Preacher Wore A Gun Page 9

  Dodging flying hands and fists she wedged her way between them. “Stop it! Now! One more word and I’ll take your computers out of your rooms!”

  Delana’s chin jutted out defiantly. “You wouldn’t dare!”

  Though her heart was racing, Tassie kept her face even, not about to show her whirling emotions to this girl who was just aching to challenge her.

  “You do that and my father will fire you!” the girl shouted angrily.

  “Your father has given me carte blanche to run this house and care for you children. If you don’t believe me, you can ask him as soon as he gets out of the shower,” she explained, trying to maintain an evenness to her voice.

  Turning slowly, Tassie focused her attention on Tony. “Why can’t you children follow my rules? I was hoping by making them it would help us avoid confrontations like this.”

  He gave her a blank stare. “I—I didn’t know you had rules.”

  Suddenly she felt bad. She hadn’t given him her rules, only Delana, and even then she had blurted them out with no real thought as to what the consequences would be if they were violated.

  “You’re right. I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll type them, print them, then post them on the bulletin board in the kitchen, and I’ll make sure I leave at least one copy on your and your sister’s beds. It would be a good idea to tape them inside your closet door or somewhere you can refer to them. If you need an extra copy just let me know.” She pasted on a smile. “Now, go back into your rooms and get ready for church. I’m going to go help Babette.”

  As Tassie moved toward Babette’s room she heard a sudden crash.

  Eight

  Turning and rushing into the room, Tassie found Babette sprawled on the floor next to her desk amid a sea of scattered books, broken glass, and a crumpled lamp shade. The child was crying and her arm was bleeding. She hurried to Babette and gathered her in her arms.

  “I fell!” the girl uttered between sobs as she pointed her finger in an upward manner. “I was trying to get my kitty.”

  Tassie’s gaze went to the series of shelves mounted above the child’s desk. The very first time she had entered Babette’s room, she had noticed the big white shaggy stuffed kitten reclining lazily on the top shelf because it had looked so real. “You climbed up on your desk?”

  With tears rolling down her cheeks, the girl simply nodded.

  “Babette, you should have told me you wanted your kitty. I could have gotten it for you.” She paused long enough to press a tissue from the box on the desk to Babette’s cut. “That shelf was much too high for a little girl like you to reach. Promise me you won’t try that again. I don’t want you to get hurt.” Satisfied that, other than the superficial cut on her arm, the child was all right, she carefully lifted her from the floor and sat down on the side of the bed, cradling the shaking little body in her arms.

  Babette cowered against her, hiding her face in Tassie’s shirt. “Don’t hit me! I didn’t mean to break the lamp!”

  “Hit you? Why would I hit you? I know you didn’t mean to break it. You were only after your kitty.” Why would the child think she would hit her? Was that the way her grandmother had punished her when she didn’t behave? Tassie gently tugged Babette away from her shirt and smiled down at her. “I don’t think your cut is very bad. Would you let me put some medicine on it and bandage it up? Then I’ll kiss it and make it all well!”

  Babette, still sobbing, nodded.

  Tassie stood and lowered the child onto her bed. “You wait right there. I’m going into the bathroom to get the tube of medicine and some gauze and tape and I’ll be right back.” She hurried into the hall bathroom and much to her surprise found everything she needed, even a small pair of scissors, and then hurried back.

  Although the little girl said nothing the entire time Tassie was cleaning and dressing her wound, she sat perfectly still, her gaze pinned on Tassie’s every move. After Tassie finished she kissed the boo-boo, returned each item to where she had found it, then lifted Babette in her arms and carried her to the rocking chair sitting in the corner of the room. “Would you like me to rock you? That’s what my mom always did when I had a boo-boo. And you know what? It always made me feel better.”

  When Babette tilted her head and eyed her suspiciously, Tassie smiled at her, hoping to convey an element of trust. “We have a little time before leaving for church, so maybe we could read a book. Which book would you like?”

