Tears Fall at Night-The Blessed One Box Set (Praise Him Anyhow and Blessed and Highly Favored Series) (18 page)

Now Linda was really fuming. Here they were on a family vacation and Eric gets dressed and leaves without asking if she wanted to hang out with him. She put up with that type of stuff at home all the time, but she was not about to let Eric get away with leaving her alone while they were on vacation. She walked over to the door, pulled it open and headed for the stairs. When she was at the top of the stairs she heard someone coming up the back steps and wondered if Eric was now coming back to their bedroom. She stood at the top of the stairs holding onto the railing.

She wanted to see Eric’s face when he came out of the room in search of her. Let him see how it feels to be left alone. But the person who came up the stairs wasn’t Eric. It was Shawn. He knocked on Tanya and Isaiah’s bedroom door. Tanya opened the door and Shawn told her, “I left Isaiah at the beach. We need to talk.”

Then Linda saw Tanya step aside and let Shawn walk into her bedroom.

CHAPTER 6

“How are you feeling today?” Joel asked Elaine as he walked into the dining room.

“I’m doing better, Father,” Elaine said as she used her fork to toss around her pasta from one side of the plate to the other.

Joel sat down across from Elaine. Mary, his cook came into the dining room. She asked Joel, “What would you like to drink, sir?”

“Iced tea.” He pointed to Elaine’s plate and asked Mary, “What’s in the pasta that you fixed today?”

“It has a light cream sauce with shrimp and chicken in it just the way you like it.”

Joel inhaled and rubbed his stomach. “That sounds good.” He stood up and grabbed a plate, knife and fork off the buffet table and sat back down. The food was already on the table, so he took the lid off the pasta bowl and filled his plate.

“I’ll get your tea,” Mary said as she turned to go back to the kitchen. Then she noticed that Elaine was not eating, but playing with her food. She asked Elaine, “Is something wrong with your pasta? Would you prefer something else?”

Elaine looked at her plate as if she suddenly noticed what she had been doing with her food. She put her fork down and said, “Oh no, Mary, I enjoyed your pasta. I just get full so quickly these days. I feel bloated and I just haven’t had a big appetite lately.”

Mary walked out and then Joel put his hand over Elaine’s. “Honey, are you sure you’re getting enough rest? Don’t get me wrong. I think the missionary work you’re doing in Uganda is wonderful, but sometimes I wonder if you shouldn’t take a little time off.”

“I can handle it, Dad. Besides, I love my job.”

Mary walked back in with Joel’s glass of iced tea, and then left the room again. “Okay, I’ll leave you alone,” Joel said as he swirled his pasta around his fork and then took a bite. “Where are your brothers and sister?”

“Everyone has gone their separate ways: Shopping and swimming.”

“So why are you sitting in here with your old man, when you could be out swimming with your brothers?”

Joking with her father, Elaine asked, “How do you know that Dee Dee isn’t swimming?”

“If my guess is right, your sister is shopping while your brothers are sightseeing and swimming.”

“You’re right,” Elaine confessed with a laugh. “They all left pretty early and I didn’t want to leave before I put a call through to Uganda.”

With a knowing look, Joel asked, “How is Natua doing?”

Natua was the three year old orphan whom Elaine was helping to raise. After Natua’s father died of Aids and her mother died of starvation, the only person the child had was her grandmother. That is, until Natua found a place in Elaine’s heart. “Her grandmother says that she is getting into everything that’s not higher than her arms can reach.” Elaine shook her head. “That little girl is a handful, and I love her for it.”

“Have you talked to John about adopting Natua?” Joel saw the sadness creep into Elaine’s eyes and quickly said, “The only reason I ask is that since you’re planning to marry John, he needs to be in agreement about adopting Natua.”

Elaine took a deep breath, moved her chair closer to her father and said, “I need to talk with you about John and some other things.”

“What’s wrong, Buttercup?” Joel asked, reverting back to the name he used to call Elaine when she was a child.

“Buttercup? I thought we heard the last of that stupid name when Elaine begged you not to call her that during her eleventh birthday party,” Dee Dee said as she and Drake joined Joel and Elaine.

Joel stood up and hugged Dee Dee. “Come join us,” he invited.

