Chapter 21
Gideon knocked on Nikki’s door, and Beth answered.
“Oh, hi Gideon. Nikki’s down at the church.”
“I should have checked there first. She did say there had been a lot of meetings.”
“She’s been a busy little bee. Barely enough time to do her own work. But I think you might catch her on her own right now.”
“Thanks, I’ll head that way.”
“Everything okay with you? You look…sad.”
“I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
“I saw your dad today.”
“Nikki told me you were visiting him. That means a lot. Thank you.”
“I brought him a meal. Looks like he’s doing okay.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know, but I like to.”
“I haven’t seen much of him in the last few days. Thanks for thinking of him. ”
“My pleasure. Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will, thanks.”
Gideon gave Beth what was supposed to be a quick hug but let it linger. He could barely remember his own mom. He wondered if this was what it felt like to hug one.
“You sure you’re okay?” Beth said.
He pulled back. “I’ll be okay. Life’s hard sometimes.”
“Yes. It certainly is.”
“I don’t remember there being flowers here,” Gideon said as he walked up to the church. Nikki was pulling weeds.
“There weren’t,” she said, tossing a lump into a pile beside her. “But I thought it would brighten the place up.”
“Isn’t it your mom who’s the green thumb?”
“She’s the one who’s looking after the flowers. I pull the weeds.” She stood and dusted her pants off. “Come inside.”
“I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“I don’t mind being interrupted. Especially from that, and I need a drink.”
He followed her into the front pew where she had a water bottle. “You want a drink?” She pointed to a water cooler toward the back of the room.
“That’s new. ”
“Yeah. Ty and Mary got it for us. With so many meetings, they thought it would be good.”
“Thoughtful.”
“Yeah.”
He cleared his throat and walked to the stage. “I wanted to say thanks for your prayers.”
“You’re welcome.”
“You’re doing really well here.”
She sat slowly on the pew. “You sound like you have bad news.”
He looked at his hands and picked at his fingers before saying, “I came to say goodbye.”
He heard her sharp intake of breath, but her voice was steady. “You’re going. For real this time?”
“I did everything I could.”
“Yeah. I know I’ve said it before, but you’ve done a lot.”
“You should think about taking your mom away from here.”
“We’ve already had this conversation. And I’m certainly not going to leave as things are picking up at the church. I don’t know what to do with them all, but I can’t leave. Not with everyone looking to Jesus finally after all these years.”
“You won’t get Fairfax out of this town. There’s nothing that can be done.”
“How can you say that after everything that’s happened?”
“I’m serious, Nikki. I don’t know how he does it.” He shook his head. He’d rather leave this part out, but she had to know what she was up against. “I had a meeting with an agent from ICE.”
“You mean immigration ICE? The one I told you not to contact?”
“Yes.”
She let out a slow breath. “You think that was wise?”
“I thought—” He couldn’t tell her about the mat. “I didn’t know what else to do, and part of their job is to protect any immigrants who are being abused. Legal or illegal. Or at least I thought so.”
Nikki pressed a hand to her chest. “Are they going to deport everyone?”
“No. They’re not doing anything. Fairfax and Peters turned up for the meeting.”
“What?”
“It was over before it started. They spent most of the time talking about what a bad influence I was in town.”
“The sheriff was there?”
“Yeah. After the agent left, they threatened me. Said I should get out of town now or no one would find the body.”
“They said that?”
“There’s nothing else I can do here.”
“Gideon, I?—”
Nikki’s phone rang. She looked at it and frowned. “Just a second. Don’t leave yet. I need to take this.” She answered. “Hey, Mae.” As she listened, her frown deepened. “That’s terrible…. I’m at the church now. Do you want to come down?” She nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you soon. ”
“Is something wrong?” Gideon asked when she hung up.
“Mae’s been fired.”
“Mae? For what? She’s like the sweetest person I’ve met here.”
“Fairfax said she was stealing from him.”
“Fairfax himself said that?”
“Yeah. That’s what she said.”
