The Truth Is the Light (28 page)

Chapter 63

G
abrielle came home after church to hustling and bustling as her uninvited houseguests were loading up their various vehicles with the things they had brought into her house a few days earlier. Aunt Cee-Cee was sitting on the couch in the den.

“My husband has found us another place to stay,” Aunt Cee-Cee said. “Since you were adamant about him not staying here, he found a place where we can all live together. I suppose his timing was perfect, since you were insisting we get out anyway. I'm just glad we didn't waste the day going to church with you, although I still plan to visit your church someday. I'd like to see for myself what all the hoopla is about.”

“I'm glad things worked out for all of you,” Gabrielle said. “I really am.”

Aunt Cee-Cee smiled at Gabrielle, which only made Gabrielle suspicious of where this conversation might be going. The aunt she knew would not be acting so calmly and agreeably after being asked to leave in the way she'd been that morning, a new place to live or not.

“Gabrielle,” Aunt Cee-Cee said. “When we were moving to come here, I found this letter addressed to you. I'd forgotten about it, actually. You see, it came for you and I had mistakenly put it up, forgetting to give it to you. Then when I did remember, you'd already moved out of our house. I wanted to give it to you even though it is about nine years late being delivered and to apologize for the honest confusion.” She handed Gabrielle a large white envelope.

It was from The Juilliard School of Dance dated the January she was set to graduate from high school. “Why is it opened?” Gabrielle said, noting the envelope's condition.

“Well, yeah. You see, when it first arrived, I did open it up to see what it was. After that, I put it up, and like I said, I didn't think about it anymore until after you'd left.”

“But if it came while I was still living at your house, why didn't you give it to me then? It was clearly addressed to me. Not to the parents or guardian of Gabrielle Booker. It was addressed to me. Why didn't you give it to me in January when it first came?”

“Because you were giving me so much trouble and I was upset with you,” Aunt Cee-Cee said in a huff.

“How was I giving you trouble?”

“Accusing my husband of trying to come on to you when clearly you were the one at fault, tempting him and everything.”

“I never came on to him. He was the one coming into my bedroom. I told you about it and you did nothing. Then he did it again, and you still did nothing. The third time I came to you, hoping you would protect me, and instead you went to him, and he came and told me I had to be out of the only place I had to live after I graduated high school and turned eighteen. I turned eighteen May thirtieth.”

Aunt Cee-Cee's nose flared slightly at Gabrielle's words. “See, that's exactly what I'm talking about. If you had kept more low-key around Dennis, then maybe he wouldn't have been at a weak moment and thereby tempted. What do you expect to happen with men when you're bouncing around all perky, laughing and giggling and being silly? It wasn't his fault.”

Gabrielle nodded. “Okay. Blame the child for what some grown man did that was wrong and inappropriate. Aunt Cee-Cee, if I had walked around him half-naked, which I never did, he still shouldn't have ever acted that way with me. I was a child. And even if I had come on to him, which again I did not, he was the adult who was supposed to act like an adult and know better than to try to get with a minor. Forget the fact that I was under your guardianship and he was like a father figure to me. He was wrong, and you were wrong for upholding him and not protecting me.”

Aunt Cee-Cee's eyes became slightly misty. “Maybe you're right. Maybe I didn't handle that situation quite the way I should have. And I hope you don't hold any of the past things that have happened against me.”

Gabrielle's antennae immediately went up again. “So what are you
not
telling me?”

“What do you mean?”

“I think there's more to this story and this”—she shook the envelope—“that you haven't told me yet. We may as well get this all out in the open. Oh, I didn't tell you who I saw earlier this month, did I? You'll never guess, not in a million years. Guess who I saw that I haven't seen in ten years. Guess.”

“Miss Crowe,” Aunt Cee-Cee said.

Gabrielle pulled back, shocked Aunt Cee-Cee had actually guessed, and guessed correctly. “Now
how
in the world would you happen to know that?”

“Because I received a letter that I'm sure could have only been initiated by Esther Crowe. I thought the woman was dead, but I can see clearly that she's not.”

“I'm listening,” Gabrielle said. “I can tell this is going to be good.”

Aunt Cee-Cee released a loud sigh, her shoulders heaving up, then down. “When you received that letter there”—she shook her head as she looked down at the envelope, then back at Gabrielle—“it indicated that your entire tuition had been paid in full. Well, when I knew you weren't going to attend their institution, it took some doing, but I was able to convince them to refund the money to you.”

“How could you do that?”

Aunt Cee-Cee held her head up in defiance. “It took a little doing, I won't lie. After letting them know you wouldn't be able to attend, it helped that Miss Crowe had been in that accident, because even though she was the one who'd paid for everything, she wasn't easily accessible for them to get in touch with to return the money to her.”

