And the greatest of these is Love
Chapter 18
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Violet went to the Community Church Sunday by herself. She wanted Jake to come, but she knew he would be uncomfortable so she didn't push it. When Minnie spotted her, she went right up to her and asked how she was doing. Violet told her nothing had changed and that Jake still hadn't opened up to her about what more could be bothering him so badly.
Minnie put her arm around Violet and gave her a hug as she walked her to the pew to where Cooper was waiting. Angela was sitting at the piano ready to play as Pastor Joseph was still greeting folks.
Molly and Bill were right behind them and Molly gave her a loving smile. What Violet suggested for her change of life symptoms had worked well. She knew Violet was going through a rough time, however, her work at the infirmary never reflected her troubles. She was a professional through and through. She went past the Shepherds too and Faith blew her a kiss and Carson winked.
Violet definitely felt the love of the community and soon she felt happier than when she left Jake to walk to the Church. The only one she wasn't sure of was Elizabeth Thatcher. She was so embarrassed when Jake gave her such a hard time when she stopped by. Although Elizabeth understood that Jake was in pain, she didn't think asking for respect was too much to ask for. She was right.
As they waited for the first song to be announced, Violet whispered to Minnie asking if she had talked to Pastor Joseph about coming over to visit Jake. "Yes, he is coming. He was planning on stopping by after church later this afternoon. Is that all right?"
"Oh yes, of course! We aren't going anywhere, that's for sure. Are you coming too?" Violet asked Minnie.
"I wasn't planning on it, but I'll check with Pastor," she patted Violet's hand.
Dee stood up and announced that they would be singing, "Just a closer walk with Thee." This song was one of Violet's favorites, so she focused her mind to the words and relaxed.
With Pastor over today, Violet silently prayed, "Father God, thank you for such kind people in my life. I was complaining and I'm sorry. Please help Jake to allow Pastor Joseph to speak with him. Thank you, in Jesus's name I pray. Amen."
The cries of a few babies and toddlers in the church brought smiles to the congregation. Christopher Grant was struggling with his dad to get out of his arms, but Nathan had a good grip on him. After a while, he'd pass him to Allie who doted on her little brother and Christopher knew it. She played with him, quietly looked at a book with him, and let him babble. Nathan would look over and shake his head at Christopher holding up his finger over his lips to shush him. Christopher pointing to Dee he'd say proudly, "Mama!" which made the folks laugh. It was Nathan though that stood on the side of the pew and rocked him asleep.
Rosemary and Lee were also taking turns with little Grace. She was such a charmer, just like her mother and everyone thought she was going to grow up quite the beauty. She loved to stand on Lee's lap and look over his shoulder and bounce up and down sucking her thumb. Grace was quite happy watching everyone including her brother, Paul. He was always busy with his friends, but on Sundays, she could watch him and study all the goofy looks he made.
Elsa and William Andersson came for the first time this Sunday. As she walked arm in arm with her husband, they made an attractive couple. William was a big man who had always worked as a lumberjack, so his muscles were large and he was big boned. His Swedish heritage provided his chiseled high cheekbones, sky blue eyes and a mop of blonde hair. Elsa looked so small standing next to him, that some didn't recognize that she was pregnant.
It was after the church service during the social hour, that the ladies who were working on the summer Bible Camp gathered around and gave last minute updates. Tomorrow, on Monday the camp would begin! Minnie went over details and as usual the Chickadees had everything under control. The costumes just needed final details. Jane had a dance to go along with the songs that Dee, Angela, and Allie had chosen. The script for the play was typed up that Elizabeth and Rosemary created together and Jonah's whale was finally finished.
"See you all tomorrow at 8:00. Don't be late," Minnie reminded all.
Minnie took Violet's hand and walked over to Joseph who was just finishing up his conversation with Lee. "Joseph dear, this young lady is Violet. Remember me telling you about her situation?"
"Yes, of course, how do you do, Violet?"
"Fine, your wife is seeing to that," she smiled.
Joseph grinned, "that's my sweet wife," he agreed admiringly. "I heard that you would like me to stop over and visit to meet your husband, Jake. Which by the way, I'm so sorry to hear of his attack. That is very disturbing."