Gideon shook his head. “Why would he do that?”
“She wouldn’t lie.”
“No, I mean… Never mind.”
“She’s headed here now. I’ll pray with her and—I don’t know. I don’t know what else to do.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to leave you with all of this.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She took a deep breath and stood. “All I can do is trust that God has something. It was nice getting to know you, Gideon, but I guess you should get going before the sheriff finds you.”
“Yeah… I guess I should.”
They started with a handshake and then hugged awkwardly.
“See ya,” she said.
“Maybe I’ll stop in again some time.”
She shrugged. “You think that’s a good idea? You think the sheriff will ever let you back into town?”
“No. Probably not. I’m sorry, Nikki. I really am.”
“It’s how things have turned out. God never said we wouldn’t face trials. You’ve got yours, and I’ve got mine.”
“Yeah.” He turned and headed for the exit. He couldn’t blame her for her reaction. He’d hurt her. He’d hurt both of them. It felt like a boulder had settled in his stomach. All the things he’d thought were signs were only his imagination. Some part of himself had hoped he had value, but he’d fooled himself and fooled Nikki. This town would be better off without him.
When he reached the door, a man he recognized from the first night when everyone had turned up at the church was climbing the steps.
“Oh, Gideon. I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“I’m on my way out. But there isn’t a meeting on as far as I know.”
“I’m not here for a meeting. I just didn’t know where else to go.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Not really. I got a phone call to tell me I was being evicted from my house. I have forty-eight hours to leave.”
“Is that even legal?”
“Doesn’t have to be, I guess. Who am I going to tell?”
“Did they at least explain why?”
“No.”
“Who’s the owner of the house?” He already knew.
“Fairfax. I was so stupid. But I was desperate. Had to put food on the table for my family and keep a roof over their heads, so I sold it to him.”
“Of course you would. Anyone would.”
“All I did was delay the inevitable. Now I’ve got nothing, and I don’t know what we’re going to do.” He choked.
“I’m really sorry.”
The man sniffed and went inside. Gideon turned and watched as he sat in the last pew, resting his arms on the back of the seat in front of him before dropping his head onto them. His back jerked in a soundless sob.
Gideon trudged down the steps when another car arrived. He expected it to be Mae, but it wasn’t.
“Hey Barb,” Gideon said when a woman got out. It was clear she’d been crying. “You okay?” His hand was already curling into a fist in expectation of what she would say.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know anyone else would be here.”
“What happened?”
She tried to speak, but her words were blocked by tears. Gideon put a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be okay.” But that was a lie. Nothing was okay. “Can you tell me what happened?”
She pressed her fingers against her mouth as she fought for calm. “I don’t know what to do. Mr. Fairfax cancelled his order with me. It’s the only reason I’ve kept my business running, even with the discount. Without him, I’m ruined.”
“When did this happen?”
“Less than an hour ago. I didn’t know where else to go.”
“You’ve come to the right place. Nikki’s inside.” He put his arm around her to steer her toward the church. “There are a few others, too. ”
He waited at the bottom of the steps until she was inside, then he walked out to the road and looked for any other vehicles approaching. There would be more, maybe not coming to the church, but there would be a lot of people hurting right now.
Fairfax was attacking this town because of him. Reasserting his power in case anyone had gotten any ideas.
He headed back to the church but stopped at the steps. Going back inside now would only confuse things. He stalked around the yard for a few minutes. “I don’t know what to do,” he prayed. “Has everything come to a head for a reason? Was this all on purpose to lead to something?” He scrubbed his hand across his mouth. “I’ve done everything I could think of. What more do you want from me?” He looked up at the sky through the trees. “Why did you bring me here?”
He had been ready to go. He’d made his decision, but how many times had he done that since arriving? How many times had he tried to leave and then something happened to stop him? And here it was again. Maybe there would never be a right time to go, but if he left now, he’d be leaving a trail of destruction.
“Should I stay?” But he couldn’t stay. He’d pushed that as far as he could. Or had he?