Jericho (A Redemption Novel) (23 page)

CHAPTER 24

T
hey were all there. All her remaining siblings. She studied her brothers. Eli was the oldest. They were eight years apart. Not very close, but not very distant, either. He looked older, more distinguished. The hair at his temples was gray, even though he was in his early thirties.

Then there was Josiah. They were just four years apart. He looked exactly the same. Maybe a little more mature. He had always been kind to her, looked out for her. He was the quietest of them all and had tried to be close to their father after Abel died.

Gideon was the baby. He had crossed over from boyhood into manhood, but he still had his baby face. He had soft, smooth brown skin and curly eyelashes she used to be jealous of. She knew she shouldn’t have favorites, but she did. She had changed his diapers. She had been a second mama to him. He loved her, too, but he’d been just as silent. Just as absent as the rest of them the day her father had thrown her out.

Christian grabbed her hand and placed her behind him. It was almost an absentminded move. He was protecting her, but right now she didn’t think he could protect her from what was about to come.

Carolina came rushing toward Georgia and wrapped her arms around her. “I’m so sorry about this. I told them not to barge in on you. I tried, but they never listen to me.”

“It’s okay, honey.” She patted her sister’s back, knowing how the men in her family were.

She finally looked at her father. It had been so long since she had seen him. He didn’t look the same. He looked terrible. His hair had gone a ghastly white instead of the rich black she remembered. He had lost so much weight, his skin drooped. His eyes were glassy. He looked sick. He looked like some of the cancer patients she’d once had.

A little worry seeped into her, but she turned it off. He loved her rapist more than he had ever loved her and he’d gone out of his way to prove that to her.

“I’ll send them away right now, Georgia,” her husband said. “You let me know what you want me to do.”

She took his hand and locked her fingers with his. It was past time she faced them. But she was glad he was here. She didn’t think she could do it without him. “I’ll hear them out.”

“Georgia.” Eli stepped forward. “Your eyes are red. Are you okay?” He looked at Christian, and as if he had given a signal Josiah and Eli stepped up beside them. The three of them were acting like some kind of protective trio. “You can come with us if you need to.”

She laughed, some kind of crazy hysterical laughter bubbling up inside her. “My husband was away for a few days and I missed him. Were you going to protect me from him? Why start now? Where were you two years ago?”

“Georgia,” Josiah began but he stopped and looked thoroughly ashamed. “There are no words for what we let him do to you.”

“Which him?” Christian asked. “Your father or the friend you let rape her?”

“Listen here,” her father boomed. “I’m not going to let some stranger get involved in a family matter.”

“He’s not a stranger,” Georgia snapped, talking back to her father freely. As a child it was something she’d never had the freedom to do. “He’s my husband. Captain Christian Howard. He’s a marine, Daddy. I’ve done good for myself, even though you called me a whore and seductress. I married a good man even though you said no good man would have me.”

Her father sneered at her. At her home behind her. “You’re no child of God. Look at you. Your skin is exposed. You’re wearing pants that show off your body. You’re a heathen and I was right about you.”

“Get off my property.”

“No, Georgia. Wait.” Gideon stepped forward and reached for her hand. “I believed you. I heard you crying the night it happened. I know you didn’t lie. I know you wouldn’t. I just didn’t know what to do about it. I didn’t think he would throw you out. I should have stopped him, but I was too shocked and now I’m ashamed. I’m sorry.”

“I am, too,” Eli said. “I should have gone after you long ago. It was Carolina that made us see the way. We want you back in our lives.”

“It’s not that simple. I can’t forget.”

“And we’re not expecting you to forgive. We came here today to show him that he was wrong about you. He thinks Mama is here. I called her sister. She hasn’t heard from her. We’re worried, Georgia.”

A lead ball settled in her stomach. “Mama’s not at her sister’s?”

“No. You haven’t heard from her?”

“No. I haven’t. Have any of you? Have you called the police? She’s missing. You can’t just wait around here. You have to find her.”

“I want to search the house!” Abraham said. “I don’t believe her. She’s hiding her. She’s hiding my wife.”

Christian charged her father, but Georgia grabbed the back of his shirt and wrapped her arms around his middle, using all of her strength to keep him in his place.

“Don’t hurt him,” she begged. “Please.”

“He’s got no right coming here and demanding anything. I want them gone, Georgia. I want them all gone.”

“They’ll go. But let them search the house. He’ll never give up until he sees she’s not here.”

