Light in the Storm

“Next time Aunt Kathy can come here instead of you going there.” Allie laid the spoon on the counter.

Visions of Mae’s older sister living with them sent panic through Samuel. He started to say something about his eight-year-old daughter’s suggestion.

Aunt Mae’s blue eyes twinkled and two dimples appeared in her cheeks. “Oh, sugar, that probably wouldn’t be too good of an idea. She’s very set in her ways. Besides, she was bedridden for a week and couldn’t travel.”

“Well, we missed you.” Allie threw her arms around Aunt Mae.

The older woman brushed back the few strands of gray hair that had come loose from her bun, fighting tears that had suddenly filled her eyes. “I missed you all.”

“Is that coffee on the stove?” Samuel asked, feeling his own emotions close to the surface—which he attributed to his exhaustion. He walked to the counter where some cups were set out and retrieved one.

As Samuel poured his coffee, he corralled his emotions and shoved them to the dark recesses of his mind. Aunt Mae had been a lifesaver after his wife died. When she had arrived on his doorstep, their lives had been in total chaos. Ruth’s death had hit him so hard that it had taken him months to see how much his children needed him. Thankfully Aunt Mae had been around to ease their sorrow, because he hadn’t been able to—something he still felt guilty about.

“Was everything all right at school with Jane?” Aunt Mae asked, opening the refrigerator and taking out the ingredients for a salad.

“Allie!” Craig’s voice echoed through the house.

His youngest daughter jumped down from the chair, scooted it back toward the table, then darted out of the kitchen.

“No doubt she hid more than Craig’s Game Boy.” Samuel shook his head as he heard footsteps pounding up the stairs. “Jane’s having trouble in English. I’m going to check on Monday to see how she’s doing in her other classes.” He took a long sip of his coffee, relishing the hot drink after being out in the cold.

“She took her mother’s death harder than the other two.”

“She was really close to Ruth.” He drank some more to ease the constriction in his throat.

“Still, something else might be going on with her, Samuel. A good prayer might help.”

There was a time he had felt that way. Now he didn’t know if that would help his daughter. He kissed his aunt on the cheek. “You have good intuition. I’ll keep an eye on her.” Shouts from above drew Samuel’s attention. “I’d better go and referee those two.”

“Dinner will be ready in an hour.”

Samuel strode toward the stairs. He was the new minister of Sweetwater Community Church and he wasn’t even sure how effective prayer was. His house was still in chaos. He longed for the time he’d felt confident in the power of the Lord—before He had taken his wife and thrown his family into turmoil. He shouldn’t have taken this church assignment, but he was desperate. He wanted his old life back.

Beth took a paper cup filled with red fruit punch from the table next to the coffee urn, then backed off to allow the other parishioners to get their refreshments after the late service. Standing along the wall where all the congregation’s photos hung, she watched Samuel greet each person as they came into the rec hall. Her throat parched, she drank half the juice in several swallows. Over the past few days she had thought about the man more than she should. He and Jane had even plagued her dreams last night.

Jesse Blackburn approached with a cup of coffee. “So what do you think of our new minister?”

“Interesting sermon on redemption.”

“He’s a widower.”

“Yes, I know and, Jesse, don’t you get any ideas. As they say in the movies, I’m blowing this town come summer.”

Taking a sip of her coffee, Jesse stared at her over the rim of her cup. “You are?”

“Don’t act innocent. You know I’ve been planning this ever since Daniel decided to go to college.”

Jesse leaned back against the wall, a picture in nonchalance. “It seems I recall you saying something about a vacation.”

“It’s more than a vacation. In fact, you’ll have to do the annual Fourth of July auction this year, because I won’t be here.”

Her good friend splayed her hand across her chest. “You’re leaving me in charge?”

“Don’t sound so surprised. You and Darcy will do a great job.”

“It won’t be the same without you. You’ve been doing it for the past ten or so years.”

“And I have made very good notes for you to follow.” Beth finished her punch, then crushed the paper cup into a ball. Frustration churned in her, making her feel as though she should shed her skin. “I’ll help you until May. Then you’re on your own.”

