The holidays

     Doing 3 community dinners back to back was exhausting. And Evie couldn’t imagine how Della felt. 

     Thanksgiving and Christmas, Evie reached out to some of her old friends from her past life to help. Few people in Sunshine Valley wanted to give up their holidays with their family to serve others. She, Della, and Dillon (representing the sheriff’s department) chose the day before Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. People were traveling or just didn’t bother. Povol had asked for volunteers from the shelter that wanted to help. Dillon had worked with the jailer to see if anyone in the county lockup wanted some community time. 

     She had asked at one of their planning meetings if ‘getting people involved, was always this hard’? Simultaneously they both said ‘yes’! Dillon went even farther to explain that in years past, they had just handed out boxed lunches because they couldn’t get enough people to volunteer to do the buffet style that Della was known for. Box lunches worked well during the height of Covid. Dillon had been hoping that since life was getting back to normal, that volunteers would pour forth, but it wasn’t happening. 

    Simon and Rebecca showed up to volunteer. Dillon and Della were amazed. They had never volunteered for both before. It was either or. Dillon tried to take it on faith that they had volunteered for both out of kindness. A nagging thought in the back of his head told him otherwise. 

     Dillon about died at Christmas when a tour bus pulled close to Coal Town and 15 teenagers filed out all wearing letterman jackets. He met Paul and Betty. Paul was a professor and coach at the school Evie had attended. The bus was filled with blankets, clothes, some toys and just random gifts adults might like. It was all he could do not to cry. Even after he found out that the students had to have 25 hours of community service to graduate and these were the stragglers that hadn’t fulfilled their commitment. It didn’t matter. His heart was overflowing. 

     Dillon worked Christmas Day so that the deputies who had small children didn’t have too. Evie spent the day with her dad. The day after Christmas, Dillon and Evie sat on his couch, he on one end facing her. She on the other end facing him. “I can’t believe you got all those volunteers for Christmas.”

     “I don’t know if we can make it happen every year.”

     He smiled, “I understand. I’ll take this one.” A frown filled is face. “Wasn’t it risky reaching back into your past?”

     “I met Paul and Betty through church. Doug never went to church with me. Or attended any church functions. Though Paul worked at the school I attended, I never met him until I started going to the same church.”

     “Thank you. I don’t think we could have done it without them.”

     “It was my pleasure. Oh,” she got up. “I got you something.” She presented him with the beautifully wrapped box. “Merry Christmas.”

     “The box is so purdy, I almost don’t want to open it.” He grinned, “but I’m gonna.” Inside the box was a “boot and glove warmer.”

     She smiled, “every-time you stick your hands or feet into warm articles, you will be reminded how much I love you.”

     He thought to himself, ‘that was the best Christmas present ever. She loved him.’ He knew it. But hearing her say it pushed all the right buttons. 

     All of the jewelry he had seen her wear was simple. Small earrings, unless it was a fun holiday. Cross neckless. A watch. Her engagement ring. But not much more. He had even been asking her dad for gift ideas. It needed to be special. He thought about all their shared childhood memories. Adult Evie was causing him to think and feel things that childhood Evie didn’t know existed. He was sick as he presented her with the small bag. She tore into it with the excitement of a child. Inside was a pair of silver earrings, shaped like a hot air balloon with 2 entwined hearts on the balloon part of the earrings. “Dillon,” she sighed. “They are beautiful.”

     “I love you,” he smiled. “Merry Christmas.”

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.