Wings of Deception (28 page)

They were sitting at an oak breakfast table and before she could answer his question he asked, “Did you refinish this too
?
E
xcellent
job
!”

“I would like to take the credit but can’t. Honey did it all and I keep telling you how much I love this town and my house. I would never go back to New York, never!”

“Honey did this? I did not know she had such a talent…uh…how is she?”

Sheila
figured
he was there for a reason
,
so this was it!

“You could always ask her yourself, you know.
You did tell me not to be nosey in your personal life.
” She said the words softly and he felt the heat rise to his face.
He knew he had been sharp with her lately.

“Look
,
you don’t have to tell me, I was just wondering. I ran into Andrew at the court house and he mentioned a trip, that’s all.”

“
Y
ou want to know for what reason?”
Her teasing fell flat.

“I just do, now are you going to tell me or not?”

“Okay, okay. She is doing a semester of teaching
at some college
up in Connecticut.
I know she is excited about being invited. It is supposed to be a great honor and all. I thought you weren’t
interested in Honey.
”

“Just curious I told you
.
T
hat
’
s
all. You want to show me the house again while I am here. There were so many people here before that I barely got to really see it.”

“Yeah, come on. Did I tell you I went
out
on a date?”

“
Naw
, for real
,
w
ho?”

“Pastor
Dwight
, don’t
laugh! He is precious and besides, it was only dinner. I am not sure either of us
is
ready for anything serious but it was fun and he is a good man and after…well he just is.”

Now it was she who was blushing and Jacks was thinking it was no casual dinner.

“Glad
to see you
are
getting out
some anyway.”

They walked through the house and Sheila showed off every little detail, making him notice things. He made all the right comments
but
his mind was only half on it as the other half was still thinking about Honey
leaving.

“What about her job?”

“What? You’re not even listening to me are you?  Honey’s job is secure and will be waiting for her
when she returns
. Did you hear what I said about this railing? It was originally in the….okay, I see you are not into the history of my house. Want to stay for supper?”

“You mean dinner?”

“No, I mean supper. Down here your largest meal of the day is called dinner
whether
it is evening or in the middle
of the day
and if you have a light noon meal it is considered lunch…if you have a light evening meal it is supper!”

They laughed and Jacks shook his head. “I really needed to know this huh?
In answer to the ‘supper’ invitation, not this time. I have to stop in at
Wal-Mart
for a few things on the way home, but another time. Thanks for the
tea
though,
you are really catching on to the southern
way of living
.”

“Yeah
,
y
ou think?”

They walked to the door and she
opened
it
for him
. “Bye Jacks, see you in the morning.”

“Yeah, see you at the office.”

She
waved
,
watching until his car disappeared.
So you do have feelings for our friend Honey!
Y
ou just never know what might happen when you pray.

                                                                                TWENTY-TWO

Deep in the Mojave Desert
,
nestled in the majestic Sierra’s
,
activity
was
going on
hidden
from the general public
and
Asa
was directing it all from the stone house.

He was filled with excitement for h
is
ships
were ready to fly at his
command.
World
affairs
were lining up
with the ten horns of power
coming
in
to
place.
The Christian sect was polluted to his satisfaction with the people heading most
denominations more interested in power tha
n
the God they preached. Laymen argued over petty differences
,
causing even more division and confusion.
He was thrilled with the progress his own seed had made down through the years. Now there were o
nly select groups
who were
actually causing him major consternation and he had his followers dealing with them at an increased pace now. It was just a matter of time for them too.
It was going to be a glorious day when all should bow
down
to him
proclaiming him
K
ing of
K
ings
!

He was disappointed that Jacks did not show but he held his fury for he knew it would do him no good. Instead he used his telepathic powers to insure he would not cancel the next one. He intended to have the transfer ready by the next full moon and there w
ere
still resisting forces surrounding his protégée that he must deal with. There had been worse case scenarios in the past for he had used many bodies since the flesh world had begun thousands of years ago, as his own beautiful body was held in chains until this Earth age should end.

