Eye of the Storm

FIFTEEN



Gerard found the mercury at seven o’clock on Tuesday morning when he pulled the vent screens from the master suite of Kirstie’s house. A test with a local metallurgist confirmed his suspicion.

The whole town of Jolly Mill knew about the mercury by the end of the day when a hazmat team from Springfield combed through the building and checked other houses around it. Only Kirstie’s had been affected. All sheet metal had to be replaced, which Monett Sheet Metal promised to do.

Gerard was reeling when he heard the news. People responded quickly around here, especially when it meant helping others.

Suspicion rested on Barry for the mercury, of course. His father had been a local dentist for many years, and Barry would have had access to the mercury used at the time as an ingredient to fill teeth. When vaporized, that same ingredient had the power to kill.

Gerard could not have been more impressed by the quick responses. He knew business was slow in this area and people were hungry for income, which just reinforced his determination to give them what they wanted when Kirstie asked him to have the whole house checked, rewired and cleaned of any possible toxin.





Late Wednesday morning Gerard found the perfect place for Vance Manufacturing, where a garment factory had once operated at the edge of town. A fire had taken out the factory, and the owners had moved to Monett, decapitating the tax income for Jolly Mill. The place was inside city limits with access to city utilities, and the new Vance manufacturing plant would more than replace the loss for Jolly Mill. It was also within walking distance of the lodge and resort.

Thirty minutes after making an inquiry on the sale of the place, Gerard’s cell rang at Nora’s place, where he had moved with Kirstie and Lynley. He was told the property had been rezoned for residential last Friday.

Last Friday. Soon after he spoke with Alec Thompson about his project.

Gerard paced across the bedroom—Nora had informed him this was Alec’s old bedroom. That just irritated him further. He wanted to throw something. The target would likely be Alec Thompson. Why was the man impeding progress for the town and help for people who so desperately needed it?

Gerard called the clinic and told Megan what his morning had been like. It felt good to hear her compassionate voice on the other end of the line.

“Something’s up, Gerard,” Megan said. In the background phones rang and people chattered, and Gerard knew he’d caught her at a busy time.

“Like what?”

“I’ve never known Alec to be so bullheaded. He’s always been fair in business dealings. So has Nora. There’s got to be some kind of catch here.”

“I’d like to know what. Want to meet me for lunch?”

“That’s in thirty minutes, you know.”

“I can get a picnic basket together. Nora’s housekeeper is at loose ends now that Kirstie’s doing so much better, and though Nora has a lot of spare room, I’m getting really claustrophobic. Especially in Alec’s old room. Maybe we can brainstorm some answers.”

“Sounds good. Meanwhile I’ll pick Carmen’s brain and see what patients are saying about it when they come in. I know Carmen’s still gung ho for your plan.”

“And you?” As soon as he asked the question, he wasn’t sure he was ready for the answer. “How do you feel about it? I got the impression you were uncomfortable bringing possibly dangerous people to a peaceful town.”

“I’ve seen some close brushes with death lately, and not all of them came from Corpus Christi. I’m open to suggestions.”

He grinned. “Well, that’s not as great as gung ho, but it’ll have to do.”

“What I’m saying is there are no guarantees in life. Right?”

“Right.”

“But we can’t give up on life’s script just because we didn’t get it in writing.”

“Now you sound like Tess.” And that was encouraging.

“Or Lynley or Nora or Kirstie, take your pick.”

He chuckled. He was going to like living here. He only wanted to make sure Megan stayed where she was. “I’ve called the newspaper and asked for citizens to show up at the specially called zoning committee meeting Thursday night. They need to know what the committee is doing and what they could lose if they allow this to happen. I do know how to play the political game.”

“Yep. You can do that. Just don’t ram it down their throats or they’ll resent it. I still think there must be some kind of reason Alec doesn’t want the plant here.”

“It could have something to do with why he attempted to purchase a piece of Lawson’s property six years ago. It wasn’t for sale. I wonder if he still has his heart set on it. That could be why he doesn’t want our homeless here.”

“What part of the resort did he want to purchase?”

“He wanted the lodge, ballroom and restaurant portion of the resort and the unfinished sunroom.”

“But why fight you? It’s going to be yours. Lawson already put it in writing.”

Gerard loved the sound of encouragement in her voice. “We’ll have to wait and see. Sandwich or fried chicken for lunch?”

“Whatever you bring is fine.”





When Gerard picked up Megan at noon, she could smell a spicy tang of garlic and glanced at the genuine picnic hamper in the backseat. “Pizza?”

“In sandwich form.” He backed out of the parking spot. “By morning, anyone who receives a paper will know about the meeting, and if they read the letters to the editor they’ll know how I feel about it. I’m not sure if that’ll be enough, but I hope the town hall won’t be able to hold the crowd.”

“Fighting form, I see.” She reached into the backseat and lifted one side of the hamper. “Mind if I eat? I’m starved. No breakfast. I slept late.”

“Have at it. Did Carmen have any information?”

