“Thank you” Seth said graciously. “We appreciate your help.”
Isaac didn’t say much as they drove back to Seth’s mother’s home but he watched his friend and read the frustration. He was going to wait and see how long Seth stewed before coming up with another plan for Teddybearville and Beaches Toys.
“Hi Uncle Seth” Mindy said poking him early on Saturday morning. “It is time for pancakes.” Seth rolled over in bed and tried to focus on Mindy.
“Hi cutie bug, how’s my girl?” he said opening his arms to her. Mindy crawled onto the bed with him and lay next to him.
“I’m hungry. Grandma said to wake you up.”
“Tell Grandma that I need to get dressed then I’ll be down for breakfast. Did you wake up your friend, Isaac?”
“I did but he didn’t waked up very happy so I gived him a hug.”
“Good job.” Seth smiled. “Go see Grandma and I’ll hurry.”
“Okay. Bye” she said bounding off the bed.
Seth waited until she was out of the room before crawling out of the covers. Having a four year old live with him had changed lots of his morning habits but there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for Mindy or her parents. Since both had been deployed overseas, he volunteered to be Mindy’s guardian and have her live with him. Isaac had known her since birth too and she loved him as much as he loved her. The three of them made a good team. Daphne didn’t understand his devotion sometimes but he hoped in time she would.
As Seth shaved, he recalled his dream from the previous night. He had dreamed of Cori dancing with him in a wedding gown. The more he recalled the more he realized that he was the groom and the dancing was at their wedding reception. He lowered the razor and thought for a moment. Oh my word, wouldn’t that be interesting. I better just keep that dream to myself.
The pancakes smelled delicious as he jogged down the stairs and into the kitchen, he swung Mindy up in his arms and kissed her cheek. “Good morning, little miss.” Mindy giggled and squirmed to get down. “Hi Mom. How are my best girls today?”
“One of us is wiggly and squiggly and one of us isn’t. It is your job to figure out who is who.” Millie answered accepting Seth’s kiss. “And one of us wants to go see more b e a r s today.”
“Hannah’s is open today isn’t it?” Seth questioned. Millie and Joycelyn nodded. “I say we go, what do you say Isaac?”
“I would love to see more b e a r s.”
“And more of Faith?” Seth questioned.
“Definitely.”
After breakfast was eaten and a messy four year old cleaned up, Seth, Isaac and Mindy drove over to Hannah’s Craft to have a look at Teddybearville again.
Seth and Mindy were looking at every bear in the village that was in Hannah’s Crafts when Cori emerged from the classroom in the back. “Faith, can you call Mrs. Jensen…her son dumped red paint on top of his sister’s head and she is crying now because her new shirt is ruined.”
“Got it.” Faith chuckled reaching for the phone. As Cori turned around to go back to class, she saw Mindy and Seth. “Hi. Welcome to Hannah’s. How are you Mindy?”
“Good.” She answered “Why are you all red?”
“I’m teaching ten five year olds how to paint a picture. Do you want to come with me?” she offered. Mindy looked at Seth. “Can I?”
“If you want too.” He answered. Mindy nodded and squirmed to get down.
“You can come too, Uncle Seth. She might need a little help.”
“Probably.” answered Seth. As they walked along, Cori held Mindy’s hand and his dream flashed in his head again. As they entered the classroom, Seth noticed that it had been rearranged since Thursday when he was there. There were ten kids sitting on short stools in front of short easels. Every two kids had a helper.
“Everyone, this is Mindy and her Uncle Seth. They are related to Miss Millie so let’s be nice to them. Helpers, he’s okay.” She said soothingly. “Mindy, sit right down there and Uncle Seth, why don’t you put the plastic apron on over her clothes. I’ll be right back.” Seth noticed she went over and calmly touched each one of the women and assured them that he was okay. When she returned, she handed a few brushes to Mindy and helped her start to paint in the picture of the puppy that was on her easel. Seth noticed that she had trouble holding Mindy’s hand in the correct position but he didn’t understand why that would be.
