A Storybook Finish (17 page)

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won’t be seeing much of him, either.”

Lindsay’s thoughts went into motion. Robbie can’t be a

suspect then if he’s working. He would have no need of extra

cash right now if he stole the money. Plus, teenagers aren’t

that eager to work when they could be hanging out with their

friends.

“Are you okay?” Jewel asked.

“Oh, sure, just thinking.” Lindsay accompanied her down

the sidewalk. “So what’s Troy up to these days?”

Jewel shrugged. “Who knows? He’s been real quiet lately.

When I try to catch him after school, he’s already gone. I don’t

know, Miss Thomas, but I feel like I’m losing my friends.”

“I’m sorry about that, Jewel.”

“Then it got me thinking and all about what you said—

how I shouldn’t be looking for relationships with guys, just to

feel wanted. Robbie told me I shouldn’t listen to you. He said

you and Mr. Wheeler are religious types with weird ideas.”

“Everything I told you is true, Jewel. And it’s not because I

want to jam my religion down your throat. It’s because I care

about you and I don’t want to see you hurt. Broken relationships

can be some of the toughest times we go through in life.

It hurts us right in the heart where it counts. And it’s hard to

get over. That’s why I made a commitment to God long ago

to let Him run my life. I told Him, ‘Hey, You made me. You

know me inside out. You know who’s the best guy for me.’”

“Like Mr. Wheeler?” She cracked a smile.

Lindsay’s mouth fell open.

“Oh, we talk about it all the time—how you two went on

this romantic trip to Baltimore. We know you’ve been going

around the school today, trying to find out who stole the class

money. In fact, there are a couple of kids betting on when you

156 two will walk down the aisle.”

Lindsay gasped. The mere idea sent chills racing through

her. “That’s nonsense,” she blurted out, though she didn’t

mean it. Many times Lindsay wondered if she and Jeff were

destined to tie the knot. Hardly a day went by that she did

not fantasize about ascending a grand staircase in a gown

for a queen, ready to meet her bridegroom.

To her surprise Jewel elbowed her. “C’mon—you can tell

me. I’ll keep it quiet.”

“I can tell you that Jeff—that is, Mr. Wheeler—and I are

good friends.” She hooked her arm through Jewel’s, ushering

her down the sidewalk. “If you want to know the honest

truth—and please keep this between us—I think Mr.

Wheeler and I might have a future together.”

Jewel giggled. “I knew it. When you all came back from

Baltimore, Mr. Wheeler had this weird look on his face. He

bumped into his desk once or twice. In the middle of a lecture

he forgot what he was talking about. It doesn’t surprise me a

bit he lost the money. He hasn’t been thinking right at all

lately. I knew right away what it was. LOVE.”

Just the notion Jeff might have lost the money over her sent

another round of shivers racing through Lindsay. She steadied

her shaking hands. “Anyway, have you heard anything through

the grapevine in school as to who might’ve taken the money? You all

earned it, you know. I’d think you’d want to know who

stole it, rather than seeing your hard work go to waste.”

Jewel became quiet for a moment before her soft voice

responded. “I’ve just heard rumors. There’s no proof.”

“Sometimes what one person says can go a long way,”

Lindsay coaxed, eager for any hint that might resolve this

situation and restore Jeff’s reputation.

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Jewel continued her silence.

Lindsay decided not to press the issue. When they strode

up to a park bench, she suggested quizzing Jewel on the

vocabulary for the upcoming test. Jewel pounced on the offer

with glee. They sat opposite each other while Lindsay read off

the list of words from the notebook inside Jewel’s backpack.

When Jewel missed a word, Lindsay told her to repeat the

definition, then use it in a sentence.

“You should have been a teacher,” Jewel said with a laugh.

“You sure know what you’re doing.”

“I had to learn the hard way, like most people. Life isn’t

easy, Jewel. We all learn difficult lessons, but they help us

become better people in the end. And I have a good feeling at

the end of all this that you’re going to be a great businesswoman.

You won’t be swayed by pressure but will do the right

thing, no matter what happens.”

Jewel lowered her head and ran a finger across the painted

boards of the bench. “Ouch!” she complained as a huge splinter

punctured her fragile skin.

