On Sunday afternoon, Jed took Grandma to Wilma’s Kitchen for lunch so she could satisfy her fried catfish cravings.
She moved her napkin aside and then repositioned her silverware on it. “I sure wish Paige and her mama could’ve joined us.”
He focused on his menu, even though he knew every item Wilma served by heart.
She moved her place setting aside and leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. “What’s going on with you two?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t go all tight-lipped on me, Jed.”
He raised his menu a notch and skimmed the page, without seeing any of it. Most likely he’d get the three-cheese sundried-tomato omelet.
“You two been down this road once already,” she said. “Time to start doing things different, if you ask me. That girl’s worth hanging on to. She’s stubborn as all get out, sure. Got a feisty side. But she’s got a good heart, and she loves you something fierce.”
“That might not be enough.”
“Love’s always enough. And it always hopes, always trusts and always perseveres.”
Her gaze locked on something past his left shoulder, and her eyes rounded.
“What is it?” He followed her line of vision to the mounted television set, to see police lead his father away in handcuffs. The caption read Owner of Gilbertson Law Firm Arrested for Fraud. Jed blinked. This couldn’t be real.
He continued watching as an officer guided his father into the back of a police car.
This had to be a mistake. False accusations made by a disgruntled client. He grabbed his phone off the table and saw Grandma doing the same thing. He tried his dad, but got his voice mail.
Grandma held a hand to her throat. “This is your mother. I... Call me.”
On Monday morning, Paige took Ava for a walk around Mirror Lake, to catch a few quiet moments to think. As she pushed Ava’s stroller down the paved walkway, birds chirped, and an uncharacteristically cool breeze swept over them. Mom had been bugging her relentlessly about Jed, pestering her to not let outside obstacles stand in the way of their relationship.
But it wasn’t that easy. If she’d learned anything from her divorce, it was that marriage was hard. Those challenges one felt confident could be overcome could easily lead to giant, relationship-destroying cracks.
Seems to me, when you love someone, you got to hold on to them. Maybe if someone had told your father that, we’d still be together now.
She closed her eyes against the sting of tears as her mom’s statement replayed through her mind.
Maybe it was she, and not Jed, who resembled her father. Maybe this was something they could push through. Maybe, given time, conversation and prayer, his mother would change.
Was she shooting for perfection and, in the process, robbing herself of a second chance at love? Or was she being wise and protecting the both of them, as well as Ava, from greater heartache later?
Ducks had gathered close by. Paige stopped at a nearby bench to let Ava out of her stroller. “You want to see the duckies?”
Ava laughed and stomped her feet.
“Go ahead.” Whenever the birds gathered too close, Ava grew nervous, so Paige shooed them away. But then Ava would try to approach them once again. Eventually, she grew bored or tired and started gathering acorns. Paige would allow this so long as she didn’t try to eat them.
Mom used to bring Paige and her sister here often for picnics to watch for turtles and frogs in and around the lake. Then, years later, Paige brought Jed here so they could experience it together.
One time he’d brought his fishing pole with him. He’d showed her how to hold the pole and then had wrapped his arms around her as she tried to reel in an incredibly stubborn shoe in the water. They’d laughed pretty hard about that one. In the end, they’d caught little more than minnows, and Paige had gotten a slight sunburn.
What an amazing day that had been. That was when she’d known for certain she was in love, that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Jed Gilbertson. But then Dad had left, Mom had withdrawn and everything had started to change.
Her phone rang, and she glanced at the screen. Held her breath.
Ardell.
She gave her nerves a moment to settle, lest her voice come out squeaky, and then answered. “Hello, this is Paige.” As if she didn’t know who was calling, but best to sound ultraprofessional.
“This is Ardell Dannheim. How are you?”
“Well, thank you.” How much small talk would she have to endure before they reached the reason for her call? There were only two possibilities—she was letting Paige know if she’d gotten the job or not. “How are you?”
“Running against the clock, as always.” Classical music played in the background. “I’d like to continue the conversation we had during the conference. As I mentioned, I’ve taken a new position with a new magazine, and I’m in the process of building a quality writing team to help us launch a sister publication.”