  Babette pointed to one of the books scattered across her floor and seemed to perk up. “That one, about the baby.”

  Being careful not to drop her precious cargo, Tassie leaned over and picked up the book. Once Babette was seated comfortably on her lap with her arm resting on a toss pillow, Tassie opened the book and began to read.

  “We need to leave in half an hour, and I know how long it takes women to decide what to wear! Are you guys about ready?” Mitch called up to them.

  “Babette and I are up here in her room!” she called out, pleased he was eager to get to church on time. “She had a slight accident but she’s okay.”

  ❧

  Concerned, Mitch climbed the stairs two at a time and stopped short as he entered his daughter’s room. He took one look at the broken lamp then hurried to the rocker and knelt beside it, gazing with concern at Babette’s bandaged arm. “You cut yourself on the glass?”

  “She’s fine, Mitch. It’s just a surface cut. I think the fall scared her more than it hurt her. From what she said, I guess she tried to climb up on the shelf to get her kitty, lost her balance, and fell. Don’t worry. Her arm will be good as new in a few days.”

  He rose and began pacing about the room as pangs of guilt assaulted him. “It’s my fault. I’m the one who put that silly stuffed cat on that top shelf. I got tired of tripping over it every time I came into her room. If I hadn’t put it there, she wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

  “You can’t blame yourself. Accidents and falls are a part of every child’s life. That’s why God made them so durable.”

  Babette held out her arm. “Tassie kissed my boo-boo and made it all better, Daddy. Look, she drew a smiley face on the tape.”

  Mitch breathed a sigh of relief then gave Tassie a smile of gratitude. “I see, pumpkin. That was really nice of Tassie.”

  “Babette got ready for church all by herself. Doesn’t she look pretty? And she didn’t get one drop of blood on her dress.”

  He smiled proudly. “She’s beautiful.”

  “Tassie was reading me a story. Do you want to hear a story, Daddy? It’s about a baby.”

  He shook his head. “I’d love to hear the story, sweetie, but I have to make sure your brother and sister are getting dressed for church. Maybe you and I can read a book together tonight. Would you like that?”

  She nodded then once again snuggled up against Tassie. “Okay.”

  He smiled at Tassie as he backed toward the door. “Thanks for taking such good care of my family.”

  “You’re welcome. It’s always nice to know you’re appreciated.”

  He paused in the doorway and stood listening as she lifted the book and began to read. What a beautiful sight. His regret was that as long as that rocking chair had been in the house, he couldn’t remember ever seeing his wife hold and rock one of their children in it. June simply hadn’t been a demonstrative person. She required her space and resented anyone or anything that infringed upon it, especially him. Looking back, he wondered how they had ever come together often enough to even have children.

  Oh, how he thanked God for sending Tassie into his life—even if only for three months.

  ❧

  “Smile,” Mitch told his oldest daughter as he and Tassie and the three children seated themselves in a pew at Linwood Community Church. “I don’t want everyone thinking I dragged you here.”

  “That’s exactly what you did. I sure didn’t come because I wanted to,” Delana snapped back with a snarl.

  “I didn’t want to come, either,” To
ny added. “Only sissies go to church.”

  Mitch gave Tony a gentle nudge. “Make the best of it, kids. From now on, you’re going to be here every Sunday.”

  Delana started to make a comment but stopped when her dad tilted his head in a warning manner and narrowed his eyes.

  Although the children didn’t cause a commotion during the service, it was obvious they weren’t listening to a word the pastor said.

  “Maybe next Sunday they’ll feel more comfortable,” Mitch reminded Tassie as the family made their way through the line at the local buffet restaurant after church.

  Tassie nodded in agreement. “I wish we could get them in Sunday school so they could meet some kids their own age.”

  “Yeah, that would be nice but just getting them to church is a real accomplishment.”

  Later that afternoon while Babette was napping, Tassie typed her rule list on the computer then printed out one copy each for Delana, Tony, and Babette, even though the little girl couldn’t read it for herself, and one to post in the kitchen. She even printed one for Mitch so he would know what she expected of the children, and then she printed a few extra copies as well.

