A Family Reunited
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Jennifer Johnson
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16,5K
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20
Chapter 1
āWeāre pregnant!ā
Pamela Isaacsās jaw dropped as she looked up at her older brother, Kirk, and his wife, Callie. Squeals and cackles erupted as Pamelaās daughters, parents and younger brother enveloped the expectant couple in hugs. They deserved a baby. Callie had fought and defeated breast cancer two years ago. Pamela knew theyād yearned for a child, and yet jealousy tickled her heart.
Pushing away her selfishness, she smiled and enfolded her sister-in-law in an embrace. āIām so happy for you.ā
āThanks. I couldnāt believe it. When I went for the checkup, I never dreamed...ā
Pamela grabbed both of Callieās hands in hers. āYouād receive the perfect surprise.ā
Callie nodded as the family headed into the living area and settled into seats. Pamelaās mother, Tammie, clasped her hands and lifted her gaze to the ceiling. āGod is so good!ā
Pamela forced herself not to roll her eyes. If she heard one more word about the awesomeness of God, she was going to hurl. It wasnāt that she didnāt believe in Him. Having been raised in a Christian home and having worked with creation on the family farm, she didnāt deny His existence. But life had taught her not to trust Him when things got rough.
āWhen are you due?ā
āHowād you find out?ā
Questions flitted from each of the family members, and Pamela watched as her eight-and nine-year-old daughters dropped to the floor, one on each side of Callieās legs. Their faces shone with delight and eagerness to hear about their new cousin. Emma and Emmy had never had the opportunity to be around relatives their own age, even though their father had siblings who were only a few years older than the girls.
Jack. Just thinking his name made her blood burn through her veins. Her so-called husband had been gone eight years. Eight. Over the past year, heād called and hung up on her many times over; then today heād called asking to see their daughters.
He had no right to see the girls.
āTwins!ā Her dad, Mikeās, voice boomed through the room.
Pamela blinked away her thoughts and stared at Kirk and Callie. Kirk waved a sonogram through the air. His eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, though October was too early to turn on twinkling lights.
āYouāre having twins?ā Emma exclaimed.
Pamela studied her older daughter. With long red hair pulled back in a ponytail, she looked so much like Pamela had at that age. Around her ears and the nape of her neck corkscrew curls escaped the band. Taller than most of her peers, she sported a gangly physique and a lot of freckles. Her crystal-blue eyes shimmered with delight.
Callie nodded. āWe are.ā She tapped Emmaās nose and then Emmyās. āOne baby for each of you to hold.ā
Emmy jumped off the floor and yelled, āWoo hoo!ā
Emmy was only a year younger than Emma and so close in appearance, except that Emmy sported deep dimples in each cheek when she smiled. The girls could almost be confused for twins except that Emma had had a recent growth spurt and now stood a full head taller than her younger sister.
āI canāt believe it.ā Mom grabbed the sonogram from Kirkās hand, and she and Dad looked at the picture. She waved her free hand in front of her face as her deep green eyes glistened with tears.
āWith all the noise and smells those two will produce, I reckon Iāll have to stay in Knoxville.ā Ben chuckled. Her younger brother was in his last year of school at the University of Tennessee.
āNo way.ā Kirk elbowed him. āYour help is gonna be needed around here when the babies come. Somebodyās gotta run the farm, the orchard, the play area and petting zoo. Mom and Dad and Pamela already take care of the gift shop, cafĆ© and bed-and-breakfast.ā
Benās features hardened. Pamela knew Kirk made the comment in jest, but it was obvious her little brother didnāt want anything to do with working in the familyās business. Not that she could blame him. She had two more years until she graduated from college. Only two. Then she would have her accounting degree and could hightail it out of Bloom Hollow, Tennessee. She could take the girls anywhere she wanted and rebuild their lives together.
Most likely sheād stay in Tennessee, would probably even find an apartment close by. But sheād be in her own place, not living in the small cabin behind her familyās bed-and-breakfast that doubled as the main home. She wanted to make her own way. Be her own person. Not just a member of the Jacobs Family Farm.
Her dad and brothers became engrossed in conversation. She couldnāt hear what they said, but it triggered a memory of Jack standing with Dad several years ago, discussing how to work out the farm schedule. Jack had promised to work certain hours, but inevitably several days a week something else came up. He always had a reason, and he never lied about where he was or what he was doing. The problem was that a drunken stupor was usually the reason he failed to do his job.
The phone conversation sheād had with Jack earlier that day traipsed through her mind.
āIām sober, Pamela. I want to see the girls. And you.ā
At first his voice had covered her like a warm blanket, deep and smooth. Sheād found herself wanting to see him. Then common sense kicked in, and she snapped back to reality. āYou donāt have the right to see the girls or me. You havenāt been around for eight years.ā
āI know I donāt deserve a second chance, but God has changed my life....ā
She scowled at the memory. Heād found God. Why did everyone she knew think they could say Godās name and suddenly all was right in the world? When Callie had shared about the loss of both of her parents to cancer and then had had to endure the disease herself, everyone had been so quick to chime in, āGod is sovereign. Heāll see her through.ā When Pamelaās high school friend Greta had died in a car accident, the very same people had done the same song and dance.
