Riven - Jerry B. Jenkins [38]
“I’ve just been praying and thinking and singing.”
“You can sing at a time like this?”
“Sometimes it’s all I can do. I’m dreading the next conversation with Ravinia. I want to scold her, to advise her, to be the parent I should be to a prodigal. But you know she’ll come out with guns blazing when she realizes what’s happened. They’ll wish they’d never tangled with her.”
Thomas had to smile.
“What?” she said.
“Imagine Paul Pierce trying to deal with her.”
Grace chuckled. “Imagine Patricia. I’d tell Rav to keep calling her Pat.”
Tuesday evening | Dennis Asphalt & Paving
Alejandro was closing the office when Brady showed up with Peter and introduced him.
“Nice to meet you, muchacho Pedro. You are welcome to watch your brother break my car stops, but you must stay far from the machinery and the work area, comprende?”
“He talks funny,” Peter said.
“He wants to know if you understand, Petey.”
“Oh yeah, I do!”
“Call me if you need anything, Brady. And don’t worry about doing too much tonight. It would be good if you can load the whole truck, but keeping from breaking any is more important. And you know I’m only paying you for two hours, even if it takes more time.”
“I’ll fill that truck, sir.”
14
Peebles, Ohio
The call from Jimmie Johnson came late that night. “Thomas, your daughter is frantically trying to reach you. All she had was the number in Oldenburg, and when she finally reached someone at the church, they told her you were no longer there.”
“Thanks, Jimmie. We’ll call her. And you mentioned a potential opening for me.”
“I did, and there’s a real possibility here, but I want to talk with you in person first.”
“Why?”
“Really, Thomas, I don’t want to talk about it by phone. It’s not a pastorate, but it’s still full-time ministry. It would require a move to Adamsville. I’d like to meet you there on my way back to headquarters. Could you be there for lunch tomorrow? I would not advise bringing Grace.”
“Grace is always with me.”
“I know. But I’d like to chat with you in private, and then I want you to decide whether to pursue this before exposing Grace to it.”
“You make it sound like the city dump.”
“No, no. It’s really quite interesting, but you need to check it out for yourself. You said she was under the weather anyway.”
“That’s why I’d rather not leave her.”
“She’s that bad off?”
“It’s just that we aren’t sure what the problem is. But I’ll let her decide.”
Dennis Asphalt & Paving
“Boring!” Peter called from atop the cab of the flatbed truck. “And I’m tired!”
“I gotta finish this,” Brady hollered back from the forklift. “And I don’t want you walking home alone.”
“Ma’s gonna be worried about us and probably mad.”
“I left her a note. Now just hang on.”
Brady had broken only one car stop, which he left in plain sight for Alejandro. But being so careful had cost him time, and it was already after ten. He was determined to fully load the delivery truck. He wanted to prove himself quickly and lock in this job. He liked the idea of being so close to the office—and, he assumed, petty cash or even a safe—with no one else around.
Peebles
“Seems to me if there’s one person we can trust,” Grace said, “it’s Mr. Johnson. I’ll be fine. You go tomorrow and hurry back because I’ll be dying to hear.”
Thomas got on the extension phone in the guest bedroom while Grace dialed Ravinia from the living room.
Their daughter had never been one to ease into a conversation.
“All right,” Ravinia said, “I know we’ve got some hard talking to do, but tell me why I should forgive you for worrying me to death. For all I knew you could be lying somewhere dead by the side of the road. What happened?”
“Now, dear,” Grace said, “we knew how you’d react, and obviously you know how we feel about your new living arrangement.”
“Does that make me an untouchable, Mom? You were never going to speak to me again?”
“You know better than that.”
“Do I?”
“Yes, now stop being ridiculous. Your father will tell you what happened