“They weren’t that day. His phone was his top priority.”
“Something had to have distracted him.” Taking a sip of her coffee, Mrs. Bryant tapped her free hand on the armchair’s edge. “When did you say that happened?”
“The week before the fall festival at the farm opened.” She calculated backward to find the exact date. “September twenty-third. I remember thinking I had to wait longer than normal to have my caramel apple cider from the coffee shop. It’s my annual tradition that I wait until the first chilly day of the year to get one.”
Mrs. Bryant scrolled through her home phone and nodded. “That would explain it.”
“Explain what?”
“Hmm.” A cloud hovered over Mrs. Bryant. “I don’t generally care to share anyone else’s business, but in this case, I think you should know. For the sake of Wes’s reputation.”
“The day we saw each other at the farm, and he tried to apologize, he seemed intent on giving me an explanation.”
Mrs. Bryant glanced at Myla who was engrossed in the movie, then turned her attention back to Paige. “Let’s move to the kitchen.”
Assuming Mrs. Bryant didn’t want to chance Myla overhearing their conversation, Paige obliged and carried her plate and mug to the kitchen counter and sat down on a stool. She waited for Mrs. Bryant to resume the conversation.
Standing, the older lady ate a forkful of cake before sharing the story. “Jenna, Myla’s mom, and Wes’s sister, fell into the wrong crowd after high school. Drugs and alcohol became her life, but when she got pregnant we all prayed she’d turn her life around.”
Sorrow fell upon Paige. The beginning of the story sounded similar to an old friend’s, but that one didn’t have a happy ending. “It’s a hard life to escape.”
“Sadly so.” Mrs. Bryant set down her plate. “Jenna stayed clean for a year, but when Myla turned six months, something snapped in Jenna, and she went back to her old friends.”
“What happened with Myla?”
“The family tried to intervene, but Jenna put on quite the show for child services and was deemed a fit mother.”
“That’s terrible.” Righteous anger ignited in Paige. A child shouldn’t have to live in that environment. “What if something had happened to Myla?”
“By God’s grace, Myla made it through.” Sitting down on the stool next to her, Mrs. Bryant sighed. “I admit, I had to ask the Lord’s forgiveness many times for my thoughts on child services not protecting Myla, then I realized many times their hands are tied. I spoke with a lady who was heartbroken because she knew a child in one of her cases should be removed from the parents, but her supervisor wouldn’t sign off on it because there was nowhere for the child to go and deemed the removal non-essential.”
Paige contemplated her words. “I suppose there are no easy solutions in situations like these.”
“No, there isn’t.” Creases formed on Mrs. Bryant’s forehead. “For years, family and friends prayed for Jenna. Then several weeks ago, Mary—Jenna’s mom—went to the house and found Jenna passed out on the floor. She’d overdosed and had a blood alcohol content three times the legal limit.”
Her chest tightened. “What happened?”
“Mary called an ambulance and Jenna was rushed to the hospital. Only a miracle can explain why she’s still with us today.” Closing the gap between them, Mrs. Bryant wrapped her aged fingers around Paige’s hand. “From what I understand, Wes had been out running when he got the call about Jenna and immediately rushed to the house.”
An ache formed in her heart. She’d been so absorbed in her own grievances, she hadn’t given him a chance to defend himself. Had that happened to one of her siblings, she easily could have acted the same way as Wes. “He must have been terrified for her.”
“Wes and Jenna were very close as children and teens, so all of this has hit him hard. He hasn’t said as much, but I get the sense he feels responsible like he should have been able to protect her.”
“She’s an adult and makes her own decisions.” Unexpected tears welled in her eyes. “Remember Jessica Franklin?”
Mrs. Bryant frowned and nodded. “She was such a sweet girl to get caught up in such a mess. I still have a card she made for me when she was around Myla’s age.”
“We were best friends in middle school, then she went her own way in high school. By the time the drugs killed her, we weren’t friends, but I remember struggling with guilt. I would tell myself if I had made more of an effort to reach out to her, maybe I could have prevented her death.” She wiped a tear from her cheek before it fell to the counter. “It took several years for me to accept that Jessica was responsible for her own actions and that I shouldn’t hold myself guilty. I didn’t give her the drugs or encourage her. The few times we did talk, I pleaded with her to stop.”
“It’s difficult to see someone we love going down a path we know is destructive.”
Paige brought her emotions under control. “How is Jenna now?”
“Doing good from what I hear. She is in a year-long Christian treatment program, and she didn’t want to go at first, but Mary told me her attitude has changed in the last week.”
“I’ll keep her in my prayers. It’s a long road ahead for her, but nothing is impossible with God.”
Mrs. Bryant smiled. “You’ve got that right.”
She squirmed in her seat as a nagging thought swirled in her mind. “Do you think Wes would mind if you give me his number? After what you’ve told me, I feel like I should call and speak to him, apologize for being so short.”
“I don’t think he’d mind at all.” Mrs. Bryant left the stool and withdrew a notepad and pen from a drawer. After she scribbled down numbers, she handed Paige the paper. “That’s his cell number. I know you young folks hardly use your home phones anymore, if you even have them.”
“Thank you.” She folded the slip of paper and tucked it safely in her pocket. It might take a day or two to work up the nerve to call him, but she would. Her attitude toward him had been less than gracious, and she believed in doing the right thing, which in this case was apologizing and offering her best wishes for Jenna.
And to think, she’d been upset about her new boots being ruined. In light of all that Mrs. Bryant had shared with her, the spotted footwear was a petty grievance compared to what Wes’s family faced.
Perspective changed everything.