Drake shook Joel’s hand. “Good afternoon, sir.”

Joel smiled. Out of all the son-in-laws that Dee Dee had brought home through the years, Drake was his favorite. The young man treated his daughter with kindness and above all, Drake loved the Lord. Joel had respect for the man. “Sit right here, Drake.” Joel pointed to the chair next to him. “I want to hear all about this new publishing business of yours.”

Dee Dee sat next to Elaine and grabbed a banana and an orange out of the fruit basket on the table. She glanced at Elaine’s food and grimaced. “Do you know how many pounds I would gain if I ate something like that?”

“It’s actually very good,” Elaine told Dee Dee.

Joel said, “And she hasn’t eaten much of it anyway.”

Drake grabbed a plate and sat down. “I’ll try it.”

“That’s my boy. Fatten up like the rest of us,” Joel said.

“Mmh, this is good,” Drake confirmed after he’d taken a bite.

“Now tell me about your new business,” Joel reminded Drake.

Drake took another bite then said, “The last time we talked, I told you about my idea to publish Christian books that truly speak to the reader’s heart. Well, I have six authors on my line so far and we are ready to go to press with four books this year.”

“Oh books, smooks. Drake, tell Daddy about the other business opportunity we just discussed,” Dee Dee commanded.

Drake looked at his wife; the look on his face was gentle and patient as he said, “We haven’t come to any conclusions on that yet, honey.”

Dee Dee waved her husband’s comment off as she turned to her father. “Drake is just being modest, Daddy. You know how he is.” She looked at her sister and rolled her eyes heavenward and then turned back to Joel. “Daddy, you know what a hard time I’m getting from some of these studio heads about the family friendly films I want to do. So, Drake and I decided to open our own production company.”

“That’s great Dee Dee. With you acting in the films and Drake managing the business, I can see nothing but success in your future,” Joel said.

Dee Dee put her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “So do you think it’s a good enough idea to invest in?”

“What’s the investment? Maybe Eric and I will want a piece of it,” Linda said as she walked into the room, picked up a plate off the buffet table and sat down with the group.

***

Later that night when Linda was once again alone with Eric, she told him, “You need to talk with your father about donating to your campaign before Dee Dee takes every dime he has for her stupid production company.” She strutted back and forth in front of the bed, biting her nails as she pondered the situation.

Eric kicked his shoes off and stretched out on the bed. “This coming from the woman who wants me to stop networking and sit at home – why would you care if I got all the money I need for my campaign or not?”

“I’m a realist, Eric. You are a born politician and nothing I say is going to stop you. So, the least I can do is try to help you get the money you need for this campaign.”

He sat up. “Okay, so why do you think this thing Dee Dee wants from Dad will cause him not to be able to donate to my campaign?”

“You know your sister, Eric. Her fair share isn’t going to be enough. She always has to have more.”

“Yeah, but Dad knows how important this campaign is to me. I can’t see why he couldn’t help Dee Dee and donate to my campaign.”

“Are you kidding me? Investing in a movie production could cost your father hundreds of millions.” Linda sat down on the bed next to Eric. She put her hand on his cheek. “Honey, you haven’t even told your father that your campaign is in debt. You haven’t even told me, but I know you. I know when something is bothering you. Why can’t you just let your pride go and confide in your family?”

Eric stood up and walked toward the window. He pulled the curtain back and looked outside. Isaiah and Tanya were walking up the sidewalk. He thought about how peaceful his brother seemed to be. “Sometimes, I wish I had decided to become a preacher. Maybe, I would be more humble.”

Linda walked over to the window with her husband. She looked down and saw Isaiah and Tanya. She put her hand on Eric’s shoulder and said, “The grass isn’t always greener, baby. Isaiah has his own problems. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

Eric turned back to his wife. “What are you talking about?”

“Just what I said, your brother has problems and so does that sister of yours. Dee Dee thinks she has everyone fooled by hanging all over Drake; but mark my words, that marriage is in trouble.”

“They look happy enough. A whole lot happier than we have been these last few years,” Eric said as he stepped away from the window.

“Well they’re not happy,” Linda declared. “I know you all think I’m just a drunken outsider, but I see things.”

