Something Old (39 page)

When he stopped for gas, he checked his phone, surprised to see he had messages. His heart wrenched. Three calls from Katy in the past two hours. He could only hope he wouldn’t have answered her calls anyway. Two missed calls and one voice mail.

He hesitated, wondering if he should listen to the voice mail. It would be like her to leave some message saying she was sorry. If he listened, he might be tempted to take her back. He wouldn’t do that again. He wouldn’t weaken. He needed to move on with his life. Clenching his jaw, he erased the message. Grimly, he set the phone to vibrate and jammed it in his pocket.

Climbing back in the cab, he worked the interior lights and checked his road map. After breaking up with Katy, he’d jumped at the opportunity to get away. He needed time to heal, time to forget about her, and mostly time to resolve that he wouldn’t go back to her again.

He pulled back onto the highway, sparse with traffic now, intending to go at least a hundred miles before he stopped for the night.

After another thirty miles, his radio started to break up so he turned it off. It was peaceful at that time of night with nothing but twinkling stars overhead and the occasional headlight. Up there somewhere was God. He drove on. Peace stole over him because he knew God answered prayer.

The afternoon he and Katy broke up, he’d driven straight to OSU. Erin had listened to the entire story, helping him work through it. But the most amazing thing was that God had used Jake’s pain for His glory. For when Erin saw how his falling away had destroyed his relationship with Katy, the only girl he’d ever loved, and when she saw how this had devastated him, she determined that she wouldn’t allow the same thing to happen to her.

They’d talked until late that night, and he had witnessed the miracle of seeing his sister repent of her rebellion. That’s why she’d come to church on Sunday. And after the services, the impossible had happened. Jessie had actually stepped inside the meetinghouse, too. She hadn’t come for the services, but she had come, nevertheless.

He grinned inwardly. Erin and Jessie made an odd couple, about as odd as he and Jessie had once made. But they’d met through him, and Jessie had helped convert Erin to the world. He wondered if Erin would now be God’s instrument to draw Jessie. Would that be the ultimate good that came out of his repentance?

Nah. Jessie would never become Mennonite. He remembered their talks, and Jessie’s arguments against the Conservative way. But she might become a Christian. He wouldn’t give up praying until it happened.

Erin’s repentance had given him a joy that softened the pain of his broken relationship with Katy. For the first time in his life, he didn’t center his future around her, and the joy of answered prayer was quietly upholding him. He knew that God was behind the Texas job opportunity he had received. Everything had fallen into place so quickly and perfectly, with Erin moving back home to help his mother. He’d felt compelled to jump in his truck and follow his dream.

K
aty paused on the Bylers’ front porch. A robin’s chirp drew her attention to the large ash tree on the side of the house. The empty swing reminded her of her escapade with Jake’s grandma. The robin swooped down to the ground, then flew into the weeping willow, the same tree where she’d gotten her first kiss from Jake.

She felt like an intruder, embarrassed to be chasing a man who’d undeclared himself. She couldn’t bring herself to step up to the door. “He’s not home. His truck is gone.”

“Maybe it’s in the barn,” David replied, undeterred.

Katy glanced in the direction of the barn. “If he won’t answer his phone or return my calls, then he doesn’t want to see me,” she argued. “He made it clear to me that we were through.”

“We’ve already discussed that. I’m a guy. Trust me. He needs to know you’ve forgiven him.”

“I didn’t know guys could be such nags.” She scowled at David and stepped up to the doorbell.

When the door opened, Katy’s mind reeled from shock, her hand involuntarily covering her pitching stomach as she stared across the threshold at the woman responsible for much of her grief. Jessie was the last person she had expected to see in Ann’s kitchen.

On the other hand, Jessie seemed nonplussed with her. She merely tilted her blond head, quietly studying them, until her smoky rimmed eyes widened. “You’re Katy.” When she sensed Katy’s confusion, she added, “I saw you in church.”

Jessie didn’t seem resentful or jealous. Rather she acted like she was genuinely glad to meet Katy. Her personality came across much softer than Katy had imagined it. There was something beneath all the makeup that was refreshing. But that didn’t keep Katy from feeling like she’d walked into a daytime nightmare. Praying for Jessie and actually speaking to her were two entirely different things. She bit her lip and looked up at David.

He quickly introduced himself and asked, “Is Jake here?”

“No. But come in. I’ll go get Erin.”