“Let me see.” Lindsay took hold of Jewel’s finger and saw

the edge of the splinter jutting out. She rummaged in her

handbag for a small Swiss army knife and, in the collection of

tiny tools, pulled out a pair of tweezers.

“I’m prepared for these kinds of emergencies,” she said with

a smile, taking hold of Jewel’s finger. With the tweezers she

gently removed the splinter.

“Wow! You did that quick,” Jewel marveled. “I should get

one of those knife thingies. They don’t allow them on school

property, though.”

“It’s my all-in-one tool kit. Screwdriver, tweezers, nail file,

saw—what I would use a saw for, who knows, a toothpick.”

158 She gazed at her wounded finger. “Thanks so much, Miss

Thomas. Between this and helping me with my vocabulary,

it’s been real sweet.”

“I want you to know that people care, Jewel. And, as I said,

you’re special. Don’t forget it.”

Jewel slung her backpack over one shoulder. “I’d better get

going. Thanks again for everything.”

“Sure.” Lindsay slipped her a business card. “If you ever

need to talk sometime, call me on my cell.”

Jewel gazed at Lindsay with moss green eyes; her lips

parted as if she dearly wanted to share with Lindsay all the

things she kept buried within. Lindsay could see the walls

beginning to crumble and a bridge of trust taking its place.

Jewel tightened her hand around the card, nodded her head,

and shuffled offdown the sidewalk.

Lindsay sighed as she tucked the tool back in her purse.

She had come close to learning who may have taken the

money. Jewel more than likely held an important clue. If only

the bridge of trust were complete, then perhaps Jewel would

feel comfortable confiding in her. Lindsay feared time would

run out before that could be accomplished.

Lindsay had nearly arrived home when her cell phone rang.

It was Jewel. “Miss Thomas, I wanted you to know–I didn’t

think it could be true, which is why I didn’t say anything at

the park, but you’ve been so nice to me. I need to talk to

someone. Anyway, I don’t know if this is true or not, but

everyone says Troy took the money. He wanted to prove to

everyone he could do it and that he wasn’t teacher’s pet.”

Lindsay tried hard not to choke at this confession. She

succeeded in stifling it into a few light coughs. “Are you sure,

Jewel?”

159

“It’s just what the kids are saying. I guess the only way to

find out is to ask Troy. I mean, it could be the reason he’s been

acting so weird lately. You know, when we all got our stuff for

the fundraising project, he seemed better. He helped me

carry my stuff home and everything. Now he’s distant again. I

don’t know if it’s family problems or because of the money.”

“I know this was a hard thing to do, Jewel, but thank you so

much.” Lindsay conversed a bit longer, reassuring the young

woman she had done the right thing. Lindsay then inhaled a

deep breath before punching in Jeff’s number, knowing he

would not be pleased to hear this news.

161 “I didn’t steal anything!”

Troy’s reddening ears and quivering lower lip met Jeff’s

gaze. He had just stopped by Troy’s house and found the

young man riding what appeared to be a new bicycle. When

Lindsay first related the news she’d heard from Jewel, Jeff

could hardly believe it. Even though it had been rough going

for a while, he and Troy seemed to be on better terms, until

the money disappeared. In the weeks following the incident

he had seen Troy turn into an introvert once again. Could this

be a sign of guilt, like the signs manifesting now in the young

man’s crimson ears and flushed face?

“Troy, it’s better we deal with this now. I know it’s hard.”

“You don’t know anything. You think you have all the

answers ‘cause you’re a do-good Christian, but you don’t

know. You don’t know what it’s like to have others gang up on

you.” Troy mounted his bicycle.

“I know a lot more than you think. We don’t have to be

controlled by the bad things in this world, or bad people for

that matter. You can be free from it. We’ve been learning

about the cost of freedom in history. The founding fathers

wanted a land free from tyrannical forces, but in order to get

it, they had to trust in someone other than themselves.”

Jeff paused to collect his thoughts. “You remember the

time we studied about the American troops in New York

City during the Revolutionary War and how the Continental

160

161

Army was trapped, with the enemy approaching? General

Washington wrote out a general order in May 1776 proclaiming

a day of fasting and prayer, asking for God’s mercy

on them. Not long after, God caused a thick fog to come

over the whole area, enabling Washington and his army to

escape Howe’s forces. They would have been destroyed if

they’d stayed there. Instead, they prayed and believed in

God. They knew they must have God’s help if they were to

escape the enemy.”

