CHAPTER 1
It had been three years since Kathy Robinson's older sister Leah passed from an aneurysm the night before her wedding. But for Kathy, it was still so fresh. As she reconnected with Sterling, she found herself talking a lot about Leah and the last year of her life. Sterling was the only person in her circle who wasn't around when Leah passed. It was actually kind of refreshing. Her parents, their extended family, the church family, and friends were all still reeling from what happened.
Kathy's father, Bishop Lee Robinson, was the pastor of the very progressive Hattiesville Community Church. He was so devastated by his daughter's death that it took him months to return to his pulpit. His wife Katherine finally put her own grief aside and convinced him to go back. She knew the church couldn't begin to heal until he returned. They were all in a tough place — that place where you know God is but you can't hear Him or feel Him. That space where you can't pray because you can only cry.
During the months that the bishop was away, Minister Benjamin Coffey took the reigns and led the staff and other church leaders in keeping the ministry moving. In taking over for Bishop Robinson, Ben had to put on hold the plans for the first church plant in the Atlanta area, marrying Belinda Stewart, and adopting her twin daughters Brittani and Brianna. But a year later, they were married in a small ceremony which Bishop Robinson officiated. Belinda's sister Kirby was her matron of honor and Kirby's husband Enoch was Ben's best man.
* * *
When Kathy saw the friend request from Sterling Chance on Facebook, she was surprised but not shocked. They met originally in college, dated briefly, had a misunderstanding and didn't see each other again until a year ago when they met at a conference, and he talked her into having dinner with him. He was now the head football coach at DavisTown College, and they resumed their friendship.
She was a big football fan, so he knew that was a good way for him to spend some time getting to know her better. He really liked her, but she seemed so distracted. He took the team to worship at Hattiesville Community Church occasionally, and he would come pretty regularly during the off season. When she asked why he didn't join, he told her that he knew they had a high level of accountability, and he couldn't serve at that level because of the demands of his job. Kathy didn't accept that as an excuse, but he knew that was a stipulation of them moving from friendship to courtship.
Sterling Chance had been a standout college football player — an All-American — at DavisTown. He was drafted by the NFL and played five seasons for the Dallas Cowboys. An injury sidelined him for an entire season, and his comeback season was not without its challenges. He retired from the league, and the timing was perfect. The DavisTown coach was retiring, and they hired Sterling immediately.
* * *
Clay had been true to his word when he told Cicely the night before Leah and Grant were supposed to get married that he loved her and wanted to be in an exclusive relationship with her. He asked her to move in with him but she refused. She was true to her word about doing things the right way. He did get her to rearrange some things financially so that she could quit the part-time job. Her being more available had definitely enhanced their relationship.
Clay was still concerned about Grant. He had gone through with the transfer to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC, but for the first year after Leah passed, he did not adjust well. His family encouraged him to get some counseling, but it didn't seem to help. He was angry with God for allowing Janis to live and Leah to die.
The night before the wedding Grant and Janis struggled over a gun that she intended to use to keep him from marrying Leah. She was shot and the bullet was lodged in her spine. She had surgery and was hospitalized for weeks but survived. Leah had unknowingly developed another cerebral aneurysm. Her blood pressure went up and the aneurysm ruptured, causing her death the night before her wedding.
CHAPTER 2
"What kind of name is Jacksa?" he asked.
She laughed. "When my parents met in Korea, my mom didn't speak much English. My dad told her his name was Jackson. She pronounced it 'Jacksa.' That became her nickname for him, and after they were married, they decided Jacksa would be the name of their first child. So here I am!"
Anderson Thorn had recently met Jacksa Baye at the birthday party of a mutual friend. He thought she was fascinating, she thought he was mysterious. She asked about his name.
"My mother's maiden name is Anderson, and since I am the only male in the family, my grandmother wanted me to have the name."
"You don't have any brothers?"
"No, I am the youngest of three. I have two older sisters, and my mother had only one sibling — a sister."
"I bet you are really spoiled."
"Well, I admit to being grandma's baby, a mama's boy, and the apple of my sisters and my aunt's eye!"
Jacksa just rolled her eyes. His dimples were so cute when he smiled.
