“Wow. Good. Where?”
“It’s out by us. Closer to her job. Nice little complex. Greg and I went out there with her last night.”
“No more cook?” Shani whined on Terry’s behalf.
“Oh, it’ll be fine. Lean Cuisine and Domino’s have always been there for me when I need them.” They rocked in relative silence for a minute. “She’s moving in today. Greg and I are going over to help after church.”
“I can’t wait to see the place.”
“You should follow us over.”
Dave and the little munchkin, Franny Andrews, were waiting for Shani at the door to the nursery after the service. Shani and Terry were among the last children’s workers to leave, waiting for the last of the parents to claim their offspring.
“Mommy!” Franny shouted from her perch on Dave’s shoulders, stretching both arms in Shani’s direction. Dave and Shani traded loads.
“Hi, Sweetie. Did Mr. Dave pick you up from Sunday School today?” Shani said as she squeezed her daughter with a snuggly hug. “Hey, Terry told me Dawn’s moving into her own place today. Wanna go help?”
“Do I want to go help someone move. Hmm. Let me think about that one for a minute.” The look on Dave’s face said no way, but he played along. “First floor or second floor?”
“I don’t know.”
“Refrigerator or no refrigerator?”
“Not sure.”
“Grand piano?”
“Dave.”
“I’m kidding. Sure. Franny and I will help, won’t we Franny?” Dave said, nosing the shoulder of the oblivious little girl playing with her mothers hair.
The couples met in the parking lot and played follow the leader out to Madras. Dawn was carrying a box up the walk to her first floor unit when they pulled into the parking lot. She saw them and turned around to meet them, setting the box on the hood of the Cavalier and wiping her forehead with a bandana.
“My first visitors! How exciting!” She yelled as they all disembarked.
Shani ran to where Dawn was standing and hugged her, “I’m so excited! Aren’t you excited?!”
“I am.” She giggled like a girl that’s just been asked to her first dance. This was a major step for her, none of them realized quite how big it really was. “It’s small. But I really like it. C’mon!”
Dave carried Franny while Greg retrieved the box from the Cavalier, and they walked the concrete path to building B. Dawn was in #10 - a first floor unit, Dave was pleased to see.
“Welcome to my new home,” Dawn said as she stepped aside and let her guests enter.
“Oh, this is nice,” Shani said, looking at the new paint and carpet. “It looks brand new!”
After a quick walk-through, Terry began organizing the moving plan, first instructing the men to take Greg’s truck and bring the furniture from Dawn’s room. “We’ll unpack these boxes and have lunch ready by the time you get back. Dawn, is your room at our place ready to move?”
“All set. Sheets are off the bed, dresser is empty.”
Greg saluted his wife and the men headed out the door. They both got in the tacoma for the three mile drive to the Page home.
“Dawn’s a really great lady,” Greg said. “Hard life. I’m glad to see things are turning around for her - she deserves it.”
“Seems like she kind of breaks the stereotype, doesn’t she.” Dave said.
“In what sense?”
“I think most women, probably men too, would assume that everything is handed to her and that she just gets whatever and whoever she wants. Not the case though, I guess.”
“I don’t think anyones ever given her anything that didn’t have strings attached, except maybe us, and we haven’t done anything, really. I only know that when she lived across from us in the other apartments, she was going with a real loser. I was happy to help her get away from that clown,” Greg said. “But really, I think her looks just intimidate people, you know?”
“She doesn’t seem to intimidate your wife.”
“Nothing intimidates Terry.” The men shared a laugh as they backed into Greg’s driveway.
“How about you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re a single guy. You’ve got eyes. Yet, you don’t seem phased by her at all.”
“I don’t know if phased is the right word,” Dave said. “I don’t know if you could be in the same room with her and be unphased. But, I don’t know, it’s different for me now, I guess.”
“Meaning?”
“Well, this might sound crazy, but I think God might have pulled me up here, in part at least, to meet Shani Andrews. Does that sound weird?”
“Not at all.”