CHAPTER 7

Isaiah lay in bed facing the wall. His eyes were open, but he was dreaming none the less. In his mind’s eye, Isaiah saw himself standing behind the pulpit, delivering his first sermon as senior pastor. He told his congregation about the love of God and His ability to forgive sins, and the people responded.

When Isaiah finished his sermon, he stood behind the pulpit and witnessed hundreds of people run toward the altar. As each person jumped out of his or her seat and ran toward the altar, their faces reflected the lifting of burdens as they cried tears of regret and then joy.

Isaiah pulled the covers back, got out of bed and fell on his knees. He prayed, “God, was that a vision from You? Will those people still give their lives to You even if I don’t take the senior pastor position?”

Isaiah waited for a response from the Lord, but no response came. He stayed on the floor, whispering prayers to the Lord. Tanya was still sleep so Isaiah tried to be as quiet as possible, but he needed God’s direction. “Help me, Lord. I don’t want to go against Your will, but I need to hear clearly that this is what you want for my life and not just what I want.”

Tanya stirred. She lifted her head and looked around. When her eyes spotted Isaiah, she laid her head back on her pillow. “How long have you been up?” She asked.

Isaiah had asked Tanya countless times not to interrupt him while he prayed unless it was an emergency. But Tanya interrupted him whenever she felt like it anyway. He got off his knees and got back in bed. “I’ve been up for a little while.”

She yawned and stretched. “What’s wrong? Why are you up so early?”

Should he tell her? Would she understand his need to do God’s will? When they were engaged Tanya acted as if she wanted nothing more than to do the will of God herself. But once they were married and Tanya had given birth to Erin, things changed. She began to fight him about church attendance and anything that had to do with faith in God. Two years ago she finally told him that if he became pastor of a church, she would leave him. “I just needed to talk with God about a few things,” he said.

Tanya touched Isaiah’s arm as she asked, “Is this about that job at the church?”

She said ‘job’ as if Isaiah had applied to become a janitor in an elementary school. Isaiah said, “No. This is about my ministry and where God wants me.”

Tanya scooted closer to Isaiah. She had on a white silk gown with spaghetti straps that clung to her. “I don’t want to fight with you, Isaiah. I thought we were going to enjoy ourselves this week and not talk about that job.”

“I know we agreed to that. But God just showed me a vision of things to come in my ministry.”

Tanya put her finger against Isaiah’s mouth. “Let’s talk about it later. I think I’d rather talk about this baby you want us to have.”

Isaiah’s eyes lit up. They’d been married seven years and so far Tanya had not gotten pregnant again. The first time was a fluke. She’d gotten pregnant on their honeymoon when they weren’t even trying. Now that they had been trying to have a baby for the last four years, nothing was happening. Isaiah had asked Tanya to see a doctor with him to determine if either of them had developed a problem that was now making them infertile, but she wouldn’t do it. “You want me to make the doctor’s appointment for us?”

“No,” she said, snuggling up to him. “I think we can handle this on our own.”

“Oh,” he said, right before the vision from God slipped from his mind.

***

Joel had a prayer room in each house he owned. All the children knew that Joel could be found in his prayer room every morning before breakfast and every night before he went to bed. It was an unspoken rule that no one could disturb Joel while he was in this room. So Shawn stood outside of his father’s prayer room waiting for him to open the door. But when Joel finally opened the door, Shawn couldn’t bring himself to tell his father what was on his mind.

“Hey Son, have you been waiting out here long?” Joel asked as he came out of the prayer room.

“Naw, Dad. I’ve only been out here a few minutes,” Shawn said as he put his hands in his pockets.

“You ready for breakfast?”

Shawn wanted to ask his father to go back into his prayer room and pray for him. Right now he desperately needed prayer. He was so confused that he just didn’t know what to do. But when he opened his mouth he simply said, “Yeah, I’m kind of hungry.”

Joel laughed as they walked toward the dining room. “I remember how you used to hang out in front of my prayer room when you were a child. You used to wait for me so we could go in to breakfast together. I miss those days.”

“I did that a lot, didn’t I?”

“If I remember correctly you only walked me into the breakfast room when you wanted to tell on one of your brothers or sisters. So, who did something this time?” Joel asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.