Anderson grew up in South Carolina, along the Catawba River, on the reservation of the Catawba Indian Nation with his paternal family. His mother was half-Catawba, but his father was full-blooded Catawba Indian. His father died when he was young, but the community rallied around him, his mother and sisters. When he moved away to attend college, it was a success story for everyone on the reservation.
Jacksa Baye had been hired as a paralegal in the law offices of Sandra and Roderick Matthews. She didn't intend to come home to Charlotte, DavisTown, actually. But her mother's illness compelled her to be close. Jacksa and her brother Jackson Jr., JJ, always thought their mother would be better had the multiple sclerosis been diagnosed earlier. For six years, her condition was misdiagnosed, and now Min Baye was getting progressively worse. She was using a walker all the time, and her vision was worsening. The dark spot in her eye had become a blind spot. She still insisted on working a few days a week, teaching an online class for DavisTown College.
Jacksa's parents, Jackson and Min met as children. His father was in the military and stationed in Korea. Min's mother and father worked on the base. Min and Jackson went to school together, and their families lived in the same complex. He had always loved her. But she couldn't stand him! He used to throw rocks at her and tell her he was going to marry her when she grew up.
After Jackson and his family left Korea, they communicated occasionally if he initiated the contact. But when she came to the States to attend college, she wrote him to let him know. He was a senior at Howard University when Min arrived as a freshman at Georgetown University. Because Jackson was the only person Min knew in the States, she depended on him a lot and he liked that. They married shortly after she graduated.
* * *
Jackson Baye usually got a haircut on Thursday after work and then had a drink with his barber. Min didn't expect him until around nine o'clock and during basketball season later after the game. Since JJ was away in school, Jacksa made a point of seeing her mother on Thursday. Min didn't like Jacksa fussing over her, but she enjoyed the company. They decided to eat out. Min was feeling particularly strong that day. They had a good visit and, like clockwork, Jackson came in a little after nine. Min sat and chatted with them for a few minutes and then excused herself to get ready for bed. Jackson remarked to his daughter that it was taking Min longer now to dress and undress, actually longer to do everything. He insisted that she not shower unless someone else was there with her. He also didn't like for her to cook. She had gotten burned because she couldn't feel her hand on the hot toaster oven. The burn wasn't bad, but it could have been worse.
As her father was talking, Jacksa looked at him closely. He was a fifty-six-year-old man who was aging gracefully. He worked out regularly, and it showed. Her mother was a fifty-one-year-old woman with a debilitating disease that was aging her rapidly. She knew they were still very much in love, and Jackson was super attentive to Min, but Jacksa couldn't help but wonder about their relationship.
She left her parents' home a little down, but a call from her brother lifted her spirits. JJ, as she called him, always had a story to tell. He was a junior basketball player at Duke University. He asked her about her visit with their mom. She was always honest with him, and she was glad today to have a good report. JJ was a good player, and he earned a full scholarship. Going to "the league" was a dream, but he knew the reality was he needed to make the best of his free education. His major was broadcast journalism. He wanted to be a sportscaster.
Jacksa was JJ's biggest fan. When their mother got sick, she took care of him. She cooked for him, made sure he went to all his practices, and taught him how to do laundry. When she went to college, she was confident he could manage with minimum assistance from their mother.
The feeling was mutual. JJ adored Jacksa. Their parents teased him that what Jacksa said was "gospel" to him. When she was in college, he visited as much as he could. And now that he was playing at the college level, she went to as many games as possible. Jackson would usually go to his games too. Min attended all the home games his freshman year, fewer the sophomore year, and even fewer this past season.
Jackson sent a text message as soon as Jacksa left. "Home. Daughter was here. Talk tmrw. Good nite."
While JJ and Jacksa were talking, Anderson sent a text message to confirm he would see her the next day; he had some news. Jacksa and Anderson were settled into a routine of having lunch on Fridays. Things were usually slow in the office, and that was his day off. Today, Anderson was excited. He shared with her that his application for the promotion had been accepted. He was going the following week for the first round interview. So if all went well, he would be promoted to detective. Anderson told Jacksa that ultimately he wanted to be an FBI agent, and this was a step in that direction. Jacksa wasn't sure how she felt about that, but she was excited for him.
"Have you told your family? She asked.
He laughed. "Yeah, I told my sisters, and they told my mom and my aunt, but we all agreed not to tell my grandma yet. I'll tell her in person once everything is solidified. No need to worry her unnecessarily."