One of the other little boys spilled his paint so Cori went to clean that up and Seth again watched her and noticed that her right hand didn’t grip very well. Mindy asked him a question so he turned from watching Cori to help his niece and then for the rest of the class he didn’t have time to notice Cori. Mindy had a ball but he was almost sure that she should have finger painted the picture instead of the using the brush and he was sure that his hair would have had less paint in it if she had.
“Very good, Mindy” Cori exclaimed when she came to see the picture. “When your picture dries I’ll take it to Grandma for you, will that be okay?” Mindy nodded enthusiastically. “And Uncle Seth, the men’s room is that way” she pointed down the hall “if you would like to remove the pink and purple paint from your hair.”
Seth cleared his throat “Not to tell you how to do your job but next time, fingerpainting.”
“As you walk down the hall, glance to your right and look at the pictures from the fingerpainting class. Then tell me your idea.” She said with a smirk. Mindy went with Cori to clean up and remove her apron while Seth walked down the hall. He did stop and look at the pictures of little kids holding up hands covered in paint, oh my word - Cori was covered in paint in the back of the row of kids. He journeyed on down to the men’s room and spent several minutes removing the paint from his hair. As he returned the classroom, Cori asked him a question with her eyes.
“Never mind” he muttered. Cori burst out laughing. As she did, her whole face lit up and she became radiant. She was no longer the kid he had known all his life, she was suddenly a very attractive woman and he was in serious trouble.
“Can I go get Isaac to see my picture?” Mindy asked both Seth and Cori. Cori nodded as did Seth and Mindy shot out the door calling for Isaac.
“Um, can I ask you a question?” Seth began.
“I’ll let you ask two since you just asked one.”
“Smarty-pants.” He grumbled “Was that you on the news piece about Hannah’s House the other night?”
She paused for several seconds before answering him. She looked around to make sure the room was empty then chose her words carefully. “The safety of the women at Hannah’s House depends on how I answer that question.”
“I realize that.” Seth nodded. “Why abused women, Cori?”
Cori shook her head and didn’t answer.
“Please, I want to know.” He pleaded. Cori shook her head again and looked down at the floor dejectedly. An instant later she raised her head and turned to walk away. “Please, Cori, will you give me a tour of Hannah’s House?”
“No” she said abruptly and stalked back to him. In a fierce whisper she explained “do you know what a recently abused woman or her abused children feel like when a man comes into her presence? They are safe in Hannah’s House and I will not abuse them anymore by bringing a man into their home who might remind them of their abuser. Sorry, but no.”
“I didn’t think. I apologize. Please forgive me.”
“Sure. Please excuse me. I have to get ready for another class in the restaurant next door. Tell your mother Hello for me. I’ll see her Monday or Tuesday.”
“You can visit while we are here, she would like it.”
“She doesn’t need me if you are here.” She said pushing open the classroom door as she exited leaving him standing there. Isaac came into the room with Mindy within seconds and saw Seth standing all alone.
“Problem?” he questioned.
Seth shook his hea
d “Idiot” he said out loud.
“You or a beautiful lady named Cori?” Isaac asked with a smirk. Seth pointed to himself. Isaac nodded then Mindy distracted him so he would look at her picture. He made the appropriate remarks as Seth stared out the door where Cori had exited.
“Is she getting to you?” Isaac whispered as Mindy looked at the bears in the window of the craft shop.
“I don’t know what she is.”
“And Daphne?”
“Tough question. I don’t know.”
“Let’s have Mindy pick a present for your mother and go deliver it. After a nap, maybe a park?”
“I’m all for that idea.” Seth agreed. “Mindy, shall we buy Grandma a stuffed animal or some cookies?”
“A stuffed rabbit and some cookies.”
“Oh, okay. Do you know which stuffed rabbit she would like best?”
