Chapter 12
Roger came home for lunch with a birthday card and a brand-new one-hundred-dollar bill tucked inside, and found Briar sitting on the stairs drinking a cup of noodle soup, with another piece of cake on a little plate beside her for dessert.
He came in with a swagger and handed her the card as if it had been his intention all along.
“Happy birthday, honey. That soup looks good. I think I’ll heat some up for myself and join you.”
She took the card, opened it, and smiled. “Cute card…and thanks for the birthday money.”
“Of course,” he said, hesitated, then patted the top of her head and went into the kitchen.
She put the money in her pocket and the card down on the stairs behind her, then went back to her soup. It was obvious that he was ill at ease. He’d patted her on the head—like a dog, for God’s sake. For a second she thought he’d been going to ruffle her hair too.
When he came back with his soup, he was all chatty. Not his usual taciturn self. Then finally, he blurted out what he’d wanted to know from the moment Tate Bandy had put the cake on his desk.
“So, what did Tate give you for your birthday?” he asked.
“He named a star after me. A real star from a heavenly galaxy. I have the certificate of authentication and a map of where it is in the universe. Oh…and a Star Wish Build-A-Bear. It’s the cutest thing ever.”
Roger blinked. “A star? There’s now a star in the universe with your name on it?”
She nodded, took the last drink of soup, and picked up her birthday card. “Time to get back to work. If we’re lucky, we’ll have a roof on this house before quitting time today.”
Roger watched her exit with a mixture of awe and regret. In awe of who his daughter was growing up to be. Regret, knowing the only thing he and Mariah had given her was food, shelter, and grief.
* * *
That night before Briar went to bed, she walked out onto her front lawn and looked up at the star-studded sky.
Somewhere up there, a tiny, insignificant star now bore her name.
She already had her own place in the heavens, and she didn’t have to wait until she died to get there.
It was a fanciful thought, but the gesture was the most loving thing she’d ever received.
“Hi, God, this is me, Briar. Thank you for my Tate. Thank you for the blessing he is to this world. Thank you for saving his life. I could not have done it without your help.”
She gave the heavens one last look, then went back inside, locking the door behind her, then walked through the house to make sure everything was safe and secure.
The empty cake box was in the garbage. She smiled, remembering how many times the guys had come through the kitchen today, cutting off one more bite for themselves. She wandered back into the living room and sat down to wait for her dad to finish showering so she could go to bed.
Then her phone rang. It was Tate.
“Hey, you. I needed to hear your voice one more time today before I closed my eyes,” she said.
Tate was already in bed, but he couldn’t sleep. Making love to Briar had turned on an ache that was never going to go away.
“If we were lying side by side, I would love you to sleep. As it is, I’m going to have to settle for memory. Did you have a good birthday?” he asked.
“Because of you, yes. I went outside to look for my star tonight. It’s the most precious thing I’ve ever been given…except…”
He chuckled. “Understood. You are forever my guiding light. You ground me. You make my crazy life okay.”
“Thank you, love. So, what did you do this afternoon?”
“Helped Mom in the garden. We picked green beans and tomatoes. She’s on a canning mission tomorrow.”
She sighed. “Dad came home at noon with a birthday card and money. He beat around the bush forever before finally asking me what you gave me for my birthday. I told him about giving me a star with my name. Kinda blew his mind…like it did me.”
“I would give you the moon, but it’s not for sale. I just wanted to hear your voice. I love you, Briar Rose. So much.”
“Love you more,” Briar said. The call ended, and a few minutes later, Roger came down the stairs.
“Bathroom’s all yours,” he said.
“Thanks. I’m so tired. I cannot wait for the day when we get our house back. See you in the morning.”
Roger sat down on the sofa. “Good night, honey. Rest well,” he said, then watched her steps dragging as she went up the stairs. He checked the front door to make sure it was locked, then turned on the TV and stretched out on his makeshift bed.
* * *
Mariah drove into Savannah, then straight to her parents’ house and up the narrow circle driveway hidden behind a wrought-iron gate.
She punched in the code to open the gate, wincing at the squeak the huge gates made as they swung inward.
As soon as she parked, she hit the remote again, and the old gates squeaked shut.
As the gates were swinging shut, they reminded her of her narrow escape from going to prison, versus what was happening to her now.
She’d traded one sentence for another, but this one had no parole, and it was going to last until the end of her parents’ lives, or the end of hers. Whichever came first.