"Do you think she's going to be worried?"
"No doubt. She hates that I have a job where I carry a gun everyday." They continued to talk, and Jacksa was surprised at how open he was with her. They were friends, but she didn't feel as at ease with him as he obviously felt with her. He told her about the training and that the job may require him to go undercover at some point.
CHAPTER 3
Kirby and Enoch Casebier tried for over a year for her to become pregnant. They finally went through the in-vitro process and had a baby boy whom they named Blake. Blake was born exactly two months before his brother Nicholas, the baby Enoch and Kirby adopted from a teenage couple. Having two infants was more work than Kirby imagined, but she loved every minute of it. Because Ben and Belinda did not move right away, Ben's grandmother Victoria Coffey and his great-aunt Avis Johnson were still in Hattiesville too. Grammy and Auntie were a tremendous help to Kirby and Enoch. The boys were three years old and getting ready to go to Montessori school, so Kirby was going back to work full time. She and Enoch owned Casebier Collection, a trash and recyclables pick-up company. Business was good, and they were glad.
Campbell did all he could to keep his relationship with Chloe going, but she had changed. The baby they gave up for adoption was now three years old. It was a son they named Nicholas, named after Chloe's middle name, Nichole. That was Campbell's idea. He thought it would help to heal her heart. They had agreed to give the baby up. They were sixteen years old, and still in high school. They also agreed to an open adoption and the Casebier's agreed to let them check up on Nicholas from time to time. Campbell called at least once a month, and he knew in his heart of hearts that they made a good decision. Chloe started off doing the same, but her contacts with Nicholas became less and less. Now she wasn't responding to Campbell either. He was in college at DavisTown, and Chloe was in Atlanta at Spelman.
* * *
Ben, Belinda, and the twins had settled into their life in Landridge, Georgia. The Landridge Community Church had celebrated its first anniversary. Ben settled into his life as father, husband, and pastor. Brittani and Brianna were attending the International School and were "majoring" in the arts. Brittani chose ballet and the violin; Brianna chose ballet and drama. Everybody who knew Brianna knew drama was a good choice for her. They were both also in creative writing. Belinda and Ben were particularly impressed with the school. Though it was not a Christian school and that was their first choice, they found the student body, faculty, and staff of the International School to be diverse and the school to have a broad curriculum.
Belinda was working as an operating room nurse at Emory Hospital. Ben didn't particularly want Belinda working. They could live comfortably without her salary, but he knew how hard she had worked to earn her nursing credentials and how much she wanted to work. So their agreement was that her salary would go toward savings, mainly for their children's college education. She did a good job of balancing her responsibility as first lady, wife, mother, and nurse. Life for the Coffey family was good.
* * *
"Brittani, you have to tell Mommy or Daddy."
"I can't, Brianna. She made me promise not to tell anybody.
I'll just take some extra snacks and give them to her."
"Do you think Mommy won't know?"
Brittani let out a big sigh. She knew her sister was right. Her friend, Carlotta, had confided to her that her family didn't have much food, and lunch at school was her only meal most days. But Brittani was determined not to break her friend's confidence. She put an apple, peanut butter crackers, and a bagel in another bag and hurriedly hid it in her backpack. When Ben walked into the kitchen, he knew they were up to something, but he didn't ask. He knew Belinda would figure it out. She always did. He called her the holy ghost of their home. She knew everything.
On the ride to school each morning, one of them would pray. Today it was Brianna's turn. She prayed that they would make their day great and thanked God for their family having enough food. When she prayed for Carlotta, Brittani drew in her breath. Ben didn't miss any of it, nor did he miss Brittani stomping her foot at Brianna when they got out of the car. He made a mental note to tell Belinda when she called him on her morning break.
When Brittani saw Carlotta during the first block, she gave her the bag. Carlotta was very grateful and ate the bagel immediately. But she made sure Brittani had not told anybody. Brittani was honest that she told Brianna, but she told Carlotta they could trust Brianna.
"Thank you, Brittani. If any of the teachers or adults find out, they may take us from our parents."
"What do you mean take you from your parents?"
Carlotta whispered to Brittani, "My mama said my daddy lost his job because he didn't have a security number."
Neither of them knew what that meant, but it sounded important, and Brittani knew it was keeping her friend's family from having enough to eat.