He had Jacks believing everything he had told him. It was easy enough with his vast experience at deception. Even with the
protection of his angel
,
Jacks was no match for him. His unbelief in the Christ was all just icing on the cake.
Asa’s
thoughts brought him sheer gratification even much more than the daughters
of man had over the years and he could just taste his victory. His evil filled his body and his face contorted into something that even frightened his servants
,
causing them to cower before him and he laughed
at them
.
The fools.

                                                                          TWENTY-THREE

Honey was excitedly planning her three months stay up in Connecticut
. She would be replacing the regular
professor
who was on Maternity leave.
The
time
away from her everyday routine would do her good but she would miss all her friends.
The last year
had been
one of the happiest she had ever had and she knew it was because of
God and her new friends. It was funny
,
but once she became a Christian her old friends slowly drifted away
.
Surprisingly she missed them very little. She treasured her new Christian friends.

She decided to have a small going away party so she could tell them all goodbye at the same time.
Sheila was help
ing
her and they called everyone and invited them to come. The last call was made and Sheila asked, “You’re not inviting Jacks?”

Honey did not look up from the list she was making for the food she was going to have. Too casually
,
she replied, “No, I am sure he would
not
come even if I did.”

“You could try. Hey, it would do him good to be in a room full of us terrible
Christians;
it might rub off on him.” She giggled
and Honey looked up at her thoughtfully and sighed. “I have been praying for him you know. There is something that has been bothering me and I haven’t been able to figure it out.”

“Talk to me about it, I have been praying for Jacks five years now. You know he is not a bad person and I just feel like something terrible happened to him when he was little. He won’t even talk about his childhood and all I know after all this time
,
is that he was left at an orphanage when he was two.”

Honey agreed.
“I know that he is passionate about the work he does and it makes sense that he probably suffered as a child. It comes out in strange ways for some of us.
The sad thing about abused children is that a lot of them grow up to be abusers themselves.
Only s
ome of us grow up determined to break the cycle and I know that Jacks is one of those.
And me too,
m
aybe that is why I feel such a connection
to him
,
for we both suffered through our young years. I don’t know.”

“I do.” Sheila sat on the edge of Honeys desk that was in her den
. “I know there was something a lot more than friendship happening between the two of you and it scared Jacks’ silly! He does not
even
know how to commit; I could tell you some stories….”

“Okay girl, I am sure you could but don’t, please!”

Sheila got up and walked around looking at the pictures hanging on the wall.

“I won’t then. I love this picture, when you get tired of it can I have it? It would look great in my hall way.”
It was a large still print
of roses
which had been hanging there for longer than Honey could remember.
It had belonged to her mother.

She
laughed
as she
got up and walked over to where
the girl
was standing.

“I tell you what, why don’t you take it now? I think I am ready for a change in here. All th
e
remodeling you have done has got me to thinking I need a serious update here. When I get back how would you like to help me redecorate?”

Sheila squealed her
eminent
squeal of delight and clapped her hands. “Yes! I would love that, you’re on!”

Honey laughed at her enthusiasm.
If she still had a sister
she
would like
her to be just like Sheila. Her mood dampened just a bit thinking of Bea but it did not last long for Sheila was the sort of person you could not be depressed around
for very long
.
Taking the
picture down
,
she
stood it by the door just as the doorbell rang.

It was
Dwight
. She let him in and he
was wearing
a big smile. Honey knew it was meant for Sheila and smiled too
,
thinking how some things just seemed to be so easy for some people.
Watching
Dwight
take interest in another woman after Kim
,
gave her a good feeling and it was the best thing that could happen to Sheila after what she had been put through too. They were both dear to her and she was happy they had discovered something more than friendship with each other.

Hi, come on in! I was just about to get us a
soda
, want one?”

“Sure. Hey Sheila, I saw your car out front and wanted to see if you have plans for this weekend, because if you do
n’t
, you are invited to attend the Sesame Street ice show Saturday
in Jackson
. How about it,
wanna
come?”

They were following Honey to the kitchen and
without seeing her face Honey knew that Sheila was
b
eaming
when she said, “I would love to, so that is a yes!”

“Great, Gem is all about those characters these days
,
so I got tickets.”