Until Forever (Women of Prayer) (25 page)

Olivia was so excited when the bus pulled up. “Mommy, here it comes.” Olivia looked so cute with her backpack and her new dress on. She was a beauty. It broke Jessi’s heart to see her getting so big. It seemed like only yesterday when the doctors handed her, her life preserver, a new life to be responsible for, to give new meaning to her life. Now this little girl was growing up. Where was her life source going to come from when she was gone? She thought of all the people in the world who were constantly wishing away their lives. Jessi had learned long ago to live every moment to its fullest. Unfortunately, she was only starting to put it into practice.

Olivia waved as she got on the bus. “Bye, Mom. See you later.”

Jessi waved back. “Bye, sweetheart. I love you. Have a good day.”

After the bus pulled away from the driveway, Jessi drove to work, her thoughts returning to her conversation with Mark. Why did her thoughts often drift toward her ex-husband? What was she doing? She wasn’t ready to completely forgive him for his actions. Why was she wondering about how his day was going and what he was doing? She knew he had a meeting with his new parole officer today, and she found herself actually hoping it would go well. This wasn’t happening. She turned on the radio to drown out her thoughts.

***

Olivia loved her class. She loved her teacher. She loved the bird. And she especially loved her new best friend, Samantha, Sam for short. Sam sat next to her at the table they shared. Their cubbies were right next to each other too. Olivia was so glad to have a best friend. This was the best year of her life. She’d always wanted a dad, now she had one; and she always wanted a best friend, now she had that too. School was going to be wonderful.

When she got off the bus that afternoon, Mrs. Richards, the lady who owned the farm, was waiting for her. After talking with her mom on the phone she had a snack and helped Mrs. Richards with the horses. Her days were planned for the next nine months—school and then work with the horses. To her it was the perfect afternoon. She loved feeding the horses and brushing them down. She had no fear, and sensing that, the horses were not at all skittish around her. It proved to be the perfect job for her. She even earned a little pocket change from Mrs. Richards, which she was going to save in secret to buy her mom and dad a Christmas gift all on her own.

***

The first week of school flew by, and before they knew it, it was time for Jessi’s surprise birthday party. When Olivia and Jessi arrived on Saturday, Jessi thought she was just dropping Olivia off to spend the afternoon with her dad so Jessi could have some time to shop for scrapbook supplies. Mark met them in the driveway. Olivia got out of the car. Her eyes begged her father to do something. Mark gave Olivia a quick smile and a nod of the head. He bent down to the driver’s side window. “Hey, Jessi, how are you?”

“Doing good. I’m just going to run to Janesville to get a few supplies. I shouldn’t be more than a couple of hours.”

“You haven’t seen the house yet, have you? Julia wanted me to invite you in. She wants to show you around. It’ll just take a minute, and then you can get on your way.”

Jessi looked like she was about to decline.

“She’ll be heartbroken if you don’t come in. She doesn’t know anyone here except you and me and Olivia, and, well, I’m not exactly the decorator type, if you get my meaning. She needs a friend at the moment, a woman friend, who can give her some suggestions and ideas on decorating. Please, if you just take a minute it would mean the world to her.” He put on his best puppy dog eyes, hoping they would still work. “Please.”

“Oh, all right. I suppose a minute won’t hurt. Lead on.”

When they entered the house, both Olivia and Julia had hats on and started to blow horns. “Surprise” they yelled between horn-blowing. “Happy Birthday, Mom.” It didn’t take Jessi but a moment to figure out what was going on and that she’d been duped.

The afternoon turned out to be very pleasant for everyone. Mark grilled the burgers while Julia got out the salads she had prepared. Jessi commented on the house while Julia was setting the table. “The house has turned out great, Julia. You have a knack for decorating, and I love the furniture. Have you decided if you are going to buy the house?”

“The inspector is coming next week. I want to have first dibs on the place since I’m already moved in and getting settled. I wouldn’t want to have to move right away if it turns out to be a great buy and a good house to boot. I guess I’m just waiting to make sure there are no surprises in store for me, like termites or carpenter ants or something like that. If there are no major expenses involved, then I’ll probably put in an offer. I really do like the place. It would be a little big for just me, but with Mark here too it seems to be just perfect. We each have our own space, so we’re not tripping over each other. Things are working out all around.”

“I’m happy for you. I think you’ll like it here. I’ve enjoyed the change in the seasons so much since coming to Wisconsin, and I can’t say I miss the red dirt back in Oklahoma. The ground is so fertile here for gardening. Aunt Merry will love it. She works so hard at maintaining her garden back home. She’s always had to add to the dirt to make it suitable for growing. What plans do you have to keep you busy?”

“I’ve given that some thought as well. I don’t have the friendships here like I did back in Oklahoma, so I’m going to have to find a way to keep busy and make some new friends. There’s an opening at church for a secretarial position. I’ve been thinking about applying for it. It would give me a little extra spending money and keep me from getting bored. I’m not sure if they will consider me since I’m so new to the church, but it’s worth giving it a try. I guess we’ll see. I intend to ask for an application tomorrow when I run into Janesville. Here’s hoping.” She placed the last of the dishes on the table just as Mark and Olivia came in with the platter of burgers.

