay, I did it,” she said as
if Terri was in the car with her.

Landon hadn’t been too happy about going to
church either, but look what God had done, so there was hope for
James.

The next morning, Octavia worked from home
since she was attending an afternoon fundraiser sponsored by a
group of ladies she had met through Frank Lindell. She schmoozed
and exchanged business cards with female movers and shakers of
Fortune 500 companies, plus doctors and lawyers. After a few hours,
Octavia said her goodbyes. Not only was the event a success, but
the affair raised tens of thousands of dollars for a village in
Central America, and it gave Octavia ideas about spearheading a
fundraiser for homeless families in America.

On her way home, a man whose side profile
resembled Landon caught Octavia’s attention, but he was thicker and
not as good-looking. That sighting sparked musings of what might
have developed between them. She realized her physical attraction
to Landon after she came face-to-face with the cleaned-up version
at the mixer with Rossi, and Octavia had taken a second and a third
glance.

She compared Landon to James. In the looks
department, Landon had the edge. When it came to their wardrobe,
James won hands down, because he had the means. Octavia sighed. She
had to divert her mind away from Landon, which in turn made her
think of the women he’d wronged and the babies he’d deserted. She
shivered at his recklessness. Besides, he no longer needed her. He
was in good hands with the Lord and with Rossi.

As she drove into her driveway, Octavia waved
at her elderly neighbor before her sister’s ring tone distracted
her. She hurried and parked in the garage, then answered. “Hey,
stranger. So you remembered you had a sister?” she joked, getting
out and walking through the door to her kitchen. She punched in the
code to deactivate her home security alarm and rested her purse and
keys on the counter.

“Sorry. The internship got crazy, then I had
to scramble to replace a class that was dropped…” Olivia seemed to
clock a thousand words per minute without taking a breath. “So
what’s going on with you?”

“How much time do you have?” Kicking off her
shoes, Octavia padded across her hardwood floor to her bedroom. Her
pantyhose were the first thing that came off. “Well, I’m going on a
date,” she said without much fanfare

Olivia screamed. “Yes! Landon…?”

When had her sister become a supporter for
Landon? Too bad, because she was about to switch sides. “Ahh, it’s
with a guy named James Kennedy. He’s an attorney, good-looking
and…” she scrambled to find another adjective to describe him.

“Oh no. Landon’s out of the picture so soon?”
She sounded as if she was pouting, then recovered with a huff.
“What happened?”

“Well, if you had returned my messages, you
would have known what I found out about Mr. Landon Thomas.”

“I knew it. He had a
Coming to America
thing going on. What’s wrong with him being an heir to royalty?”
Olivia shouted as if she was on a game show.

Octavia sighed. “No,” she said solemnly as
she recounted word for word what Landon had revealed. Reliving the
moment had her heart aching, but it was a relief for Octavia to
unload the burden that she held bottled. Yet, it was still
exhausting. “Terri has been hounding me about going out with James.
I’m not a fan of B.Y.O.B., but who knows…” She shrugged.

“Oh, no, don’t try that ‘bring your own beau’
to church stuff,” her sister fussed, then she softened her voice.
“You cared for Landon. You admired him, looking past his present
circumstances—no home, no job, no shower—most women would have
dismissed him, but you respected him.”

“Do you have to remember everything I say?”
Octavia rolled her eyes. “Forget all that. He preys on women,
church included! I was probably his next victim!” She wanted to
scream at the top of her lungs.

“I heard you say that he preyed—past
tense—and repented—present tense, but for the record, I want to
back slap him.” She paused. “We’ve never strayed like that since
God saved us, but instead of rejoicing with him, you walked away.
Most people have a big dark secret. I hope I never have to share
one with you.”

When Olivia paused, Octavia jumped in. “Is
there a deep dark secret you want to tell me?” she pried. “Besides,
you’ve never met Landon, yet you’re on his side.”

“I’m on the Lord’s side,” Olivia corrected.
“Landon will have to depend on God to give him grace to reap what
he sowed. Now back to Jimmy.”

“James,” Octavia corrected.

“Unless Jesus says he’s the work in progress
for you, don’t force it. Good-looking men have approached you
before and there’s a reason they didn’t make the cut. Your heart
will know if James is the one.”