Hometown Legend by Jerry B. Jenkins Read Free Book Online Page A

who’d had Alzheimer’s, for about ten years before he finally died.
    But still, Kim kept her faith and she and Bev socialized a lot. She came in and met Bev for lunch now and then at the factory
     and they often sat together in church. I always tried to get a smile or a laugh out of her, cause that was so rare.
    That morning, though, when Bev had teased us, it seemed to me Kim hadn’t been amused. It was just a small thing, but it was
     like she was looking the other way and pretending not to hear. Maybe it was just my imagination, but it bothered me enough
     that after the service I made sure to greet her.
    She nodded. “Calvin.”
    “You taught me in Sunday school when I was a tiny kid,” I said. “You can call me Cal.”
    “As you wish.”
    I was having trouble keeping her eye. “Kim, you okay?”
    “I’m fine.”
    I threw my arm around her and pulled her close. She was stiff. “C’mon, you’re out of sorts. Tell me what’s up. Kids okay?”
    “They’re fine.”
    So I wasn’t making it up. “Kim, you mad at me?” She pursed her lips and shrugged, backing away. “Kim! C’mon! You know I’d
     never do or say anything to bother you.”
    Everybody else was clearing out of the sanctuary. Kim stood there with her arms crossed, looking like she wished she could
     join em. “You really want to get into this right now?”
    “Course! What is it?”
    She studied the floor, then looked around as if to see if anyone else could hear. “You’re a wonderful person, Cal,” she said.
     “But sometimes you can be oblivious.”
    “Oblivious?”
    “Blind to things.”
    “I know what it means, Kim. But what am I blind to?”
    “Bev,” she said.
    “What’s wrong with her?”
    “Nothing.”
    “You’re mad at me cause I’m oblivious to Bev, but nothing’s wrong with her?”
    Kim looked madder than ever and just shook her head.
    “Talk to me, ma’am. I’m listening.”
    Finally she looked me in the eye. “Would you just try to be more sensitive to her? Could you do that for me?”
    I raised my eyebrows. This wasn’t the first time somebody’d said that. Lee Forest, my famous football turner and the oldest
     guy on the line, had told me more than once that I needed to look after Bev more. Lee’s a crusty old guy with good ideas and
     loyal as they come, but I’d passed off what he said cause I figured he just didn’t know better. How would he know how I treated
     Bev? She never showed me any attitude, and she’d got a couple of raises a year ever since she started working for me. Now
Kim
thought I wasn’t treating her right?
    “Is she saying things?” I said, knowing that was unlikely. It just wasn’t like Bev. Maybe I
didn’t
know her as well as I thought.
    “Of course not,” Kim said. “She wouldn’t.”
    “Well, that’s what I thought. So what’s the problem?”
    She motioned me to follow her out and by the time we got to the parking lot, we were among the few left. “You just don’t really
     know her, Cal,” Kim said. “And that’s your loss, especially after all the years she’s worked for you.”
    I had to admit Bev and I weren’t what you’d call friends. We didn’t go to each other’s homes, didn’t see each other outside
     the office or church. But that was the way I thought it ought to be. She worked for me and you’ve got to keep a certain distance,
     right? “I feel like I know her well enough.”
    “Well, you don’t, and it’s not right.”
    “So tell me something I ought to know about her.”
    “I shouldn’t have to tell you. You should ask her.”
    “Ask her what?”
    “Like what she does outside the office, Cal.”
    I shook my head. What was this about? I almost caught myself admitting I didn’t care. I figure if Bev wanted me to know what
     she did outside work, she’d tell me. “I don’t know that I’d ask her, Kim. Or that she’d tell me.”
    “Just as I thought. Why don’t you try?”
    I wanted to ask why. I shrugged and Kim gave me that