36. Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Six
David followed her from the automobile up to Delia’s front door, still not sure why they were there. “Are these people expecting you?” he asked.
“Hush,” Jacquelyn said. “You’ll know soon enough.” After she knocked on the door, they heard a flurry of activity inside. When the door opened, a little boy with wide eyes stood there wordlessly. “Can I speak to Delia, please?” she asked.
He turned. “Ma! There’s a lady here wants to talk to you.”
Delia came then, her hands rising to adjust her hair as she caught sight of Jacquelyn. “Yes, can I help you?”
“I hope so. I’ve recently made the acquaintance of your father, Ezra.”
Her mouth dropped. “My father is still alive?” She clutched the doorframe. “How long ago did you see him? ”
“Yesterday.” She watched as Delia took in this news. “We had a long talk. He told me he quit drinking about five years ago and misses you, but he’s too ashamed to come see you. He thought it was too late, that he’d ruined everything. He said when you were a little girl he used to call you—”
“Sweetie pie,” she whispered, the blood draining from her face.
“Yes, that’s what he told me.”
“Where is he now?”
“He’s at the rescue mission. Yesterday he came back into town after working at a Christmas tree farm north of here. I was stranded, and he kindly helped me find my way home.” Jacquelyn was prepared to go on, to tell her how he’d shared his water and helped her get warm. That he’d been a perfect gentleman, despite his obviously disadvantaged circumstances. But before she could get the words out, Delia spoke up.
“I need to see him.” She turned away and yelled into the house, “Earl! You won’t believe it! This lady found my daddy.” Tears were in her eyes when she turned back to Jacquelyn. “I’ve been praying for this day. Thank you so much.”
“We’d be happy to drive you to the rescue mission,” Jacquelyn said.
“No, my husband has an automobile,” Delia said. “But thank you.” She clutched a hand to her heart. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”
“I’m Jacquelyn.”
“Thank you, Jacquelyn. Merry Christmas. ”
“Merry Christmas.”
Back in the Packard, David said, “So that’s the daughter of the hobo who helped you?”
Jacquelyn gave him a daggered look. “He’s not a hobo. Just a man down on his luck. He has a daughter who loves him. And he owns a pocket watch, which he’s never sold despite hard times. He’s a good man.”
“It was nice of you to help him.”
“He helped me first.”
David started up the engine. “And now we’re heading home?”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to go to the rescue mission. Not go inside, you understand,” she said, hurriedly. “I just want to wait.”
“I understand.”
When they arrived, David pulled the automobile to the side of the road where they had a good view of the front entrance. “So what exactly are we waiting for?” he asked after they’d been sitting there for a few minutes.
Jacquelyn craned her neck to get a better view. “Wait, I see them.” As she watched, Delia and her family hurried down the sidewalk to the front door and went inside. Down the block, she heard the peal of church bells.
“I still don’t understand,” David said. “Why are we here?”
She turned to him. “Because I know most of the story, and I just have to see how it ends.”
They sat in silence for fifteen minutes, the anticipation making Jacquelyn want to get out and go inside the building, but she held back, knowing she’d be intruding. Finally, her patience was rewarded by the sight of Delia’s children coming out the door followed by who she assumed was her husband, Earl, who held the door for Ezra and Delia. Jacquelyn had seen Ezra smile before, memorably when she’d shared her sandwich, but his smile right now was something else. It stretched across his face in an expression of elation. This smile was the sun coming out from behind a cloud on a gloomy day. The smile of a man whose dearest wish, the one he couldn’t have even hoped for, had just been granted. Delia too looked overjoyed.
“There they are.” David said the words nonchalantly, as if this wasn’t a miracle of the highest order. He had no idea the heartbreak that had just been mended. As the group turned the corner, he asked, “Are we done now?”
“We’re done,” Jacquelyn said with a nod. “Let’s go home.”