Seasons (26 page)

Jaci went on the defensive, knowing she was wrong. “Oh. So what are you trying to say? That if we don’t get married soon,
you’ll have to go out and find somebody else to fill your needs?”

Jason backed up in surprise. “Now how did you reach that conclusion? You know that’s not what I meant. You’re just trying
to start something because you don’t want to deal with the issue. It’s not going to work, Jaci. And to answer your question,
no, I don’t plan to go out and find somebody else. You’re the only one I want. Sweetheart, can’t we talk about this without
getting into a fight?”

Jaci pulled him back to her. “I’m sorry. And you’re right, I’m not ready to deal with the issue. But we did agree to move
slowly. Can’t you be a little more patient?”

Jason sighed. “My patience is wearing pretty thin. I talked to my pastor last week about starting our counseling. He said
we could start whenever we’re ready. I’m ready, sweetheart.”

“Did we agree that your pastor would do the counseling?” Jaci inquired. “I don’t remember.”

“Well, if I remember correctly, the consensus was that since you’ll be joining my church, my pastor should be the one to do
the counseling. Am I correct?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” she answered slowly.

“So when?” he pushed.

“Jason! Now is not the time for this conversation. I need to get across town. I’ll call you later.”

“Maybe I can come over after I get everybody out of here. Is that okay?” He kissed her softly. “I need to spend some time
with you, sweetheart. Alone.”

“I’ll call you when I get home,” she responded, hugging him close. “I really need to go. I’m expected to show up at Sister
Sadie’s before going to Randi’s.”

“Doggone it! There’s no telling what time you’ll get home,” he anguished, groaning into her neck. “Well, whatever time you
get there, call me, okay?” He gave her a long kiss before opening the truck door and then closing it when she slid behind
the wheel. “Be careful, honey.”

“Okay, I will. Talk to you later.”

Jaci headed out of the cul-de-sac. Jason stood watching until she was out of sight, then walked slowly back into the house.

Across the street and down a ways, hidden from view behind tinted car windows, watchful eyes had taken in everything. As Jaci
drove past the car, malevolent emotions, so strong she should have felt them, were sent in her direction.

L
inda’s hatred of Jaci intensified, incited by the knowledge that she had lost J.P. to the woman. She knew that drastic steps
would have to be taken to get Jaci out of the picture. She had called and warned her off, but evidently Jaci had not gotten
the message. She wished she had found a way to really get her point across before J.P. came into the office and joyfully announced
that his single days were almost over—that Jaci had agreed to marry him. Linda was so disillusioned that another man was about
to get away, she had to take the rest of the day off.

It angered Linda that Jaci was where she should be . . . wearing J.P.’s engagement ring, having Thanksgiving dinner with his
family, receiving his kisses. She refused to give up, though! It was time Jaci got the message once and for all. Linda meant
to have J.P. by any means necessary.

A
few days later, Jaci pulled the mail out of her mailbox and noticed a folded piece of paper among the usual correspondence.
What she read caused her to gasp and her heart to start beating double time. Written across the page in large typewritten
text were the words,

“I know where you live, and your family too. If you value your and your family’s lives, you’ll stay away from J.P.”

She called Jason, who immediately drove to her home, then notified the police. An officer soon arrived, made a report, and
said the department would investigate. Unless they could prove Linda was the one who wrote the threatening note, however,
there was really nothing they could do.

The next day, Wynola’s secretary called to inform Jaci that Wynola wanted to see her. Filled with dread, Jaci prayed silently
as she slowly walked to Wynola’s office, knowing it would be nothing good.
Lord, please let Your strength sustain me. Thank You for being a present help in the time of trouble.

A smug, triumphant expression covered Wynola’s face when Jaci entered the office.

“Jaci, I’ve received another serious complaint against you. This time, you’ve really given me no choice but to take disciplinary
actions. And I’m sure Mr. Shannon is behind me on this, so there’s no need to go running to him.”

“What are you talking about? And I’ve never run to Mr. Shannon about anything.”

“Read this.” Wynola threw a sheet of paper across the desk.