* * *
A few days later, Tate was down at the garage with his dad, helping change the oil on Lilith’s car, when a car pulled up at the pumps to get gas.
The driver, a thirtysomething man with shoulder-length dark hair, got out to swipe his card at the pump, then began to refuel, but all the time he was refueling, he was staring at Abel.
After he finished, he went inside the station and bought a cold bottle of Pepsi and a package of peanuts.
As he exited the station, he paused in the shade beneath the open garage, opened his Pepsi, took a big drink, then poured the peanuts into the bottle and took another swig, chewing peanuts as he swallowed.
Abel grinned. “Best way to drink a pop, ever,” he said. “Are you just passin’ through?”
The man shook his head. “No, sir. I’m from Tennessee, and I came here on purpose. I know you’re Abel Bandy. I’ve seen pictures. I’m your uncle Eli’s grandson, Micah Bandy. The family sent me here to meet Tate. They all knew of him being the next one blessed, but ain’t nobody ever met him before.”
Tate was standing under the lift, checking to make sure the oil plug was secure after replacing the oil on his mother’s car. He heard everything that was being said and didn’t know how he felt about that.
A cousin had come all the way from Tennessee to meet him. A man who didn’t need an explanation of why he could see what he saw. Satisfied that the oil wasn’t leaking, he stepped out from beneath the lift and pressed the button to lower the car.
When Micah saw him, he started grinning. “Lord a’ mercy! Even if I hadn’t seen you on TV, I could have picked you out in a blizzard as a Bandy. You look perkier than you did in that bed. How old are you, boy?”
Tate grinned. “Nineteen. Twenty come next January.”
“You’re still in school?” Micah asked.
Abel intervened. “He caught the West Nile virus right after he started first grade. We nearly lost him, and he lost a year of school. So, he started over.”
“And from that interview we all saw, Tate proved his gift right off, by warning the entire school of a tornado that saved their lives, then saved his girl. Briar is her name, right?”
“Yes, that’s her name,” Tate said.
Micah nodded. “She’s got spunk. Good match. The elders want to meet you.”
Abel glanced at Tate. “Are you finished with your mama’s car?”
“Yes, sir,” Tate said.
“Then you drive it on back to the house, and Micah can follow you. Micah, you’ll stay with us while you’re here, and welcome,” Abel said.
Micah smiled. “I thank you, Abel. You sure it’s okay with your missus?”
“I’ll call her, but trust me. Someone from home? She’s going to be overjoyed. I get off work in a couple of hours. We’ll talk more when I get home.”
Tate wiped the oil off his hands and laid the grease rag aside.
Micah went back to his car with his Pepsi and peanuts and followed Tate to the house.
Lilith was waiting on the porch to greet them when they pulled up, so excited she was almost dancing.
Micah stepped up on the porch. “Miss Lilith, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for welcoming me into your home.”
Lilith was beaming. “Honey, you have no idea how welcome you are. Come in, come in. It’s hot out here.”
Tate had never seen his mother this elated about company, then remembered where they came from, blood kin was always family.
“Tate, honey, will you please show Micah to the spare room, and when you get him settled, come into the kitchen. I have bread ready to come out of the oven.”
Within an hour, Micah Bandy felt at home and was relating family stories that had Lilith laughing to the point of tears.
“Do you know my parents, David and Retha Barton?” Lilith asked.
“Yes, ma’am, I do. David is one of my dad’s fishing buddies. Your mama still plays the piano at church.”
Lilith’s eyes welled. “Tate graduates at the end of the first semester, and Abel and I are moving home. Back to Tennessee.”
Micah was surprised, and it showed. “Really? Do your people know that?”
“Not yet,” Lilith said.
Tate saw the longing on her face. “They’ve stayed because of me and Briar, but there are people in this town who have persecuted Mama because of me since they found out that I had the knowing.”
Micah frowned. “Let me guess. Some offshoots of a bunch of churchgoing people. Well, you won’t have to worry about that back home.
People there revere the name. When they’re needing answers, they come from all over, looking for a Bandy.
Tate is the youngest one so far with the gift. The elders want to meet him.”
“Do they take pay for what they do?” Tate asked.
“In one form or another, yes. They found out about four generations back that it weeded out the nonsense requests. And, it’s the gift God gave them, just like people pay doctors to heal, and police to protect, and teachers to teach.
If you are born with an ability that performs a service, then it is your right. Why?”