“I don’t know, it’s like she captured my heart - her and that little angel of hers - and I only have eyes for her. It’s hard to explain, because, trust me, that’s not my nature.”
“Have you been walking with the Lord very long, Dave?”
Dave thought a second before answering. “Actually, my relationship with God has been kind of like my relationship with 7-Eleven, I know it’s open all the time, so I just drop in when nothing else is open and pick up what I need. Pretty lame. But, just before I moved up here, we had a heart-to-heart, and I think He got me pretty much squared away.”
“Well, that’s what He does,” Greg said, backing the pickup into his driveway. “He gets your attention somehow, and then starts leading you into the life He’s always wanted for you. You know, if He created you, then He probably knows what is best for you. But if you never surrender, you’ll never know how great it can be.”
“I’m a slow study,” Dave replied as they walked back to Dawn’s room. “So, this is it?” he asked, looking at the room. There was a twin bed with a wooden headboard and footboard, an upright chest of drawers, a mismatched night stand, lamp and padded chair.
“This is it. Actually, this stuff is ours, but it’s no big deal. Terry’s giving it to her. I think Dawn brought the lamp.”
Dave looked at the lamp, it was one that might have appeared in a child’s room, pink with a little ballerina posing on one foot, arms making a circle, her fingers touching over her head. The shade was yellowed with age. “Looks like something special,” he said.
“Yeah, I tried to give her one I had out in the garage, more of a nice one, you know, but she wanted to use this one. I just keep my distance and let her and Terry deal with the girl-stuff.”
“Callous truck driver.”
“Something like that.”
“I’ve got an idea.” Dave pulled out his cell phone and dialed Shani. She picked up on the second ring.
“Hi.”
“How is it coming?” he said.
“Good. Hungry?”
“Getting there. Hey, I had an idea I wanted to run past you.”
“Okay.”
“We’re over at Greg’s, and I guess they’re giving Dawn a bedroom set they’re not using, and that’s pretty much all she’ll have for a while.”
“I gathered the same thing,” Shani said, shielding the topic of conversation from the other ladies in the room.
“I was thinking, I have some extra money, and I thought, you know, if it wouldn’t come across wrong, especially to you, what you thought about getting her a gift certificate from IKEA or something. It would be from all of us, you know, I don’t want it to look weird or anything. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”
“You are so sweet. I think it’s a great idea.”
“You won’t take it the wrong way? We’re good?”
“Really. It’s good. It’s a good thing.”
“You approve?”
“I approve.”
“We’ll be back soon, then.”
“Bye,” she said. Terry and Dawn were trying to ignore the conversation, but couldn’t help overhearing. Terry was direct.
“What are those guys cooking up?”
“They had an idea they wanted to float.”
“
Uh-oh.”
“I think it’ll be okay. They’re on their way back.”
“Let’s order Chinese,” Terry suggested. “My treat.”
The guys arrived about five minutes after the food.
“What’ll it be, eat then work?” Terry said.
“Sounds good. Come here for a second, Terr,” Greg said, motioning his wife outside.
“Listen, Dave had an idea to bless Dawn with a gift certificate, that’s why he called Shani. Didn’t want it to seem weird in any way. He paid for it, but he wants it to be from all of us. Said we contributed by providing a place for her when she really needed it. Sound okay?”
“Sounds great. So did you bring the stuff from our place?” she said.
“No. I don’t know how much the gift certificate is for, but he said it should take care of the basics.”
“This could be fun,” Terry smiled, her eyebrows darting upward briefly. The meal was served with paper plates, chopsticks and plastic forks. Cans of Coke and Dr. Pepper were set out on the counter.
“Lord, we thank you for this meal, and we thank you for this new apartment,” Dave prayed out loud for the group. “We dedicate this place to You, and ask that it will be a safe, blessed home for our friend, Dawn. Please bless her with the desires of her heart. Amen.”
Terry began breaking open take-out boxes, releasing the aroma of moo-shoo pork and sweet and sour chicken. Dave had passed the envelope containing the gift certificate to
Shani who made the presentation after everyone was seated on the floor around the living room and mostly finished with their lunch.