As Jaci began reading the typewritten letter, her mouth fell open and she felt herself grow cold.

I am appealing to the management of the Housing Compliance Department for help. I am at my wit’s end trying to save my family.
I have pleaded with Ms. Jaci Winters several times to leave my husband alone, but though he’s told her he wants to end their
affair, she ruthlessly pursues him, demanding that he continue it. She has no consideration for his wife and three children.
I am outraged that the department would continue to spend taxpayers’ money employing a person with such low morals as this
woman has demonstrated in her refusal to stop trying to break up my family. I hope I can depend on you to assist me in this
matter. Otherwise, I will be forced to seek help from the mayor and the citizens of Houston. I am sure this would prove to
be embarrassing and detrimental to your department.

Thank you, Ms. Jean White

Jaci fought to remain calm. “Wynola, this is a bunch of crap. I’m not dating a married man, and this is the first time I’ve
ever heard of a Jean White. Who is this man I’m supposed to be having an affair with anyway?”

“Don’t try to play dumb with me, Ms. Winters,” Wynola responded in an overly professional tone. “No woman would write this
kind of letter unless she were desperate. This has to be her last hope, bless her heart. And, of course, you can’t grasp this,
but being a married woman, I can certainly empathize with her. I have no choice but to issue you a first-step disciplinary
letter. Of course you know, any additional infractions or complaints will result in suspension without pay, until we can remove
you from the payroll.”

“Just like that! Without an investigation or anything, you’re ready to take my job. You’re taking the word of someone you’ve
never heard of over someone you’ve known for years? I find this very interesting. Well I want you to know, Wynola, that I’m
not fighting this battle by myself. I’ve . . .”

Wynola interrupted. “I don’t care who you think you have behind you, Jaci. They won’t be able to help you with this. You should
have thought about this before you got involved with somebody else’s husband and brought this kind of slander into this department.”

Jaci stood up to go. “You misunderstood. I wasn’t talking about earthly help. With this kind of evil threatening me, I need
more than that. No, I was talking about help from my Heavenly Father. You see, I’ve already turned you and this entire situation
over to Him. I need a copy of this.” She started to turn with the letter in her hand.

“You ain’t turning me over to no doggone body!” Wynola stood up so roughly that the back of her chair hit the wall with a
bang. “And give me that letter. I’ll get you a copy of it later,” she said, reaching for the letter.

“Oh but I have turned you over,” Jaci replied calmly. “And I don’t mind making the copy. I’ll be right back.” She left the
office quickly, praying as she went.

Lord, have mercy!
She prayed.
Mercy, Lord! I need Your mercy! Deliver me from this snare of the devil. Mercy, Lord!

For the next several nights, her phone rang every hour with threatening words from the woman. Jaci had to resort to turning
the ringers off every night. Each morning her answering machine was full of vile threats from the same sinister voice. “Get
away from J.P. or you’ll be sorry! I’m not playing with you, heifer, I’ll kill you and your family.” Jaci also received the
same kind of threatening calls at work.

Jaci endured almost no sleep, concerned about what the woman would do next, and was troubled that the woman had brought the
threats to her job. She was sure the bogus letter from “Jean White” was somehow connected to the woman, but she didn’t know
how to prove it.

Then, Jaci found notes on her truck daily that showed pictures of a woman with a knife in her chest. “You’re dead!” the notes
read. The same message was scratched into the paint on her truck. She felt like the woman had invaded every area of her life.
This woman knew everything about Jaci, even down to the kind of vehicle she drove.
Oh God, have mercy! Help me, Lord,
was her constant prayer.

Bill told her not to worry—that he was working on it. But Jaci didn’t hold out much hope. What could Bill do anyway?

Bill was doing a lot! He made sure a copy of the letter got into the hands of Ed Shannon, with a warning that if Ed didn’t
move quickly, he would go to the mayor himself. It was time for Jaci to get some help in this situation before Wynola succeeded
in her efforts to fire Jaci.

