Once there was darkness 

     Evie was still on a call when she opened the door for Dillon. She smiled, kissed him on the cheek, before returning to the kitchen. 

     He stood frozen, watchin’ her as (to him) she bounced off. The fabric of her shorts gently movin’ in the opposite direction of her body. In an almost waving motion. ‘Oh, what a view,’ he thought, smilin’. On the little piano was a book; Once there was darkness. He picked it up before sittin’ down in one of the overstuffed chairs. 

     The back of the book read as follows: ‘Once there was Darkness is a story that I have been working on for a long time. My journey to Christianity has been a roller coaster. I tried to pepper this story with Bible verses and religious vibes to help me along my path. This work has gott’en me through a lot. I have had needed but painful experiences in my personal life that have been poured into my characters. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

There are two main characters in this story King Kol and Kessa. Journey along with Kol as God reintroduces him to his past through dreams. In some places you will see a little picture of Chico. This is to help you know that a dream (either asleep or awake) is happening. Sometimes there are dreams within dreams. Get to know Kessa as she helps Kol get back to God. We all need some help along life’s path. Romans 3:23 NKJV “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

I completed all the work myself. If you find any mistakes, I do apologize.’

     ‘We all need some help along life’s path.’ He thought to himself. ‘Amen to that.’

     “I’m finished with it if you want to read it.” She sat in the other chair. “Pass it on when you are finished.” 

     “I never considered you for a romance novel reader.”

     “There is some romance in it. I feel like the main focus of the story is human relationships with God.”

     He thought for a minute before speaking, “does this have something to do with the incident at church?”

     That stung a little. She recoiled from the words but said sadly, “maybe.”

    https://www.amazon.com/Once-there-darkness-Jolene-Rice/dp/B0DLT6TDWK

Reflection

     Dillon had a random Wednesday off. With really, nothing pressin’ that needed to be done. Evie had a full day of appointments. He wandered up to the upper barn and sat with his back up against the weathered aged wood. First making sure not to sit in anything gross. Then stretched out his legs, crossing his ankles, right over left. He watched the cows slowly graze. Every now and then one would let out a gentle moo. 

     The leaves on the trees were almost gone. He could see the tip of the Ledbetter’s chimney from where he was sitting. A gentle hum filled his ears. The pump kicked on to fill the drinking troughs. It did its job, then kicked off. 

     A slight breeze picked up bringing a gentle whiff of something dead? Decaying? Maybe even a cow fart, to his nose. As he sat there he thought about the comment a child made about him, ‘my mom says you should be on t.v. more, you look delicious’. Then when Evie called him ‘hunky sheriff’. Those 2 comments made no sense to him. He didn’t consider himself attractive. There wasn’t a six pack around his waist. No bulging biceps. Most of his life, he was tall and skinny.  Della was forever sending food home with him. Some he ate. Some went to the animals, when he was too tard or stressed to eat. He had heard whispers that smaller men called him a ‘mountain of a man’. Bradley being one. When he looked in the mirror, he always saw that scrawny kid who was afraid of his parents. Maybe he should grow a beard? He stroked his chin. 

     Evie filled his mind as a trickle of smoke came out of the Ledbetter’s chimney. It danced upward toward the sky. Like a snake crawling on the ground. It danced, frequently disappearing when it blended in with the tree bark in the distance. Danced delicately to the horizon and was gone. Come to think of it, had he ever saw smoke out of that chimney before?

     Evie, did she know what she was gettin’ herself into? He was a simple man. With simple wants and needs. So he thought. She had lived the big city life. Could she really be happy livin’ in her small hometown married to a simple sheriff? A farmer/rancher wanna be? Doug was a millionaire. Could she go from eating $1,000 a plate dinners to fast food take out? Who was he kidden’, he hated fast food. Was she a millionaire? Is that why Doug was abusive? Money?

