Seasons (24 page)

As they bustled around the kitchen, it occurred to Jaci that this was the first time either of her coworkers had visited her
home for any length of time. They had come by for a few minutes to drop things off or, in last night’s case, to pick her up,
but beyond that, there had been no hanging out together. In spite of that, they made themselves right at home.

When Gloria pulled the cornbread out of the oven Jaci noticed that the chicken was beginning to fall off the bones, so she
removed it too. Bill saw this and jumped up and shouted, “Grub time is on! Where can I wash my hands?”

After Jaci dished up brimming platefuls, they sat at the small kitchen table and ate like they hadn’t seen food in days. Conversation
intermittently flowed between mouthfuls, but conspicuously missing was any mention of the happenings of the previous night.

They all groaned when the doorbell rang. Jaci looked at the clock hanging above the table. “It’s not time for my daughter
and her family to get here. Maybe it’s Jason.”

When she opened the door, Jason and Patrick stood there, both smiling broadly. “Hey, guys! Come on in.”

Jason gave her a quick hug and pressed his lips to hers in a brief kiss, before leading the way into the family room, where
he had a view into the kitchen. When he saw her coworkers sitting at the table, he continued walking toward them, asking how
they were doing and introducing them to Patrick, who had followed him. Seeing the food on their plates, he turned to Jaci
with an accusing look. “You didn’t tell me you were going to cook all this food. Is it for us? Looks like one of my favorite
meals, especially the greens.”

“No, I just decided on the spur of the moment to cook a good meal for Randi and her family. Gloria and Bill just happened
to drop by and wouldn’t leave until I fed them.”

“Well, you’re not getting rid of us either. Where are the plates?”

“Pat, are you hungry? Do you want to eat?” Jaci asked Patrick, who was still standing in the middle of the room.

“You gotta be kiddin’! You couldn’t melt me and pour me outta here! Hey, did you make cheesecake? You know I love your cheesecake,”
Patrick said, scrambling in the cabinets for a plate.

“Wait a minute! You guys go wash your hands! You know better. The bathroom is down the hall to your left. The food will still
be here. And yes, as a matter of fact I did bake a cheesecake. It’s a favorite of my daughter too.”

“Aw, man!” Patrick said, almost running down the hall.

Gloria and Bill continued eating, but had questioning looks on their faces. Apparently, something significant had occurred
between J.P. and Jaci last night.

Jaci called Randi and told them to come on over while there was still food left. Good thing Jaci didn’t know how to cook in
small quantities.

Later, after everyone had eaten their fill and left, Jaci and Jason snuggled together on the sofa. “I just realized why I’m
so beat!” Jaci said. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Uh! Wonder why?” Jason asked with a chuckle, which quickly faded as he turned serious. “Sweetheart, have you given any thought
to what we talked about last night?”

He had done all the praying and thinking he could do. His mother was right. He knew his own mind. There was no way he was
going to let Jaci get away from him. He would never find a woman more suited to him than she was. All he had to do was convince
her that they had something worth keeping. He spent the morning shopping for an engagement ring. Now his only hope was that
Jaci would accept his proposal. He felt like a nervous teenager on his first date.

“Not really, why?”

“Because last night changed everything. I meant it when I said that I love you and I hope you did too.”

“Yes, I do, but . . . I think we should move very slowly and carefully from this point on. Just to make sure these feelings
are real and not just about, you know . . . physical attraction.” She hesitated nervously, not knowing how to continue. “We
both know there’s a real . . . uh . . . a really powerful chemistry between us. To be honest,” she looked at him directly,
“I admit that I’m human, with all the feelings and desires that go along with being human, but I’m a Christian and I can’t
give in to them. I made that mistake once, I won’t do it again. I . . . we have to exercise self-control, no matter how powerful
the attraction. Otherwise, we can’t expect God to bless what we have.”

Jason nodded in understanding. “Well, I don’t disagree with that and I’ll try to be patient with your need to move slowly.
But I’m sure about what I feel. I love you and as far as I’m concerned, what we have is permanent.” He reached into his pocket,
pulled out a small velvet box, and opened it to reveal a very large pear-shaped diamond ring. “Jaci, I love you very much.
Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? And as soon as possible, please?”

