The Passenger by Jacqueline Druga (the giving tree read aloud TXT) 📗

healed, when he needed more money, he found Kevin again to see if he could sell your gear bag. On a hunch, the chief in this town asked around to see if he tried to sell it. He tried; the pawn shop wouldn’t take it. They also brought your phone that was in the bag. We got footage. That’s when they matched David.”

“Wow.” Jonas sat back. “You wanted to tell me all this.”

Russ nodded. “They had him tracked to a motel out of town. They were gonna bring him in, but the robbery happened.”

“I feel kind of bad,” Joe said. “We had you believing Jesus was in the car with you, not some criminal.”

“Oh, he was,” Jonas replied with certainty. “He was just in the back seat watching it all unfold.”

Pastor Rick spoke up. “We’re glad that bullet missed anything vital.”

“It almost didn’t,” Marge said. “He was shot twice. Once in the shoulder and once in the heart.”

Amongst the confusion of voices, Jonas with a groan reached for the table next to him and held up his cell phone. “I will carry this with me the rest of my life to remind me how fortunate I am.”

Haley took the phone, running her finger over the bullet. “This is your new phone.”

“And I thought Dad was ridiculous when he paid all that money for that case,” Jonas said. “That phone is also a sign. I never read the messages, that phone was a link to who I was. That phone tells me, that’s gone. No looking back.”

“Jonas?” Cate asked.

“I made up my mind, Mom.” Jonas said. “After today, I know. Chip was always me. He was just the me I was afraid to be. I can’t go back. I’m going to stay in Williams Peak.”

Haley leapt forward to hug him, but as soon as she did, Jonas winced in pain.

“Sorry,” she said.

“It’s okay.” He grabbed her hand. “Mom, Dad, are you okay with this?”

Grant smiled. “We’re better than okay with this, Jonas. This is where you are supposed to be. Well, maybe not in the hospital. If you don’t mind, can you try to stay out for a while?”

Jonas laughed. “I’ll try. But while I’m healing, we need you in the worship band. I can’t afford to lose you.”

“I’ll stay,” Grant replied.

Jonas then looked at the chief. “I want to help David. Testify, help with legal fees, whatever, I want to help him. I need to.”

Russ took a deep breath. “I don’t understand. He’s bad news.”

“Maybe. But he can change. Anyone can,” Jonas said. “I’m proof of that.”

TWENTY-NINE

Three Years Later

Hand on the railing, Grant looked up the stairs in the living room. “Cate, come on.”

“One minute,” she replied.

“You only have one minute. I have to get to service and you are on coffee duty.”

“It’s supposed to be once a month,” Cate said, coming down the stairs. “I swore I just did it two weeks ago.”

“And if you did, who cares? Let’s go. Truck’s loaded. I need to get there.”

“Maybe after the chief gets his coffee, I can get him to stay.”

Grant laughed. “You’ve been trying since we moved here.” He walked to the door and opened it. “If he hasn’t in three years, he isn’t.”

“Doesn’t hurt to ask.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“He listens outside, you know.”

“I’m sure he does.”

They stepped outside and Grant pulled the door closed.

He didn’t lock it.

He hadn’t locked his doors since they moved to Williams Peak, it was nice.

The decision to move there wasn’t because of Jonas, it was all Grant. He would have made that decision regardless. The town and the people there did as much for him as they did Jonas.

It took a lot of convincing to get Cate to agree, she did, once Jessie said she was fine with it.

Six months later, Grant took an early pension from the community college and ended up teaching history at Fremont High School. It was a commute, but there was little traffic on the straight shot, highway drive.

He wasn’t ever giving up what he gained in Fremont, and the decision allowed him to watch Jonas grow even more. His relationship with his son was one he had always wished for.

He watched his son work two jobs, run the worship band, stay sober and get married.

Everyone saw it coming, no one was shocked when he and Haley wed.

Life in Williams Peak was simple. No surprises, Grant liked that.

So did Cate.

They had their routine and stuck to it.

Grant could hear the band warming up when he arrived. He knew he was late again, but not that late.

Leaving Cate in the back with the coffee social, Grant walked into the main body of the church.

The sound of fast rolling wheels caught his attention and he smiled when the baby, arms waving excitedly raced his way in the walker.

“There’s my little buddy,” Grant reached down. “Come to Pap.”

“Dad,” Jonas called from the stage. “Don’t lift him he won’t let you put him down. We have to run through these songs.”

“Fine.” Grant kissed the baby. “We’ll play later, Chip,” he said to the baby.

The baby squealed his dismay when Grant walked from him.

“See,” Jonas said. “Look what you did. Now he’ll cry all through practice.”

Grant just smiled.

Finally, Cate thought, the coffee social was over.

She handed the cheese curl travel mug to Russ. “Here you go, Chief. Don’t suppose since you’re so late, I can convince you to stay.”

“You ask all the time and I always say no, but …” he lifted his hand. “I will be staying today.”

“What?” Cate asked shocked. “You’re joking?”

“No, I’m not. Someone asked if I would walk into church with them. I said I would. In fact, can you save a couple seats up front?”

“Absolutely. I’ll see you there.”

Cate rushed through pushing the tables aside. She was certain it had to be Jessie that was coming to service. She had just seen her the week before so it would be a really nice surprise.

She stopped by the nursery to peek in on Chip. She didn’t want the