“Boswell’s a great organizer. I’ll put him on it.” Jesse straightened away from the wall. “Give the poor man something to do.”

“How’s it feel to have your own butler?”

Jesse laughed. “A bit funny, but Boswell’s more like a member of the family than anything. Now, if I could just get him and Gramps to get along. Thank goodness Gramps married Susan Reed and lives at her place.” She drained her coffee. “Are you sure you don’t want me to have a little dinner party for the new reverend?”

“I think you should have a party.”

Jesse’s eyes widened. “You do?”

“To help introduce him to the whole congregation, not just the single women.” Beth scanned the room for the man under discussion. He stood a few feet from the door, dressed in a black suit that accorded a nice contrast to his blond hair. The intent expression on his face while listening to Tanya Bolton gave Beth the impression he was a good listener, which was probably beneficial considering the needs of the people in the church. “What makes you think he’s looking for a woman?”

“The romantic in me. I just hate seeing people alone.”

“Jesse, I’m not alone. I have three siblings—who I grant you don’t live with me anymore, but are still around. And I have my friends. Reverend Morgan has three children. And I met his aunt this morning in Sunday-school class. She lives with him. That certainly isn’t alone.”

“Boy, you need a man worse than I thought if you think children and an aunt are the same thing as a spouse.”

“What are you two conspiring about?” Darcy Markham paused next to Beth, her hand at the small of her back.

Relieved at her friend’s timely interruption, Beth smiled. “When are you going to have that baby?”

“I wish any minute, but the doctor says another month. Maybe I’ll have it on my anniversary. If this child is anything like my son, he will take his sweet time. I’m not sure who is more anxious, me or Joshua.”

“I sympathize with you two, but I’m glad it’s you and not me.” Beth’s gaze caught Reverend Morgan moving away from the door and making his rounds to the various groups in the room.

“Well, I should hope so. You aren’t married,” Jesse said with a laugh.

Heat singed Beth’s cheeks. “You know what I mean. I’m too old to have children. Besides, after raising my two brothers and sister, I’m through.” After she’d turned thirty-five with no prospect of a husband, she’d given up hope of having her own children.

“Too old!” Darcy shifted her stance, rubbing her back. “You’re only thirty-eight. Beth, if that’s too old, then Jesse and I don’t have long before we’re over the hill.”

“She’s gonna be too busy traveling. She’s leaving Sweetwater this summer and has informed me that we’ll have to be in charge of the annual auction.”

“Us?” Darcy pointed to her chest, then rested her hand on her stomach.

“Yes, you two. In fact, you and your husbands are invited to a party I’m having next weekend.”

“A party? Isn’t that Jesse’s domain? You don’t give parties.”

Beth narrowed her eyes on Darcy, pressing her lips together. She had always been so predictable. That was about to change. “I am now. It’s a celebration. I’m going to choose where I’m going this summer.”

“Choose?” Jesse’s brow furrowed.

“You two will just have to wait and see how. Can I count on you all coming to the celebration?”

Both Darcy and Jesse nodded their heads, big grins on their faces.

“Celebration?”

At the sound of the deep, gruff voice behind her, Beth blinked, then swallowed to coat her suddenly dry throat while the reverend stepped into view.

“I just wanted to thank you again, Beth, for rescuing Jane and me the other day.” Samuel Morgan extended his hand toward her.

She fitted hers within his and shook it, aware of the curiosity of her two friends. “It was nothing.”

Still holding her hand, Samuel smiled, the warmth in his expression reaching deep into his chocolate-colored eyes. “So what are you celebrating?”

Chapter Two

My great escape, Beth thought, but decided not to voice that answer. “This is the celebration I told you about. I’m planning a long vacation and having a party to celebrate the fact.”

“That’s as good a reason as any to have a celebration.” Samuel finally released his hold on her hand.

“You’re invited if you want to come. It’s next Saturday night at my house.” When Beth thought she saw hesitation in his eyes, she hastened to add, “It’ll be a good way for you to get to know some of the congregation in a less formal environment.” Now, why had she said that? That had always been Jesse’s role.

