CHAPTER 45
Rebecca
A Chamber of Commerce grant followed the Rotary grant and scholarship, and then the ads began to pour in, slowly at first, then as the weeks turned into months, so fast Dinah could barely keep up.
“I’m drowning in paperwork!” the ad rep wailed in the newsroom on a sunny November Friday. “Not that I’m complaining, Boss!”
Rebecca laughed. “Hang in there, Dinah. Pass me some of those insertion orders. I’ll pitch in.”
Tiff, newly promoted to editor, started to raise a hand, then thought better.
“We might think about bringing on an advertising assistant, maybe someone from the community college in Aberville who can help on a work-study or internship. They can make commission, help take the weight off Dinah, and get some real world experience.”
Rebecca nodded, impressed. “I like your thinking, Madame Editor.”
Tiff grinned, her newfound confidence wrapping neatly around her.
The phone rang, and Millie called out, “Rebecca, line two!”
Rebecca picked up.
“How’s my favorite co-owner doing this fine morning?” Buck McCafferty sounded like a new man these days. “Numbers are booming!”
“They sure are, not to mention the stories. You should see what Tiff came up with this week. Outstanding!”
Rebecca said it loud enough for the young woman to hear, and she noted with satisfaction that Tiff’s ears began to pink with pride.
They should—Tiff had done a remarkable job of growing into her new position.
Not only was readership up, but she’d begun winning awards, too, both for writing and photography and also for page design.
“We might think about raises after the dust begins to settle, maybe even a Christmas bonus,” Buck said.
Rebecca nodded. “My sentiments exactly.”
“I’ll let you go—just wanted to check in and see if there was anything you needed from me. I’m off to spend a week in Alabama. Grandbaby Number Two is officially on her way!”
“That’s great news!” Rebecca said, her voice warm. “Congratulations, Buck.”
“Thanks, Rebecca. For that and, well. For everything. I know I’ve told you this before, but I’ll say it again. You were right—Dahlia didn’t deserve what Stuart and I were considering. What you did took a lot of guts.”
Rebecca smiled at the “guts,” gazed at the framed piece that now graced the wall beside her desk.
“There’s a lot of blood, sweat, and guts between dreams and success,” it read—a Paul Bryant quote written neatly in calligraphy and matted expensively.
It was a gift from her mom, who’d surprised her with an impromptu visit last month.
Thanks to Devon’s nudging, they were exchanging weekly phone calls, now, and Rebecca was finding she had a lot more in common with her mother than she’d ever imagined.
They had a long way to go, but it was a step in the right direction.
“Thanks, Buck,” she said, hanging up the phone. “You take care, now.”
She looked around the room. “Hey, who’s eaten?”
“I’m starved. You making a lunch run?” Dinah called out.
“My treat, as a thank you to all of you for the hard work and extraordinary talent you bring to this newspaper.” Rebecca smiled at each of them in turn, her gaze settling at last on Millie, who had become absolutely indispensable these last couple of months.
“Seriously—we couldn’t have made it this far without each of you. So, who’s up for pizza?”
Millie grinned. “Have we told you lately how much we love you?”
Rebecca laughed as she picked up the phone to order. “That never gets old.”
◆◆◆
On Sunday, she scurried into the second row at Dahlia Community Bible Church right as the front doors were closing, slipping into the seat right beside Devon. Marla squeezed her hand, gorgeous in an A-line skirt and smart emerald-green blazer, her signature chunky jewelry resplendent as always.
“We almost sent out the cavalry looking for you! I was worried you’d gotten cold feet!” Marla whispered.
Rebecca grinned at her friend. Two seats down sat Granny, right next to Josh Jamison, Lissa and her husband, and JJ.
JJ waved, gave her a thumbs-up and a freckle-faced grin as the music began to play.
Josh caught her eye, too, and his smile warmed her from head to toe.
After church, they had plans to go fishing, and then Josh was cooking for her and JJ for the very first time at his house.
His daddy was “courting” her, JJ had said.
She liked the old-fashioned, taking-it-slow sound of that.
Next to her, Devon took her other hand, closed it around his Bible.
“I want you to hold onto this today,” he said into her ear as they all stood to sing. “For me, and for my mama.”
Rebecca nodded and smiled down at him, lifted her voice to sing with the rest of the sanctuary.
Rev called her up when it was her turn. “Now, you all know that joining our church most certainly doesn’t require giving your testimony, but today’s newest member insisted. Please help me welcome one of Dahlia’s favorite souls, Rebecca Helen Chastain.”
She approached the altar and gave Rev a big hug, took the microphone from him. All nervousness suddenly and inexplicably disappeared as she took a breath, began.
“Anyone who knows me knows I’ve always been very reluctant to talk about faith, especially my own. But today wouldn’t feel right without telling you my story, and how I came to be here today.”
She held out the Bible and looked out into the packed sanctuary straight at her dearest friend—a young boy who’d shown her what God really looked like, helped point her to the true way. Jesus.
She cleared her throat. “My story has everything to do with Devon Robinson, the best person I’ve ever met and one of the people closest to my heart.”
Devon gazed back at her, his eyes filling with tears.
She looked out at those gathered as she told her story, plainly and honestly.
There to the left were Millie and her “grands,” and behind them were Tiff and her fiancé, Bobby Smathers.
Across the aisle sat Mike, Martha, and some of the others from Giveaway Night, along with their families.
And in the back, slipping in now, she saw Shayna and Papa Toe.
On the altar rested a pretty ceramic pot, and inside the pot, a vivid green plant, its leaves supple and strong. Rebecca reached over for it, cradled it and the Bible in her hands.
“You see this plant, see how straight and strong its leaves have grown? I bet you never would have guessed it once used to be a tumble of ratty half-roots forgotten in my Granny’s garden.
But,” she grinned, “just like with me, with lots of love and plenty of bright, bright Dahlia sunlight, it became what you see today: a glorious creation. As Granny is fond of saying, and I quote: ‘Sometimes the worst mess of nothing sprouts the most vibrant testament to life.’”
Rebecca smiled, took a breath and locked eyes with Granny.
“Thanks to your love, Granny, yours and Devon’s and that of so many others in this room, I’m here today giving my own testament: to new life in Christ. You all took a chance on me.
And God gave me the best gift possible. New life in him.
I’m proud to be a new member of this church family. ”
She took her seat, Marla wrapping her in a big hug, Devon grabbing her arm tight.
Granny was family, yes. But so were these others, strangers she had come to know and love.
Strangers who’d somehow seen past her flaws and loved her anyway.
For the first time in her life, she was finally, finally home.
The End