After the third sleepless night, Jaci couldn’t face work the following day. Jason had been out of town several days and had
returned late last night. Although they talked, she had been reluctant to bother him with such stupidity while he was out
of town. But she was tired and weary from lack of sleep and knew she had to let him know what was going on. She waited until
7 a.m. to call, hoping he would already be awake. Strangely, she didn’t get an answer and wondered where he could be this
early in the morning. Thinking maybe he was in the shower, she left a message and waited for him to call her back. Thirty
minutes later, he had still not called. She used her cell phone strictly for emergencies and tried not to call others on theirs
unless absolutely necessary. She decided this was one of those times and dialed his cell phone.

“What’s up, sweetheart? This is a pleasant surprise. Is anything wrong?” Jason asked when he answered a few minutes later.

She was so relieved to hear his voice she was almost in tears. “Jason? Where are you? I really need to talk to you.”

“I’m at the office, honey. Remember? This is moving day.” She hadn’t remembered, but realized that was one reason why he had
been so busy lately. Jason had purchased the thirty-story building where his office was located. In addition to moving his
own offices to another floor, he was also moving the real estate business and his brother Ron’s architectural firm into the
building. He decided to keep the current tenants who wanted to renew their leases with him and would begin leasing the remaining
vacant space to new tenants the first of the year. Jason wanted the family businesses settled in before he advertised any
available space.

“No, I didn’t remember,” Jaci said softly. “Jason, I have to talk to you. Right away.”

“It’ll have to wait, sweetheart. There’s no way I’ll be able to get away from here today. It’s total chaos. I’m trying to
get my own office ready, as well as supervise everything else going on. Want to come help me?”

“Not really. But if that’s what I have to do to talk to you, I guess I’ll have to do that. Where should I come? To your old
office or to the one on the top floor?”

“You’re going to ditch work and come over here? I feel really honored,” he said, a smile in his voice.

“Jason, I’m not going to work today. I stayed home because I need to talk to you. I’m sorry, I forgot all about this being
moving day. But sometime today, we have to talk.”

Finally noticing her serious tone, Jason stopped his trek from one end of the building to the other and said, “Come to my
old office. I’ll be in and out of there, so that’s where you’re likely to catch me.”

“Okay. I should be there in an hour or so,” Jaci informed him.

“Sweetheart? Is everything okay?”

“I don’t want to discuss it over the phone. We’ll talk when I get there.”

“Okay. See you then.”

Jaci quickly showered, threw on some jeans with a comfortable blouse and some sneakers, and headed to Jason’s office. It was
going to be interesting to see if Linda was there. If she was making those threatening calls all night, and was still able
to go to work the next day, then she was one tough sister; Jaci admitted it had taken its toll on her.

Sure enough, when Jaci stepped off the elevator on Jason’s floor, the first person she saw was Linda, haughtily giving directions
to the movers. When she spotted Jaci, her body stiffened and a deep scowl covered her face.

She’ll never see me looking defeated,
Jaci decided. “Good morning!” she said cheerfully as she passed through the reception area. “How are you all doing?”

“J.P. is not in his office, and he’s very busy. He has no time for you today,” Linda told her.

“I know he’s busy. That’s why I’m here to help him. He told me to go straight to his office.”

“Well, you’re going to have a long wait. There’s no telling when he’ll be back. You might as well leave. You’ll just be in
the way.”

“I don’t think so.” Jaci looked at her challengingly. “I know how to make myself useful.”

She entered Jason’s office and saw that he had made little headway in preparing for the move.
Where is his secretary? She wondered, then remembered: The woman is off on maternity leave. And Linda is too busy playing
Ms. Important to offer any real help.
Shaking her head and thinking he should have hired a company to pack up his offices as well as move them, she grabbed a box
from the stack in the hallway and began carefully packing the items from the top of his desk. Once that was done, she took
a marker and wrote
JPG-DESKTOP-FRAGILE
on the side of the box. She emptied his desk drawers and marked the boxes, then proceeded to the credenza. She was working
on the first of several bookshelves when she heard Jason’s voice in the hallway.