Christian looked at her for a long moment. “Are you sure?”

“I am. Let them see. Then they can go.”

* * *

Georgia led them all into the house, and Christian had never been so proud of her. She held her head up high in spite of the situation. He wasn’t sure he could have handled it the same way. In fact, he knew he couldn’t have.

Abraham Williams turned to his sons. “Gideon. Josiah,” he barked. “You search downstairs. Eli and I will search up.”

It was as though he was conducting a search for an escaped prisoner. And maybe he was. Christian was starting to get a real clear image of what it was like to grow up in Pastor Williams’s house. It wasn’t a house filled with love. It was a wonder how he could have produced a daughter like Georgia, who was so full of love. She loved him, she told him; she was in love with him. Hearing that, knowing of her love, made him feel as if he could do anything, survive anything.

Right now he felt as though he could kill for her. Her father, all three of her brothers. How easy it was for them to come back now. Now that he was there. Now that she was married and didn’t need them anymore. Where had they been two years ago? Two months ago? Anything could have happened to their sister. If she wasn’t so strong, so many bad things could have happened to her.

Abraham rushed his frail body up the stairs, Eli close behind. At least Eli had the good sense to look contrite. He looked at Christian with an apology in his eyes, but Christian ignored the look and followed the men upstairs. He didn’t take the same direction as they did once they reached the top. He went to his daughter’s room. To the other girl he had been missing so much for the past two days.

She popped her little head up at soon as his footsteps hit her floor. Her eyes widened in recognition.

“Da!” She stood, reaching for him.

How could he go back? Even when life was hard here, even when his problems seemed insurmountable, there was no way he could go back. Because she was one of the best parts of life. He scooped her out of her crib and she grabbed his face, giving him one of those wet baby kisses that made his heart thud in his chest.

“She missed you.” Georgia came up behind him and slid her hand up his back. “Every morning she asked for you, looking at me as if I wasn’t supposed to be there dressing her.”

“I missed her, too.” He kissed her hair. “Who knew the best part of my day would be dressing a baby girl?”

“Is she in here?” They heard Abraham’s voice, then his footsteps as he rushed into the bedroom.

He froze once he saw Abby.

“Father,” Eli asked softly. “What is it?”

Abraham ignored his son and walked closer to Abby. His glassy eyes took in all her features.

“Shit,” Eli swore. “Shit. I’m going to kill him.”

Christian knew what was going through their minds. Abby looked so much like her birth father. He had never seen the man, but their reactions confirmed it.

Abraham reached for Abby, his bony hand touching her cheek. “He lied to me,” he wheezed out. His breathing had become heavy. Sweat formed on his brow. “He lied.”

His hand went to his chest, a tortured look crossed his face and he fell to the floor.

“Daddy,” Georgia screamed. She reached for him, trying to stop his fall, but she couldn’t. So she knelt beside him, looking at her brother. “Find me some aspirin. Call 911. Go now!”

Carolina, Josiah and Gideon dashed into the room, but they froze when they saw their father on the floor. He looked like death. He should be dead, but Georgia, as though it was the most natural thing in the world, began CPR. The nurse in her took over and she looked like an angel trying to save the devil’s life.

“She should just let him die,” he heard Gideon say. “He doesn’t deserve to live after what he has done to us.”

Christian agreed, but Georgia didn’t. She didn’t stop trying to save the old man’s life.

CHAPTER 25

W
here was Mama?
Georgia stared out of the window as she sat in the waiting room with her siblings. Miles had come to be with Carolina, who was weeping in his arms. Gideon was sitting red eyed, as if he was holding back tears. Her other brothers were sitting stoically together, waiting for word from the doctor.

Georgia felt surprisingly blank. Maybe that wasn’t true. She was worried, but about her mother. She was so sure she had gone to her sister’s house. She’d said that she hoped to live there one day, on the ocean. It was her dream. Maybe she was there. Maybe her sister had lied to all of them because Mama needed a break.

However, there was a chance she hadn’t gone there, and it worried her. Where could she have gone? Her mother had never lived on her own. She had never taken care of herself. Georgia wondered if her fragile mother could.

A pair of lips brushed the back of her neck, and Georgia turned into her husband’s embrace. She had missed him to the point of pain these past two days. She knew he was going through a lot himself, that transitioning to civilian life was hard, but he was still there for her. Like a rock. He’d never wavered today when she needed him.

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?”

“I love you,” she told him.