Mindy nodded and pointed to a cute little bunny wearing a pink dress and a pink hat. “She’s the bestest ain’t she?” Mindy asked. Seth was so preoccupied that he didn’t correct her words. He just reached for Mindy to go up to the counter to pay for the rabbit. Mindy told Faith which animal she wanted and Faith wrapped it up in a big pink sack that Mindy carried to the restaurant next door. Inside she picked out the cookies she wanted for Grandma while Seth tried not to watch Cori as she taught some kids how to make chocolate chip cookies in the kitchen that adjoined the restaurant. If she saw him watching her, she did not acknowledge him and he right then didn’t know how he felt about that.
“Bud, you have a big problem.”
“Is she four or thirty?” Seth asked quietly but not disagreeing with his friend.
“Thirty. And she’s not the woman who is wearing your ring.”
“That’s who I was afraid you were talking about.”
“Do we need to go back to Houston?” Isaac asked. Seth threw his hands up in defeat and walked with Mindy out to his car. Isaac followed behind hoping that his friend was going to figure things out. He didn’t really think Seth loved Daphne and he didn’t really think Daphne loved Seth. He thought their romance was pretty cool. Isaac knew if he was engaged to someone then he wouldn’t want to be spending so much time apart from her. Heck, I barely know Faith and I don’t want to be apart from her. After he settled himself in Seth’s car, they drove back to Millie’s house to deliver her presents. Seth was very quiet the whole time. Millie looked at Isaac who quietly shook his head. Millie watched her son and contemplated what could be wrong.
The rest of the weekend was uneventful thankfully since Seth was very preoccupied. He tried to snap out of it and pay attention to his niece and his mother but Isaac stepped in and took up the slack. All of them made it to church on Sunday morning and Seth again saw Cori as she came to hug his mother. She spoke briefly to Mindy and waved at Isaac but Seth, she just ignored.
Before Seth left on Monday, he finally convinced his mother to make a doctor’s appointment with a local doctor. He and Isaac stood guard over her on Monday morning until she called and made the appointment. His last words to her before his I love you was don’t cancel that appointment. He decided to hedge his bet and call Cori.
“Warm Comforts, this is Pearl.”
“May I speak with Cori Lewis please?”
“Cori is unavailable would you like to speak to John Lewis?”
“Can I leave her a voice mail message?”
“Sure, I’ll put you through.” Seth waited while the call transferred then left his message about his mom’s doctor’s appointment. As he hung up, he caught Isaac’s look.
“Don’t ask. I am not sure about anything. I…. I don’t know what I want.” Seth muttered.
“I think you do, Seth. I think you know exactly who you want but your brain is having a hard time reconciling that a girl you taunted and teased for so many years is now a gorgeous, lovely, kind woman.”
“I hate it when you are right.”
“My question is, is she any different now than she was in high school? Did she become this kind, lovely, gorgeous woman or was she always that way?”
“Do you want to walk to Houston?”
Isaac wanted to laugh but he knew his friend was in a quandary. “That’s what I thought. You are going to have to reconcile the two things and then figure out what you are going to do with an engagement you are already in the middle of.”
“I don’t have to like you right now, do I?”
“Nope, but I’m still your friend.”
“Thank you.” Seth said quietly. He glanced at Mindy in the back seat and noticed she had fallen asleep clutching the bear that started this whole mess. “I’m going to beat the heck out of Micah when he gets home. Seriously, beat the crap out of him.” Isaac laughed gently at Seth’s frustration. Both men remained fairly quiet the remainder of the ride back to Houston.
Chapter 6
“I think I should go with you.” Faith said to Cori “You always get lost in Houston.”
“I do?” questioned Cory.
“Well, not always but you could use the company.”
“Faith, you might learn things that you don’t want or need to know. I’ve been asked to talk for quite a while.”
“I want to give you support. You are my friend.”
“I appreciate it. Nia might as well come too, we can have dinner before the meeting.”