Katy’s feet seemed nailed to the porch flooring, but Jessie motioned them in as if she were hostess, and when David pushed her elbow, Katy found herself begrudgingly inside Ann’s kitchen.

As soon as Jessie left the room, Katy hissed at David. “Let’s get out of here. This is a mistake.”

“Not so fast. Let’s find out what’s going on first.”

“No. It’s obvious. I’m out. She’s in. I need to leave before Jake comes back and finds me here.”

“You know they’re going to tell him anyway. She must be visiting Erin. Otherwise she’d be with Jake.”

“Not necessarily. I think—”

Erin burst into the room, ending the argument, her expression bearing delight. Oddly, so did Jessie’s. Katy was curious. Maybe David was right. Still …

“Have a seat.” Erin motioned at the table. “Can I get you guys a soda?”

“No!” Katy quickly replied, her pride pushing aside her curiosity. “Yes, please.” David gave Katy an obstinate look. She tightened her lips and placed her hands on her lap to keep from yanking his perfect hair from his stubborn head.

“Great.” Erin talked while she moved with ease about her mother’s kitchen. Her gaze flitted from David to Katy. “What are you guys up to?”

David elbowed Katy. “We were looking for Jake.”

“Oh?” A flicker of wariness crossed Erin’s expression.

Katy felt both girls studying her with inquisitive gazes but couldn’t think of anything to say that would satisfy their curiosity without giving herself away.

“He’s not returning her calls, and she needs to tell him something important,” David clarified.

Katy’s jaw dropped open with disbelief, and her face heated from humiliation. Now she wanted to pull his hair out by its perfect roots.

Erin joined the others at the table, her eyes so like Jake’s now filled with concern. “Then I’m very sorry you missed him. He’s hurting bad.”

It seemed the only one with the brains to skirt the issue was Katy. Her face still burning, she glanced at Jessie, but even she wore a sympathetic expression. David squeezed her arm. The encouragement was her undoing. Her pretense fell away. “Me, too,” she admitted, easing gently from his touch.

“I know it wouldn’t be the same, but I could relay a message for you,” Erin offered hopefully. “It isn’t any of my business, but if it would help you guys get back together?” Her gaze held a definite yearning, then it dropped to the table, and she continued more softly, “But if I’m reading this wrong, then I don’t want to—”

She looked up again. “I love you, Katy, but I just don’t want him to get hurt again.”

“I don’t blame you.” Katy wanted to tell her that she’d changed and how she’d forgiven Jake, but it felt awkward with Jessie present. She studied the petite woman who had her chin propped by a silver-cuffed hand. Katy sucked her lip in then released it. “Are you and Jake back together?”

Jessie pointed at herself and the bracelet jangled. She tossed her short blond mop and laughed. “No. Absolutely not. We’re just good friends.” Her smoky gaze shifted to Jake’s sister. “I’m just hanging with Erin over spring break. Taking a country vacation.”

“Lame, I know.” Erin shrugged.

Katy could tell that they spoke the truth. Otherwise, Jessie wouldn’t have been acting so nice. It appeared that Jessie wasn’t as stuck on Jake as Katy had expected her to be. There was no evidence that Jessie was experiencing any kind of pain. This new piece of knowledge lightened Katy’s heart and planted new hope.

Nodding, Katy explained, “I’ve been a fool. God showed me some things about myself, some ugly things. After that, I was finally able to forgive Jake for…the past. I know it’s too late. But David keeps nagging me, telling me I owe it to Jake to let him know I forgive him.”

Erin’s eyes filled with respect for David, and she cast him a smile. “He’s right. Even if you don’t get back together, it’ll make Jake happy to know you’ve found peace. When you guys broke up, he came to see me. He blamed himself for causing you to change. I’m sure that was hard for you to admit. Thanks for sharing it.”

Katy sighed. “But he won’t answer my calls. He hates me.”

“He’s hurting,” Erin repeated. “He’s protecting himself. Now that I know the importance of what you want to tell him, I believe it would be much better hearing it from you. I’ll tell him you dropped by and ask him to call you.”

“He won’t,” Katy replied. “I don’t blame him.”

“I know,” David said. “Just give Katy a call when he returns, and she can come back. I think he’ll listen if they’re face-to-face.”

“There’s the glitch,” Jessie piped up, tapping a red fingernail against a porcelain cheek.

Katy and David both snapped their heads in her direction.