“What an awful thing to say. I don't understand you. I never have.”

Aunt Cee-Cee shrugged. “If you walked in my shoes, maybe you would. But in any event, through a bit of manipulation and somewhat unscrupulous activities, I was able to get them to issue you a refund. And I suppose that would have been the end of things, except Miss Crowe is
not
dead, and apparently when you went to see her, she found out you never attended the school. When she, or whomever she got to do it, checked on the money she'd paid, they learned it had already been refunded. And I suppose their investigation led them back to you, which actually has led them back to me, since I was the one who signed your name on the refund check.”

Gabrielle sat there speechless. She found it hard to believe what she was hearing.

“Well, say something. I deserve whatever horrible things you choose to say to me. Now, I'm sort of under investigation that might turn out to be criminally bad for me.”

“Oh, you think?” Gabrielle said as she stood and began to pace like a caged lioness.

“I know I have no right to ask this, but will you please talk with Miss Crowe and get her to drop this? I'll pay back the money; somehow I'll find a way to get it and pay her back every dime plus interest. I just need you to reason with her. Let her know that I didn't mean to harm anyone. We just needed the money at the time. It's been hard. Trying to raise my own four children and then taking on you.”

“Yeah, right. Me, the trouble-making child. Me, the child who brought in a monthly check to you without having much of it actually spent on me. Me, the child who was the maid of the family. And to think: you put me down, and then I grow up in life and people are
still
trying to put me down. But you know what, Aunt Cee-Cee, I forgive you. For all that you did to me as a child, for bringing down my self-esteem, for breaking my spirit, for treating me like I was nothing, for never showing me any love or respect, I forgive you. I forgive you, not to let you off any hook, but I forgive you so I can go on with my life without having to carry around the baggage of what you did or didn't do
to
or
for
me.”

Aunt Cee-Cee smiled. “Thank you. Oh.” She clapped her hands together and looked upward. “Thank you so much, Gabrielle. I knew you would not hold any of this against me. And I promise you, I'm going to do better. Starting right now, I'm going to do better. And will you please tell Miss Crowe that I'm glad she's doing okay, and that she's not going to regret dropping this investigation against me.”

Gabrielle tilted her head slightly. “I'm sorry. But I have no intentions of telling Miss Crowe anything.”

“But I thought you said you forgive me.”

“I do. But forgiveness doesn't mean you may not have to pay for your wrongdoing. It means I'm no longer your jailer trying to make sure you pay. Forgiveness doesn't mean you're going to get away with things you may have done. It just means the person who was wronged is no longer holding hate or malice in her heart against you,” Gabrielle said. “In fact, I'm going to still pray for you. And I hope that no matter what happens, God will use it to help you come to Him and be drawn nearer to Him.”

“So, you're not going to help me out of this?”

“No. After forgiving you, there's nothing more left for
me
to do.”

“You can tell the authorities, or whoever asks, that you signed that check. Or if they ask you to testify that you didn't sign it, you can just refuse to say anything one way or the other. You could do
that
.” Aunt Cee-Cee sighed. “Gabrielle, we're still family.”

“You mean you want me to lie?” Gabrielle said with an exaggerated frown.

“See, that's why you used to get on my nerves. I tell you what, your day is coming. I remember hearing a preacher say once, when I went to church, that it rains on the just and the unjust. Gabrielle Booker . . . Gabrielle Mercedes . . . whatever you want to call yourself these days, you're going to get yours. Someday, you're going to get yours!”

“Aunt Cee-Cee, you are right. It does rain on the just and the unjust. Rain can be a good thing, which means good things come to bad people. And rain can be a bad thing, if you're flooded out, which means bad things can happen to good people. But the difference, when you give your heart and soul to the Lord, is that whatever is happening in your life—good or bad—you're not going through it alone. But I have a Savior, and His name is Jesus. And I would love for you to know Him the way that I do.”

Aunt Cee-Cee stood up. “If you're not going to help me, then I don't want to hear this junk. I don't care about hearing anything about Jesus or your Lord and Savior. We need a thousand dollars in order to move into this place your uncle found for us. Can you loan me that so we can get out of here?”

Gabrielle laughed. “Whether I can or not, let me be honest with you. I'm not. And the reason is not because I'm mad at you, or I haven't forgiven you, or that I'm trying to make you pay for something from the past. It's not even because I know, like the money I've already loaned you, I'll probably never see it again. It's because God is not leading me to do any such thing. And not to sound insensitive, but if you really need money, I think you should talk to Jesse about taking that wonderful new stereo system he just bought back to the store for a refund. Then all of you need to pray to God for some wisdom, because some of the things you're repeatedly doing are never going to lead you back on the right track.”