“Darcy and I will be there along with our husbands.” Jesse shot a look toward Darcy that conveyed a message that Beth couldn’t see. “I’ll volunteer to help you with the preparations, Beth, since giving dinner parties is my specialty.”

Beth knew she would have to put a stop to her friend’s matchmaking scheme that she could almost see percolating in her mind. She couldn’t very well exclude the reverend after he’d overheard their discussion of her celebration. Yeah, right.

“I can help, too,” Darcy said, rubbing her stomach. “We can meet at your house for our Saturday-morning get-together instead of at Alice’s Café.”

Beth forced a smile to her lips. “Thanks,” she murmured, again noticing a nonverbal exchange between Darcy and Jesse.

“Oh, I see Nick waving to me. Got to go.” Jesse hugged Beth and Darcy goodbye and hurried away.

“And I need to sit down. I’m going to find Joshua and a quiet corner to rest in.” Darcy kissed Beth on the cheek, then nodded toward Samuel before lumbering toward her husband, who was leaning against the piano.

That was the fastest getaway her two friends had ever made. Beth made a mental note to call them and set them straight the second she got home from church. She was not looking for a man. Didn’t they know she was the plain town spinster who was a good twenty or thirty pounds overweight?

“Since that just leaves you and me, can we talk a moment in private?”

You and me. Those simple words conjured up all kinds of visions that mocked her earlier words that she wasn’t looking to date. “Sure. Is something wrong?”

Samuel gestured toward an area away from the crowd in the rec hall, an alcove with a padded bench that offered them a more quiet environment. He sat, and waited for her to do the same. She stared at the small space that allowed only two people to sit comfortably—and the reverend was a large man who took up more than his half of the bench. While she debated whether to stand or sit, a perplexed expression descended on his face. If it hadn’t been for Jesse insisting on fixing her up with Samuel, she wouldn’t be undecided about something as simple as sitting and talking with him, she thought.

With a sigh she sat, her leg and arm brushing against his. Awareness—a sensation she didn’t deal with often—bolted through her. “What do you need to discuss?”

“Jane. She won’t let me help her with her homework.” He rubbed the palms of his hands together. “I’m at a loss as to what to do with her. Any suggestions?”

“Let me see how we do tomorrow when she stays after school. At the beginning of every year I give a learning-styles inventory to see how each student learns. I haven’t had a chance to give it to Jane yet, but I will this week. I’ll know more after that.”

“Learning styles?”

“Whether she’s a visual, auditory or kinesthetic learner. Then I can use that information to teach her the way she learns best.”

“I appreciate any help you can give me. I suspect tomorrow when I talk with her other teachers I’m going to find she hasn’t done any work for them, either.”

“You said she hasn’t taken her mother’s death well. Have you considered counseling?”

“Tried that, and she wouldn’t talk to a stranger. She just sat there, most of the time not saying a word.”

“How about someone she knows?”

“Aunt Mae has tried and Jane just clammed up.” He rubbed his thumb into his palm. “I’ve tried and haven’t done much better. Jane has always been an introvert. She doesn’t express her emotions much.”

“Let me see what I can do,” Beth said, knowing she didn’t have long before she would be gone. Four months might not be long enough to establish a relationship with the teenager and get her to open up about what was bothering her. She would encourage Jane to go to the school counselor. Zoey Witherspoon was very good at her job.

Samuel rose. “I appreciate any help,” he repeated. “I’m a desperate dad.”

“I hear that frequently. I teach fifteen-year-olds who have raging hormones. They fluctuate between being a child and an adult, from being dependent on their parents to being independent of them.”

“I was a teenager once, not that long ago, but frankly it didn’t prepare me for dealing with my daughter. I think I might have a better handle on Craig when he becomes a teenager.” He chuckled. “At least I hope so, since that’s only a year away.”

“I know what you mean. I raised two brothers and a sister. My sister was easier for me. I struggled with Daniel, my youngest brother. I’m surprised he made it through high school. He failed several subjects and had to go to school a semester longer than his classmates. I will say I saw him grow up a lot in the past six months. I think watching all his friends go off to college last summer while he had to return to high school sobered him and made him aware of some of the mistakes he’d made.”

