Chapter Thirty-Nine

“You broke up with her?” Grady called over the noise of the chain saw.

Dodd didn’t like the accusing glare in his brother’s eyes, but he shut off the saw and shook his head.

“So Ruthie did the breaking up?”

“No, not really.” Dodd gathered an armful of logs from the ground around the dead oak tree in their backyard.

“Generally, it has to be one or the other, so if it’s all the same, I’ll blame you.”

“Whatever.”

Their mother shushed Grady as she followed Dodd to the El Camino parked in the alley behind the house. “Are you all right?”

“Just confused.” He neatly stacked the logs in the back of the car. “And stressed.”

“Ruthie’s bound to be upset too. When things settle down, the two of you can work it out.”

“I’m not sure there’s any way.”

She shook her head. “You have differences, but you’re good together.”

He wanted to believe that—he had believed it, had bet everything on the relationship—but now an overwhelming sense of emotional vertigo told him he had miscalculated the odds. “Her way of viewing life runs contradictory to mine.”

“Not surprising, considering your backgrounds.”

“But Ruthie expects the worst. Every time.”

His mother smiled. “And you expect the best. From all of us.”

Dodd settled on the tailgate and removed his gloves. “I know it’s crazy, but I thought Ruthie was special. You know …” He picked up a piece of bark and crumbled it. “Now I’m not sure either of us wants to make it work.”

“Don’t underestimate her.”

Grady approached with more wood. “Mom’s right. You never know what God has in mind.”

Dodd knew his family meant well, but they didn’t know Ruthie like he did. They didn’t understand her insecurity. She had forgiven Clyde for scaring her, but she might never forgive the church. Or the Blaylocks. And the root of her bitterness was her father. She hadn’t ever forgiven him for abandoning her.

From across the yard, the gate clinked, and Dodd’s hope plummeted even further as Charlie Mendoza came around the side of the house.

“I thought you might be back here. There was no answer at the front.”

Dodd rose, stuffing his feelings to the far back corner of his mind. “You’re just in time, Charlie.”

“Looks like I missed the worst of it. Mind if I help you wrap things up?”

All three Cunninghams knew exactly why Charlie was there, but they appreciated his offer to pile brush and load wood, not because they needed the help, but because it softened the blow he had been sent to deliver.

They worked alongside each other for an hour, talking about nothing in particular and cracking jokes. When the brush was piled in a mound in the middle of the yard, Dodd set fire to it, and the two men and Grady sat on stumps warming their hands while Milla excused herself to tend to dinner.

“I suspect you know why I’m here,” Charlie said.

Dodd picked up a stick and broke it in half. “You mean you didn’t come for the manual labor?”

“I wish that were it, son.”

The fire flickered as Dodd stared into it, and a surge of injustice swept through him, and with it a flash of cynicism. “There’s a lot happening in this little town, isn’t there?”

“Unfortunately, it seems to have started when your family arrived.”

“Not a coincidence, I suppose.”

Charlie peered at him. “I don’t take the situation lightly.”

“Neither do I.” Dodd tossed the stick into the fire. “Let’s get it over with, Charlie. Just give me the bottom line.”

The older man leaned his elbows on his knees. “There are three areas of discontent.” He removed his cap and held it with his fingertips, lending the lanky man an air of delicacy.

Dodd finished his thought. “Fawn’s baby, Clyde Felton, and the Turners.”

Charlie withered. “Are you proud of what’s happened?”

“No, I’m not, but I don’t see where my family has done anything to be ashamed of.” He waited until Charlie nodded. “Fawn made a mistake. She sinned, but my family had nothing to do with it.”

Charlie’s gaze flickered to Grady, then back. He said nothing.

Dodd studied his brother. “Is that baby yours?”

Grady ducked his head. “Of course not.”

Charlie’s gaze fell to Dodd, and his eyes held an apology. “Neil heard differently.”

“If Grady says it’s not his baby, it throws doubt over Neil’s accusation, but the fact Fawn says it’s not his baby blows the accusation out of the pond. After all, she should know.”

Charlie squirmed. “Well, what about Clyde Felton? Neil talked to you about that, yet you continue to socialize with him.”

“After the reception he received, I don’t think there’s any danger of him disrupting services again. Do you?”

Charlie frowned, but there was desperation in his voice. “Dodd, I don’t fully agree with the charges Neil brought against your family, but your attitude is wrong, brother.”

Dodd fingered the bark of the stump beneath him, recognizing bitterness in his heart. He sighed, wishing he could go in the house and lie down on the couch. “You’re right, Charlie. And for that I apologize.”

Charlie scratched his head, mussing his hair. “And then there’s Lynda Turner and her daughter. I know you want to do right by them, but until Lynda humbles herself and talks to us about what happened, our hands are tied.”

Dodd felt the urge to grasp his own forehead to keep it from exploding. His inability to do anything for Ruthie was driving him to madness. “But Lynda’s hurting, Charlie. I’m not sure she has the emotional strength to come to us, even if she wanted to. The only way we’ll ever reach her is through Ruthie.”

“Could be, but with the whirlwind we’ve got swirling around us now, we need to let things settle.”

“Let them settle?”

“Everything’s upside down. The congregation is upset, wanting to know what’s going on. They’re ruffled.”

“I find that encouraging.”

“But surely you can see how it would help if things slowed down a bit.”

Dodd gazed into the fire, remembering his conversation with Neil. The two men voiced similar words of wisdom. “Yes, I do see.” He turned his head toward Charlie. “But you didn’t come here to tell me to slow down.”

Charlie rubbed the side of his hand against his jeans. “No.”

“Before you ask me for a letter of resignation, can you do something for me?”

“Anything,” Charlie blurted, but then he caught himself. “I’ll … I’ll try.”

“Think about what’s happened the past few days, the past few months, and even years ago. Search your heart for the truth, and call on the Lord for His guidance.”

Charlie thought for several minutes before he said, “You’ve made a valid point. We need to slow down just as much as anyone, but in the meantime, I’ll get one of the men from the congregation to preach for you, and Lee Roy can teach your Bible class.” His gaze bounced to Grady, then back to Dodd. “But I ask you and your family to show respect in the meantime and avoid interaction with those we’ve discussed today. A two-week time-out would be healthy for everyone.”

Dodd glanced at the firewood in the back of the El Camino as a fresh wave of exasperation flooded over him. “We’ll do our best, Charlie. That’s all I can promise.”