“Dawn, we know how excited you are to have your own place. We’re excited, too, and, as a little gesture of love and friendship, we wanted our housewarming present to be something practical that would be a blessing to you. Something that will help you make the apartment a home. I didn’t really practice that speech enough.” The others offered light applause as she handed Dawn the envelope.
“What is... you guys didn’t have to do anything,” she said. Dawn didn’t receive many gifts. Catcalls and sleazy offers were about all she was accustomed to.
“I know, we shouldn’t have, blah, blah, blah. Just open the envelope,” Greg said.
“Mr. Sentimental,” Terry said, elbowing her husband.
“What?” he smiled, doubling over from the rib-shot.
“Okay.” Dawn set her plate on the floor and opened the envelope. She took out the gift certificate, and her mouth dropped open. She couldn’t speak. The others, with the exception of Dave Bean, didn’t know the amount. They were just playing along with Dave’s scheme. Finally Dawn composed words into a question, “Two thousand dollars?”
Greg, Terry and Shani shielded their surprise. Terry and Shani looked at each other, eyes wide open and said nearly in unison, “Let’s go shopping!” All the girls screamed with delight. Dawn got to her feet and went around the circle hugging and thanking each person, tears of happiness streaming down her face, which, the others noticed, was even prettier, if that were possible, when she was truly happy.
“Greg, we’re taking the truck,” Terry announced as the ladies had suddenly lost their appetites. “You guys clean this up and entertain yourselves, but don’t go far. We’re going to need some serious furniture assembly when we get back.”
“I’ve got the munchkin,” Dave said, as Shani bent down to kiss him and whisper “Thank you” in his ear.
The ladies piled onto the bench seat of the Toyota and took off like they were on a mission from God.
Chapter 40
Monday morning Dawn woke up in her new IKEA bed, threw off her new IKEA comforter, dried herself after her shower with her new IKEA bath towel and ate a bowl of cereal from a new IKEA bowl, seated at her new IKEA table and chairs. She still couldn’t quite believe it as she looked around the apartment. It looked like the “after” picture on the home shows she loved. Matching sofa and chair, coffee table and bookcase, even a nice mirror and some framed art. She sighed with gratitude. At 5:45 a.m., she proudly exited her apartment, carefully locking the door, and walked on air to the parking lot to drive to work. She was so happy and so thankful for her friends. She couldn’t think of any time in her life when things had been this good. Something caught her peripheral vision that didn’t quite register immediately, then, when she pulled out of the stall and started toward the exit, it clicked, and she checked her rearview mirror. Looking back into the parking area she thought, “One of my neighbors must have a car just like Pastor Enright’s.”
Chapter 41
Madison watched as Dawn exited building B, apartment #10. From where he parked, he could see she was dressed for work. Even in her loose-fitting black slacks and white top, there was no denying what must lie beneath as her clothes pulled tight in all the right places. She never looked his way as she walked to her car and left the parking lot. He sat very still for a few minutes, eyes seeming to study the door of her apartment from his parking space, 100 feet away. He slowly pulled out of the lot and debated about stopping for coffee at her Starbucks. He decided against it. Instead, he drove back to Almond Grove and took his laptop into his regular morning coffee house, logging on at about 6:40 a.m.
“Anybody there?” he typed in a new message to jturnbull, clicking ‘send’ and sitting back to nibble on a plain bagel.
“Hey, it’s been over a week. Thought you dropped off the edge of the earth or something,” came the reply in a few minutes.
“That’s right, I forgot Texans still think the earth is flat,” he smiled. ‘Send.’
Her reply came quickly. “So why the silence? I’m not high maintenance, but I am human. Need to know if we’re still... friends.”
