Marta's Legacy Collection (86 page)

Pastor Daniel smiled warmly at Dawn. “I’ve watched your relationship with Jesus grow over the last three years.” His expression turned grim when he shifted his focus to Jason. “I’m not so sure about you. Still wandering in the wilderness?”

“Not anymore. I’m back in church and I plan to stay.” Jason let go of Dawn’s hand and leaned forward to take the workbooks. “Thanks, Daniel.” Smiling, he relaxed on the sofa.

“I hoped it would all work out this way.”

“Did you?” Jason sounded dubious.

“What do you say we take a bike ride tomorrow? Talk a little more.”

Jason agreed.

Leaning back in his chair, Pastor Daniel gave them a smug smile. “You’ll be the first couple to meet and marry in our church. December is a nice month for a wedding.”

Dawn laughed. “What about Kim and Tom?”

Pastor Daniel chuckled. “Ah, but they’re not getting married until June. We’ll tie your knot on December 21.”

When Dawn got home, a light blinked on her answering machine. She pressed the button, thinking it might be Kim or Pam or one of her other friends. Instead, she heard Georgia Steward’s invitation to the trailer for coffee Saturday afternoon at three. “We have a few things to settle between us, Dawn.” Her voice sounded cool and detached. “If three isn’t convenient, please call so we can set another time.”

Dawn sank onto her bed. What would Jason’s mother say to her this time? Was she afraid this marriage would ruin his chances of getting through college? that Dawn might get in the way again? that she might be pregnant?

Dawn wanted to call and make some excuse not to go. How could she face Georgia again, after all that had been said the last time?
God, help me. What do I do?

Reason took hold. Georgia Steward would be her mother-in-law in a few weeks. She deserved respect and consideration. Georgia might not like her, but for Jason’s sake they needed to make some kind of peace. Dawn didn’t want to become a stumbling block between mother and son. She prayed about it all afternoon.

Jason called that night. When he didn’t mention his mother’s invitation, Dawn knew Georgia hadn’t told him. That did not bode well.

Jason said he had a great idea for their honeymoon. They’d have only a few days before they needed to come back for a family Christmas. “It won’t be the Ritz, but I think you’ll like it.” He wanted it to be a surprise.

“I’ll love it, wherever it is.”

Unable to sleep, Dawn sat at her desk, reading her Bible until well after midnight.

She covered her face and prayed for Georgia’s heart to soften toward her. When she finally went to bed, she dreamed she wore a scarlet wedding dress, and Georgia, dressed in black, wept in the front row.

43

Dawn’s insides quivered as she parked her Sable behind Georgia’s van. Mrs. Edwards peered through her living room curtains. Georgia opened the door, leaned out to wave to her neighbor, and then beckoned Dawn inside. Blushing, Dawn went up the steps onto the small porch. One glance over her shoulder confirmed Mrs. Edwards still waited with bated breath to witness the outcome of this meeting between Georgia and the girl who had seduced Jason.

A small potted plant sat on the table where Dawn and Jason used to spread their books out before going into his bedroom. Georgia moved tensely about the kitchen. Dawn pressed her damp palms on her dark skirt.

“Do you like coffee, Dawn, or would you prefer tea?”

“Whatever you’re having will be fine, ma’am.”

Georgia gave a sharp laugh. “
Ma’am
makes me feel like a nasty old woman. Call me Georgia. I’m a coffee drinker. Do you like cream or sugar?”

“Nothing, thank you.”

Georgia carried a wooden tray with saucers and cups of coffee and a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies into the living room and set it on the low table. “Sit down. You’re making me nervous.” She waved her hand toward the sofa. “We both know we have to have this conversation. We might as well get it over with, don’t you think?”

Dawn took her coffee. The cup rattled in the saucer. Mortified, she set them on the table before she could spill coffee all over the beige rug.

Georgia cleared her throat softly. “This is difficult for both of us, Dawn. I wanted to talk with you alone and try to clear up a few things.” Georgia closed her eyes for a moment and released a slow breath before she looked at Dawn again. “I said awful things to you the last time you were here.” She turned her face away. “Afterward, I knew I’d jeopardized my relationship with my son. You had the power to make Jason hate me.”

“I didn’t tell him anything about that day.”

