Waterfalls (31 page)

Turning on her computer, she prepared to put her scribbles in order. Her laptop made a chirping sound when it turned on. It was enough of a noise to wake the sleeping giant. While he had slept, everything had changed for Meredith. She had realized and admitted that she was in love with this man, she had sensed a fresh word of encouragement and direction from God, and she had solved the problem of what was missing in Young Heart’s story. Fresh in spirit and fully alive, Meredith greeted him with an eager, loving smile.

Jake, on the other hand, looked startled when he awoke. Apparently he had been so deeply asleep, he didn’t remember where he was. When he looked at Meredith, it was as if she had appeared out of nowhere. Glancing around quickly and moistening his dry lips, Jake tried to focus on Meredith.

“Did you have a good nap?” she asked.

“Huh? Ah, yeah.”

Meredith giggled to herself at how drowsy Jake was. No wonder he had fled from her room in such a panic that first time they saw each other. This guy could fall asleep in a second
and sleep like a rock. She wondered if Eve had been met with as charming a reception when God woke Adam from his deep sleep and pronounced that since it was not good for man to be alone, this was the helper he had made suitable for him.

It became apparent all too quickly that although Meredith had heard voices and seen visions during this past hour, no angels had appeared to Jacob in his dreams. He seemed almost irritated that he had slept so long.

“I don’t know what happened,” he said, sitting up and running his fingers through his hair.

“You were tired,” Meredith suggested. “You’ve been going pretty hard and fast for a long time.”

“Did I talk in my sleep?”

Meredith laughed. “No. Do you usually?”

“I’ve been told I do.” Jake let out a huge yawn. He glanced at his watch again. “I have to get back to the camp in about an hour. Do you want to ride over there with me?”

“Sure. First I have an announcement to make.”

“Oh yeah?” Jake stood and put his arms over his head. He stretched his stiff neck and rotated his shoulders.

“I’d like to suggest a new character in the video series and in the books.”

“A walk-on part, right? No lines?”

Meredith shook her head. Her smile was firm. “I know this is going to be a big hassle, but I’m convinced this is what the story needs. I’m committed to helping you rewrite.”

“You’re committed to helping rewrite,” he repeated. He made it sound like a joke.

Undaunted, Meredith pushed forward. “Young Heart needs a companion on his journey, in the same way that Christian had Faithful and then Hopeful as his traveling companions. Young Heart needs a companion who will bring to his
journey the softer side of grace and mercy in the midst of all his trials.”

Jake nodded slightly as if he was tracking with her.

“He needs Hope.”

“Hope,” Jake repeated.

Meredith held up her rough pencil sketch of what she thought the young female companion should look like. “Hope.”

Jake sat down and put his head in his hands. “Do you realize what this means? We have to find an actress, rewrite the entire screenplay, delay the filming, and who knows what else.”

“Yes,” Meredith stated calmly. “I know.”

Jake looked at her. She could almost see the zillion thoughts racing through his mind.

“It’s your choice, of course,” Meredith said. “I only offer this as a suggestion. You have a good story here. It will make a good video and book series. If you add Hope, I believe you will have a great story, and you’ll double your audience appeal.”

Jake kept staring at her, still thinking all this through.

“You’re right,” he finally said. “I don’t want to change everything, I don’t want to halt production, I don’t want to lose any money, but you are absolutely right.”

Meredith gave him a comforting grin. She knew she was right. Deep inside she felt good. Better than she had felt emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically in a long time. She was in love, and in her heart, she was resting in hope.

I
t took only ten days for Meri and Jake to rewrite the script. They worked side by side day and night. Kyle had let them take over his office, and they transformed it into a dual work space. From the start, Meri and Jake meshed. Ideas from one of them sparked ideas in the other. Their working habits and styles blended, as did their thought processes.

Meri took the time off work as her two-week vacation. Because she had never taken any vacation time since she started her job, it was no problem. Jake sent the crew home and immediately faxed the studio with specifics for cast selection and wardrobe preparations. Jessica and Kyle kept them well fed, and Travis visited them regularly, looking for spaceship rides from Jake and giving Meri sticky, wet kisses on the cheek.

Only once did they take a genuine break. One Friday night, a little more than halfway through the rewrite, they decided they desperately needed a change of pace. It seemed
even their tolerance levels were the same when it came to how much they could cram through their imaginations. And Jake was a man with imagination. Meri knew there were many more stories inside him that needed to be written. She served as a propelling force to get his ideas going.

Their break was for dinner at Jonathan and Shelly’s. When they walked in, they found that Shelly had tied Bob Two to a post in the backyard so as not to disrupt the evening.

“Did Mom get ahold of you?” Shelly asked.

“No.”

“She just called here and said the board offered Dad a part-time position at the church as the visitation pastor.”

“Did he take it? It seems as if they’re just tossing him a bone after how everything went down.”

“Mom was happy about it. They will stay in their house, and supposedly Dad will work fewer hours. She’s going back to see Molly next week.”

“I’m glad it’s what they want,” Meri said with a sigh. “I’m all in favor of people getting what they want.”

At the dinner table, Jonathan asked if Jake and Meredith were ready to strangle each other yet, having worked so long in close quarters.

Jake looked surprised at the idea. “No, it’s going unusually well. I feel I’m along for the ride. Meri’s mind is like a waterfall, fresh, flowing, always spilling over. I just get in my little raft and go for a tumble.”

Meri gratefully absorbed his words. For all the closeness of their days and nights of working together, Jake had made no romantic gestures. Meri didn’t feel the need to try to convince Jake that they should have a relationship or to wrestle with understanding or expressing her feelings. In every way she was at rest in hope.