“I don’t deserve you.” He rested his hand on her cheek and she snuggled into his chest. “You saved his life. You are better than me. You were better than what he deserved. I would have let him die.”

“You wouldn’t have. You’re noble. You wouldn’t have let him go without helping.”

“I’m glad you think better of me than I think of myself.”

“I always will. I think God made you just for me, Christian Howard. I was born to love you.”

He said nothing to that, but an odd look crossed his face. She knew it was hard for him to be loved. It was as though he didn’t trust it, he didn’t trust love.

He cupped her face in his hand and tilted her head back, pressing three slow, soft kisses to her mouth. “I called Alma. She said BB is fine and that they would be happy to keep her overnight if we need her to.”

“We need to get them something. They are so kind to us. I’m happy to have them.”

“What about them?” He motioned with his head, toward her siblings. “What are you going to do about them?”

“Love them. Let them back in. It won’t be easy, will it?”

“No, love.”

“But I have to. I have to do it for my soul to rest.”

“Mrs. Howard?” The doctor approached them, his face serious but unreadable, and she was brought back to the present. Her father had suffered a massive heart attack. He should have died.

“Yes?” She faced the doctor, suddenly feeling her knees go weak.

“He’s stable now, but we are going to have to keep him for a while. He’s going to need surgery. You can go in to see him, but only two at a time. He’s very weak.”

“I understand.”

“You saved his life. You should be very proud.”

She shook her head. “I’m a nurse. I didn’t do anything so special.”

Christian didn’t agree with her. She grabbed his hand, locking her fingers with his. “Come in with me. I want to see him and then go get my baby.”

They walked into his room and Georgia could barely see her father in the hospital bed. It was such a contrast to her memories of Christian in his bed. Her husband seemed bigger than life to her. Her father seemed as if he was shrinking away from it. His complexion had a yellowish tint, and his skin seemed to hang on his bones. He looked like an old man. She had never thought of him as old, but now she couldn’t deny that he was. He looked almost unrecognizable as the man she had grown up with.

“Daddy?”

He opened his eyes to look at her. It took a moment for him to focus on her face, but when he did he shook his head and turned away from her. Completely away. The message couldn’t have been clearer even if he had spoken it.

Out of all the things that had happened to her, this was the most painful. Even now, even after she had gotten on her knees and saved his life, he couldn’t look at her. He couldn’t admit he was wrong.

“Hateful bastard,” Christian spat. He didn’t give her the chance to be hurt anymore. He wrapped his arm around her, kissed her forehead and took her away from him.

She wouldn’t see her father again, she decided. She’d done all she could do.

* * *

“You look like you could use a drink,” Christian said to his wife when she walked out of their bathroom that evening.

“I could use two.”

Her hair was wet. Slicked down to the back of her head. The nightgown she wore stuck to her body, telling him that she had barely dried herself off after her bath. She had been absent all evening. Not physically. She hadn’t left his side since they’d gotten home, but mentally she was gone. Some painful place in her mind that he wished he could pull her out of.

Her father was a bastard. A shit. An asshole. He didn’t know what else to call him that could encompass all the hurt he’d caused. But what he did today, how he’d turned away from Georgia, was enough to make Christian want to kill a dying man.

“I could go out and get you something. Liquor stores close late.”

She gave him a sad smile and climbed into bed. “You know, I’ve never had a drink in my life. Maybe I shouldn’t start now when I’m feeling so...shitty.”

“I like it when my preacher’s daughter wife cusses.” He kissed her nose. “It does all kinds of things to me.”

“It’s the only way to describe how I feel.”

“I’m sorry.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly against him.

“Why did he have to do that?” she asked softly. “Why did he turn me away again?”

“I wish there was a reason, sweetheart. He’s just a bastard. He’s a mean old man.”

“He’s never loved me.”

“Georgia...” He didn’t know what to say to that. It couldn’t be true. Georgia was love. It would be impossible for him not to.

“He never even pretended to like me. He said I talked too much. He said I was too strong willed. I tried not to be. I tried to do everything to please him, but I couldn’t. Nothing was ever good enough.”

There were no words he could think of to make her feel better. Nothing he could say to take away her hurt. “They came today because they love you. Your siblings. You please me. You’re more good than I deserve. Don’t let him make you feel bad, Georgia. Don’t make him doubt how good you are.”