     A curious kid approached him, sniffing of his boots. “Not food.” He softly spoke. As he stuck his hands in his jacket pockets, he felt the peanut butter and jelly sandwich he had made for lunch. The kid jumped as he pulled it out but didn’t leave. He waved the sandwich, still in its bag, at the kid, “now this is food.” He peeled the crust off the bread in small bites. He took a bite before throwing some crust to the kid. It jumped at the movement of his arm. But eagerly came back for the bread. Each time Dillon moved his arm; the kid would bounce backwards. Only to come back for the bread. “Little buddy, how do you feel about goat yoga?” 

     Not havin’ a clue what the noise it heard was, the kid waited for more bread. When the sandwich was gone, Dillon stuck the bag back into his pocket, held up his hands, “all gone. No more food.” The kid looked at him with a blank stare. “Should I give all of you names before Hillbilly Yoga starts?” The kid let out a “baaaa”, before bouncing off. “Maybe not,” he whispered to himself. ‘Hillbilly Yoga, what the hell’? People were going to pay good money to do yoga in a barn full of goats? Would they Tango with the chickens soon? He would draw the line at cow tippin’. He had done a lot of readin’ about it and yes, people did pay money to do goat yoga. 

     Evie was takin’ care of all the details. It amazed him that this excited her. The thought of her excited him. The image of her in her little shorts and t-shirt. The soft fabric of her p.j.s when he held her. The gentle scent of her cologne as it teased his nose. Her smile lit up his mind. It was the first time he really saw just how white her teeth were. It was a Hollywood white. Why? But it wasn’t her teeth he was focused on. It was the softness of her lips. Why again did she have such white teeth? He didn’t. Was that important? His teeth were healthy, according to his dentist but far from ‘white’. He drug his tongue across his teeth, touching each tooth. Was that gonna be an issue?

     He never did ask Bradley how men did this. Here he was, 48. Engaged for the first time to the woman he had loved all his life. Was he stupid? Was this the stuff helpless romantics believed in? Was she the smart one for leaving? Living? Loving someone other than him? Would she be the better lover? Did it matter? Was he the smart one for knowing what he wanted and playing the waiting game? Did it really matter? 

     A male Cardinal landed on the tip of his boot. Most folks took comfort when Cardinal’s came ah callin’. Many believed it was the spirit of a dead relative coming to visit. He thought about his dead relatives. He really didn’t want any of them to come visit him. The Cardinal bobbed its head, as if it was bowing to him, before it flew away. 

After The Peel’s

    Dillon asked as Stella cleaned their table, “may I ask you something?” He directed his attention to Stella, “thank you.” She nodded, smiled and left.

    “Anything,” Evie smiled.

     “You told me you wasn’t good at reading a room. I can’t make that make sense with what I just witnessed here. And the added knowledge of you being able to sell.”

     She blushed, “perhaps I should have stated it differently. I’m not good with people.” He raised an eyebrow. She blushed seeing his confusion. “Ineffective at makin’ this make sense, I know. I know it’s getting time for you to go back to work. Tonight, if you would like,” she patted her tablet, “let’s tear this apart.”

     Dillon looked shocked, “we just spent an hour puttin’ it together?”

     “True. But we need to tear it apart. Find things that might cause problems. That will not work. That raise concerns. We will tear it apart, then rebuild it.”

     “So, how long could this take, if it works?”

     “Short term, 6 months. Maybe a year.” They got up at the same time, walking toward the door. As he held it open for her, he questioned, “this excites you?”

     She motioned for him to bend over so she could whisper in his ear, “second only to you.”

     He cleared his throat, blushing, thinking to himself. ‘Hot damn’.

     She smiled, “don’t you think it’s exciting watching something being transformed from an idea into reality?”

     “I never really thought about it.” He opened her car door for her. 

     “I can only assume it’s like solving a case. That ‘aha’ moment when all the pieces fit.”

     He nodded his head, thinking about what she just said. 

Russell’s Muscles

     Dillon was settin’ on patrol, his eyes were glazing over after only 45 minutes. Used to, he could sit here all day and be fully alert. Ready for anything. His phone vibrated on the seat beside of him. Evie had added a lunch meeting at Della’s to her calendar asking if he could attend with a emoji. As he stared at the emoji; wondering what she was up to, more information appeared. Russell & Judy Peel from Russell’s Muscles for viability meeting. He about dropped the phone as it vibrated more. 