“Sorry.” He didn’t know how to explain his mixed emotions. The weekend had been so powerful, his public commitment to Jill such a meaningful experience between the two of them, he had been thinking only of her, of their marriage and family. He thought it best to keep the little dark closet in his mind shut and locked. It wasn’t until late last night that he realized that he could do both, have it ‘both ways’ so to speak. He assured his conscience that, as long as he maintained physical fidelity, these other relational tangents were fine. Once he convinced himself of that, it was pretty easy to kiss his wife tenderly on the cheek at 5:30 a.m. and drive to Dawn’s apartment to see if he could catch a glimpse of her, then, as if he done it all his life, casually flirt over the Internet with his friend in Galveston. There was a little voice in his head that resolutely objected, but short of being struck by lightning, he convinced himself that God was actually blessing him for keeping a physical distance from other women and for keeping his marital vow to the wife of his youth. God’s blessing, as he saw it, was evident in the fruitfulness of the ministry.
“I’ve been busy. Gotta earn a living.” ‘Send.’
It was five full minutes before his inbox chime rang. Her reply included an attachment. “Hmm... Well, I thought you might like a little something to remember me by. Someone shot this last week when we were celebrating a friend’s birthday.”
Madison downloaded the attached jpg. It was a picture of Judy and a few other ladies at a restaurant bar. They were laughing, and the image caught Judy with her mouth open, ruby lips and bright white teeth exposed to the camera. Her chin was up, exposing her long, fair neck, one of her own hands was raised, her fingers spread, red nails contrasted against her milky white skin above her v-neck sweater. Her eyes were squinted shut from the laughter, while smoke from someone’s cigarette drifted subtly in front of her face, making her look dangerously like Marilyn Monroe. The likeness was eerie.
He breathlessly typed, “Wow.” ‘Send.’ It was all he could compose in response.
The reply came quicker this time. “So... when you coming back to Texas?”
“Hard to say.” Madison didn’t want to tell her he was scheduled back in February. Jill would be with him, “Never the twain shall meet” he thought to himself. He was satisfied with t
he current arrangement. “My last trip was kind of a one-time thing.” Send.
“I’m growing weary of Mr. Hard-to-Get,” her next message began. “Maybe I’ll come see you... Where would that be, by the way?”
“That probably wouldn’t work. I’ll make it back out there sometime. Promise.” ‘Send.’ He hoped that would keep her at bay, but he was enjoying the game.
The next reply read, simply, :(
“Gotta go. Thanks for the picture. Keep ‘em coming!” ‘Send.’ Madison signed off and deleted the email thread. He opened the jpg again and enlarged it to fit the screen. “Amazing,” he thought. Madison couldn’t bring himself to delete the photograph, though he knew he should. He filed it instead in a password-protected folder on his hard drive and checked its security twice to make sure it was safe. He felt a twinge of guilt, but it was easily overcome as he assured himself that he was well above impropriety and planning to spend the entire day with his lovely, pregnant bride and their squirrelly son. He may have had eyes for others, but his heart, he convinced himself, was resolutely at home.
Chapter 42
This was kind of fun, Judy thought, a flirty game of cat and mouse with a hunky married man whom she only knew by his first name. She, however, was a formidable sleuth. She always followed her email chats with Madison with a word-search for his name on the Internet. She had an old boyfriend that worked for a local weekly that she bribed with dinner, in a low-cut red sweater, to watch for anyone named Madison to turn up on the news wire services, and she watched the national newspapers. He was an executive of some kind, she surmised that, and he was probably from the West Coast, she guessed from his lack of regional accent, although that was a false indicator since people move around so much. So far, her daily search had unearthed nothing but bunny trails. There were thousands of Madison’s in the country, but none fit the description quite right.
Tuesday afternoon Jack from the Weekly sent her a text message. Bingo.
She called him immediately, “Jack, what do you have?”
“This actually came through a while ago, but I’ve been swamped,” he began. “I was lucky to find it.” She could hear the poor-me quality to his voice, which had always repelled her. Jack was constantly needing to be told how great he was. “Yuck,” she thought.
“You are a meticulous genius, Jack Stamp. Now, what did you find? I’m going to owe you big for this.”