A Fractured Mind

Cora went white and her whole body shook.

"David put the word out on the street that Sharron was not to be touched. Since it came from him, they listened. When she finally met him, David got her to disclose her situation. It was David who gave her free rent, a job in which Sharron could watch her baby while she worked. All this has been verified by my clients. None of them have anything bad to say about David or Sharron, but Maria, that's another story."

"Do tell." Cora said, showing more interest than normal.

"For example, one night a couple came into the bookstore when David was working to ask him if he could spare a few dollars for some food until their student loans came in the next week. David asked them how much they did have left in the house to eat and they said not much. Instead of giving them money he went back into the supply room and came back with the biggest chicken they had ever seen. It seems a local farmer had dropped off the cleaned birds that very afternoon. He gave them that, then pulled forty bucks out of his wallet. He told them that it should be enough to tide them over till their check came in," Debra explained. "When Maria found out, she denigrated and verbally abused him publicly for a month because he had given a way something that they could have used."

"My husband has always said that David walks tall and carries a small stick," Cora replied. "My husband is the head deacon at our community church. When David left town with his kids on Monday, he told me that Maria had her lover move right in. He has digital proof that he's been there ever since."

"Maria's complaint is part of the package she is presenting to the court. She brought it in with her when she put forward her claim. It even has her lawyer's name." Debra said. "I did not tell Sharron that Maria is claiming that David is the father of her son."

"I guess that explains why Sharron had requested time off this morning because of a lawyer's appointment. David must have been getting prepared and needed to dispute the possibility of false claims. David's greatest asset is his ability to look at all the possible outcomes of a situation from all sides and prepare himself for whatever happens. It is what keeps him so calm. When you complete your report, send a copy of your findings to Steven Pollard. Since he has helped us out, let's do the same for him. Be sure to put my failure to follow up on Sharron in the report," Cora said.

"Well, it won't be complete until I interview him, but there's now no doubt Maria was trying to get us to destroy him."

"So now we know why Sharron has refused all offers for a date. Most of the men call her a cold fish. Her heart wasn't in it," Cora said with glee. "Because it already belongs to someone else."

It was twelve-thirty when Sharron returned to her desk and immediately got down to work. Her mind was thinking of what if's and other dreams, so she found it hard to get into her routine. Though she tried not to be, she was worried about David and the problems he was having to face. Sharron was surprised when Cora interrupted her and asked her to follow her to her office.

"First of all, young lady I now know about your relationship with my pastor and his soon to be ex," Cora said firmly. "My husband, Paul told me that David has taken his sons on a fishing trip for a week so he can explain to the boys and help them adjust. He will be returning to town on Monday. I want to apologize for the way I handled your case back two years ago. I should have followed up and didn't. It was a rookie mistake, but I wasn't. As for David he has been cleared of all the charges made against him thanks in part to Steven Pollard, but his file will remain open by state law for six months."

.

Sharron sighed in relief. "Thank you for letting me know."

"Starting the first of the month, you're being promoted to a regular field case worker. It's a salaried position. So, I changed your timecard for today to reflect field training work," Cora said. "My husband is the head deacon of our church. David calls him boss. Since David and the boys left, Maria's boyfriend has been staying with her. Debra will be sending Steven Pollard all our information. We know that she is accusing him of adultery with you, child molestation, along with physical and mental cruelty. She's also claiming your son is his."

"Dammit, David did it again. I don't know how he does it. He always seems to know. He got a message to me through a mutual friend that I needed to see Steven Pollard. That is why I need the time off this morning," she said, "how is he otherwise?"

"When was the last time you actually talked to him, may I ask?" Cora said.

"The night of my graduation from the university. He proudly escorted me, against his wife's wishes," Sharron said, "He wouldn't even give me a congratulatory kiss."