He felt the first spill of hot tears on his chest, then he heard the cry tear from her throat. He felt truly helpless. Worse than the first time he’d woken up after the blast. Worse than the first time he’d realized that nearly all his men had died. He had accomplished a lot in his life, but this was one thing he wasn’t sure how to succeed at. He wasn’t equipped to take away his wife’s pain.

So he held her and kissed her forehead and whispered whatever words came into his head. He wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, but after a while her tears stopped and her breathing evened out. Poor Georgia had cried herself to sleep.

* * *

When Georgia woke up a few hours later, Christian’s hand was underneath her nightgown, resting on the small of her back. To think she didn’t have him a few months ago. Now she could hardly see her life without him. Besides Abby, he was her only constant. She knew his road was no easier than hers. She knew that life was a struggle for him, but he was there for her. She’d loved him on their wedding day, but somehow that love had grown even stronger. Life, she decided, would be no good without him.

She hoped he knew that. She hoped he believed her when she told him she loved him. But sometimes she knew words weren’t good enough. She gently pulled herself out of his hold, causing him to roll onto his back. He did not awaken and she took the opportunity to study him in his sleep. His hair had grown even longer, a halo of light brown curls resting on the head of a man that looked anything but angelic.

She kissed his face. She kissed the scars she had fallen in love with as she pulled her nightgown over her head and straddled his body. She was naked, and she lifted his hands and ran them over her body, over her breasts and nipples. She then placed a hand between her legs, encouraging his fingers to explore her there. It was then he opened his eyes.

He said nothing. He did nothing. He just watched her with his sleepy eyes. It never took much for her husband to arouse her; just the feel of his hard body beneath hers sent her trembling.

“You do this to me.” She slid her fingers through her wetness. “Every time. No other man could make me enjoy sex like this. I don’t think you know how much of a gift you have given me.”

She shifted her body down his and slipped him free from his boxers. He looked at her curiously, his eyes warming her skin.

She took him into her mouth slowly, watching his eyes as they widened and then shut in pleasure. She wasn’t sure what she was doing, she just worked her mouth over him, taking little breaks to kiss down his thick shaft and to swipe her tongue over his head.

He hissed out a breath, his hands gripping the sheets as she pleasured him. “Georgia. Please.”

She wasn’t sure what he was asking for, so she looked up at him, taking him into her hand as she lightly stroked him. “What is it, sugar? What do you want me to do?”

“Come here.”

She moved her body up his but she didn’t give him the chance to take over, to guide her, because she slid herself down on him, not deeply, just enough so that she could feel fullness of him. Then she lifted herself up. A rush of hot sensation swept over her and she shut her eyes, unable to keep them open, unable to do anything but just feel him. He grabbed her hips but just held her there as she moved on him, but soon it became too much for him to lie passively. He thrust into her, but shallowly, the increased pressure causing her to cry out in pleasure.

“I need you closer.” He rolled her over onto her back and slid all the way into her, but he just stayed there for a moment, not moving his body, only kissing her deeply and hard and slowly. Her toes curled, and then he started to move in her again, but this time his thrusts were shallow and quick and intense. It took her totally by surprise when the feeling started to build in her again. So quickly. It stole her breath and suddenly she was crying out. Her body shook uncontrollably.

Christian looked down at her, the smile spreading across his face so quickly and beautifully she was having a hard time thinking of anything more lovely. His smile melted away when he kissed her and he moved in her again. Pumping deeply. Filling her up. It caused her to spiral into another orgasm, but this time he came with her. It was the first time they had finished together. It was the first time she had felt this connected to him, inseparable from him. It was a feeling that she never wanted to go away.

She wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his neck, enjoying the feeling of his thickness still inside her.

“Oh, God,” he breathed after a few long moments. “That was... You came.”

“Yes.” She nodded. “It’s been known to happen.”

“Not when I’m inside you.”

She frowned at him. “Why is that so important to you?”

“Because I feel as if I’m failing you as a husband when I you don’t.”

“Gosh, you’re stupid.”

He pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. “I know, but I can’t help the way I feel.”

“No.” She looked away from him, too embarrassed to look into his eyes. “You’re big. When you fill me up all the way it doesn’t feel as—as intense, but sometimes I need to feel you that way. I need you to go slow and kiss every part of my body. I may not...react the way you expect me to, but I’m always satisfied by you. I never once felt as if I wasn’t. And if you don’t stop acting like a big insecure jerk I’m going to punch you!”

“Okay.” He slid his lips along her neck. “Now let me make love to you slowly. Let me love every part of you.”