He Reigns on the Mountain

He Reigns on the Mountain - Chapter 15

Matthew 19:14  Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Chapter 15

Standing on the balcony of their honeymoon suite looking out at the ocean, Jess was in awe. She loved her life on the mountain, and she loved Jamie. Wherever he was, she knew she was home when they were together. But, this place Jamie had picked for their honeymoon was perfect. They were on a remote island in a private villa. Jess knew Jamie was taken care of with the insurance money from his parents accident, but to be able to afford a place like this was unexpected. The week they spent here was more than she had ever dreamed of and although she was anxious to start their new life together, she hated leaving paradise.

Jamie walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her and kissed her behind her ear, working his way down her jaw. “Come back to bed.” He whispered in a low growl, telling her in that tone he was not ready for the honeymoon to be over.

“I can’t believe we have to leave this today.” Jess said looking out at the waves lapping on the shore.

“What if I promise we will come back?”

“Jamie, do you mean that?”

“Of course I do. Besides, I know the owner.”

“You do?” Jess said with amazement turning to face him.

Jamie slid his hand up to caress her face. “Yeah, a college friend of mine. His parents own it. He had offered me the place over the years, but when he heard we were getting married he insisted.”

“That is very generous.” Jess said reaching up on her tip toes to kiss him.

“Generous enough for me to convince my wife to join me in bed?” Jamie said as he picked Jess up in his arms cradling her knees with one arm and her back with the other. “I intend to take advantage of the king size bed as much as possible.”

Late the next morning Jamie and Jess woke in their cabin. Their flight was delayed and by the time they arrived home, it was after midnight. Jamie was glad he had asked his uncle to preach today and they could enjoy their last day in seclusion. They might even get around to packing his last few boxes to move to the house.

That afternoon, while Jess was working on lesson plans and Jamie was packing the final boxes, there was a knock on the door. No one knew that they were home, so they were a little surprised. Jamie opened the door and was greeted with a hearty hug.

“Boy, I have missed you! I hope you and Jess had a good time, wherever you went!” Aunt Dumpy said.  She was followed in by the other aunts who also greeted Jamie and Jess with as much affection, if not more.

“Yes, we did.” Jamie said with a blushing grin. “We weren’t expecting company. I didn’t know you knew when we got home.”

“Darlin’ a lot has happened while you guys have been at the love shack. We need to catch you up to speed.” Aunt Dumpy said coming in and settling down on the sofa while Jamie and Jess stood there blushing from the ‘love shack’ comment.

“Well,” Aunt Louise began, “Uncle Carl and I kept an eye out for Tommy and Beth.” She sighed and Jamie knew it was not good. “Well, he arrested Tom for beating the boy and his mama when we went to check on them last Wednesday. But, Beth doesn’t want to file charges. We moved her and Tommy in with us and finally convinced her it was the right thing to do. So, Friday, she filed charges. He is madder than a hornet without a stinger right now. So, we have been moving them around trying to keep them out of his way.”

“Why isn’t he in jail?” Jess asked in shock.

“Bail Bonds.” Aunt Louise said. “Now that we convinced her to leave and helped her pack her stuff up, she really needs a place to go that she can afford the rent.”

“We thought of you.” Aunt Alice said, kind of shy.

“Me?” Jamie said.

“Well, right now you do have two houses. We thought if you didn’t mind, maybe she could rent your Mama and Daddy’s house. And it would be close to here so you and Jess can keep an eye on things.”

“But, we were moving in. This is my last box I am packing.” Jamie said. He really wanted to move all ghosts out of his life and mind and moving back into his parents house with Jess was going to do that.

“I know son,” Aunt Dumpy said. “But the cabin is not big enough for a mother and a son, but it is cozy enough for newlyweds.”

“Jamie,” Jess said putting her hand on her husband’s arm. “I like it here. I don’t mind moving here. We can always move into the house when we start a family. I really don’t mind.” Jamie looked down into her eyes and knew she was right. This was their little private place, why couldn’t it be their home too?

He nodded. “But, you should know, we want a big family, the sooner the better!” He looked at Jess with a look she was growing accustomed to and knew they would be in the bedroom already if the aunts were not there.

The aunt’s caught the look too, because Aunt Dumpy said, “We will be out of your way in a minute, we have one other thing we need to discuss with you.” She took a deep breath. “Jamie, you have been removed as the head of the school board.”

“What?” Jamie and Jess both said at the same time.

“Well, while you were gone. Josiah Charles made a formal complaint to the board that it was inappropriate for you to be Jess’ supervisor since you are now her husband.”

“I can see that, but I never thought of that.”

“So, we were asked to convene an emergency meeting, and you are still a member of the board, but you will no longer be Jess’ supervisor.”

“Who is?”

“Me darlin’,” Aunt Dumpy said. And Jamie and Jess breathed a sigh of relief.

“Good, because if Josiah has a problem with me being married and happy, I hate to say it, but I could see him taking it out on Jess if he was the one who evaluated her. And that would be wrong!” Jamie said.

Jess remembered meeting Mr. Charles once. She understood that he was still grieving over his daughter’s death. And Jamie had finally moved on and was happy, and the Charles’ did not like that. As a member on the board, he could cause problems, but Jess was happy that Aunt Dumpy would be her supervisor. Since it was not Jamie, that was the next best choice.

“OK. We have no problem with that.” Jamie said. “Now getting back to Beth and Tommy Reynolds. We have moved most of our stuff in the house already. If I could get some help over the next few days, maybe we can get the family things we would want to bring here and Jess’ stuff packed and brought over here. Then they could move in by later in the week. Do you think you can keep them moving around until then?”

“Yes, and we can come and help, no problem. Even while Jess is in school.” Aunt Louise said.

“And,” Jamie said, “I want Uncle Carl to file a restraining order to keep Tom away from Tommy, Beth and Jess. That will give documentation if it’s needed in court. You can say that Jess and I filed it, but we want to make sure Tommy and Beth are covered also.”

“I will call him as soon as we leave here. It can be filed tonight.”

“Then we all need to pray for Tom!” Jess said. Jamie and the aunts just looked at her. “Everyone needs God and sometimes they don’t even know it.”