“Good, she wanted to come. She was going to hitch a ride in the trunk.” Faith stated. Cori laughed, hugged her friend and went back to her office.
In Houston, Isaac entered Seth’s office after Abigail announced him. “Hi”
“Hey” greeted Seth. “What’s up?”
“I was doing some research and found this on the internet. I called and confirmed it was true.” Isaac handed Seth a news article. Seth read down through it then raised his head to find Isaac nodding.
“Hannah’s House founder will be the guest speaker at Houston’s Community Events Center tonight at seven p.m. This will be during the time of the Women’s Support Group but all are welcome to attend.” Seth read out loud so he could comprehend what was written on the page.
“I can watch Mindy for you if you want to go.” Isaac offered
“Actually, I’m going to ask Abigail so you can go with me.”
“That works. If Abigail can’t do it, I’d be glad too.”
“Thanks, I’ll let you know.” Isaac nodded and left the room, telling Abigail that Seth needed to see her. As soon as he reached his office, Seth as was calling to say that Abigail had agreed to watch Mindy.
Cori didn’t snoop out the stage curtain to see how many people were in attendance at the event. She heard lots of chatter and chairs moving but she wasn’t going to think about numbers. Her main goal for these speaking engagements was to get the word out about Hannah’s House and how to thrive as a survivor of spousal abuse.
“Are you ready?” Faith asked from beside Cori.
“Yep, go out there and take your seat. I’m good.”
“You are going to be great.”
“Thanks, now go.” Cori pointed. Faith nodded and slipped out of the side door and around to her chair that Nia had saved for her. Nia handed her a bunch of tissues because they were both sure they were going to need them.
The moderator of the event stepped up to the podium. “Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for attending this very important event. Unfortunately the size of this crowd reminds us that abuse of women in our society is a big issue and we need help to solve it. Our guest speaker tonight is the founder of Hannah’s House outside of Houston. She’s making an impact for all, learn from her story. Please welcome, Cori.”
The crowd applauded as Cori took the stage and laid her speech on the podium. She took the microphone from the stand and went to sit on the stool that was provided for her. “Good evening, my name is Cori.” The response as expected was Hi Cori.
“Before I tell you about Hanna
h’s House, I was asked to tell my story first. I’m twenty-nine years old, I had a wonderful childhood, loving parents, and a great big brother. There was absolutely no abuse in my household. I was smart and graduated from New York City University with a double major in Accounting and Art History.” The crowd sort of murmured at that statement. “Yeah, I get that a lot.” Cori joked.
“One time when I was home from college, I went out with a guy from my high school class to a dance. I fell in love with him that weekend and we had a long distance romance. He was in California going to school and I was in New York. We graduated the same year and eloped within a few days. See, he had just received a spot as a professional football player in another town so we didn’t have time for a big wedding. I was so in love and I thought we were going to have an idyllic life. My idyllic life lasted four hours and about ten minutes. That was the length of time from when the minister pronounced us man and wife to the first time he backhanded me across the cheek.”
“Now those who are guests tonight and not victims will ask the question, why didn’t I leave right away? But those of you who are victims will know the answer. He apologized and swore it would never happen again.” Cori paused to take a drink and a deep breath.
“My new husband and I moved to that town where he had a contract to play professional football. He soon became a huge hit in that town while I hid in our house and was isolated from everyone. How often was the abuse? Often. Does it really matter the frequency? Not really.”
“I tried to leave but he would find me and bring me back home. I tried to go to the police but he was famous and no one believed he was capable of abusing his wife. If he broke a bone, he didn’t care. See my hand?” She asked holding up her right hand. “I went three weeks after he smashed it before I was allowed to go to the doctor. By that time, all the doctor could do was make it work this much.” She said closing her hand part way. “Again, those of you who are guests are asking yourself, why didn’t the doctor report it? Well, the doctor I was allowed to see was the football team’s doctor and since he was the one who was also feeding my husband the performance enhancing steroids illegally, he didn’t care how my hand got broken.”