Samuel placed a hand on her arm. “Thank you.”

The touch of his fingers seared her. She knew she was overreacting to the gesture, but she couldn’t stop her heart from pounding against her chest. She was afraid its loud thumping could be heard across the rec hall. Even before she’d begun raising her siblings she hadn’t dated much. She was plain and shy, not two aspects that drew scores of men.

“You’re welcome,” she finally answered, her lips, mouth and throat dry. And she had been the one to invite him to her party next Saturday night.

Jane slammed the book closed. “How are you supposed to look a word up in the dictionary when you don’t have any idea how to spell it?” She slouched back in her desk, defiance in her expression.

Beth glanced up from grading a paper. “What word?”

“Perspective.”

“How do you think you spell it?”

“I don’t know!” The girl’s frustration etched a deep frown into her features.

Beth rose and came around her desk to stand next to Jane’s. “What do you think it starts with?”

“I don’t—” Jane’s eyes narrowed, and she looked toward the window. “With a p.” Her gaze returned to Beth’s. “But there are thousands of words that start with p.”

“Let’s start with the first syllable. Per.”

“P-r—” Jane pinched her lips together, her brows slashing downward.

“Almost. It’s p-e-r. What do you think comes next? Perspective.”

Jane leaned forward, folding her arms over the dictionary. “At this rate I’ll get one paragraph written by this time tomorrow. What’s the use?”

“I have a dictionary of commonly misspelled words. I can lend it to you. It might help with some of the words. If it does, you can get your own copy. See if you can find it by looking up p-e-r-s-p.” Beth knew it would be a lot faster and easier on everyone if she spelled the word completely for Jane, but she wanted to see how the teenager did. She had a feeling a lot more was going on with the young woman. Not only did she have few word attack skills, but she read with difficulty.

Jane blew out a breath and flipped the dictionary open, thumbing through the pages until she found the p section. With only a handful of selections to choose from, Jane pointed and said, “There.” She pushed the dictionary to the side and wrote down the word, grumbling about the time it had taken to find it.

Beth made her way back to her desk. Jane had been struggling with the writing assignment for an hour. The past few days working with her after school had sent red flags waving concerning Jane’s academic ability. Beth decided that when Samuel came to pick up his daughter she would have a talk with him about Jane.

Not ten minutes later Beth knew the instant Samuel appeared in the doorway. As though she had a sixth sense when it came to the man, she looked up to find him smiling at her from across the room. A dimple appeared in his left cheek, drawing Beth’s attention.

The second Jane saw him she finished the sentence she had been writing and gathered up her papers. She started to slide from the desk.

“Are you through, Jane?” Samuel asked, entering.

His presence seemed to shrink the large classroom to the size of a small closet, and for the life of her, Beth couldn’t understand why her pulse began to race. She suddenly worried that she looked as if she had spent the whole day in front of 150 students trying to inspire them to love literature—which she had. She felt even plainer, and wheeled her chair closer to her desk to shield her rather drab dress of gray cotton that didn’t quite hide her extra pounds. Maybe she should buy a few new outfits, more updated with some splashes of color, she thought.

“Yes.” Jane rose and brought the paper to Beth’s desk. After plopping it down, she headed for the door. “I’m getting a drink of water and going to my locker.”

The tension that churned the air left with Jane. Samuel watched his daughter disappear through the doorway before he turned toward Beth with one brow arched.

“This writing assignment was very difficult for her.” Beth picked up Jane’s paper and skimmed it. “And from the looks of it, she doesn’t have a firm background in grammar, punctuation and spelling. Her thoughts on the subject are good ones, but she has a hard time getting them down on paper.”

Samuel covered the distance between them and hovered in front of Beth’s desk—way too close for her peace of mind. The dimple in his left cheek vanished as he frowned.

“What are you telling me?” He took Jane’s paper and began to read.

“I think Jane needs to be tested to see if she has a learning disability.”

His head shot up, his gaze riveted to hers. “A learning disability!”

“A learning disability doesn’t mean that Jane isn’t smart. People with normal, even high, IQs can have a learning disability that hinders them learning what they need to know. How’s she doing in her other classes?”