“What does that have to do with me?” His voice began to

quiver.

“You have enemies, too, Troy. I know you do. I just want to

know how you plan to handle it. What are you going to do?”

Troy’s new bike clattered to the hard pavement. He

plopped down on the ground and buried his head in his arms.

“There wasn’t any other way. Robbie said he would lay off and

I could have Jewel if I did it. He said if I didn’t do it, his

friends would get me. They had already trashed my locker.

He was telling lies about me all over school. He had Jewel

wrapped around his finger, telling her lies too. I couldn’t deal

with all of them. What was I supposed to do?”

“So you took the money?”

“Robbie said he would give me a cut. I got a hundred out of

it, and he took the rest. Bought that dumb bike—but I’ve felt

sick about it ever since. I can’t eat or anything.”

“Is there anyway you can get Robbie to confess his role

in this?”

Troy peered up at Jeff. “Why?”

“Because if word of this gets out, Robbie will put all the

blame on you. We need to get a confession out of him also.

But it won’t let you off the hook. You and Robbie will have to

162 face the consequences, which could mean disciplinary action,

maybe even expulsion.”

“You mean they could kick me out of school? Oh, man, I

don’t believe it.” Troy rose to his feet with tears streaming

down his face. He went and kicked the bicycle. “Man, I don’t

believe this. My life is ruined, Mr. Wheeler, and I can’t do a

thing about it. And it’s not fair. I had to do it. They were

going to get me.”

“Life isn’t fair.”

Troy jerked his head around. “You don’t know anything

about it. You weren’t there, seeing my dad drunk every day

and watching him leave my mom. And now I’ve got this gang

after me.”

“It’s true I don’t know everything. But I do know Someone

who had it a lot worse.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet.”

“He had everything go wrong. He was only trying to help

others, but people were jealous of him. They spit on him and

called him names. He even had a knife thrust into his side by

a gang of thugs. Finally, they killed him right out in public.”

Troy stared wide-eyed. “Who was that?”

“I’m talking about the Man Himself, Jesus. That’s exactly

what happened to Him. He only wanted to help others, yet

He was stripped down to nothing, nailed on a cross, and put

on display for everyone to gawk at. Jesus suffered abuse big

time—but He decided to do something about it. He wanted

something good to come out of something bad.”

Jeff saw it in Troy’s eyes—the disbelief, as if he had never

heard such a vivid example of Christianity.

The young man began to stammer. “Y—yeah. B—but that

was a long time ago. It doesn’t mean anything now.”

163

“It means even more now, because we are the ones He died

for. Jesus died so even if we do things wrong, we can come out

with a clean slate. We can get rid of all that junk in our lives.

We can have peace, even if there are enemies after us. Jesus

went through all the abuse and ridicule so that you and I can

have a better life with God in the middle of it. And I’ll tell

you, God is great at getting people out of their worst messes.

Ask George Washington—or me for that matter.” He smiled

inwardly, knowing how much he needed God to heal his own

messes in life.

“Not mine,” Troy’s voice spoke softly. “I’m in too deep. I

can’t get out of it.”

Jeff came and sat down in the grass beside him. “How

about talking to God about it? He’s a good listener.”

Troy nodded. Together with Jeff, he confessed his wrongs

and the pain he carried. When they finished, Troy looked at

him. “Now what should I do?”

“We’ll have to inform the principal what happened, then

we’ll see how this all plays out. You’ll have to take whatever

punishment they give you, but at least you won’t have your

conscience bothering you anymore. Most important, you have

God on your side.” Jeff hurried to his car and took out a Bible

he kept inside. “Here. Take this with you. There’s some good

reading in there about warfare. Read Ephesians, chapter six.

It talks about getting your armor on for war. And read the

Gospel of John, too. It will tell you all about Jesus and what

He did.”

“I still don’t know what’s going to happen to me.”

“We’ll take it one step at a time.”

Not long after Jeff talked to Troy, Robbie was arrested for

164 trying to cash a check from the fundraising sale at a nearby

bank. Both Troy and Robbie were summoned to a meeting of

the school board who elected to suspend them and ordered

them to seek counseling and pay full restitution.

