Threat of Darkness(40)

 It had floored him when she’d refused. Given her recent assertion that she’d believed he was making a mistake, he supposed he could understand her point of view. While he was trying to protect her, she was attempting to do the same thing for him.

 What would it take to convince her she was still wrong about his motives? he wondered.

 That question made him snort in self-disgust. The first thing he had to do, way before he tried to convince Sam that he was right, was convince himself of it. The way his head was spinning and his emotions kept taking unexpected roller-coaster rides, he wondered if he had the slightest idea what was truly best.

 Would it be kinder to keep his distance? Could he do that? Was he even willing to give it a try?

 John nodded to affirm the purity of his motives, yet there remained a niggling uncertainty in his mind that refused to go away. Considering the way he cared for Sam, even now, he wasn’t sure his personal desires were not unduly influencing him.

 “It’s that house over there,” Samantha said, pointing off the road. “Slow down and get ready to turn.”

 Her words jerked him back into the present and he steeled himself for the coming confrontation. “Okay. I’ll park a ways from the house and walk up. You stay in the truck until I call you.”

 “You must be joking.”

 “Not at all. I’ll explain what we need and then…”

 Sam was already opening the door and preparing to get out as he stopped. The determined look she flashed his way left no room for negotiation.

 “Come to think of it, I have a better idea,” John said with a wry grin. “Why don’t we work together?”

 She chuckled. “Now you’re making sense. For a change.”





ELEVEN

Weeds in parts of the unkempt yard stood knee-high, some still green, some already drying out and dropping seeds in preparation for the coming winter. In other areas, where the grass had been repeatedly trampled, the dry, clay soil showed through.

 Judging by what she could see offhand, Samantha concluded that the house was in desperate need of a coat of paint as well as repairs to its structure.

 A couple of mottled-gray, cur dogs roused themselves from a spot beneath the sagging wooden porch and began to bark in chorus.

 Samantha wasn’t deterred. “The family knows me,” she told John. “Let me go on ahead. I’ll wave, if and when I need you.”

 “You sure?”

 “Positive. Give me a chance. I can do this.”

 “Okay. Stay outside even if they invite you in. I’ll be right behind you.”

 Although the Fox house appeared to be abandoned, Sam knew it wasn’t. Everything had looked pretty much the way it currently did for as long as she could remember.

 The dogs greeted her fearless approach as if she belonged there, tucked their stubby tails and lowered their heads in submission, acting embarrassed that they might have failed to recognize an old friend. Speaking quietly she paused only long enough to let them sniff her ankles before proceeding up onto the porch and rapping on the frame of the screen door.

 The elderly, bent, arthritic woman who answered her knock gave her a quizzical look before breaking into a grin and pushing open the rickety screen. “Is that you, Samantha? Land sakes, girl. Where you been keepin’ yourself?”

 “I work at the hospital, Miss Opal. You remember, don’t you?”

 “Ah, that I do.” Her smile faded as she pulled the sides of her sweater tighter and folded her arms to keep the garment in place as she stepped outside. “I heard you was there when Bobby Joe’s foolishness made poor little Jess so sick.”

 “Yes. How’s the baby doing?”

 “Fine, praise the Lord. Went home with his mama over in Gepp after he got out of the hospital. Looks like everything’ll be okay. All she has to do is go to court to prove she’s a good mother and promise she won’t make the mistake of leavin’ him with somebody like Bobby Joe again.”

 Shaking her head slowly, sadly, Opal sighed and continued. “Beats me what happens to kids these days. Bobby was always a follower. I guess he picked the wrong friends. Thank goodness his sisters got married and moved away before it was too late for them, too. I did my best with all my grandkids but some were purely deaf to good Christian teachings.”

 Laying a hand of comfort on Opal’s thin shoulder, Samantha asked, “What about his brothers? Are they still staying with you?”

 “Only Marty. And Bobby Joe, of course. Jimmy enlisted a couple of months ago and he’s gone off to boot camp. I dearly wish Bobby Joe had gone with him. I know it can be dangerous, bein’ a soldier, but fryin’ his brains with that dope he keeps usin’ has got to be worse.”