Read Online Just Shy of Harmony by Philip Gulley - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Philip Gulley
Ads: Link
next to the refrigerator. She dialed the number. The phone rang and rang. Just as someone picked it up and said “State lottery office,” she heard Asa crunching up the gravel lane in their truck.
“Oh, I must have misdialed. I’m sorry,” Jessie said, and hung up the phone. She hid the letter underneath her mother’s punch bowl on top of the refrigerator.
She and Asa ate baloney sandwiches at the kitchen table. They’d been eating a lot of baloney sandwiches lately.
He finished his lunch and went outside to work on the barn. Their Amish neighbor, Erven Schwartz, was helping Asa.
Jessie waited until she could hear their hammering, then picked up the phone and dialed the state lottery office. A woman answered the phone on the second ring.
Jessie told her her name.
“Say, I know you,” the woman said. “You’re the lady who turned down the money?”
“Yeah, well, I guess I’ll be wanting that money after all.” Jessie told her all that had happened, about the drought and their barn burning and the note coming due. She even told about selling her grandmother’s quilts. She began to cry as she thought of the quilts. She felt stupid, crying to a stranger on the phone.
“Honey, maybe this is the Lord’s way of helping you.”
Jessie sniffed. “You think so?”
“Yes, I do. I don’t think you should feel bad at all.”
“What do I need to do to get the money?”
She heard the woman striking the keys on her computer.
“Well, honey, we can send you a little over twenty thousand dollars a month for the next twenty years or you can take a lump sum payment of three and a half million dollars. What do you want to do?”
The numbers staggered Jessie. She reached in her purse, pulled out a nickel, and tossed it in the air.
Heads.
“I’ll take the three and a half million.”
“It’ll take a few days. We have to process the check, then send it registered mail. You’ll have it in two or three days, honey.”
C larence came that Friday just before lunch. Two registered letters in the space of a week. He was beside himself with curiosity.
“How are you, Clarence?”
“Oh, same old same old. How about you? Anything interesting happening?”
Jessie looked at the envelope. It was bowed out from where Clarence had looked through the little window to see what was inside.
“Nothing much happening here,” she told him. “But if something does come up, I’ll be sure to let you know.”
She closed the door, sat down at the kitchen table, opened the envelope, and pulled out the check.
Pay to the order of Jessie Peacock, it read.$3,500,000.
Then, on the line below that, Three million, five hundred thousand dollars and no cents.
She heard Asa’s truck come up the lane, crunching the gravel. She put the check back in the envelope and hid it on top of the refrigerator under her mother’s punch bowl.
They ate their lunch, then did their work. That evening she made Spam kabobs, Asa’s favorite dinner.
“Wow! Spam kabobs! What’s the occasion?” he asked.
“No certain reason. I just wanted to make them for you.”
It was Asa’s night off from the poultry plant, so they washed the dishes together, standing at the sink, looking out the window. Then they sat on the porch. They could hear the frogs down at the creek.
Asa was quiet.
“What are you thinking, honey?” Jessie asked.
“I was just thinking to myself how many times I’ve sat on this porch worrying about my problems, and now I can’t even remember most of what I worried about. The Lord sure has taken good care of us—providing me that job just when we needed the money, having Erven help me with the barn. The Lord sure has taken good care of us.”
“He certainly has.” Jessie thought of the check in the kitchen underneath her mother’s punch bowl. Her thirty pieces of silver.
She wanted to tell him about the money, but was too ashamed. He’d been so proud of her when she’d turned down the money. She wondered if she
“Oh, I must have misdialed. I’m sorry,” Jessie said, and hung up the phone. She hid the letter underneath her mother’s punch bowl on top of the refrigerator.
She and Asa ate baloney sandwiches at the kitchen table. They’d been eating a lot of baloney sandwiches lately.
He finished his lunch and went outside to work on the barn. Their Amish neighbor, Erven Schwartz, was helping Asa.
Jessie waited until she could hear their hammering, then picked up the phone and dialed the state lottery office. A woman answered the phone on the second ring.
Jessie told her her name.
“Say, I know you,” the woman said. “You’re the lady who turned down the money?”
“Yeah, well, I guess I’ll be wanting that money after all.” Jessie told her all that had happened, about the drought and their barn burning and the note coming due. She even told about selling her grandmother’s quilts. She began to cry as she thought of the quilts. She felt stupid, crying to a stranger on the phone.
“Honey, maybe this is the Lord’s way of helping you.”
Jessie sniffed. “You think so?”
“Yes, I do. I don’t think you should feel bad at all.”
“What do I need to do to get the money?”
She heard the woman striking the keys on her computer.
“Well, honey, we can send you a little over twenty thousand dollars a month for the next twenty years or you can take a lump sum payment of three and a half million dollars. What do you want to do?”
The numbers staggered Jessie. She reached in her purse, pulled out a nickel, and tossed it in the air.
Heads.
“I’ll take the three and a half million.”
“It’ll take a few days. We have to process the check, then send it registered mail. You’ll have it in two or three days, honey.”
C larence came that Friday just before lunch. Two registered letters in the space of a week. He was beside himself with curiosity.
“How are you, Clarence?”
“Oh, same old same old. How about you? Anything interesting happening?”
Jessie looked at the envelope. It was bowed out from where Clarence had looked through the little window to see what was inside.
“Nothing much happening here,” she told him. “But if something does come up, I’ll be sure to let you know.”
She closed the door, sat down at the kitchen table, opened the envelope, and pulled out the check.
Pay to the order of Jessie Peacock, it read.$3,500,000.
Then, on the line below that, Three million, five hundred thousand dollars and no cents.
She heard Asa’s truck come up the lane, crunching the gravel. She put the check back in the envelope and hid it on top of the refrigerator under her mother’s punch bowl.
They ate their lunch, then did their work. That evening she made Spam kabobs, Asa’s favorite dinner.
“Wow! Spam kabobs! What’s the occasion?” he asked.
“No certain reason. I just wanted to make them for you.”
It was Asa’s night off from the poultry plant, so they washed the dishes together, standing at the sink, looking out the window. Then they sat on the porch. They could hear the frogs down at the creek.
Asa was quiet.
“What are you thinking, honey?” Jessie asked.
“I was just thinking to myself how many times I’ve sat on this porch worrying about my problems, and now I can’t even remember most of what I worried about. The Lord sure has taken good care of us—providing me that job just when we needed the money, having Erven help me with the barn. The Lord sure has taken good care of us.”
“He certainly has.” Jessie thought of the check in the kitchen underneath her mother’s punch bowl. Her thirty pieces of silver.
She wanted to tell him about the money, but was too ashamed. He’d been so proud of her when she’d turned down the money. She wondered if she
Similar Books
