Home To You

“Which is why you’re still here in town when many of us left and made the few hours’ bus ride to FortWorth.”

Dakota admitted he was right. He liked things to stay the same. He’d slipped easily into the role of pastor in town after he’d gotten back from his training. The entire time he’d been gone had seemed to be a waste. Now he wondered if that emotion hadn’t simply been his desire to be back home.

“So, what are you going to do about her?” Chase motioned toward the woman on the sofa.

She shifted onto her side, moving to get comfortable but not waking up.

“I guess we’ll wait until the doctor gets here and then decide.”

Chase nodded. “I should go. My mother-in-law is with Sarah and I promised to get back. She’s headed back to Dallas tomorrow.”

Dakota wasn’t sure what to say, not wanting to be left alone with a woman in his house. He was saved by the doctor pulling up outside. With a silent prayer of thanks, Dakota nodded. “It was great seeing you again, Chase. I’m only sorry our day turned out this way.”

“Hey, bud.” Chase shrugged. “How could you know this was going to happen?”

Dakota walked to the door and pulled it open.

“Call me if you need anything else.” With a look at the woman on the sofa, Chase headed out and down the stairs just as Dr. Joshua Meadows climbed them.

“So, what’s this about an inebriated woman, Dakota?”

Dakota stepped back and motioned to the sofa. “She was on my doorstep when I got home, Josh. I really would appreciate it if you’d examine her and make sure she’s okay. Frankly, I’m not sure what to do with her.”

Josh lifted an eyebrow and grinned. With dark brown hair and a sense of humor, Josh was a good doctor. Tall and athletic, he enjoyed basketball and lifting weights. Dakota sometimes worked out with him. “Well, let’s do one thing at a time. Can you call Mary and have her come over here to witness while I examine the woman?”

Dakota felt relief now that Josh was here. They’d been friends since Dakota had first taken over pastoring Shenandoah Family Church. When he’d been unsure about pastoring the same people he’d grown up with, Josh, new in town, had been a friend he could confide in. Their paths often crossed in professional ways, which had helped develop their friendship.

Law wasn’t something Dakota thought about much, but it was something Josh did consider. And Dakota was glad. He didn’t like to think about how it might be with him alone in the house. The brown eyes of the doctor, however, were sharp and full of implication.

Going to the phone, he called Mary and asked her if she’d mind helping the doctor. Then he returned to Josh’s side.

“What can you tell me about her?” Josh asked now, setting down his black bag and pulling out a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff.

“I came home. She had a bottle of whiskey in her hands. She took a drink, tossed the bottle, stumbled and passed out.”

Josh nodded. “And you don’t want to call the police…”

“She hasn’t done anything. If she’s come to me for help—which I think she has—then jail isn’t the place for her. I can’t send her to a homeless shelter like this. The closest shelter is about two hours away! But I can’t toss her out.”

As Dakota explained the situation, his own situation became clear. He couldn’t very well keep the woman here. He didn’t know anything about her. But he couldn’t put her out either.

But he could not keep her here.

Oh boy, he thought dismally, not sure what he was going to do.

Mary arrived. He went to the door and let her in just as the phone rang. Crossing the living room to the table next to the love seat, he answered, leaving Josh and Mary to the patient. “Hello?”

“Dakota honey?”

How did she always know? Dakota wondered. “Hi, Mom. What’s up?”

“I have good news. I’m booked on a flight back to Shenandoah at 5:00 p.m. tonight and wondered if you would be able to pick me up at the airport.” His mom’s voice was so matter-of-fact—as if it was normal for her to call unexpectedly when his life was suddenly upside down, only to announce she was coming home.

“I thought you were planning on staying at least another month to help Susan with the twins.” Suspicious, he fished for something to tell him what his mother knew. Small towns, he thought, almost certain someone had called her about the woman on his steps.

“I’ve been here three months already, honey.” That much was true.

Glancing over to the sofa, he saw Mary, hands clasped, looking overly innocent and wide eyed as she stared at him.

He had his answer.

“I see.”

“I’m sure you do,” his mother said wisely.

“I’ll be glad to make sure someone is there to pick you up at the airport, Mom. However, I have company, so I won’t be able to make it myself.”

He waited for a response. A question. Something. When it came, it was simple. “That’s fine. See you around five-thirty. Bye, son.”

“Goodbye, Mom.”

He hung up the phone.

“Who was that?”

Dakota turned to Mary and gave her one of his you’ve-been-meddling-again looks. Then he turned to Josh. “That was Mom. She’s on her way home.”

“Word travels fast.”

“Uh-huh.” He shot a look at Mary, who would have been whistling if she knew how. In all the years he’d known her, he knew that whistling had been a bone of contention between the two sisters. Margaret could whistle. Mary could not.

“What about our patient?” he asked, changing the subject. It wouldn’t do any good to get onto Mary for calling his mom. She watched out for him whether he wanted it or not. And if she felt his mom would be a help here—which, he had to admit, she would since he couldn’t very well throw an unconscious woman out on the street—then Mary and Margaret would call his mom.

Thirty-two years old and they still treated him as if he were twelve.

“Blood pressure is okay. So are her heart and lungs, pupils. I’d say she’s going to be fine. She just needs to sleep it off. You won’t get any answers out of her today, I’m afraid.”

Dakota nodded. “I guess that’s that then.”

“Want me to put her in the spare room?”

Dakota hesitated.

Mary piped up, “It wouldn’t be right for you to be alone here. I’ll be glad to stay with you. Besides, you promised me over a month ago to help me with that puzzle I’m working. I’ll call Margaret and have her bring it over and we can finish it together.”

Great. An afternoon with Margaret and Mary.

But at least the woman would feel safe when she woke and found herself in his house—and he’d feel safe, too, when he faced his congregation.