"A friend of his took David out Monday night and got him drunk. Paul said it was the best medicine that David could have ever received. David said he awoke to find all the stress and pressure gone. When he left that day, he was relaxed. Thank God. With what he's gone through he was overdue for a heart attack. When he returns, he will be moving into what was my parent's home. It's on our property so I have arranged a cleaning crew so that it's ready," Cora said, noticing the relief in Sharron's face, "He's agreed to rent the furnished place for a year."

"Do you know why I changed my name to McGregor?" Sharron asked.

"To honor the man, you loved but thought you would never have," Cora replied. "Let's go to lunch I have someone you have to meet. It's my husband, Paul and we've got some planning to do."

------------------------

Monday morning found my two sons and I parked in front of a warehouse store to pick up the pre-shaped packing boxes I would need for moving. While the boys finished their breakfast from McD's, I went in and paid for the stuff I'd ordered. It was nine o'clock in the morning when we pulled into our driveway. Once inside, the first thing I did was type up a letter for my soon to be ex and print it. Using wardrobe boxes, we quickly packed and loaded all my hanging clothes. Next came everything else. My tools, personal books and church related stuff came last. The computer, the desk, chair and related supplies were loaded to. Adam and I went through my tools. I allowed him to choose what he wanted to keep; the rest went with me. I removed my household keys and tucked them in the envelope with my letter, leaving it on the kitchen table. After kissing my sons goodbye, I took off my wedding band giving it to my oldest son, saying 'you're the man of the house now, this should be yours.'

It was an hour later that I started to unload my stuff in my new place. The 2400 square foot, two level, three bedroom house was perfect. It even had a small eight by ten room that would be great for my home office. One phone call had the electricity on. I was just about done when Paul walked up.

"David, Cora has supper just about ready so why don't join us. That will give us a chance to get caught up on the church business. Besides, you look like you're ready for a break." Paul expressed.

So, we headed up to the main house after I'd washed myself up. By the time we reached the patio, Cora was standing there holding a cold beer for us. Man, it tasted good. For some reason Cora was walking around in an extremely happy mood. I wondered why. After Cora went back inside to work on supper, Paul told me our financial planner had been charged with theft. Our total loss was over seventy-five thousand dollars. Two fellow staff members were under suspension, pending final decisions being made by the district attorney's office. The hacking of our communications had been linked to Tony Landers apartment and the local state prison. Charges would soon be laid. I pretended to have no clue.

Maria pulled into her driveway noticing that her husband's car was not in the garage. By the time the garage door came back down, the boys had the side door open to allow her in. They were excited, both trying to tell her what they'd done, what they'd eaten and what exciting things they did with each other. She asked if they knew where their father was? The boys got very quiet. Adam pointed to the envelope laying on the kitchen table.

"Dad's not stupid, Mom." he said. "he told us and prepared us for it last week! We helped him move out."

Adam and James watched their mother's face go white. After taking his letter out, she saw his house keys fall to the table. It read; I know about your abortion. I know your lover was sharing our bed this last week. I know about child services. I leave you the house keys. I have taken what I want. I will have the store locks changed tomorrow. You can pick up your termination papers and final check tomorrow. Now you're free to have Tony Landers move back in. Maria started to cry because it was not supposed to go this way. She wanted him down, out and destroyed. Living with the street people he always helped. She was losing the chance of revenge. Since he had destroyed her life, he had to pay. She swore she would find another way.

Paul and I were in the middle of our second beer when we both heard the front doorbell ring. I saw a huge smile come across his face, so I knew something was up, so I just prepared myself.

"Cora has developed a very close relationship with a coworker thanks to what has been going on at her work, the church and with you. I think she's gone overboard. Her coworker had needed Social Services help at one time, and she screwed up. Cora says she's becoming the daughter she wished she had. My youngest son wanted to ask the lady out when he met her, but Cora shut that down fast. After talking with me, Cora got me to agree that things had to be made right. Sorry, David, we're both sandbagging you tonight," Paul said. "I think you will be more than pleased with the result."