“Oh, honey, I know you didn’t. He asked me after the two of you broke up if I’d ever spoken to you. I asked if you’d said I had—implying, of course, I hadn’t. He said you’d pulled out of school and wouldn’t return his calls.”

Georgia gripped her saucer and stared into the cup for a moment. “When Jason said you two should stop seeing each other for a while, he meant a few weeks. But you backed out of his life entirely. I watched him suffer. I heard him sobbing one night. A few days later, he put his fist through the wall. And I watched you suffer, too.”

“I couldn’t . . .” Dawn pressed her trembling lips together and tried again. “I knew if we saw each other, we’d go right back—”

Georgia held up her hand. “I’m not finished, Dawn. Please, let me finish.” She drew in a breath, her mouth working. When she regained control, she spoke quietly. “I watched you. I listened to everything people said about you. For three years. You sat in church and soaked in every word Daniel said. I heard how well you were doing in independent study—high grades, taking college courses while you finished high school. You went on mission trips. Daniel said he’d never seen God work in a person’s life the way the Lord worked in yours. You fixed your eyes on Jesus and never looked away. But while I watched your faith grow, I saw Jason struggling. When I heard you’d transferred to Cal Poly, I prayed harder than I ever had in my life.”

Dawn hung her head. She could imagine how hard Georgia Steward had prayed. She must have assumed the girl who’d caused her son so much grief had gone after him again.

Georgia’s eyes glistened. “Jason thanked me the other day. When I asked him what for, he said you told him I’d been kind to you.” She smiled bleakly. “He apologized for assuming I’d said the same things to you that I’d been saying
about
you for weeks before that last fiasco.” She shook her head. “And I know everything you’ve done, even forgiving me, has been out of love for my son.” Her voice broke.

Dawn realized she wasn’t the only one consumed by guilt. “You weren’t wrong about me.”

“Oh, I was very wrong. I couldn’t have been more wrong. When I looked at you, I saw myself at fifteen—arrogant, selfish, defiant. I wanted what I wanted when I wanted it. I didn’t care what anyone thought.
You
listened.
You
repented. When I got pregnant, my world fell apart. My boyfriend dumped me and moved on to a new girl. My parents kicked me out. I was living on the streets when Jason was born. It took five years to crawl up out of the gutter life I’d made for myself. I don’t even want to remember the things I did to put bread on our table. And then, feeling holier-than-thou, I had the audacity to ambush you. I dug a hole and tried to bury you under my hurt and bitterness. Everything I said to you was all about the girl I’d been. I didn’t even see you.”

Dawn let out a shuddering breath. She’d prayed so hard about this meeting and now felt the warmth of God’s answer filling her. “But don’t you see? I
was
all the things you said, Georgia.”

When Georgia opened her mouth, Dawn raised her hand. “Let
me
finish. If you’d been gentle, I might not have listened. It took you speaking the truth the way you did to get through to me. I’m grateful that you did. God used your words to draw me to Himself, and that’s when the Lord started working. Maybe if someone had spoken to you the way you spoke to me, things would have turned out differently for you too.” She’d been afraid she wouldn’t be able to say a word when she walked through the front door, but words flowed naturally and with a love she hadn’t known she possessed for Jason’s mother.

Georgia let out a long breath. “Just to be clear: I couldn’t be more pleased you’re marrying my son.”

“Me, too.”

They laughed together.

“Well. All that being said . . .” Georgia leaned forward and lifted the plate. “Have a cookie. And then let’s talk about how I can help put on a beautiful wedding.”

From the day Dawn told her family she and Jason were getting married, Granny had pressured Dawn to go shopping for a white wedding dress. Dawn didn’t feel entitled to wear a white gown, but she didn’t want to hurt Granny by explaining why not. She didn’t know what to do until her mother offered the pale pink gown and veil she’d worn when she married Mitch. “I think it’ll fit you.” Her mother seemed shy about it. “If you want it.”

“I do.” She’d felt her mother stiffen slightly when she hugged her. Sometimes Dawn wondered why her mother seemed so uncomfortable with physical affection, unless it came from Christopher or Mitch.

