In the Spirit of...Christmas and A Very Special Delivery: In the Spirit of...Christmas / A Very Special Delivery. Linda Goodnight
hitched one shoulder, distant and preoccupied as if whittling enough roasting sticks was the last thing on his mind. “Close.”
“That should do it.” She knelt beside the campfire pit and began to arrange the wood. “Some of the older boys like to make their own—especially when they have a girlfriend to impress.”
“It’s a man thing.” Jesse tossed the last stick onto the pile and snapped shut a pocketknife, which he then shimmied into his front jeans’ pocket. “I think we’re about set. What time will the guests arrive?”
“Sevenish. Some will meet at the church and bring the bus. Others will drift in at will throughout the evening.” Leaning back on her heels, she gazed up at him. The look on his face said he wanted to be a thousand miles away by then. “It’ll be fun, Jesse.”
Jade, who resided less than five feet from her daddy at all times, sat on a bale of hay munching an apple with childish contentment. One tennis-shoed foot was curled beneath her while the other beat a steady rhythm against the tight rectangle of baled grass.
“I never went to a wienie roast before,” she said.
She’d been ecstatic, hopping and dancing around her father like a puppy when he’d told her of the plans. Lindsey wished Jesse showed half that much enthusiasm.
“You’ll like it. We’ll play games and take a ride in the wagon and roast marshmallows.” Playfully bumping the child’s hip with her own, Lindsey sat down next to her. “You’ll need your coat. The temperature gets pretty cool after the sun goes down.”
Jesse propped a booted foot on the end of the bale next to Jade. He rubbed at his bottom lip, pensive. “We better head home and get cleaned up.”
Jade frowned at one palm and then the other. Apple juice glistened on her fingers. “I’m clean.”
Jesse shot Lindsey a wry glance. “Well, I’m not.” Scooping his daughter up into strong arms, he rubbed her nose with his. “And we’ll stop by the store for some marshmallows.”
The gap-toothed smile appeared. “Okay!”
He tossed Jade over his shoulder the way Lindsey had seen him do a dozen times. After a thoughtful pause, he said, “I guess we’ll see ya at seven then.”
Watching the enigmatic man and his child cross the yard, Lindsey experienced an uncomfortable sense of loss and loneliness. Given the number of times she’d asked him or Jade to church functions, she’d been pleasantly surprised when Jesse had agreed to come to the party. He’d been more than clear on a number of occasions that spiritual issues were on his no-call list.
Still, she had a funny feeling about Jesse’s decision to join tonight’s festivities. He’d been almost grim all afternoon while they’d made the preparations, as if the party was a nasty medicine to take instead of a pleasure to be enjoyed.
Going to release a resentful Sushi from her office confinement, Lindsey heard the roar of Jesse’s pickup truck fading into the distance and wondered if he would return at all.
By seven-thirty, friends of every age milled around the clearing along the back side of Lindsey’s farm, but there was no sign of Jesse and Jade. Disappointment settled over Lindsey like morning fog on a pond as she watched the driveway for the familiar silver-and-blue truck. The party would have been good for father and daughter. That’s why her disappointment was so keen, not because she missed their company, although she was too honest to deny that fact completely. Still, she had plenty of other friends around, and the party, as always, was off to a roaring start.
Beneath a full and perfect hunter’s moon, the scent of hickory smoke and roasting hotdogs circled over a crackling campfire. The night air, cool and crisp, meant jackets and hooded sweatshirts, many of which lay scattered about on hay bales or on the short browning grass as their owners worked up a sweat in various games.
A rambunctious group of teenagers and young adults played a game of volleyball at the nets she and Jesse had strung up. Smaller children played tag by lantern light or crawled over the wagonload of hay parked at an angle on the north end of the clearing. Most of the adults chatted and laughed together around the food table and a huge cattle tank filled with iced-down soda pop and bottled water.
“Where’s that hired hand of yours, Lindsey?” Pastor Cliff Wilson, standing with a meaty arm draped over the shoulder of his diminutive wife, was only a few years older than Lindsey. She still had difficulty believing that this gentle giant had once spent more time in the county jail for drinking and disturbing the peace than he did in church. Just looking at him reminded Lindsey and everyone else of the amazing redemptive power of Jesus’ love. “I thought we’d get to meet him tonight.”
“I did, too, Cliff,” she said. “But it looks like he backed out on coming. Jade will be so disappointed.” So was she. Jade needed the interaction, and though Jesse held himself aloof, he needed to mingle with people who loved and served God.
“Jade?” Cliff’s wife, Karen, spoke up. “What a pretty name. Is that his little girl?”
Karen and Cliff had yet to conceive and every child held special interest for the pastor’s wife.
“Yes. She’s adorable. A little shy at first, so if they do come, give her some time to warm up.” Lindsey took a handful of potato chips from a bag on one of the long folding tables and nibbled the salt from one. “Aren’t you two going to eat a hotdog?”
Karen laughed and hugged her husband’s thick shoulder. “Cliff’s already had three.”
The pastor rubbed his belly. “Just getting started.”
Downing a sizeable portion of cola, the minister slid two franks onto the point of a stick and poked it into the flames. “One for me, and one for my lady friend here.”
Lindsey smiled, admiring the open affection between the pastor and his wife.
“Come on, Lindsey.” Debbie Castor, the waitress at the Caboose Diner and one of Lindsey’s closest friends, had joined the volleyball game. “We need someone who can spike the ball. Tom’s team is waxing us.”
Tom was Debbie’s husband, and they loved competing against each other in good-natured rivalries.
“Okay. One game. I still haven’t had my hotdog yet.” To shake off her disappointment at Jesse’s absence, Lindsey trotted to the makeshift court. She was in good shape from the physical aspect of her job and was generally a good athlete, but tonight her mind wasn’t on the game. Up to now, Jesse had always kept his word, and she experienced a strange unease that something was amiss.
When Tom’s team easily defeated Debbie’s, she stood with hands on her knees catching her breath. “Sorry, guys. I wasn’t much help tonight. I must be losing my touch.”
“Maybe after you eat you’ll regain your former glorious form, and we’ll play another game.”
With a laugh, she said, “No deal, Tom. You just want to beat us again.”
“Right on, sister.” Tom teased, bringing his arms forward to flex like a body builder. Balding and bespectacled, the fireman fooled everyone with his small stature and mischievous nature. Only those who knew him understood how strong and athletic he really was.
Still grinning, Lindsey fell in step beside Debbie and headed back to the campfire. “Have you eaten yet?”
“Half a bag of Oreos,” Debbie admitted. “All I want lately is chocolate.” Leaning closer she whispered, “I think I’m pregnant again.”
Lindsey’s squeal was silenced by Debbie’s, “Shh. I don’t want Karen to hear until I’m sure. I wouldn’t want to hurt her.”
“Ah, Deb. She’s not like that. Karen will be happy for you.”
“But to see someone like me have an unplanned pregnancy when she can’t even have an intentional one must