Paul was not a schemer, so I was in complete puzzlement trying to figure out who we both knew that they wanted me to meet. There was Sharron but no one knew how I felt. She was just one of many that I'd helped. I heard steps approaching, stood up and turned towards Cora and her friend. I was completely shocked. Sharron looked stunning.

"David, I believe you have met my coworker. In fact, I know your old friends," Cora said in glee. "This is Ms. Sharron McGregor. Sharron this is David."

Before I could even open my mouth, Sharron had run into my arms. I don't know which one of us started crying first. To this day, we never forgot our first kiss, with tears of joy running down our faces. We were both emotional wrecks, but we didn't care. I couldn't believe she'd taken my last name.

"Cora lets go into the house and give them some privacy," Paul said just before he headed into the house.

Cora and Paul watched the two of us locked in each other arms, realizing that we were finding it hard to accept that we were together after so long. It brought back memories of when Paul was in the army and how lovingly those homecomings were. Paul wondered if David was finally being rewarded for all those painful years. It gave both Cora and him a deeper appreciation of how these two young lovers felt. They were both very pleased at how it had all gone.

"Were we like that when I came home from halfway around the world?" Paul asked.

"Remember dear, we were able to communicate with letters from each other almost every day. We could express our love to each other. David being a pastor; a married man with children, couldn't openly admit anything. If Maria hadn't started it David would still be at her side trying to do what he thought was right. It was her conduct that allowed this to happen tonight. Perhaps it's the best thing she's ever done" Cora explained. "The release of their built up emotions are overwhelming them. For them, finding a release for the first time must be like the walls of Jericho coming down. Knowing what we know, I am very proud of both. They set a high standard for us all. Let's pour some champagne to celebrate with, as we explain how their meeting came to be."

Sharron and I finally parted when Cora and Paul came out, but we kept holding hands. We could not help but notice the glow on their faces. Meeting her was so long overdue, but it made a lot of things complicated for me with the church. I knew I had to consider handing in my resignation as the pastor. I was still a married man in the eyes of the law.

"We had a very shortened service on Sunday. It still went an hour overtime because we had to explain to the parish what was going on. We disclosed the theft, the compromising of our communications and the investigations going on. What took the longest was what was going on outside the church with myself and Sharron. The deacons had met earlier and decided on a course of action, but we felt we needed to get our parish's approval." Paul said.

"I stood before them and informed them about the false charges laid against you. I made it clear that social services had investigated and found them untrue." Cora broke in. "I disclosed the fact that Maria had had an abortion. That medical records proved it was not yours. Maria by her conduct has left the church. Paul explained how he had video of Maria's boyfriend moving in while you were away. Sister Ruth then stood up and spoke."

"Ruth explained that you had been living in a loveless marriage ever since your wife had her first breakdown. She talked about the verbal abuse your sons and you had endured. Ruth said the Maria she knew no longer existed. To many that was a shock. I was very proud when she admitted that it was her who told you what was going on. Ruth's final point was that she believed Maria was in a mental health break down that she was had reached the point where she would be capable of doing harm to others including herself." Paul said. "I then explained that the deacons had agreed to recognize David as already being divorced if the rest of them agreed. Every adult stood up to show their approval."

"That's when I said that Maria was trying to smear your good name and explained how I had met Sharron through our work. I admitted my failure. I told them how you had stepped in to turn it all around. I had to disclose it all so I could prove that the charges of adultery against you were not true. I hope you're not mad, David. I know that you're a very private man. I did it because I wanted to explain that I felt the two of you were in love but had never acted on it." Cora said.

"I explained that you would be living in what used to be my parent's house. Since we had all agreed to recognize you as being divorced, I reminded them all that during the time of Jesus, for a man to be viewed as married all it took was for him to take her to his tent. Isn't that what Joseph did with Mary. I said for divorce all he had to say is 'I divorce you' and it was considered done. So, the deacons proposed that when Sharron has an engagement ring on her finger, they will consider you acting as man and wife biblically. I can gladly say the parish is in full agreement." Paul said in glee.

