Chapter Fifteen ~
Janna
snapped Jessie into his brand new booster seat in the back of her car. Heart
pounding against her ribs, she shut his door and took a seat in the passenger
side of the economy car.
Jedidiah
was in the driver’s seat, his presence larger than life. Trying to resist the
urge to sniff and take in the woodsy smell of his after shave, she swiped at
her face and asked, “How is Beast and Snow White?” Can he tell how nervous I am?
“They’re
fine. I was sure your cat would try to eat Snowy but the crazy thing climbed in
her bed and cuddled around her.” He looked at her and smiled.
Janna’s
heart beat even wilder. “Are you serious?” She hoped her words didn’t give away
how nervous she was.
Jedidiah
said, “As a heart attack.”
He
smiled that smile again and she caught her breath. Stop it already he’s just a guy… Her self-reprimand fell on deaf
ears because her heart didn’t pay attention. Would it always be this way? While
in the hospital she’d felt a little attracted and nervous, but this was getting
ridiculous. She couldn’t even breathe normal.
Jedidiah
started the car, looked in the mirror at Jessie and said, “You okay back there
Buddy?”
Jessie
was busy pulling a long drink from his brand new Spiderman Sippy cup, but said
absentmindedly, “yep.”
Jedidiah
laughed. “That’s all that matters.” He started down the street toward Janna’s
house. “I want to thank you for allowing me to stay in your home. It’ll make it
a lot easier to keep an eye out for you know who.”
Janna’s
heart fell. She was trying to forget about him. She knew he was already out,
but her mind had been pre-occupied on Jessie and the death of his mother. “You
can’t let him get near. You know that, don’t you?” She shrugged her head toward
the backseat.
“I’ll
guard you guys with my life. You don’t have a thing to worry about.”
Tears
jumped to her eyes and she tried to blink them away. How could someone put his
life in danger to guard somebody he didn’t even know? It was beyond her, but
she believed him. She had to. She had so much more to lose now…
Jedidiah’s
hand came over and covered hers. She looked at him. “I’m serious. I won’t let
him…”
“I
hope not.” Her voice broke.
They
drove in silence, Stacy gasping several times as she took in the extent of the
tornado damage. “I didn’t realize…”
“I
know. It’s a lot to take in. The news said the town is a seventy-eight percent
loss.”
“You’re
kidding me?” Her voice broke and she sobbed openly. It was a relief, really.
Holding in her emotions was just too hard in this circumstance. She’d had to be
strong for so long now. Why are you doing
this Dear Lord?Why? Janna wanted to
ask Jedidiah a question, but she hesitated. Was he a believer? She didn’t know
and couldn’t tell. “Uhm…” She stopped, cleared her throat and said, “Can I ask
you a question?”
“Sure,
ask away.”
She
watched as his gaze slid to Jessie in the back seat. He was worried about him,
too.
“Do
you…Uh…Do you believe in…” She stopped and shot him a glance. She didn’t want
to make him angry, and that tended to happen sometimes when it concerned God.
He
laughed and gave her a cute little grin. “Do I believe in what? God?” He
glanced at her and smiled again, this time chuckling. “I’m not going to bite
your head off, you know. I do believe in God, very much so. He’s my Lord and
Savior.”
He
dropped it just like that. No embarrassment, no nonsense. Just truth. She
couldn’t stop the grin. There was so much more to this man than she’d first thought.
Of course, the way he’d been following her had
been creepy. And then his dog had scared her to death, and then the
tornado. Her grin dried up, and her face became tight.
“Janna?”
She
looked at him.
“Are
you okay?”
“Yes,
why?”
“I
was talking, but you weren’t hearing.”
“Oh.
I guess my mind wandered off. I’m sorry.” She smiled over at him, not waiting
for his eyes to catch hers.
“Why
did you want to know if I believed in God?”
Her
heart skipped a beat. He wasn’t letting the subject go. He wanted to talk about
God and she fell a little more in love…Janna sat up straight at that thought
and said with force. “No!”
“Huh?”
Her
gaze shot to Jedidiah. Had she said that out loud? She must’ve, if his face was
any indication. His lazy smile had disappeared and was replaced by a frown of
confusion. What do I say? “Oh nothing.” He was still giving a confused stare so
she went on, “I believe in Him. Do you think this storm was a judgment on us?”
She glanced at him, hoping her evasive maneuvers had worked.
He
didn’t answer right off, but seemed to be thinking the question through.
That
made her respectometer rise a few degrees. He was giving careful thought before
he spoke; a sure sign of maturity.
“Yes
and no.”
Confusion
rose within her. This man was an enigma. Usually she could gauge their
personality in two seconds flat, but with Jedidiah she didn’t know… “Okay…?”
“I
think it’s a general sign of the times. You know, the world isn’t getting any
better. But we have to be careful when discerning things of this nature. Jesus
said those killed by the tower of Siloam hadn’t been worse sinners than any
other, and that if they didn’t repent, they would perish as well.”
“Oh
yeah, that’s true. I forgot about that.” She really liked this guy…
They
pulled in the driveway of her house and she took a refreshing breath. Her house
was pretty much untouched. There were some tree limbs on her front walk and in
the yard, but other than that, it looked the same as it did the day she rushed
to her friend’s house. Poor Tilly. Poor Jessie. Tears filled her eyes. This was
going to be so hard.
She
got out and took Jessie out of the car.
“Ja-Ja,
when is my Mommy coming back?”
She
stopped, horrified. She’d planned on having more time to formulate a good reply
to this very question, but he hadn’t wasted any and he was looking at her with
his huge gray eyes, waiting for an answer. “Uhm…Jessie, do you remember there
was a storm?”
His
lips trembled, and he shook his head.
“Mommy
was…” She stopped. This was too hard. No one had prepared her for anything like
this. How could she tell this innocent child he would never see his mother
again? She looked over the hood of the car at Jedidiah, who’d stopped and was
waiting for her reply, too. She shrugged.
He
came around the car and took the boy from her, and walked toward the door. “Hey
Bud, your mom’s…”
“Mommy
not coming back, huh?” Huge tears popped up in his eyes and slid down his
chubby cheeks.
Janna
opened the door and Hairy rushed out in a flurry of fur and barking. Jessie’s
attention was immediately captivated by the dog. She smiled up into Jedidiah’s
face as he lowered the boy to the ground and said, “Jessie, this is Hairy.
Hairy, this is Jessie. Hairy, protect.”
Hairy
sat down on his haunches, not moving an inch as Jessie came and hugged him
around the neck, wiping his tears in his fur.
Janna
gave Jedidiah a look full of confusion.
“Hairy
won’t leave him unless I tell him different. He will be his constant companion.
Let’s get them inside. The dog won’t keep him occupied for long so we have to
devise something to tell him; something true, but as devoid of hurt as
possible.”
“I’m
glad you said that,” she put a hand on Jessie’s back to move him and the German
shepherd through the door.
“What?”
Jedidiah asked as he followed them inside and shut the door.
“We.”
She turned and threw herself into his arms, but not before seeing the surprise
on his face.
Jedidiah
wrapped his muscular arms around her and squeezed just enough for her to feel the
comfort. “There’s nothing else, is there?”