"Yes, it is. I'm afraid there's something Jake is not discussing with me or anyone. He is so bitter, and wants those men who attacked him found and put in prison. There's nothing else he says. I don't know what to do," Violet asked.
"Of course, I will come over this afternoon. Let me go home and grab some of Minnie's wonderful cooking, and I'll be over. Will that work for you?" Joseph asked.
"Anytime is fine with us. I so appreciate this, truly I do!" Violet smiled gratefully.
The children were running outside playing tag, or playing catch using up their unspent energy. The men were discussing current events and hoping that the big boom of the industrial revolution would keep them employed with more developments and of course, the local baseball team! The Hope Valley Stallions were hot this year. Next weekend they were playing Clearwater Cougars. There were more boys involved this year with the new folks from the tent city now residing in the second street of row houses. Most of the Hopefuls were still quite involved as coaches with the team and had a great rapport with the boys.
"Practice today," Matthew reminded the boys, "be at the field at 1:00."
"Can't wait," Cooper smiled.
"Yea, I think I'm going to be pitching," Paul said proudly.
"Oh yea, I'm going to be catching," Benjamin touted.
It was a typical Sunday morning at the Community Church. Over at the O'Neil's barn the parishioners of the future St. James Church were finishing up Mass. Trevor was smiling non-stop at Lana, and Lana couldn't stop blushing. They had really enjoyed a delicious dinner at Romanos. The atmosphere was enticing, the food was very scrumptious, the music was soothing, and Trevor was so romantic. Trevor had a special wine he had ordered when he made the reservations. Everything was perfect. Even the evening sky had a spattering of beautiful stars and when they walked outside they found the little dipper, the big dipper, and the moon was so big and bright.
That was last night, today Luke had asked him to stay and talk to Fr. Ricardo.
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Trevor and Lana went to each other right after Mass. Trevor held Lana's hand and didn't let go. It was clear to anyone that their relationship had gone to the next step. They were no longer just friends. Lana's mother, Gail, took notice right away. She knew something was different when Lana came home from their date last night. Not only was Lana walking on cloud nine, but she wouldn't say much to her mom about their date. She just smiled, said she had a wonderful time, kissed her parents good night and then ran upstairs and joined Lisa in their bedroom.
"Well?" Lisa stared at her sister.
"Well what?" Lana teased.
"What was your date like? Was dinner good? Did Trevor kiss you?" Lisa had tons of questions but Lana held up her hand.
"All right!" Lana answered the bare minimum, "Wonderful, delicious, and yes!"
Lisa flung herself back on the bed and huffed. Grabbing her pillow, she threw it at her sister. "You're going to make me beg, well I won't."
Lana remained silent and started to take off her jewelry, removed her shoes, stepped out of her dress and undergarments, then put on her nightgown and hung up her dress. Lastly, she undid her hair and brushed it, and wiped off her lipstick and mascara. She knew Lisa was ready to explode with her questions, but Lana was enjoying teasing her sister with silence.
Finally, Lisa couldn't wait any longer and jumped on Lana's bed where she had grabbed her diary and was starting to write in it. Lisa snatched Lana's diary and looked to see what she had written. Instead all she saw was a heart with T.D. And L.H. Inside the heart.
Lana laughed, "Oh, Lisa you are so insistent! I don't know where to begin," she sighed.
"In the beginning, of course, I want every detail of every minute!"
"I don't know about that, but the restaurant was so beautiful with an inside fountain. We were led by Mrs. Romano to a candlelit table for two in the corner which had a bottle of imported Italian wine and two wine glasses. The tablecloth was white linen with red checkered napkins. When our waiter came he opened the bottle of wine and poured each of us our first glass. Trevor made a simple toast, to us! We talked for a little while and then we were served minestrone soup and rolls."
Lana took a break but Lisa kept urging her sister for more.
"Trevor ordered us both filet mignons which came cooked to perfection. Just when I thought I couldn't eat anymore we enjoyed tiramisu with espresso. All the while there was a violinist who played beautiful romantic music strolling around by all the guests."
"Ooo, how exciting," Lisa giggled, "go on."