If God was so sovereign, why did He allow the bad things to begin with? Why couldnāt life be simpler for those who loved and followed Him? Sheād been full of faith and love when she and Jack had married right out of high school ten years ago. Sheād trusted God with everything. But then Jack had started drinking, and heād left. And life was never the same.
* * *
Jack Isaacs shoved the $15,000 check in his front jeans pocket. Two years and ten months. Thatās how long heād saved to send Pamela the check. How long heād been sober. How long God had been in charge of his life.
He couldnāt deny the hurt when Pamela had returned the letter and check a few months ago. And heād fought uncertainty since their phone call earlier that day, when sheād emphatically rejected the idea of meeting with him. He hadnāt expected her to run back into his arms, but heād believed sheād at least accept the money.
A slow grin lifted his lips. It had been nice to hear her voice. Maybe when she saw him in person, sheād take the cash. Excitement swelled in his chest at the idea of seeing Pamela again. Heād worn out the wallet-size high school senior picture of her that heād clutched while praying God would keep him from touching the bottle when temptation arose.
He looked around the small bedroom heād called home for almost three years. Clean white walls. Firm twin-size bed. Small wooden desk and chair. Four-drawer dresser that was missing two handles. Everything he owned had been shoved into a beat-up suitcase that heād already put in the trunk of his car and the cardboard box that still sat on the bed.
When heād first come to Godās Hands, heād wanted only one thing: a place to sleep for the night. Heād drunk himself into a stupor and hadnāt eaten a real meal in over a month; heād just wanted somewhere warm to lay his head. The tent heād been sleeping in on the outskirts of town had done its job well, but winter had rolled around and the weather had been unbearably cold at night. Somehow, that December night, heād happened on this particular homeless shelter. And God had more than one nightās sleep planned for Jackās life.
Blowing out a long breath, he lifted up the cardboard box, walked outside to the used economy car heād purchased, placed his belongings in the trunk then headed back inside.
Godās Hands had been his home the past three years, and though it seemed strange, he ached with the knowledge that in a few hoursā time he would leave the shelter and the state of Texas for good. He might return on occasion to visit his parents, but they lived several hours away, so most likely today would be the last time heād see the shelter.
Jermaine, the director, placed a dark, calloused hand on Jackās shoulder. āYou gonna help serve breakfast for old timesā sake?ā
āWithout a doubt.ā
Jack followed his mentor into the brick building. Heād miss the sixty-year-old man whoād led him to the Lord, sat with him as he fought through his addiction and helped him find a job and get back in college. Heād never be able to repay Jermaine for all heād done in Jackās life. If asked, Jack knew what Jermaine would say. āJust live your life for the Lord. Thatās all I want for you.ā
Jermaine said those very words to everyone who walked through the doors of Godās Hands. And Jack had witnessed a lot of transformations in people. Once their bellies were full and theyād had a good nightās sleep, some went right back to the world theyād vowed to leave, but some stayed true to their commitment to God. With the Lordās help, Jack would always be one who stayed true.
āYou wanna serve or greet?ā asked Jermaine.
Jack didnāt have to think about it. He wanted the opportunity to say goodbye to the regulars. āGreet.ā
Jermaine nodded. āFigured as much.ā He patted Jackās shoulder. āDonāt you head out of here ātil I can say a prayer with you.ā
āI wonāt.ā
While Jermaine headed to the front entrance to welcome the people who came for a warm meal, Jack made his way to the kitchen to give one last hug to the volunteers. After several hugs and handshakes, he spied Stella, Jermaineās wife, scooping servings of pudding into cups. In one swift motion, he dipped his finger into one of the cups, then licked off the chocolate.
Stella gasped, turned and smacked the top of his hand. He laughed, and Stella shook the scoop in front of his face. āJack Isaacs, what do you think youāre doing?ā
He sobered. āCome to say goodbye to you before it gets too busy out there.ā
Tears welled in Stellaās eyes, and she shook her head. āIām glad youāre going home to your girls, but I sure will miss you.ā
Wrapping her in a hug, he said, āIām gonna miss you, too.ā
She wiggled away from him, and Jack bit back a grin. Her heart was as big as the state she served, but she didnāt like any displays of affection. Scooping up the cup of pudding heād already sampled, he placed a quick kiss on the top of her head. āWe will keep in touch.ā
She swiped her eyes with the back of one hand and shooed him away with the other. āSure. Sure. Now head on outta here. We got a job to do.ā
Jack made his way back to the dining area. Several regulars had already filtered into the room. He grinned when he spied Jermaine standing at the front door greeting each homeless person with a kind word and a handshake. He planned to invite people in the same way when he started his position the following week as director of a homeless shelter in Tennessee.
His heartbeat sped up again at the thought of heading back to the Volunteer State. He couldnāt wait to see his daughters. So many times over the past two years and ten months heād longed to hightail it out of Texas, head back to Tennessee and get to know his girls. But he couldnāt. Heād had to conquer his addiction, and heād had to finish school and get a job. Proving to Pamela that heād changed would be a difficult feat, but he was finally ready to take on the challenge.
In only a few more hours, heād Skype his younger sister and brother to tell them and his parents goodbye; then heād hit the road and head toward a life he wished heād taken advantage of eight years ago. He could never get back those years with Pamela and his girls, but he planned to spend the rest of his life making it up to them.