  When Tony came home from school the next afternoon, she led him into the kitchen and gave him the snack she had earlier prepared then sat down at the table and quickly went over her copy of the rules with him. He didn’t say much but she could tell by the way he fidgeted and narrowed his eyes he wasn’t too happy about them.

  “Gonna go play some ball with my friends,” he told her after stuffing the rule list into his pocket.

  “After you’ve straightened your room, Tony. You left it in quite a mess this morning.”

  He scowled. “That’s not fair.”

  “All I’m asking is that you hang up your clothes and clean up the mess on your floor like you should have done this morning. If you knuckle down it will only take you a few minutes.”

  “Then I can go outside?”

  “Yes, but please, no TV after supper until you have finished your homework.” She grinned at him. “Smile. Only five more days and you’ll be out of school for the summer.”

  Snarling something under his breath he snatched up his backpack and stomped up the stairs to his room, slamming the door with a loud bang. Ten minutes later she heard the front door close behind him.

  Delana came into the kitchen more than a half hour later, definitely not wearing the clothes she had been dressed in this morning. Tassie looked first at Delana’s bare navel, then at the pleated skirt that barely covered her behind, then at the low cut of the flimsy see-through blouse she was wearing. “What happened to the clothes you had on when you left this morning?”

  After raising one arm high in the air and striking a pose much like the models on the cover of the latest issue of some teen fashion magazine, she gave Tassie a sardonic smile that conveyed more than words could ever say.

  “I asked what happened to your clothes.”

  Delana flipped her shoulder in response. “I traded with one of my friends.”

  Tassie’s jaw dropped. “You traded them? Permanently, or just until tomorrow?”

  This time Delana shrugged both shoulders. “Haven’t decided yet. Might keep them. Might not.” She did a mock pirouette. “They look good on me, don’t they?”

  “Delana, the attention girls get from dressing like that is the kind of attention you really don’t want. You’re not quite sixteen. What kind of a message do you think you’re sending by exposing yourself that way?”

  She shrugged again. “Who cares as long as the boys look at me?”

  “I hate to put it so bluntly, but wearing clothing like that is the same as asking for trouble. I’m not saying that to scare you, I’m concerned about you, Delana. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  The girl let out a snort. “The best thing you can do for me is leave me alone. I don’t have to take orders from you; you’re a nobody. If you are so smart and claim to know everything, why aren’t you out working at a real job instead of being a babysitter? Anyone can be a babysitter. It takes no talent whatsoever.”

  Tassie wanted to grab the girl, throw her over her knee, and give her a good spanking—not because she had made fun of Tassie but because she was genuinely concerned about her. Somehow she had to reach her. There were men out there just waiting for girls like Delana. She didn’t want her to end up as someone’s play toy or victim. Deciding to put an end to their conversation, she reached for Delana’s copy of the rules and handed it to her. “By the way, here’s a printed copy of the rules we discussed earlier. Read them over and I’ll be happy to discuss any of it with you.”

  “This is what I think of your rules.” The girl ripped the paper into shreds then tossed them in the air and watched with satisfaction as the pieces fluttered to the floor.

  “There’s another copy on your nightstand. Probably be a good idea to keep them; otherwise you won’t have any idea why you’re being punished when you disobey one of them.”

  Delana’s face contorted with anger. “You were in my room again?”

  “Yes. Why? Is there something in there you’d prefer I didn’t see?”

  “No, but it’s my room! You have no business going in there! Ever!”

  “Delana, I don’t want to go into your room. Like you, I wanted my privacy as a teenager. And you’ll get it—just as soon as you show me you are a team player and can be trusted. With trust comes freedom. All your father and I ask is that you show us you can be responsible and that you are trustworthy.”

  “All you ask? Forget it, lady. My dad may be taken with you, but to me and my brother you’re nothing. A big fat zero.”