Though the junior class had the money for the prom

preparations, the school elected not to give Jeff the extra

funds for the history club but to use it for other resources. “I

guess it isn’t the right time,” he said glumly while on an

afternoon walk with Lindsay. The trees, highlighted in red and

golden leaves, waved their colorful branches. Cows mooed

from a distant field. Before them, the Blue Ridge Mountains

rose up to greet them in colorful splendor.

“Things never turn out the way we expect,” Lindsay agreed.

“But you can’t give up hope that it may come to pass one day.

At least we discovered who took the money. Have you spoken

to Troy since the incident?”

“I saw him a few times during his suspension to bring over

some history lessons. He wasn’t very happy. I kept reminding

him that God was with him and this will pass. He can look forward

to a bright future. I’m thinking of maybe taking him to a

youth rally that’s coming up in a few weeks. There will be some

speakers and music by Christian rock bands. Maybe even

Robbie will come along. That would be interesting, wouldn’t it?”

Lindsay cast him a look. “A youth rally? You’re stepping out

of your playing field, Mr. Wheeler. What happened to strolls

in Civil War battlefields or touring a history museum?”

“Those things are important, too, but I still believe God

wants us to reach out to these students. And I want them to

trust me, even after what’s happened. I want them to know I

forgive them, though my life was pretty miserable for a couple

of days.”

165 “Oh, these faith-building times,” Lindsay said th a se.

Hder a work-out in a .”

It c be p. When you come out of it, ough, you

feel sorry.” He paused, rolled up the sleeves of his Rugby

shirt and performed a few muscle-bding maneuvers. “So

what do you

Lindsay took hold of some skin on his lower arm and

md. “Boing.”

“Hey”

“Just dng. I ow youe no weng, espedy er

s. I do befieve you have held do of Fo McHe on

Jeff then broke into a song from a musical he’d rented lint

wee ” ‘Oh, what a beautiful morning Oh, what a beautiful

day I’ve got a beautiful feeling, everything’s going my way.’

Lindsay jumped in. ‘I’m gonna wash at m fight oua

my hr. I gonna wash at man right oua my h.

gonna wash that man fight oua my h, d send m on

s wa’”

Jeff whirled. “What End of song is at?”

It’s from the musical Sou Pac. You hadt en it

I’m not sure I don’t t I’d e it.”

“You would.” She hooked her arm through his. e gese

sent with flong tough m. “It has a happy ending.”

He paused to ther her in s ms, beside a de-open

meadow where grasses waved in the breeze. “Like this?”

When he kissed her, sparks flew. He knew this was the woman he wanted to

m. Dine he propose to her hem in

ts wonder coun seng? It seemed so right and yet so

timed. He had no money e that y out Coa.

He couldn’t ask her to marry a paur, d she would have to

166 earn the bread and butter right along with him. He disengaged

from the embrace, took up her hand, and strolled on.

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

“Just thinking about the future. Lindsay. I-” He paused.

The words became bottled up in his throat. He couldn’t tell

her what was going on inside him, not until he knew their

future was secure. He swallowed down his response. “I really

enjoy being with you.”

“That makes two of us. I don’t know any guy who would sit

around watching musicals and even learning the words to the

songs. You’re unique, JeffWheeler.”

When they parted that evening, Jeff had to wonder what it

meant to be unique and if one could base a relationship on

that. He returned home to find the light blinking on his

answering machine. It was an urgent message from Candy,

asking that he call her right away. The distress in her voice

made his heart bounce around like a fish out of water. As he

punched in her phone number with a nervous finger, he

hoped the advice he had given regarding her ex-husband,

Anson, would not blow up in his face.

The phone rang endlessly until a breathless voice answered.

“Oh, Jeff, you wouldn’t believe it. You just wouldn’t. I don’t

know what to do. You got me into this, and now I don’t know

what to do.”

“Hold on, Candy. Slow down. What happened?”

“Anson asked me out. Can you believe it?” Jeff heard the

closet door open and the shuffle of hangers. “I don’t have a

thing to wear. Can you believe he asked me out? My own ex?

This is unreal.”

“What happened to his girlfriend?”

“They had a fight about the same time Sam and I did. Pretty