“Oh my God, Jason! What? I . . . I wasn’t expecting this. I don’t know what to say.”

“You say, ‘yes.’ And if you had gone with me to run my errands today, you would have had the privilege of picking out your
engagement ring. Do you like this one? If not, we can exchange it.”

Jaci was still sitting with her mouth open. “It’s beautiful, honey. I couldn’t have made a more perfect choice.”

“Well, are you going to give me an answer or keep me in suspense?”

“Yes, I’ll marry you. But . . .” She hesitated, and her eyes filled with tears. “You’ll have to bear with me because I need
plenty of time. As you well know, I have some trust issues and I don’t want to rush into anything that will ultimately make
both of us miserable. In fact, I suggest we consider going through premarital counseling. We may find out we’re totally incompatible.
And I want to make you happy, not sorry you married me.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen, but I agree, the counseling is a good idea,” said Jason. “But Jaci, understand this:
We can’t wait too long, okay? I’m ready right now. If it was up to me, we would get married today.”

“Jason! See, there you go, didn’t we just agree to . . .”

“Okay, okay!” He held up his hands in surrender. “I’ll back off for now, as long as we agree not to wait too long. We’re not
getting any younger and I want all the time I can get with you.”

Feeling uncertain about how she should respond, Jaci scrambled for something else to talk about. “Is Wynola a friend of yours?”

His look let her know he was aware of what she was doing, before answering. “More of an acquaintance. I’ve known her for years.”
He didn’t mention how the woman had always flirted with him. “Why do you ask?”

“Well I saw her sitting at your table last night and I was just wondering.”

“She and Linda seem to know each other. That’s why she was sitting there.”

“She and Linda? Ooookay! That explains why I’ve been having such a hard time with Wynola lately.”

“What kind of hard time?”

Jaci relayed her ongoing problems with Wynola that had caused an uncomfortable working environment.

“What! And you don’t know what’s gotten into her?” Suddenly, he snapped his fingers. “I wasn’t paying much attention last
night since my mind was on other things, but as I think about it, they were very chummy. I need to find out what the relationship
is between them. Don’t worry about it, though, I know how to get her off your back. In any case, you won’t have to deal with
it much longer. As soon as we’re married, you’re out of there.”

“Wait a minute! Who said anything about me quitting my job? That’s something we’ll have to talk about.”

“Well, I don’t want to talk about it now. I just want to enjoy this time with you. But we’ll see.” He had every intention
of winning that particular argument. When the phone rang a few minutes later, they were so involved with each other that it
caused them both to jump.

M
axie impatiently waited as the telephone rang on the other end. He hoped Jacetta was home since it was the weekend, but he
was prepared to hang up if the answering machine came on. He refused to leave any more messages. He was almost surprised when
she answered.

“Jacetta? This is Maxie. What’s happening?” There was a long pause on the other end before she answered.

“Maxie, let me give you my daughter’s number. That way you won’t ever have to call here again.” She rattled off the number
to him. “She knows you’ll probably be calling.”

“How’re you doing?” Maxie asked. “You can’t talk to a brother for a few minutes?”

“No I can’t, I’m busy,” she said before hanging up the phone.

Maxie wasn’t at all thrilled by her action and refused to accept it. He quickly redialed the number.

Again, he heard her intriguing voice say “Hello?” with a question in it. “Jacetta, Maxie again. You know, for the sake of
our daughter, I was hoping things could at least be amiable between us. This continued hostility on your part is not helping
anybody. Did George call and talk to you?”