Jake cut off a piece of the tender T-bone steak Jonathan had barbecued for him and said, “If I were rewriting this script by myself, it would take me a year. Maybe two years. It’s astounding how much we’ve accomplished in such a short time.”

“You know what they say,” Shelly interjected. “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.”

“It wasn’t ‘they’ who said that; it was God,” Meredith said. “I know that verse.”

“You know a lot of verses,” Jake said. He turned to Shelly and Jonathan. “We’ll be writing away, and all of a sudden Meri will add this great line. I’ll say, ‘Where have I heard that before?’ and she’ll go to her concordance and find it.”

“It’s one of the drawbacks of being a P.K.,” Shelly said. “I have the same problem. I know thousands of verses but none of their addresses.”

“Meri is the only person I know who can breeze her way through a concordance and find what she’s looking for in a minute flat.” Jake gave her a warm smile.

It seemed to Meri that he was beginning to feel something for her. Respect and admiration, if nothing else. Those were good cornerstones for a relationship.

By the time they finished the final revisions on the following Wednesday, other details had fallen into place for the filming. The casting director had sent a batch of videos for Jake to review for the part of Hope. Meri and Jessica both sat with Jake to review the young actresses on the tapes. The fourth one they saw was far and away the best choice. Jake immediately made a call to set all the wheels in motion.

“Are we actually ready to call the crew back?” Jake asked as he paced the office.

“I think so,” Meredith said, surveying the mess all around them. “Can we call for a Dumpster to clean this place out?”

Jake was already on the phone, calling the studio to verify that they were ready to call the crew back. When he hung up the phone, he clapped his hands together, grabbed Meri by the shoulders, and did a little dance. It was the clumsiest, most two-left-footed dance Meri had ever seen. She burst out laughing and bumped into a wastebasket, knocking it over.

“You are a klutz!” she told him.

“But I’m a happy klutz,” he said, letting go of her shoulders and righting the wastebasket. “The crew will be back up here by Saturday morning, and we should be able to start shooting on Monday, if our little Hope is ready. I think it’s time to celebrate!”

“As long as it’s not dinner and dancing,” Meri teased. “I’ll take the dinner but pass on the dancing.”

“How about a picnic at the waterfall?”

Meredith felt her hopes rise. He wanted to go back to their spot. With the pressure off, they could relax and talk. Wonderful conclusions could be drawn when a man had a chance to reflect and eat at the same time.

“I’ll see if Jess and Kyle want to come with us.” Jake hurried from the office.

Meri kept her brave smile showing as he left, but her heart was fainting.
I’ve been very patient, Lord. Nearly two weeks alone with this man, and I’m desperately in love with him. I’ve kept all my love hidden away. Why can’t he see how perfect we are together? Lord, when will you open his eyes?

She comforted herself with the thought that God must have put Jake’s emotions in a deep sleep. She tried to convince herself that everything God had revealed to her that afternoon in the library was still true, even though Jake hadn’t yet responded.

What was that saying Dad used to tell us? “Never doubt in the darkness what God reveals to you in the light.” I won’t doubt. I’ll
stay faithful, and I will rest in hope
.

By six-thirty the extended party had gathered at the waterfall and spread a grand picnic. Jake had invited Jess, Kyle, and Travis. They, in turn, had invited Kyle’s brother, Kenton, and Kenton’s wife, Lauren. Meri had called Shelly, and she and Jonathan showed up with Bob Two. The June evening was perfect, and the abundance of food amazing considering the quickness with which it had been prepared. Jonathan and Kyle went swimming; Bob Two jumped in with them. Jessica tried to restrain Travis, who was wailing that he wanted to go with his daddy.

“I’ll take you in, Tiger,” Jake said, pulling off his T-shirt and slipping out of his loafers. He pulled off his leather belt and emptied his pockets onto the blanket. Scooping Travis up in his arms, he waded out slowly.

Jake’s wallet had fallen open when he tossed it, and Shelly was the first to notice the picture beside his driver’s license. “Meri,” she said, picking it up and taking a closer look. “That’s you. Where was this taken?”

Meredith grabbed the wallet. The picture appeared to be cut from a larger photo. She was sitting in a rowboat with a big smile on her face. The morning sun poured through the trees, showering her with golden radiance. It was a stunning picture. And it was in his wallet. Glimmers of hope raced down Meri’s spine.

“Here,” she said to Shelly calmly.

Shelly handed the wallet to Lauren and Jessica. Kenton looked over their shoulders. “That’s a very good picture,” they all commented.

“Are you two getting pretty close?” Lauren asked. She looked quickly at Shelly and Jessica to make sure she wasn’t out of line in asking such a question. “I mean, of course you are. You’re a writing team now. Words can draw two people together very tightly.”

Shelly leaned a little closer and seemed ready to hang on every word of Meredith’s answer. Shelly had reminded Meri more than once during this past week and a half that she had been extra good about not asking how things were going between them. She had promised Meri she would wait until Meri had something she wanted to tell her.

Meredith Graham, the queen of coy, slipped off her sandals and tucked her tank top into her jeans shorts. “Anybody else going in?”

“You’re going in with your clothes on?” Shelly asked.

“They’ll dry. Life is too short to sit on the shore and only wonder.” With that, Meri stood and with light steps entered the water.

“I was never such a free spirit,” Meri heard Jessica say. Slowly walking in, Meri felt the water reach her knees. Jake was a few feet away, in water up to his waist, holding Travis and dipping his little bare legs into the water.

With one graceful motion, Meri stretched out in the water. She caught her breath at the shock of the cold water. Closing her eyes, she submerged, feeling the chill as it penetrated every pore.

I am alive! I am fully alive, and I love experiencing every sensation there is on this planet!