SomedayMyGoodOleBoyWillCome Read online

  Honey glanced up after a while.

  “He wanted to know about your financial position. How you managed to come up with two thousand dollars to bail my cousins out of jail. Then he began to say things like, was I sure it was all legit, how you got your money. That I should be careful because people would begin to talk if I was doing something wrong and it would come down hard on my family.”

  “So what? It is not any of his concern where I got my money. Let’s get to the real, Honey.” Jacey’s eyes never wavered from her friend.

  “I just saw him for the first time as a very scary man.” Honey sat up and waited for Jacey to scoot back against the head of the bed before she sat beside her friend, curled up against her like they had done as little girls.

  “Were you scared for yourself?” Her question was steel lined. If this question came back in the affirmative, Jacey was going to have a private chat with David.

  “No. Just about what kind of man he really was. I saw him try to hide his aversion to sharing a table with Bubba and Susie tomorrow as well. Jacey.” She began to cry again. “I didn’t know he was like that. How can anyone feel like that, who cares about skin color? I don’t and I can’t be with someone who does.”

  “Honey, you know that a lot of people care about skin color. That’s just the way it is. Now if that is truly what he did then I will be the last person to defend him, but are you sure that was his response was to? Or could it have been for something else?” It must be cold in hell for here I am defending a man that I didn’t like from the second I touched his hand.

  “I don’t know. He just got such an evil look on his face. And then after we began to fight all I could think about was why did I agree to marry him? I know everyone here tries to like him, but I can feel the tension, especially with Derek. I can’t marry a man that my family hates.”

  “Honey, stop this. Listen to yourself. If you are having doubts about marrying him, that’s fine—but don’t put it on your family. If you truly love this man, and he loves you, your family will see that and support you. But if the doubts are there, then tackle them and find out where they have stemmed from. If you have that many doubts then maybe you should back off from getting married so fast.”

  “I just want everyone to get along.”

  “Well, let’s just see how the cookout goes tomorrow, alright?”

  “I love you, Jacey.”

  “I love you too, Honey. Now I have to get back to the kitchen and help your mama with dinner. You okay?”

  Honey sat up and wiped away her tear tracks. With a nod she tried for a smile. “Yes. I think I will just stay in here for a little bit.”

  “All right. Here, let me give you something to take your mind off of things.” Jacey went to a bag in the closet and pulled out two wrapped boxes. “Here, open these.” She kissed her friend on the cheek and left the room in silence.

  Chapter Twelve

  Five pairs of eyes gazed at her in question as Jacey reentered the kitchen. “She’s all right. They just had a fight. She’ll be out in a few moments, just needs some time to pull herself back together.”

  Honey’s family nodded and the men left the kitchen, leaving Aurora and Jacey alone to finish up dinner. “So tell me, Jacey, what are you doing now?”

  “I’m still with the Marine Corps. That keeps me busy and what free time I have left I devote to Caleb.”

  “When is he coming?”

  “He’ll arrive with Mom and Dad. It is hard for him to be away from me since I am gone so much anyway, but he loves my parents.”

  Aurora smiled. “You have really grown into your own, Jacey. I’ll bet your parents are proud of you.”

  “For the most part. I know I still vex them at times. But I hope they are proud of me.”

  “I’m sure they are. So tell me, why aren’t you married yet?”

  “Married? Me?” Jacey choked. She couldn’t help herself, she just burst out laughing. “I guess I haven’t found the right man, or else I am too attached to Caleb, and he isn’t willing to share what little time we have together with another person.”

  “Well, I for one am very anxious to meet this man.”

  “I can’t wait to see him, I miss him.” Jacey’s voice took on a wistful quality.

  “You may as well call everyone to the table, Derek. Dinner is ready.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Then he shut the fridge door and walked back over to the living room and said, “Supper’s ready.”

  Supper was once again full of fun and good humor. They regaled old stories of when Honey and Jacey were younger and followed the boys around. As they sat eating peach pie, Jacey added, “Okay, no more embarrassing stories of the things that Honey and I got into. That’s not fair.” Everyone laughed but she noticed that no one promised.

  After dinner, the four younger people climbed into the Moser boys’ GTO and sped over to Jacey’s old home. The electricity had been turned on again, so there would be light. They had cleaning supplies and were ready to work in the cooler air.

  “How do you want to work this, Jacey?” Carson queried.

  “Not sure, I guess we all start down here in the living room, that way Honey and I can do the dusting and stuff while y’all move the heavy furniture. What do you think?”

  “Sounds good,” Derek added.

  “I’m ready.” Honey put in her two cents.

  So for the next two hours they all worked hard and got the entire downstairs cleaned. The furniture shone with polish and the faint smell of lemon and beeswax filled the semi stagnant air. The kitchen floor had been washed and a coat of wax was drying at the present moment.

  The place wasn’t up to her mother’s standards, but considering the years of dust it had in the place, they had done an exceptional job. As they were taking a break, Jacey’s cell phone chimed.

  “Thompson,” she answered in her professional manner. “Hi, Papa. Actually we are cleaning it right now. Yes, sir, they are all here with me. All we have left is the upstairs. When are you arriving? A few days…what aren’t you telling me? Okay, okay. I won’t pry. Can I talk to Caleb? Thanks, Papa, I love you too.”