  “Delana, as much as I’d like to have value in your sight, what you think of me really doesn’t concern me as much as what God thinks of me. As long as my heart and actions are right with God, it makes very little difference what anyone else thinks. I am here at your father’s request, to care for you and make sure your home runs smoothly. You can cooperate or you can fight me on every move, but I am here to stay.”

  Tassie paused, leaving time for her words to sink in. “So if you are as smart as I think you are, I’m sure you’ll decide to go with the flow and cooperate.”

  After a loud “Ha!” that seemed to come from the pit of her stomach, Delana whirled around and left the room.

  Nine

  Her knees so weak from the confrontation with Delana that she could barely stand, Tassie lowered herself onto the sofa. So far, even though she had made a bit of headway with Babette, she had alienated herself from both Tony and Delana. She hoped she had done the right thing by being so firm with them. If not, she’d really blown it. She considered going to her room to have a good cry when Babette wandered into the living room and scooted up close to her on the sofa.

  “My boo-boo feels all better,” she told Tassie, giving her a little grin.

  “Well, then, let’s kiss it again. Kisses always make a boo-boo heal faster.” Tassie bent and kissed the child’s arm just above the bandage then gazed at her. “I was just about to fix Goliath’s supper and take it out to him. Would you like to help me?” When Babette smiled and nodded, Tassie rose, took her hand, and led her into the kitchen. The little girl held Goliath’s dish while Tassie carefully filled it with the big dog’s food. Then, with both of them holding on to the dish, they walked outdoors onto the patio where Goliath lay stretched out on his side under a tree, sleeping peacefully. He leaped to his feet when he heard their voices.

  “I’ll hold the dish if you want to pet him before he eats. It’s always best to pet him when he isn’t eating. Sometimes dogs get upset and nip if people bother them while they’re enjoying their meal.”

  She watched as Babette placed her small hand on his head. “Goliath likes it when you scratch his ears.”

  Babette grinned up at her. “I wish I had a dog.”

  “You do? Well, I have an idea. As long as Goliath and I are living here with you, why don’t you pretend he is your dog,
too? I’d be happy to share him with you and I know Goliath likes being your friend.”

  Babette grinned then hugged the big dog around his neck. “Okay.”

  “But right now, I think we’d better give Goliath his supper so I can go back inside and cook supper for you and your family. Your father is going to try to make it home in time to eat with us. Won’t that be nice?”

  Babette nodded her head enthusiastically. “Maybe he’ll read me a story.”

  “Your daddy loves you. You do know that, don’t you?”

  “Uh-huh, but I don’t have a mommy. She went away with a man.”

  Her words broke Tassie’s heart. Babette couldn’t have been more than two at the time, maybe not even that old. Mitch hadn’t been very specific about the timing. Did she remember seeing her mother leave that last time? How sad if she did. Not sure if she should make a comment or ignore Babette’s words, she simply asked, “Would you like to set the table?”

  Babette shrugged. “I don’t know how.”

  After helping the child wash her hands, Tassie pulled a stack of five placemats from the pantry shelf and laid them on the table. “It’s easy. Just place one of these on the table in front of each chair. Add a plate, one knife, one spoon, one fork, and a napkin.” She glanced around the kitchen then grabbed up a candle from the built-in hutch. “To make our dinner really special we’ll light a candle. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

  Babette clapped her hands with glee then set about her assigned task, all the while smiling. “What are we having for supper, Tassie?” she asked when the last spoon had been placed and she sat down at the table.

  “I put a nice roast in the oven a few hours ago. Can’t you smell it? I think it smells delicious.”

  The girl sniffed the air. “I do smell it. Are we going to have mashed potatoes? I love mashed potatoes.”

  “I was going to butter them and add a carton of sour cream and chives but if you’d rather have them mashed, then mashed they’ll be. If you’ll help me, we’ll add a nice big pat of butter on top and a good sprinkle of black pepper just before we serve them. That makes them look real pretty.”