“All I asked you for was to borrow some money. If you're not going to do that, then frankly, you can keep your unsolicited advice to yourself.” Aunt Cee-Cee started to walk away. “One day, when you need us, I can only hope that I treat you a lot better than you've treated us these past several days. Good-bye, Gabrielle. You won't have us to be kicking around any longer. Me and mine are out of
your
place. And just so you'll know: none of us liked being here anyway! It's too restrictive.”

Gabrielle watched as they vacated her premises, thankful that only a few of her own possessions had managed to somehow make their way along with them.

Chapter 64

A
fter they were all gone, Gabrielle's doorbell rang. When she opened the door, Zachary stood before her.

“Hi,” Zachary said.

“Hi.”

“I'm sorry for coming by without calling first,” he said. “I promise I won't stay long since you've made it abundantly clear that you want some space between us.”

“It's okay, you can come in.” Gabrielle opened the door so he could walk through. She closed the door and spun around to catch him looking around.

“It looks like a cyclone hit.”

“Yeah, my houseguests just vacated the premises about an hour ago. My maid will be here later to clean up. You know I have my own personal maid, don't you?” she said, speaking of herself. “She's really good, too.” She led Zachary to the kitchen. “I was about to make myself something to eat. I didn't eat breakfast before I left for church. Then I came home to total chaos, and now this German shepherd . . . this pit bull inside of my stomach is growling and letting me know I need to eat something.”

“Would you like to go and get something? I haven't eaten yet myself. In fact, I wanted to ask you out to dinner today, but I realize something different is going on between us, and you likely would have said no,” Zachary said. “I called you yesterday. Twice, in fact. You never returned either of my calls.”

“Yeah. I just got the messages this morning. My cousin liked talking on my phone, but she didn't believe it was her job to take down or relay, in a timely manner, any messages from people who were calling for me on
my
phone. A phone that, incidentally, I rarely heard ring because she had her ear glued to it night and day.”

“Oh, see. Now that's why people shouldn't jump to conclusions without getting the full facts first. I was thinking you hadn't called me back because you were letting me know you really weren't interested in anything more with me.” Zachary stepped over to her and grabbed both of her hands. “Is there a chance we can move forward with
us?
”

“Zachary, I don't want to do anything to hurt you . . . ever. And I don't want anything from my past life to mess up your future life later on. It would kill me if, instead of being a blessing to you, I became a curse to both you and your career.”

“Those sound like words straight from Leslie Morgan's lips. Gabrielle, I want you to know that I'm not giving up on us. You might think you're going to walk away from me, but I'm telling you: I'm not letting the best thing that ever happened to me—after being saved, of course—get away from me without a fight.” Zachary pulled her over toward the kitchen table and, while still holding both her hands, he sat down, pulling her along with him.

“I have things in my own past that could hurt me. What am I supposed to do? Run away from myself? No, I realize that all of us have something we're not proud of or that we know was a mistake. We can't change our past, but the decisions we make now
will
impact our future. I am making the decision now to pursue you with every fiber in my body. Because years from now, I want my future to include you. I want us to be together . . . raising our own children to know and to love God just as much as, if not more than, us. I want us to grow old together . . . more in love, even than we are now.”

“You love me?” Gabrielle asked. She looked up, her eyes meeting his straight on.

He took a deep breath. “Gabrielle Mercedes, I love you so much that I can't even think about a world . . . my world without you in it. I love you so much that I'm here now letting you know I'm not planning on going anywhere. Even if you tell me you've made up your mind, I want you to know that you are worth fighting for and that if I go, I'm not going away easily. I don't care what you did in your past. I don't care that you clean or have cleaned other people's houses. I don't even care that you've had a child and that you gave her up for adoption. Honestly, I admire you even more for doing that. You were thinking about that little girl and her future. All of these things are part of your past. What I
do
care about is that I've found you now, and that you love the Lord. I want to live my present and plan a future with you. And even though you have offended me greatly—”

“How have I offended you?”

“By telling me I don't know what or who's best for me. Or that I apparently make really bad decisions.”

“When did I do or say that?” Gabrielle asked with a frown.

“When you listened to my mother tell you that you should walk away from me, as though I don't know what's good for me. I found you, Gabrielle. Do you hear what I'm trying to tell you? I found
you
.” He touched her face. “And Proverbs 18:22 says, ‘Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord.' Gabrielle, I believe you are my wife. At least, that's the Word I hear from the Lord. We can play this courting game, but you and I both know there's something strong between us. I want God's favor in my life. And regardless of
your
past or
mine,
God has the final word. You want more time? Fine. I'm willing to step back and give you that time. But if you think I'm giving up on you completely or planning on not being there when you need or are looking for me, then you're sadly mistaken, sadly mistaken.”