Megan pulled out half a pepperoni and cheese on a sourdough bun. “Strangely, no. Carmen was quiet for once.” She took a huge bite and savored the blend of tastes. Sourdough was her favorite bread in the world. “Who made this?” she asked with a half-full mouth.

“I did. Housekeeper was out. Is that strange?”

“What?”

“Carmen being quiet?”

Megan chewed and swallowed as he drove through town and turned right. “You’d better believe it. Carmen has an opinion about everything, and she’s not afraid to share it.”

“So you think she knows something we don’t?”

Megan took another bite and shrugged. She’d never known Carmen to be quiet about anything, so this was new to her.

By the time Gerard parked the car, Megan had finished her half sandwich and was rummaging through the hamper for more food. Banana, apples…cookies! “What are these?”

“Oatmeal, coconut, pecan and dark chocolate. Nora made them last night. That woman cooks when she’s stressed, and she’s pretty much stressed all the time.”

“I could’ve told you that.” Megan bit into the dream cookie. Okay, this was her new favorite. “Let her stay stressed. It’s good for the whole community.”

“Maybe I’ll take a batch of Nora’s cookies to the meeting tomorrow night.”

“Good idea. Serve them with coffee so everyone will stay up all night thinking about what you had to say.”

Gerard accepted the sandwich Megan handed him. “I believe I can convince most folks of the benefits my proposal can offer the town.”

“I know you can.” Megan opened the door and stepped out. The grass was calf-deep and she could possibly step on a snake, but it had stormed again last night and the scent of the air was irresistible.

“So, Gerard, are you sure this is where God wants you?” She closed the door and took another bite of her cookie while Gerard joined her. A path led through an open gate to a waterfall in a hillside that faced south to a field, and they strolled toward the splashing water.

“I have no doubt. Kirstie told me that Lawson Barnes wants his property to go to the rehab center. I think I have my answer, don’t you?”

“Even if you have to purchase outside the city limits, dig a well and do the infrastructure? It’ll cost a lot more.”

“I don’t think we’ll have to build outside the city limits. Once people know how much revenue this could bring to Jolly Mill, I feel sure a vote will swing our way.”

Megan sank onto a boulder beside the splashing waterfall. “I don’t know how you keep going,” she said quietly. “You’ve had so many setbacks, seen so much ugliness. You have seen people at their worst and yet you keep going, helping, giving.”

“How many times have I told you I don’t do it myself?”

“I know, God does it through you, but you’re still in the midst of it, and I don’t see you getting a break.”

“You don’t think the Barnes property is a break? Megan, God’s in control of everything, every struggle.”

“Then why does it seem that every time you’re right in the middle of doing something good, you get hit hardest with trials and pain? Why was it your fiancé left you when she found out you were devoting Vance money to the mission?” Megan wanted to slap her own mouth for letting those words fall out of it like that.

Gerard didn’t hesitate. “She had the free will to make that decision.”

“But you were sure enough she was God’s choice for you that you were willing to make that kind of commitment to her, yet you were obviously wrong. How do you know this rehab project is right? How can you know you’re doing God’s will? If you’d pursued a different profession, would you be happily married now?”

“I can’t think that way.” Gerard sat down beside her and took the final bite of his sandwich. He sat staring into the rush of water as if mesmerized, then he glanced at the huge cookie Megan held in her hand. “You going to eat that whole thing and continue to fit into your scrubs?”

Megan scowled at him and took another bite. “There are more back in the hamper. I saw them. If you’d wanted one you could have brought it with you.”

He chuckled. “Ann left me because she discovered I was planning to devote all my excess financial resources to the mission. Typically, like any man, I thought she was in love with me when she was actually in love with my family money. We all have blind places. That just means we have to draw closer to God and pray for wisdom. That’s a prayer He’s promised to answer.”

“I used to pray.” Megan broke off a piece of cookie and handed it to Gerard. “As a child, I knew how. My parents sent me to Sunday school.”

“But you forgot how to pray?”

“I just didn’t see the point in it. Nothing ever changed.”

“How do you know?”

“My mother had the affair.”

“And yet your parents are still married. People make mistakes, Megan. Bad ones. I’m sure that right now, Ann is deeply disappointed that she gave up the chance to marry a man like me.”

Megan chuckled as she was expected to, then took a bite of the cookie and watched the water, thinking of her family. “Dad worked so hard all his life that he didn’t spend enough time with Mom. She took it out on me. I asked Dad to make her stop, but he never could. There wasn’t enough of him to go around. Maybe, like Dad, God’s too busy to spend time on my silly requests.”

“This world isn’t our permanent home, Megan. We’re going to struggle here. It’s written in the Bible. You’ve been through some storms. Awful ones.”

“Storms I can’t deal with.”

“You haven’t had the time to deal with this last one. I hope you know I’ve been praying for God to give you peace, but despite all, I think your presence here may be a calling from God.”

Megan frowned up at him. “Here? In Jolly Mill? I haven’t heard any call.”

“You came here, didn’t you? God is a great casting director.” Gerard reached toward her, and for a moment she thought he was after the rest of her cookie. She held it away from him.