  Jacey cleared her throat. “Hey, Caleb. I know, I miss you too. Don’t worry, I’ll see you in a few days. Okay, baby, I have to go. You behave yourself. I love you too, Marine. Yes, sir. Bye, baby.” She hung up and briefly closed her eyes and wished to herself that she could hold her son in her arms.

  “I’m sorry I took you away from him, Jacey.” Honey broke into her thoughts.

  She gave Honey a sad smile, “You didn’t take me away from him. Besides, he will be here in a few days. Well, what do you say we call it a night? You and I have some presents to open.” Jacey slung her arm around her friend as she glanced over to the two men in the house.

  “I think we should be allowed to see what you brought for our cousin,” Carson pouted.

  “This is like a bachelorette party, no men allowed.” Jacey shook her head in mock frustration.

  “Yes, but we are concerned about what you are bringing her,” Carson persisted.

  “What? Afraid that my big city self is going to corrupt her?”

  “That works for me, if it gets us in to see what you brought.” Carson slung his arm over Jacey and the three of them walked outside together, leaving Derek to follow.

  “It is not getting you in there.” Jacey turned to Honey. “Unless you want to wait and invite some more of the women from town?”

  “Maybe the other bridesmaids. We could do it in a few days, if you don’t mind.” Honey added after she thought about it.

  “I don’t mind at all. Well, y’all go head back, I have to finish my workout from this morning so I will jog back.” They were at the car when Jacey announced this decision. Derek was already behind the wheel. She had planned it that way.

  “Are you sure, runt?” Carson asked.

  “Yes. I kinda want to be here alone for a bit and then I will head back to the farm. Don’t worry, I think I still know the way thro
ugh the woods.”

  “You should,” Honey scoffed. “We ran it enough. See you back at the farm.”

  “Be careful.” The only words that Derek uttered as he drove off in the yellow car.

  * * * *

  After the Mosers had left, Jacey walked back into the house. She headed up the clean staircase and down the hall to her own bedroom. Tears threatened as she entered her old room. Jacey walked through and out on the balcony.

  The night air enfolded her and, as she looked out over her childhood home, she finally felt at peace. Magnolia blossoms sent their pungent fragrance into the surrounding air.

  The magnolia tree that she had climbed down so many times to run and meet Honey still hovered over the balcony, moss covered and gnarled with age. The path she took from one house to the other was overgrown and invisible to the naked eye.

  The lightning bugs had begun to come out, filling the night with their gentle flashes. Almost reluctantly Jacey headed back inside her bedroom and down the stairs.

  After shutting off the lights in the house, she did some warm-up stretches on the porch and headed off down the road at a slow jog. She didn’t pass a single car on the way back to the Moser farm. As she took her sweaty body up the drive she saw that R.J. had already left for the night, but Honey was sitting out on the steps waiting for her.

  “Here you are,” she said as she rose from her sitting position. “I was getting worried.”

  “Sorry. I was up in my old room looking out over the tree that I used to shimmy down to meet you.” Jacey began her cool down.

  “Thanks for coming down, Jace.”

  “Don’t mention it. Thanks for inviting me.”

  “Thanks so much for the presents. I loved them both,” Honey gushed.

  Stretching her arms over her head, Jacey answered. “You’re welcome. I saw them and immediately thought of you.”

  “Where did you get them?”

  “Well, the silk robe I got in Hong Kong, and I got the figurine in Thailand.” It was a white elephant, hand carved with sapphires as eyes.

  “Thank you.”

  “Not a problem. I know how you love your figurines and the silk robe, well, that’s just a luxury that everyone should have.”

  “I love the dragon design on it.”

  “It does add something to the robe. I have one like it, only in a different color.”

  “Well, I am going to enjoy it, that’s for sure. Are you done with your workout?”

  “Yep. Time for milk and cookies?”

  “Yes it is. We were waiting for you.”

  Jacey blanched. “If I had known that I would have headed straight here. Sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I got to show them what you got me.” The two friends headed inside. The family was sitting in the living room and they all looked up when the girls walked in.

  “I want to change, I’ll be right back. Sorry for making y’all wait.” Jacey headed down the hall quickly. She returned in moments, dressed in a pair of old dark blue sweats that said Navy down the side and a white cutoff tee shirt with a Navy logo on the front of it as well.

  “Navy?” Derek asked. “I thought you were in the Marines.”

  “I am in the Marines. This is from a friend in the Navy.” She sat down beside Honey and across from Derek. She could feel his gaze on her body, watching as the shirt slid over one shoulder, baring it to his eyes.

  “A friend, huh?” Carson picked up the questioning. “Must be a man, ’cause those clothes look really big on you.”

  “What is y’all’s fascination with my private life? Yes they belonged to a man. But now they are mine. Can we speak about something else, please?”

  “Your father called me today,” Uncle Frank interjected.

  “What did he say?” Jacey paused, immediately panicked that maybe her father said something about Derek being Caleb’s father. “If I may ask.”

  “Just said that they would try to be here tomorrow but at least by the day after.”