Gabrielle raised her hand slowly and touched the left side of his face. “I'd be a fool to walk away from you. And I've already done enough foolish things in my life. I want to walk in the steps just as God is ordaining them for me.”

“So what's your heart telling you, Gabrielle? What do you hear the Holy Spirit saying to you right now?”

“To not let the devil talk me into walking away from the gift God has prepared for me. I'm hearing God say to let His Word be true and to let every word contrary to God's Word be a lie. My past
is
my past. And your past is your past. But God doesn't deal in time the way we do. And all that counts to Him is now. I hear God saying, faith is now.”

“Girl, you'd better stop this.” Zachary grinned. “Or else you're going to cause me to get down on one knee right here, right now, and ask you for your hand in marriage.”

Gabrielle laughed. “Zachary, we'll proceed with our courtship as we originally agreed. I really do want to get to know you better. The
you
that's inside of
here
.” She placed her hand lovingly on his chest. “I can't say whether later you and I will agree that we're really supposed to be together. But I'm going to trust God. I trust God, therefore I can trust Him to take care of whatever comes my way. And that includes the good and the bad. And speaking of good and bad, I'm scheduled to take a blood test to see if I'm a good match for my . . . for the little girl I gave up for adoption.”

“When are you scheduled to do that?”

“I'm calling tomorrow to set up a time. We're doing things in a more secretive way. You know, because of the unique nature surrounding all of this. They won't use my name, just assign me a special number. We're trying to respect the adoption process we agreed on. I just pray I'm a match, because I want to do whatever I can to help her.”

“Well, there are generally six HLA markers. . . .” Zachary noticed the frown come across her face when he said HLA. “HLA is histocompatability antigens. They will take your blood and hers to compare HLA markers. That's how they determine how great of a match you are. The more markers that match, the more likely the transplanted bone marrow will take without causing a severe immune reaction. When people want to be donors, they generally do a cheek swab initially to work up the numbers, then they perform a more in-depth blood test to match markers. Since they know you're her birth mother and that you likely have
some
matches, they don't need to do a swab. That's why you're doing the blood test at this point.”

“Plus, her mother said, they're running out of time.” Gabrielle wiped away a tear from her eye. “I just want her to be all right. That's all I want. And whatever I have to do to help her, I'm going to do it.”

“And if it turns out you're not a good match?” Zachary said. “What are you prepared to do then?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, if you're not a match, are you going to talk to her birth father to see if he's willing to step up? Although, in truth, a sibling is generally an even greater match for other siblings. If he has other children, it's possible one of them may be a match, even a perfect match, if neither of you are.”

“Well, I'm not going to ask for any more trouble than one day brings to me. One day at a time. And today, all that is before me is
me
being a match. I pray so much that I am. And if I am, I'll gladly give the bone marrow without deliberation or hesitation. She'll get well, and things will go back to normal. She'll grow up in her loving home, I'll keep working at improving my life, and everything will be right with the world again.” Gabrielle made a face as though she knew in her heart this was a lot to hope for.

“Well, let's pray,” Zachary said. He held her hands as he prayed for the health of the little girl in need of a bone marrow transplant as well as the many others they didn't know by name. He prayed for his aunt Esther, his family, Gabrielle's family, and for peace and joy to multiply between the two of them and all those they cared about. He prayed for Pastor Landris, his family, their church family, and all elected officials.

“Now,” he said after he finished his prayer, “how about some dinner?”

“Can I have a rain check?” she said. “You saw this house when you came in. It's going to take me the rest of the day, and then some, just to get it straight. I really don't understand how folks can not respect other people's property that they work so hard to get. I'm not worshipping my things, mind you. But I thank God for what I have, and I appreciate what He's blessed me with. I want to be a good steward of what God has placed in my care.” She shook her head. “I just don't get it.”

“I'll tell you what. I'll go and pick us up something to eat. Then I'll help you clean up.”

“Careful there, Doctor Z. It looks like I may have already become a bad influence on you.”

“What? You think I don't know how to clean a house? I know how to clean. I'm not above getting down and dirty. You show me to your mop, and it's going to be on.” He grinned.

Gabrielle started laughing. “See, that proves you're a fake. Who even uses a mop anymore?”

“Oops, my bad,” he said with a laugh. “So, are we back? Are you and I back together again?” He held out his hand as one waiting for another to give him five or accept an invitation for the next dance.

“We're back,” she said, quietly slapping her hand into his.

He held on to her hand, then carefully . . . and lovingly . . . brought it up to his mouth and placed a soft and gentle kiss on it. Then quietly, he exhaled.