Jaci took a deep breath before speaking, then decided she just couldn’t let it pass. “First of all, don’t insult me by saying
things like ‘our daughter.’ You and I both know those words are not a true depiction. Secondly, what you’re calling hostility
is really indifference. The hostility went out the window a long time ago. As a matter of fact, it happened on one of those
days when I had to take on two more jobs just to make sure my daughter would have food, clothes, and a decent roof over her
head. Let me be more specific. It was the day I stopped hoping and gave up on you somehow catching a little decency and maturity
and realizing your obligation to a little baby girl you were partly responsible for bringing into this world. Don’t try to
lay a guilt trip on me, mister. Because as far as I’m concerned, any guilt to be claimed is all yours. Thirdly, yes I did
speak to my uncle. And since you’re too dense to know it, I’ve already given you much more than you deserve, and I meant it
when I said there’s no need for you to call here again, Maxie. Like I said, I’m busy and I would appreciate it if you would
adhere to my wishes.”

Maxie was quiet for a moment before continuing. “I don’t know what that is if it’s not hostility. That just let’s me know
that we need to talk and clear the air between us. I was thinking that I could come down there one weekend so we could get
together and . . .” He was still talking when he heard the dial tone in his ear. She had hung up again.

He slowly replaced the phone, fighting back what he recognized as anger. He’d heard a man’s voice in the background telling
her to hang up. He was tempted to call back again, but figured it wouldn’t be wise. His determination stiffened. She was crazy
if she thought he was going to go quietly away.

A
round two in the morning, long after Jason left, Jaci’s phone rang, dragging her out of a deep sleep. Her heart beat wildly
as she picked it up, filled with dread and bracing herself for bad news. She knew a call at this time of night couldn’t be
good. “Hello?” she answered in a sleepy, questioning voice.

A woman’s menacing voice came across the line. “Heifer, you must be real stupid! Or don’t you understand plain English?” Cold
chills ran up Jaci’s spine as the woman continued. “Looks like I’ll have to do something else to let you know I’m not playing
with you.” The woman paused for a second as if she expected a response, and when she didn’t get one she continued. “If you
don’t leave J.P. alone, I’ll see to it that you’ll be very sorry.”

Jaci was still sitting up in bed holding the receiver long after the woman hung up. She knew when she finally laid the receiver
back in the phone cradle that she wouldn’t get any more sleep. Who in the world could that have been? She searched her sleep-fogged
mind for possible suspects. Maybe it was a wrong number, she thought, grasping for any explanation that would make sense.
But no, the woman had mentioned J.P. She was definitely the target. She shivered, realizing this potentially dangerous person
had threatened her.

After church the next day, she had lunch with Sister Sadie’s family, then checked on Randi and the baby, and finally went
home and waited to hear from Jason. He called around four, and she told him about Linda’s threat at his office and the harassing
call she had received.

“Why haven’t you told me about this before? Doggone it! Jaci, when are you going to realize you don’t have to handle everything
by yourself?”

“Well, to be honest, when Linda said those things, I thought maybe she was just angry because you had just yelled at her for
making me wait so long. And I was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt. I didn’t want to get her into trouble if it
was just a passing thing. But after last night . . . well . . . I don’t know. I can’t be certain it was Linda, but I can’t
think of anybody else it could be. What about you? Do you have some woman with a fatal attraction for you? If so, let me know
so I can cut you loose right now.”

“No, I don’t know anybody with a fatal attraction for me,” he said in aggravation. “And no, you’re not cutting me loose. It’s
not hard for me to believe it’s Linda. I know for a fact that she’s had a little thing for me, but I didn’t think she was
crazy enough to do something like this. She’s outta there!”

“No,” Jaci objected. “Don’t do that. Not until we know for sure it’s her. She could be innocent. And I’d hate to be the cause
of her losing her job if she is.”

“We’ll see. In any case, I want to know if you get any more of those threats. Okay?”

T
he Gilmore Family Thanksgiving dinner rotated from house to house each year, and now it was J.P.’s turn to host. It wasn’t
a big deal because he had everything catered, with the exception of his mother’s and aunts’ stuffing and sweet potato and
pecan pies.

Jaci reluctantly accepted his invitation to join his family for dinner. She hated the thought of meeting all of his family
at one time, and she hated social affairs anyway, especially with people she didn’t know.

“Okay,” she told him unenthusiastically. “I’ll come, but I have to leave early.”