Your favorite English teacher is a total basket case.”
Jenna’s words stopped Danny cold in his tracks in the doorway. His sister spoke toward the wall, her back to him, her teacher voice carrying easily backwards across the kitchen.
“Promise me, Cade?”
Cade. The name rooted Danny to the floor.
Jenna’s voice hushed, her good-bye lost to his hearing. He watched her hang up the phone and cross her arms on top of her head as if in exasperation.
He cleared his throat so as not to surprise her. “Jen.”
She turned. “You’re still here?”
“Seemed the thing to do with everyone being a little on edge.”
“Take me to the hospital?”
“No.”
“Didn’t think so.” She lowered her arms to the back of the chair and laid her chin on them.
He walked to the island and leaned against it. Jenna appeared even more vulnerable, in her crumpled sweats and disheveled hair, than she had in the bombed-out church. “How are you feeling?”
“So-so. I called the hospital but they wouldn’t tell me about Amber. I called Cade; he’d talked to her parents.”
She called the hospital first? That order of events helped, but not much. “And her parents said what?”
“No change. They say that’s good.” She sighed. “How was the hike to the gold mine?”
At her question, he felt it all again, all the discomfort he’d felt earlier on the dusty trail and inside the damp tunnel. It was an empathetic fear for his mom, Lexi, Nana, and Papa. “I don’t know how they did it the night of the fire.”
“Oh, Danny, there’s just too much going on. I feel like the world is crumbling all around us.”
“Where does Cade fit in?”
She jerked upright. “What do you mean by that?”
“Come on, Jenna. You hang out with him at the beach. He spends the night with you at the hospital. First thing you wake up, you call him.”
Her face reddened. “I’ve worked with him for years. He’s our friend. Mine, Amber’s, and Kevin’s. He’s concerned about all of us.”
“‘Your favorite English teacher’?” He heard the harshness in his mocking tone but couldn’t let it go.
“It’s a joke.”
“The flirting kind.”
Jenna stood abruptly and walked by him. “I expected more from you, not this stupid judgmental attitude insinuating that somehow I’m disloyal to Kevin. You’re the only one who hates this war as much as I do. You should understand.”
He followed her with his eyes to the doorway.
She stopped and turned. “I’m getting one of those bumper stickers that says ‘Marine Wife’ and I’m going to proudly display it on my car. If you make one snide remark, I swear I’ll stop talking to you.”
“Hey, if ‘Marine Wife’ means ‘Hands off this chick,’ go for it. Make sure what’s-his-face sees it.”
She puffed a noise of disgust.
They were badgering each other now exactly as they’d done all through childhood and adolescence. But Danny felt obligated to speak his mind. Who else would tell Jenna she was headed for major trouble? Her overly defensive tone confirmed his suspicions. Cade was clearly much more than friend and boss to her.
“‘Marine Wife’ means,” she said, tossing her hair like a prancing mare, “all that semper fi stuff. Fortitude. It means that my husband and I are in this together. That he has my full support. That I can take care of myself while he’s gone.”
“In other words, ‘Hands off.’ That’s good, Jen.”
“You are so full of yourself, Daniel.” She spun on her heel and walked out the door.
Jenna was a snot, so full of her—
His anger drained away. Jenna was so full of fear.
Why hadn’t he figured that out yet? He’d been preoccupied with praying for his brother-in-law’s safety, not grasping the fact that Jenna lived in a war zone too. Although different in nature, it was every bit as dangerous to her well-being as Kevin’s situation was to him.
Lord, I’m sorry. Forgive me for not listening to Jenna’s heart. Please keep Kevin and her safe. Draw her to Yourself. Help her to look to You for her peace and comfort. You alone and not what’s-his-face.
He should go after her. Apologize and tell her he understood.
Then again, maybe not.
On a good day Jenna was not very accepting of his faith and his attempts to incorporate it into everyday life. As a young girl she would ask him to pray about her piano recitals, but the request was similar to rubbing a rabbit’s foot for good luck.
That wasn’t his take on Christ. Yeah, He was there to help, but He also taught about turning from sin. Jenna never wanted to hear about that.
And, too, there was the real possibility that if he heard Jenna defend Cade Edmunds again, he would blow his cool to such a degree he’d push her over the edge. Asking her the tough questions was one thing, but losing rapport with her was not what he wanted.
Just like he didn’t want to lose the fragile rapport he had going with Skylar. He knew without a doubt that she’d run as fast as she could if he openly declared his thoughts. True, she reminded him less and less of his old friend Faith, and yet he couldn’t completely trust her—no matter how right that hug had felt last night.
Lord, I need some direction here. He’d prayed for Skylar as he did for Jenna, that God would give her faith to see Himself. It’s backfiring. The more I pray for her, the more she’s on my mind. And that’s a bit too much even for me to see You do.
He should go home, surf, clear his mind.
But the thought of being near Skylar was doing a number on him. Could be there weren’t enough waves to clear his mind of her—or to get a handle on his feelings.