“Windy City Whimsy?” A magazine catering to those who enjoyed following sophisticated and trendy fashions.
“Sounds like you’ve done your homework. Of course, this will take a great deal of time and planning to get off the ground.” Clicking sounded on the other end, like that of fingers on a keyboard. “I need writers with initiative, who require minimal oversight, and whom I can trust to get the job done. I know your perseverance and work ethic.” She paused. “Do you want to join my team?”
This was what she’d hoped for, but it still hit her as a shock.
The position was open but not solid. What if that sister publication failed? Would she be out of a job once again?
Lord, what should I do?
The moment she started to pray, a deep peace, mixed with longing, filled her. Like how she used to feel, sitting in church, before anger and fear had pulled her away. And yet God had remained, and had been calling her back to Him.
Was that what this was all about—her job loss, moving back to Sage Creek, reconnecting with Mrs. Tappen? And to help her mom and give sweet Ava more time with her grandmother. Seemed a lot of good was coming from what she originally saw as only hard.
Her thoughts jerked to Jed, squelching her reply. He loved her. Deeply.
And she loved him.
Enough to stay?
Yes. But did they both love each other enough to hold tightly through the hard, the painful and the unexpected?
“As you know, I love the fashion world. And this sounds like an exciting opportunity. When were you thinking you’d like me to start?”
“I imagine you’ll need time to relocate and clear your responsibilities. But we have an important feature I’d love to assign to you. Could you start in two weeks?”
In case she needed to give her current employer notice. As if she’d found another job. With her script written, she didn’t have much else holding her here.
Except Mom.
And Mrs. Tappen.
And the man who had captured her heart.
If she left Sage Creek, her and Jed’s relationship would be over for sure. “Would I have the same salary I left with?”
Another pause. “I will send you a package with all of the particulars, via email. Read it over. Then we can set up a follow-up time to discuss it in detail.”
“That sounds perfect.” She ended the call feeling more unsettled than ever. If this was the right opportunity for her, shouldn’t she feel peace?
When Paige returned home, she found Mom and Mrs. Tappen talking in the yard and Jed heading to his truck. When his gaze met hers, he halted, and something in his eyes—confusion? Sorrow? Defeat?—gave her pause. For a moment, she thought he was going to approach her, and she held her breath. But then, with slumped shoulders, he got into his truck and drove away.
She knew Jed well enough to know something had happened. With the theater? She hoped not, not with all of the money he’d put into that place, and with the reopening less than a week away. Should she call him, see if he wanted to talk things out or leave him be?
She watched until his truck drove away, and then she joined Mom and Mrs. Tappen.
She caught the tail end of their conversation. “I’ve always known something wasn’t right.” Mrs. Tappen tugged on the end of her braid. “Haven’t I been saying that for a while now?”
Mom nodded. “Still, it’s hard to believe your son-in-law would be caught up in something like that. I mean, I heard rumors they were having money problems, but two million dollars?” Mom shook her head. “What in the world did he do with it all?”
“From the sounds of it, he’d landed himself in a good deal of debt. Bad investments ate through his assets, but instead of acknowledging that and adjusting their lifestyle accordingly, he lived off credit cards.”
“Now I understand why he and your daughter didn’t help with the theater—financially, I mean.”
“Because they didn’t have the funds. Only, he couldn’t admit that.”
Paige looked between them. “What are you two talking about?”
They glanced her way, as if surprised to see her standing there.
Mrs. Tappen stared at her for a long time and then threw her hands up. “Might as well tell you, as you’ll find out soon enough, considering it’s been splattered across the news.”
She went on to tell Paige about the fraud charges that had been filed against Jed’s father. “If he was hurting for money that bad, he should’ve sold his land and all his horses.”
“But,” Mom said, “that’d mean admitting he’d cost his family a fortune.”
Poor Jed. She needed to go to him. To talk to him. To be there for him, like she wished he’d been there for her. Like maybe he would’ve been, had she let him.