He touched her face, then leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “It’s been stormy lately—not just the weather, but the situation. But Christ knows how to calm the storms in our lives. We find Him in our hardest times, our deepest valleys, and we don’t always have to use words to pray. There are times when we can’t come up with the words. He has to do it for us.”

Any other time she would have argued, but for some reason his words resonated. She thought about her old Sunday school teacher, Martha Irene, and her prayer pillows, and the pillow that seemed to anchor her to reality the night Gerard came to the cottage.

“You think Kirstie and Lynley would have moved in with Nora if I hadn’t convinced them?” she asked.

“Maybe not. We may not know the answer to that in this lifetime.”

Megan gave him the last of her cookie. Could God really be in this? And if so, why use her?

“I would never marry a man for his money,” she said.

“I know.”

“I had begun to think maybe you and I…you know…might be right for each other,” she said. “But I’ve realized that I’m not right for you.”

“I thought perhaps you’d decided I wasn’t right for you.”

“No. There’s a big difference. You need a woman who’s strong and filled with love for God and ready to plunge right into your mission.”

“Why?”

“Well, because that’s what you need. Someone to work beside you.”

“Are you saying I can’t do the job I’ve been doing all these years by myself?”

Megan shook her head. “I practically grew up in church, you know. My parents didn’t attend much, but I was there all the time, especially when I stayed with the Marshals because Kirstie was always active in her church, and I spent a lot of weekends with them. After catching my mother with Barry, and after I saw all Kirstie and Lynley went through because of Barry’s behavior, I pretty much gave up on waiting for God to come along and make things right again.”

“What do you feel God should have done, when it was human choice that caused the suffering in the first place?”

Megan shrugged. “All I know is that one day I flat-out told God I didn’t want to be a pawn in His game of chess any longer. I didn’t see how living by His rules made things any easier than living without them. In fact, I saw more Christians suffer than unbelievers.”

“You can’t see into the human heart, though, Megan. And you can’t see past this life. If you could see things from God’s point of view—”

“Which I can’t—”

“—then you’d see a whole different picture.”

“But there’s never a break for you, Gerard. I mean, you take hit after hit and you keep on going, and I can’t see how you do it. You talk about storms. I know hurricanes are long and destructive, but even with them there’s always an eye to the storm. You never get that eye.”

“Oh, yes I do. The storm is always there, but since you arrived at the mission, you’ve been the eye to my storm. When I see families find a home, that’s an eye to my storm. We help people who will never stand on their own two feet and take care of themselves, but we also see happy endings. Those are great breaks. But Megan, since you came to us, I’ve always believed you were going to be the relief I needed. I don’t need someone to work beside me, but I would like someone there when I get home at night.”

Megan caught her breath. He’d never spoken so forthrightly before. “And I left.”

“The way I saw it, you left the pain of the mission, and you were called here for a reason. I never considered that you left me personally.”

“But I don’t have the strength it takes to live the kind of life you live.”

“I didn’t ask you to. All I ask is that you follow God’s calling for you, not His calling for me. I saw something in you there that seemed to grow the longer you were at the mission, and it was for patients. You just got caught in a terror that wasn’t of your making. You’re wounded now, but you learn and grow from tragedies such as this so that maybe you’ll be able to recognize it when it happens again.”

“It’s not going to happen to me.”

“You can’t hide from life, and you can’t continue to blame yourself for someone else’s evil.”

His chin was so firm, his blue eyes so confident. He had a faith she’d never be able to comprehend. There was no mistaking the strength in his expression.

“You can’t predict the future, Megan.” His voice washed her with tenderness. “You had no way of knowing what that crazed man would do.”

“But I should have realized he was drugged. I should have known there was a possibility he would try something.” She should have made Joni leave the exam room when the killer first stepped through the door.

The nightmare was suddenly surrounding her again. She couldn’t do this. “I had a weapon I could have used in time to protect her and her unborn baby.” No matter how often she’d tried, she could not forget watching the life leave Joni’s eyes.

“Don’t take this burden alone, Megan.”

“I could never go back to Corpus Christi,” she said. “Which is why I’m not right for you. God may call you back there someday, and I wouldn’t be able to go.” She felt the quiver in her voice.

“I’m not leaving Jolly Mill. You should know me well enough by now to realize I’m not going to end something I’ve started if it’s a good idea, and following you here was a good idea.” He motioned toward the field in front of them. “See this? As of yesterday, I own it.”

She gazed out across the field, the creek running through the middle, the trees around a pond. “You’re putting the manufacturing plant here?”

“No, I hope to build a home here. I want to make this my home. You wouldn’t have to go back to Corpus Christi. I would never make you do that.”

She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her scrubs. “You don’t understand, Gerard. If I’m not willing to follow you anywhere, I’m not right for you. That’s all there is to it.” She walked slowly back to the car as her heart felt as if it would swell to bursting despite her brave words to him. To be loved like this by a man like this? A man she loved? She wanted to turn and run back to him and jump into his arms and never let go.

The pain she felt as she continued to walk away was as if she was being ripped in half. She may not love him enough to follow him back to Texas, but she loved him enough to free him to find someone who did.