"Well, we talked more about our time in Hope Valley. Since we grew up here I was able to fill Trevor in about the who's who and he told me about growing up in the States and what it was like for him in Detroit."
"That's right! Is his family still living there?" Lisa wondered.
"Yes, they are. He calls them on Sundays and lets them know how his Fueling station and auto repair shop is going so well. They told him they were happy for him, but miss him terribly. On his last call he finally told them that he named his business, Buddy's Fueling and Auto Repair after his best friend."
"They must be worried about him, I would think," Lisa commented.
"Yes, but he told me that he's going to call them Sunday after mass and tell them about us. He's sure that'll make his parents happy too, knowing he has me as his girlfriend," Lana laughed.
Now today, Sunday, Lana and Trevor were letting everyone know their new status as boyfriend and girlfriend. Trevor didn't want to spoil anything, but his roommate, Luke, had told Fr. Ricardo that Trevor needed to talk with him again.
Fr. Ricardo looked skeptically at Luke, "I don't want to push him, Luke, if he wants to talk he is the one who should ask."
"I don't think he will, that's the problem. He is still having nightmares about his shell shock. So, maybe if you approach him, he'll consent to come over."
Fr. Ricardo smiled, "You are a good friend. I understand why you feel this way, so I'll go talk to him after the potluck, but I can't promise anything, but I'll try my best."
Most of the folks were gathering around the tables where they usually had their monthly Sunday potluck after mass, and talked about the plans for the building of St. James Church. Fr. Ricardo was about to say grace.
Lana stayed with Trevor which Dan and Gail Peterson noticed. "Seems Lana has herself a good man," Gail smiled.
"Well, we'll see about that won't we, mother?" Dan winked at his wife.
Lisa sat next to Lana. Luke had made a lot of friends with all the Hopefuls but he never singled out one particular girl. This seemed like a good time to get to know Lisa a bit better, so he sat on the other side of her. Besides, Trevor was totally occupied with Lana.
Lisa smiled at Luke and didn't think twice of why he sat down next to her, until he pointedly made conversation with her asking, "How do you like working with Dr. Scholl?"
Lisa was surprised, Luke never asked her anything personal before. "Oh, it's great. He's so nice and very patient with me. I'm using my clerical skills that I learned while I was working in the war, so I feel useful too."
Luke waited for Lisa to ask him a question about working for Gowen Oil, but when she didn't he just offered, "Yea, I've got a great boss with Mr. Gowen, he's been a pretty decent man to work for. We've been busy for sure, so I haven't been out too much, but maybe some time, we could go for a walk. Would you like to?"
Again, Lisa was surprised, she never thought of Luke as anyone else but a friend, so now she perked up. He had her attention, "Why Luke, that would be very nice."
Luke was hopeful now, "Great, how about later today?"
Startled, Lisa couldn't think why not. "All right, but I owe my horse a ride, so I have to take Stardust for one today, why don't you come out and take a ride with me. We have plenty of horses for you to ride."
"Ride? Yea okay," he hesitated, "but you'll have to teach me though," Luke admitted.
The potluck was delicious as always, so when the parishioners were done, Fr. Ricardo opened up the business meeting updating the folks about how the new church building was coming along.
Clara spoke up about the summer Bible Camp reminding everyone that Minnie wanted all the volunteers to arrive no later than 8:00 o'clock.
Marie Landoch spoke too about the second annual summer Hope Valley Family Festival next month. She passed around the news from Mayor Fiona for the committees that the folks had signed at their last town meeting. "After the Bible Camp, we will be in full swing preparing for the Festival."
Father Ricardo laughed, "Well folks, it's going to be a very busy but fun summer here in Hope Valley that's for sure!"
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As promised, Pastor Joseph came calling at the Taylor's home later Sunday afternoon. Violet was all smiles when she answered the knock to let him in.
"It's good to see you Pastor!" she grinned, "come on in."
Pastor Joseph stepped in and looked around. There sitting in the chair in the living room was Jake. Jake was feeling a bit better about going up and down the stairs now so when he came downstairs to use the bathroom, he often stayed downstairs. This was much easier for Violet.
