Riverbend Reunion(66)

Wade awoke with a start and was on his feet before his eyes were fully open. He turned around twice, bumped his shoulder on the edge of the cabinet, and stubbed his toe on the corner of the booth that served as a dining table. Going back to sleep wasn’t an option, and besides, it was just an hour before he would normally be awake and ready to go to the bar. He dressed in faded camouflage pants and a brown T-shirt with an army logo on the back and headed outside.

He made his way to the front of the old church, thinking all the while that Oscar was probably right about what people would call the place. He unlocked the door, eased it shut, and quietly made his way to the kitchen in the dark. He switched on the light over the sink rather than the overhead and put on a pot of coffee. It had just begun to drip when he heard Jessica screaming. His first thought was that someone had broken into the building and was hurting her. Without a second thought, he ran from the kitchen to the hallway and didn’t even hesitate before rushing into Jessica’s bedroom.

The only light in the room came from the two motion-detecting floodlights that had come on when he had walked across the parking lot. He glanced around for a split second, then realized that Jessica was flailing about, weeping, and screaming one word—no—over and over again. He crossed the room and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Jessica, wake up,” he said in a normal voice. “You are having a nightmare.”

A fine sheen of sweat glistened on her face. A steady stream of tears flowed down her cheeks and dripped on the pillowcase. He reached for a tissue and gently dabbed away the moisture.

“Jessica, you have to wake up,” he whispered.

“Don’t be dead,” she muttered as she reached out to touch his chest. “Please, God, don’t let him be dead. I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you. I thought I was firing at an enemy. Wake up, Wade. Stay with me. I will never forgive you if you die. I need you.”

Wade took her hands in his and held them tightly. “Jessica!” he said in a loud voice. “Wake up.”

Her eyes popped open, but they were unfocused. She stared straight ahead into what Wade could only describe as an abyss. “Jessica, look at me. It’s just a nightmare. I’m right here. I’m not dead,” he said.

She turned her head slightly, and fresh tears flooded her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Wade. Forgive me.”

“For what?” he asked.

“I took you from your beautiful daughter, and she’s weeping for you. If you can hear me, you can . . .” She stopped talking and sat up, wrapped her arms around Wade, and soaked the shoulder of his T-shirt with more tears. “You are alive. It was just a dream.”

“No, darlin’.” Wade pulled her even closer to his chest and gently massaged her back. “It was a nightmare. Was it about one of your missions?”

She nodded but didn’t let go of him. “In my dream, I killed you, and your daughter ran out of the house, and I . . .” She leaned back and raised a hand to touch his face. “You are real, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I’m real.” He tried to smile, but it didn’t work. He’d had the nightmares that were so vivid they brought on sweats and emotions so raw that words couldn’t explain them.

“I could smell the blood and taste the sand blowing into my mouth when I cried,” she whispered.

“I know,” Wade said. “I’ve been there and felt the same thing. The dreams are so real that it’s a wonder we haven’t had heart attacks from them.”

Jessica leaned into him again and laid her head on his shoulder. “Thank you for rescuing me tonight.”

“Anytime, darlin’, anytime,” he said.

She leaned back again and stared right into his eyes. A kiss would start something that neither of them could finish, and yet he found himself drowning in the depths of her brown eyes. He dipped his head slightly and was about to taste her lips when the headlights of a vehicle shone through the window and right into the room.

Jessica jerked her head around, and his kiss landed on thin air. “It’s too early for Risa and Haley,” she said. “I’m going to see who it is coming around here at this time of morning.” She hopped from the bed and headed out of her bedroom.

Wade followed behind her, wondering how someone could be so fragile one second and so fearless the next. “Hold up, Jessica. I’m going with you. It’s probably just a fisherman who’s going to walk from here to the river.”

“If they start shooting at us, you duck, roll, and run,” she said. “I’ve already mourned for you once tonight, and that’s enough.”

Wade opened the front door and stepped out on the porch just in time to see the bright red taillights of a vehicle driving out of the parking lot. “Whoever it was must’ve made a wrong turn?”

“No, they didn’t. That was Stella’s car,” Jessica told him. “I got a glimpse of the bumper sticker that says ‘Let Go and Let God.’ She was driving it when they came out here to protest.”

“She doesn’t let anything go. Why would she be out here in the middle of the night?” Wade wondered out loud. “Do you think she’s praying over us?”

“No, I think she’s praying over the church and warning us.” Jessica pointed to a piece of paper tacked up to a porch post.