"So that is why we set this up." Cora joyfully said. "The rest is up to you two. We have done all we can. Let's go eat."

Paul asked me if I wanted to lead in grace, but I declined because I was so emotional. Having Sharron beside me openly was still consuming me. I could not stop looking into her eyes. Both of us had huge, big-faced grins. The meal was over the top; Cora had really put on a spread. Steak, baked potato, cob of corn, and a salad. As Cora cleared the table before getting dessert, they noticed that I had gotten quiet.

Cora, concerned, asked. "David have we done something wrong?"

"No, I have!" the three of them looked at me like I was crazy, "I have been so wrapped up with seeing Sharron that I forget to ask where and how the munchkin is."

Sharron laughed.

"David John McGregor is staying with Uncle John and Aunt Margaret tonight because I did not know how late I would be. He is an active two-year-old boy who keeps me quite busy." She said with a wink and a smile. "I have to warn you that Uncle John expects you to learn some serious Irish songs because he likes to sing when he's been drinking."

Cora, Paul and I were flabbergasted till she explained. "Steve Pollard had his original birth certificate thrown out by court order because of my ex admitting it was fraudulently created. So, when he submitted the corrected form his name was changed, and you were registered as the birth father. So now you're the dead beat dad of my son."

Paul and I retired to the den while the ladies tidied the kitchen. I thanked them for doing what they had done. I had to admit; I was still in shock. Paul pointed out that Sharron had proven she was going to wait forever. That kind of love is rare and hard to find. If I were you, I would take her to the jewelry store and get that diamond tonight because neither of you are going to sleep. Become Joseph and then take your Mary to your tent. So that's what I did. After saying good night, I asked her to drive me to the mall as I needed to get a few things. She just handed me the keys to her car.

We went to Jarod's where she picked out a three-ring set. After purchasing it, I got the big diamond out and got down on my knees. Sharron blushed and said yes.

We went to her apartment so she could grab some clothing then went back to our new home. Sharron took a picture of the ring, sending it to both Cora and Aunt Marge. She carried on texting the two of them until we got back. Cora had told her that she would be doing field training according to the timecard so not to worry about coming in. I know you will want to move in ASAP. Have David drop by so Debra can honestly say she talked to him. I wish I could say that we spent the night making mad raw passionate love. I can't. We were still floating on air. I told her I regretted not taking her out for a romantic dinner, but Sharron just laughed. This has been a romantic dream come true. I think I fell in love with you over our first cup of coffee when you gave me hope and a chance to dream. How many can say they had a whole parish bring them together dear? We ended up falling asleep on top of the bed still fully clothed; our bodies locked together. We both woke up many a times because our minds needed convincing that this was real.

Everyone could not help but notice how upbeat Cora was that Tuesday morning when she walked in more than a few minutes late. Her face seemed to glow. Some were wondering if she had got lucky last night. Cora loved it when her plans turned out better than expected. With her married sons so far away the grandchildren visits were scare, and she looked forward to having a little one around again.

Sharon and I met John and Marge at Denny's for breakfast. It was good to see little Johnnie. He took to me like a fish in water. Once Sharron decided what she wanted to keep, we got to work. The items we would be putting in storage we loaded first. Using the wardrobe boxes, it did not take long to get that part done. Then we loaded up the baby furniture and went back to unload while the girls cleaned out the apartment. On the way back we dropped the stuff at the storage unit and returned to load what was going to Goodwill. By one, we appeared to have it all done so Sharron went to work.

It was nearing four when I went to the counter at the social services office to see if Debra was in. She was so I waited for her to come out to get me. When she greeted me, she was shocked to see me with a two-year old and a diaper bag in my arms. As we worked our way back to her office, Debra spoke.

"I thought your children were older." she said, "So I'm wondering who this little boy is with you?"

I laughed and responded, "This little fellow came back into my life thanks to some very special friends,"