Jessie’s hand fell gracefully to the table. “He’s run away.”

“What?” Katy exclaimed, glancing fretfully at David.

“He got a job offer,” Erin explained. “In Texas.”

Katy reeled from yet another hard blow then sat in stunned silence. She covered her mouth with her hand, taking in all the implications. How many different ways could she lose him? “I guess we’re not to be,” she said, glumly.

Jessie leaned forward. “I know you’re more important to him than a job. Let me call him. Maybe he’ll listen to me.”

“No!” Katy blurted, unable to accept Jessie’s interference.

For the first time, Jessie’s eyes snapped with indignation. “Look. I’m not an idiot.”

“I—” Katy started.

But Jessie interrupted, her gaze softening again. “I know I’m partly to blame for all this. I want to help. Make it right somehow.”

Katy met her gaze and held it. “That’s not necessary.”

The foursome sat in quiet contemplation. “There must be something we can do,” Erin blurted out as she rose. Katy thought she was getting up to pace, but then she saw she was getting a bowl of chips and dip. She plopped it on the table as if food would provide a solution to their problem.

David dove in, crunching happily.

“I know!” Jessie exclaimed. “You can e-mail him. Pour out your heart. It’s perfect because you can say everything you want to say without him interrupting.”

A flutter of hope tickled Katy’s spine. Jessie was right. He might read an e-mail. Her heart began to race, and she shot Jessie an appreciative look. “You’re a genius. It is a perfect idea because our last argument started with a disagreement over using the Internet. It would shock him and at the same time validate my change of heart.”

Jessie glanced up at Katy’s covering, then back down to her face. Katy blushed, realizing how silly such an argument must sound to an outsider, much like all her many run-ins with Tammy.

But Erin caught her enthusiasm. “This could work.”

“Got any more of that dip?” David asked.

All three girls rolled their gazes heavenward. Ignoring him, Katy went on, “Only…he might not read it when he realizes it’s from me.”

“But that’s the beauty of it. He’ll think it’s from me!”

Katy gave Jessie a sideways frown, trying not to let her irritation show.

Jessie went on undeterred, “And once he gets into it, he’ll be too hooked to stop reading. Come on. Let’s go do it before you chicken out.”

Katy worried her lip and glanced at David, wondering how everyone pegged her inner wavering so easily. He motioned as if she were a five-year-old. “Go.”

Erin blushed. Katy understood why when she offered, “I’ll stay and get David some more dip.”

Starting to feel like a third wheel, Katy scooted her chair back and followed the enthusiastic Jessie, who seemed to be as self-willed as David. In the short time she’d known Jessie, she saw that Jake’s assessment of the girl was accurate. She was helpful and straightforward. Didn’t make a big deal out of social differences. And she looked like she would probably be fun, too. To her own amazement, she could see how Jake had gravitated to her when she extended a helpful hand through the maze of campus life. And she imagined Jessie hadn’t intentionally led him astray. Well, possibly she had an ulterior motive at the time, too. Jake was good-looking, even in his conservative clothing. To someone like Jessie, it had probably only made him intriguing.

Still, she couldn’t believe that she was taking advice from Jake’s old girlfriend. A worldly girl’s advice. When they passed through the living room, Jessie drew her finger to her lips. Katy saw that Minnie was resting in an armchair. Her head hung to the side, and her mouth emitted soft snoring noises. They tiptoed past.

“Is Ann gone?” Katy whispered.

“Yes. Grocery shopping. Should be home soon.”

And to think they weren’t having a bit of trouble with the ornery older woman. The longer she stayed in this home, the more her pride was brought down from its lofty throne. The only thing that would clinch it would be for Ann to come home and find her chasing after her son. Katy hoped she was gone before then. Ann might not want Katy at the house again after all her blunders. Yet if things went as she hoped with Jake, she would have to face Ann sometime.

When Katy realized where Jessie was leading her, she instinctively hesitated.

Jessie placed a hand on her black belted hip. “I’m staying in Jake’s room while he’s gone. I brought my laptop along.”

A pang of hurt shot through Katy. But she quickly closed her mind to it, and when she did, the thought came to her that it was just her pride rearing up again. Pride was a hard foe to quell. Much of the hurt and jealousy she had battled against was caused by the injury to her pride. No wonder God had allowed her to get to this place. Feeling more humbled than ever, she followed Jessie into Jake’s room.