  “Tomorrow?” Everyone heard the joy in her voice.

  “That is what they are trying for. But he didn’t guarantee it.”

  “Oh, I hope so. Not that I don’t love staying with y’all.” Jacey looked around the table. “I have missed all of y’all so much.”

  “Well, you should have come down to visit us then,” Honey put out.

  “I wish I had. Then maybe I would have recognized Derek at the base and talked to him a little bit more. Sometimes it is just nice to talk to someone familiar.” Jacey couldn’t look Derek in the eyes when she said that.

  “I also wish I could have talked to you some over there. But I do want to talk to you, if you can spare some time for me.” Derek’s voice wasn’t full of the arrogance that she had come to expect from him. There was no hidden meaning in his words and that fact alone brought her eyes up to meet his.

  Everyone at the table fell silent as they watched as Derek began to open up for the first time since he returned about what went on over there. Jacey’s gaze was straightforward as she stared into eyes identical to her sons.

  “I haven’t told anyone here what happened to my unit over there, and what I did tell the shrink was minimal. But if you could spare some time I would like to talk to you about it.” His eyes held an appeal in them that, if she hadn’t already made her decision, would have helped her come to one.

  “Of course, Derek. You name the time and place and I will be there.” Jacey had only heard smatterings of what his unit had gone through before her team had gotten to them. None of it good.

  To his family, he spoke about the painful memories. “Thank you for supporting me through everything. I know y’all know that I have nightmares and some nights I can’t sleep in the dark at all. I am so ashamed of what happened I didn’t want to tell anyone. Hopefully I will be able to get past it with Jacey’s help.”

  He cleared his throat. “I don’t like talking to shrinks because they don’t know me. Jacey does, better than anyone else in the Marines, so I know I can tell her.” Derek smiled at his family before turning those killer eyes back to Jacey.

  “I am sorry, Auntie Ro and Uncle Frank, for not being able to come to you, and you, Carson, it was just something that I had to explain to someone who knows what it is like. Someone who wouldn’t judge my emotions to it.”

  Aurora sniffed back tears as she reached for her nephew. “I am just glad that you are finally able to deal with the demons that have been inside you for so long. If it wasn’t one of us that could help you, I’m glad it was someone we all know.”

  Derek took a deep breath and looked back at the woman who had pulled him from the dark abyss. “Do you have time tonight?”

  Jacey responded immediately. “Of course I do. Want to take a walk?”

  He nodded. “Please.” Derek sent a gentle smile to the others around the table. “Don’t worry, I’m in good hands with Jacey.”

  Jacey bit her tongue when she heard that. “Good night all. Honey, I will try not to wake you when I come in.”

  Honey stood up and when Jacey stood up she hugged her. “Thanks for bringing my cousin back to me. I love you, Jace.”

  Jacey couldn’t say anything so she hugged her back.

  * * * *

  Derek and Jacey hugged the rest of the Mosers and walked out onto the porch together. The moon had risen and bathed the land in a soft yellow glow.

  “Where do you want to walk?” Jacey glanced sideways at the man beside her.

  “Towards your house?” He walked down the porch steps and waited for Jacey to follow.

  “Fine by me. Let’s go, woods or road?”

  “Road. I think that would be safer.” They didn’t say another word as the end of the driveway came closer. Their steps were evenly matched. Jacey had a good stride for being so much shorter than he was and he didn’t have to pull his stride for her.

  After they turned onto Mill Creek Road, Derek began to talk. His voice was full of pain as he relived his memories in
his mind. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what, Derek?”

  The noise of gravel crunching beneath their shoes intruded on the gentle sounds of southern night.

  “For saying I need to talk to you and then not being able to do so.” Frustrated, he ran his hands through his hair.

  “Don’t force it to come out. The words will come to you when you are ready.”

  Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. The gravel kept his mind occupied. Well occupied enough that he didn’t constantly think about jumping her.

  They walked in silence the rest of the way to her old home. Side by side, they headed up and sat on the steps. It was a beautiful night.

  “Do you remember chasing after the swarms of lightning bugs? We would all try to see who could fill their jar the fastest.” Jacey’s voice broke the silence.

  Derek chuckled as he leaned back on his elbows, propped up against the porch floor. “Sure do. Then for a while it would be boys versus girls.”

  “I still say y’all cheated.”

  “Of course we did. Those damn bugs liked y’all better than us. How else would we have won?”

  Jacey shoved him none too gently with her shoulder. “Honey and I were remembering all the bugs and worms you two made us eat so we could…”

  “Be a member of the boy’s club.” Derek laughed a full hearted sound as he finished her sentence for her. “I don’t believe we ever did let y’all in the club.”

  “Nope. I ate all those nasty things for nothin’.”

  “We had some good times, didn’t we?” He sounded somber once again.

  “Yes, sir, we did. We sure did.” Jacey lifted her face the night sky.

  “I am sorry, you know.” His deep timbre interrupted the chirping crickets and ribbiting frogs.

  “For what?”

  “The way I treated you before you left Leeburg.”

  “That’s done, Derek, leave it be.”

  “No,” he said tersely. “I have to explain myself.”