While they were eating Mark shared his news. “I got a job. I’ll be working with a drywall construction crew that’s based in Milton. The guy I will be working with even volunteered to pick me up until I’m able to drive. I start on Monday, and depending on the week I’ll either work Monday through Friday or Saturday, which means I won’t be missing church. I was so relieved when I got the phone. It seems there’s a shortage of guys who do that kind of work around here. It’ll be hard work, but it will be worth it.” Everyone, including Jessi, seemed genuinely pleased for him. He had been making phone calls and filling out as many applications as possible to try to find work.

They all had birthday cake and ice cream for dessert, and Jessi was embarrassed when they insisted on singing “Happy Birthday” to her. Lastly, she opened her gifts. Julia had bought her some scrapbook supplies, knowing she had nothing for the new hobby she was taking up; Olivia picked out a pretty scarf for her mother when she’d stopped at the store after church the week before. The final gift she opened was from Mark. She wasn’t sure what to expect. He’d never remembered her birthday when they were married. She carefully unwrapped the box. She pulled out the most beautiful music box she’d ever seen. It was in the shape of the two-story Victorian home she’d always dreamed of living in. Tears almost immediately filled her eyes. It was the most incredible gift she’d ever received. She wound up the box, and it played a song she remembered from her childhood, one that conjured up memories of home and family. She hummed along and sang the words as she remembered them.

If life were a song, I’d sing you a melody…hmm… If my heart were your home, I’d keep the fires burning…hmmm…

The song ended, and Jessi wiped the tears from her eyes. “Thank you, Mark. I will treasure this. It’s beautiful.” She wanted to ask him how he remembered, how he knew this song would touch her heart like it did, but it wasn’t the right time or place. She would save that for later and let the tears tell him how much his gift was appreciated.

Olivia fell asleep on the short drive home, and Jessi hated to wake her, so she carried her into her room and changed her into her jammies, as Olivia liked to call them. She tucked her into bed and went to turn out the light. She was almost to the door when Olivia opened her eyes. “Mommy.”

Jessi turned around and walked back to the bed. “I thought you were sleeping.”

“I was. I just wanted to know if we surprised you for your birthday. Did we? Were you happy?”

It had been a long time since Jessi had truly felt loved by another person. Her daughter’s devotion to her was so obvious she was barely able to contain her emotions. “I was very surprised. And you made me very happy. Was this all your idea?”

Olivia yawned. “I asked Aunt Julia and Daddy to help me surprise you. Even Aunt Merry helped us some on the telephone.” Olivia curled up and closed her eyes. “I’m so happy we surprised you, Mommy. I love you so much.”

Jessi tucked her in one more time. “I love you too, sweetheart. Good night.”

This time she made it out the door without any interruptions. She checked her answering machine, and after listening to Aunt Merry’s message, she returned her call. She told her aunt all about the party, even though she already knew the basics of it. When she mentioned her gifts she couldn’t help but tell her about Mark’s gift to her as well. She tried to play down the impact it had on her but didn’t really succeed. After Aunt Merry wished Jessi her own birthday blessings and they hung up, Aunt Merry went to bed happier than she had been in a long time. She had just had her first sign from God that everything was going to work out. She fell asleep whispering her thanks.

Chapter 28

Thanksgiving came in a hurry to Wisconsin, ushering in a blast of cold air. Everyone had been so busy with their lives, they barely saw it coming. Julia hosted and invited Jessi and Olivia, along with a few people she’d met from church. She’d made turkey and stuffing and all the trimmings. Jessi had pitched in with desserts, and Mark had provided all the drinks. It was a leisurely day of eating and watching football. Julia had started working at the church in the beginning of October and had met many super people. She’d met one man who had become of particular interest to her. He brought her a lovely bouquet of fall flowers as his contribution to the meal.

Jessi watched everyone as they enjoyed the day off from work and the regular routines in their lives. Olivia was keeping everyone entertained. She was going to be an angel in the Christmas play at church, and even Jessi had promised to be there to see her. Mark was lounging in the living room with a couple of guys, including the one who couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off Julia, cheering on one of the football teams. Under normal circumstances, she would have been right there enjoying the game too, but she had things on her mind. It was only a month until Christmas, and there was so much to do before then. Aunt Merry was flying in the week before Christmas, and she still had to finish those journals before she came. It just seemed as though with the Thanksgiving play at school and parent-teacher conferences, there was so little time for anything else. She’d been a little reluctant to continue reading them for fear of what she’d find. But she’d told Aunt Merry she would have them ready for her to take back when she returned home from her visit. She had no choice but to finish them.

Jessi went in the kitchen to help clean up and found Julia chatting with a couple ladies from their church.

Julia looked up from the dish she was drying. “Hey, Jessi, we pretty much have everything finished up here with the dishes. I stacked the salad plates on the kitchen table, so if you want to you can start setting out your pies. Laura brought a pecan pie as well, so I’m guessing with all you brought, we are going to have more than enough.”

“Dessert time. The guys have been in there voicing their protest at having to wait until the dishes are done before they get pie. This is bound to make them happy.”

She pulled out the two pumpkin pies, the apple, and the cherry pie she had made and set them on the table next to the pecan pie. They also had a double chocolate cake, banana pudding, and peanut butter cookies to munch on. The coffee was brewed and ready and the milk was on the table. All she needed was the whipped cream and ice cream. “I am so glad Thanksgiving only comes once a year. We have enough food to feed an army. If everyone is ready, I’ll call the guys in.”

The ladies started laughing but stepped out of the way regardless. Laura chimed in, “We wouldn’t want to be trampled in here, now would we? I mean it’s not like they are starving or anything, but how many times a year do you get pumpkin pie or pecan pie? They’re like little kids.”