"Jake, Pastor Joseph is here to see you," Violet cheerfully told Jake. Jake turned around and nodded.
"Hello Pastor, thank you for making Violet happy by coming to see me."
"Jake!" Violet was upset, "why are you being so rude. Pastor is here to see us both."
Pastor Joseph looked at Violet, "I can come another time," then walking up to Jake he asked, "Jake, I wish you well, please let me know when you are up to having me come by. I hope it's soon though," and started to walk away.
Jake just stared in the air and after a little bit, looked over and saw Pastor Joseph leaving, "Stay. You are here now. Have a seat."
Violet sighed with relief. "I'm going to get a cup of tea, would you two like some?"
"Bring us both some," Jake replied.
When Violet brought the tea, Pastor Joseph thanked Violet then turned to Jake, "Well Jake, how you are doing?"
"I'm doing as best as can be expected, considering the circumstances," Jake said.
Joseph looked closely at Jake and remarked, "Your face looks better, especially now that the swelling has gone down around your eyes. Are you able to see okay?"
"Yeah."
"How's your jaw healing? Are you able to eat regular foods now?" Joseph asked.
"It's still painful, but now I can eat any food I want if I can tolerate it," Jake said.
"That's a good thing, right? Jake, you may want to start appreciating every little step in the right direction. You'll be surprised as each day passes, how well you are healing," Joseph encouraged.
Jake just shrugged.
Sensing that Joseph wanted to get personal with Jake, Violet excused herself, "I'm going to clean up the bedroom, I'll be upstairs if you need me. Good to see you Pastor."
"Good to see you Violet. Minnie said to tell you she's sorry she couldn't make it, but you are more than welcome to stop by our home anytime."
When Joseph heard the bedroom door shut behind Violet he said authoritatively, "Jake, let's cut to the chase here. There's more here than you are saying. You are progressively healing just as Dr. Carson told you would, so you wouldn't be this angry for this long if it wasn't something more. You want to share with me?"
Jake didn't know what to say, "I have my reasons. There's nothing you can do anyways."
Joseph cocked his head and looked at Jake, "Jake, why don't you try me? I've heard a lot through the years, nothing surprises me, so don't hold back. I want to help."
There was a long deafening silence. Joseph just sat and waited. Jake closed his eyes and after some mumbling, he broke the silence. "I knew these men that attacked me before I started working for Gowen. I had to support my wife, and Gowen was willing to give me a chance, so I had to keep my job."
"What do you mean, you knew those men? From where?" Joseph inquired.
"I hoped to God I'd never see them again or I might kill them," Jake said scornfully. "When I was just a kid, my older sister and I would go out to play with other kids and we'd ride our bicycles and meet at the tree house. All of us were going to the same school and planned our secret clubhouse meetings."
"We're those guys from the same school?"
"Yea, but they had already dropped out. They caused a lot trouble in school and were kicked out. One of them was in the same class as my sister, Ruth, the others were older," Jake explained, that's when Joseph noticed the veins in Jake's neck were started to bulge.
Not wanting to cause Jake to blow up, he eased up on the questions and took a drink. Jake settled down and took a deep breath but he couldn't stop the hot tears that were now streaming down his face.
Joseph stood up and walked over to Jake. Crouching down by his side, he put his hand on Jake's shoulder and looked straight into his eyes, "Whatever is eating you inside, has festered and you are ready to explode. You got to trust me to help you. Jake, let it out."
Jake's face was red with anger and hurt. His words were barely audible, "I haven't told anyone, I promised Ruth I would never speak of it again."
"It's all right Jake, let me help you please."
Looking away, Jake just trembled and then sobbing he finally whispered, "One day, the three of them followed Ruth and I to the tree house," Jake's voice cracked, "they ambushed us, dragged me down to the ground and tied me up."
Joseph covered his face knowing the worst was still coming.
"They each... took turns with Ruth. I heard her screams and couldn't do anything. Nothing! I failed her. They took off and we never saw them again until I did now," Jake was visibly shaking and sobbing.
Joseph wrapped his arms around Jake and held him rocking him until his sobs finally gave way to sniffles. The two of them just sat in silence.