“Not well except for geometry. She’s got an A in that class. That and advanced drawing.”

“Is she doing the work for the other teachers?”

“No. The same as yours. I’m trying to help her every night. She can’t do anything until she gets her homework done, which basically takes her the whole evening. The Morgan household has not been a fun one this past week. I feel more like a drill sergeant than a father.”

Disregarding how she imagined she looked, Beth stood, feeling at a disadvantage sitting behind her desk. She came around beside Samuel, wanting to help, to comfort. “I think she struggles with the reading part. When I gave her the learning-styles inventory, she tested almost completely a visual learner. So much of the work in high school is from lectures. I’m not sure she’s getting it. Her auditory skills seem to be weak.”

“Then what do I need to do?”

“Sign permission for her to be tested. I’ll refer her and our school psychologist will contact you.”

“I don’t know how well Jane will take this.”

Beth touched his arm, the urge to comfort growing stronger the longer she was around this man. There was something about him that conveyed a troubled soul, and she had never been able to turn away from someone in need. “This can all be handled without the other students knowing.”

“I don’t have a choice.”

As his gaze locked with hers, Beth forgot where she was for a moment. Finally when she shook off the effect he had on her senses, she said, “You always have a choice. But if she’s having trouble reading it’s better to know now than later.”

“You don’t think it’s normal teenage rebellion?”

“No. I think she’s using her defiant attitude as a way to cover up not knowing.”

“Then refer her.”

“Do you want me to talk to Jane about what I’m doing?”

“No, that’s my job. I’ll talk with her on the way home. I don’t want her to be surprised.”

“I’ll be glad to help any way I can.”

Again his gaze snared hers, drawing her in. “You’ve already done so much.”

“Dad, aren’t you coming?” Framed in the doorway, Jane slung her backpack over her left shoulder.

“Yes. I’ll be by this time tomorrow to pick her up.”

Samuel left the classroom, with his daughter walking ahead of him at a fast clip. When he stepped outside, the brisk winter air blasted him in the face. Snow still blanketed the ground, but the roads had been cleared. He found his daughter in the passenger seat of his Ford Mustang, her eyes closed, her head resting against the cushion. For a few seconds he took in her calm expression, which of late was rare, and regretted the conversation to come. But Jane needed to know what was going to happen.

Samuel started the car and drove out of the school parking lot. Lord, I know I haven’t visited with You as I should. But I need help with Jane. Please help me to find the right words to explain about the testing. Please help me to understand what is happening with my daughter.

“What were you and Miss Coleman talking about?” Jane sat up, watching the landscape out the side window.

He took a deep, composing breath. “She wants to refer you for testing and I told her to go ahead.”

Jane twisted toward him. “Testing? What kind?”

“She thinks you’re struggling to read and that you might have a learning disability.”

“I’m not dumb!”

“She didn’t say that and I’m not, either. Your A in geometry proves that. But something’s going on, Jane. Don’t you want to find out what it is?”

“I’m not dumb!” Tears glistened in his daughter’s eyes.

Shaken by the sight of her tears, Samuel parked his car in his driveway. Jane rarely cried. He started to reach for her to comfort her, but she glared at him. Swiping the back of her hand across her cheeks, she shoved the door open, bolted from the car and ran toward the house.

He gripped the steering wheel and let his head sag until it touched the cold plastic. He hadn’t handled that well. Like everything else the past few years, he was fumbling to find the correct path. He felt as though he were lost in the desert, wandering around trying to find the promised land.

“I’m so glad you could come a little early.” Beth held open the door and stepped to the side to allow Jesse into her house.

“Am I imagining things or was that panic in your voice a little while ago?” Jesse asked, following her through the living room into the dining room.

“You know I don’t entertain much. I don’t even know why I decided to have this party. I’ve got the house clean. That was easy. But do I have enough food for everyone?” Beth gestured toward the table that could seat eight if the leaf was in it, which it was.

Jesse’s eyes grew round. “What color is the tablecloth? I can’t tell. You’ve got so much food on it.”

“Are you trying to tell me I overdid it?”

“How many people did you invite? The whole congregation plus the staff you work with?”