On the morning of the wedding, deaconesses were on hand to decorate the church with the poinsettias Georgia had delivered, and by eleven, the place was packed with well-wishers. Dawn saw Jason’s gaze fixed on her as Mitch walked her down the aisle. She gave white roses to Granny and Mom. When Pastor Daniel pronounced them man and wife, the congregants erupted in applause and cheers. On the way back up the aisle, Dawn paused and gave Georgia a white rose and kissed her cheek. She had two left, one to throw and one to keep.

While pictures were being taken, deacons rearranged chairs and set up tables. Caterers covered everything with linens and spread platters with enough fancy sandwiches and salads to feed an army. A three-tiered wedding cake stood on a central table. The stack of beautifully wrapped packages grew on two back tables. After the receiving line, Jason and Dawn sat at the head table and nibbled at lunch. They cut the cake, carefully feeding each other small bites, and then danced to the music of the professional band Mitch had hired.

Jason held Dawn close as they waltzed, his warm breath sending shivers down her spine. “Can we go now?” he whispered against her ear. His hand spread on the small of her back. “We’ve cut the cake and had our dance.”

She laughed softly. “The reception is supposed to last another hour.”

Mitch cut in. “Dad’s turn.” Grinning broadly at Jason, he took Dawn in his arms. “You look like you can’t wait to get her out of here, but you won’t want to drive your Honda anywhere until you run it through a car wash.”

Jason grimaced. “I’m going to—”

“Do nothing.” Mitch chuckled. “Carolyn will give you the keys to my Bonneville.”

“Thanks, Mitch.” Jason stepped forward. “Can I have my wife back now?”

“Not so fast. You have duties to perform. Dance with your mother and mother-in-law first. And I’ve been informed Dawn still has to throw her rose to a gaggle of single girls. And you have to toss her garter to that pack of wolves you call friends. Then Pita’s all yours for the rest of your life, buddy boy.”

Laughing, Dawn punched him.

It was a long, dark drive and well after ten before they reached Fort Bragg and signed into the Harbor Lite Lodge as Mr. and Mrs. Jason Steward. The suite was larger than Dawn’s studio apartment. Someone had already lit the fire in the small Franklin stove. She opened the sliding-glass door and went out on the small balcony overlooking the Noyo River. A light rain sprinkled, and fog curled around the security lights on the docks below.

Jason slid his hands around her waist and drew her back against him. “Finally. We’re alone.” He kissed the curve of her neck, sending warm tendrils through her body. “And married.”

After spending two nights and two days in their suite, with only brief outings for meals, Dawn and Jason returned to Alexander Valley for the family Christmas celebration. “Wait until you see!” Christopher bounded ahead of them to her bedroom and threw the door open. All the wedding presents had been stacked, waiting to be unwrapped. Dawn gaped.

Jason dumped their two small suitcases inside the door and stared. “Holy cow!”

Mom peered in. “Welcome home, you two.” Her eyes shone. “It seems you both have a lot of friends who wanted to help you set up housekeeping.”

Mitch, standing right behind her, nudged her into the room. “Don’t panic. Once everything is opened, pick what you need and leave the rest here for later.”

Granny asked Dawn and Jason to come out to Jenner for a few days after Christmas, but Jason said they needed to go home to San Luis Obispo. He had to move his stuff into Dawn’s apartment, and they needed to get settled in before classes started.

Dawn knew another reason Jason didn’t want to go to Jenner. She waited until they were alone that night to ask his forgiveness for what she brought about in the downstairs apartment.

“You weren’t alone, you know.” Jason touched her cheek. “I stayed overnight
hoping
you’d come downstairs. I could have stopped things if I’d wanted, Dawn. It wasn’t all your idea.” He drew her close and kissed her.

1991

It didn’t take long for Jason and Dawn to decide they had to study somewhere other than in the apartment. With two small desks and the nook table, they didn’t have room to spread their books and reports. They made other adjustments as well. Dawn liked to do her Bible study before the sun came up pink-yellow over the hills. Jason, a night owl, studied Scripture at night.

They walked to campus together. They ate lunch together, and they spent every spare minute studying at the library. Dawn cooked and did laundry on Saturdays. Sunday, they went to the early service and then took long walks, went to the beach, talked over Chinese food, and hung out with Dod Henson and Alice Jeffries, their closest friends on campus. Sometimes Jack Kohl joined them, if he had a new girlfriend.