     “You’ve had a busy morning.” He smiled with his words. 

     “Hi lawman. Yes, I have.”

     “You were serious.”

     “You said ‘do what excites me’.”

     “Yes I did.”

     “Is there anything I need to know about The Peel’s that I can’t find out from the internet?”

     “What did you learn?”

     “Judy is from here. Russell isn’t. They are very open on their social media platform about their history/struggles with drugs.”

     “He’s been to prison.” Dillon added.

     “Big prison?” She asked.

     Dillon thought for a moment, “big prison?” He questioned. 

     “Jail to me is the county lock up. Big prison is federal.”

     “Big prison,” he smile. “I love you.”

     “Me?” She asked playfully. 

     “You. I can be at the meeting. We are really gonna make this happen?”

     “Gonna try. It might not be worth anyone’s time but what’s the harm in finding out?”

      He smiled, “none.”

     “Oh,” she moaned, “insurance.” She seemed to be getting lost in her thoughts. “Stay safe out there lawman.”

     “I will.” He almost said, ‘for you I will’ but thought better of it. 

     He stared at the silent phone in his hand with his head full of questions. 

Settle in and watch the freak show 

     Dillon opened the passenger side door for Evie, “Thanks for goin’ to this meeting with me. I hate these things. All people do is complain.”

     “Is any of it constructive?”

     “Sometimes.” He sighed. “But it’s getting so hard to wade through the crap. I always asked for the minutes and a couple of us review them lookin’ for those gold nuggets.” He paused, “did you sign up for VINELink?”

     “I did that before I left. Do I need to do it in KY too?”

     “Wouldn’t hurt, I don’t think.”

     “Okay.”

     When they got settled at the meeting, the Ledbetter’s walked in. He leaned over to her, whispering in her ear, “settle in and watch the freak show”, kissed behind her ear. “I’ll be back.” He strolled upfront, setting between the county judge executive and a woman she didn’t know. They talked among themselves.  The meeting was called to order old business was either discussed or tabled. 

     As soon as the call was made for new business, Rebecca started. She accused the sheriffs department of harassing her. When asked to explain herself, she outlined the events and the outcomes. The judge executive reported that based on her own testimony, he failed to see how she was being harassed. She was welcome to come to his office and file a formal complaint if she felt that was appropriate. She sat down dejected and visibly upset. 

     “But I’m a teacher,” she jumped back up. “Who has the time to go to traffic school or the money to pay for a ticket?”

     The lady asked, “as a teacher, shouldn’t you be setting the example for our children? You were speeding and got caught. Looks like to me you are missing a very valuable teaching moment with your students.”

     She sat back down more upset than before. A man about the age of Evie’s dad burst through the doors. “Where’s that gol darn no good egg suckin’ sheriff?”

     The judge executive leaned over to Dillon whispering in his ear. He didn’t move. “How can we help you Mr. Bell?” The judge asked.

     He pointed angrily at the sheriff, “sum bitch gave me a ticket and ass hole judge doubled it. I can spend 6 months in jail or pay. Who’s gonna take care of my farm fur 6 months. Sum bitch!”

     “Why did you get a ticket, Mr. Bell?” The woman asked.

     “Burnin’ trash, started a little brush fire.”

     Dillon sighed, “Aug. 4th.”

     “During the burn ban. Oh no!” She hissed. 

     A deputy Evie didn’t know escorted Mr. Bell out of the room. Dillon came back and sat with Evie as the mayor and other city officials moved to the front. 

     “Was that Porter,” she whispered?

     “Yelp.”

     “We’ll work something out with him.”

     “Who’s the lady that was settin’ on the end?”

     “Fire chief.”

     The rest of the evening was more of the same; hostel residents voicing what they felt were legitimate complaints. A couple of them Dillon took notes on. For most, he kept his arm around Evie’s shoulders. Letting the complaints slide by. She noticed that from time to time, Rebecca would look their way glaring at them.