Different Circles

The living room was not huge, but it was clean and well-decorated. There was a sectional couch that sat along two of the walls and a recliner. A thirty-six-inch television set—currently tuned to the Oprah Winfrey Show and muted—was mounted on the wall. There were several mounted deer and elk heads. There was a locked glass cabinet that contained six rifles, a shotgun, and a variety of pistols. The paintings on the wall were all outdoors themed, with scenes of lakes and rivers and waterfalls. There were three people in the room, all of them female, all of them looking nervous to varying degrees.

Sarah was Joey’s wife—the former Bishop’s daughter. She was short, a bit on the chunky side, but still pretty. Her hair was dark blonde in color and she wore glasses. She was dressed in jeans and a button-up blouse. When she saw Laura, her face lit up.

“Oh, good lord, Little Bit,” she said. “The last time I saw you, you were just a little girl. Look at you! You’re beautiful!”

“Thanks,” Laura said, smiling, stepping forward for a hug. “You look great too.”

“I look like what I am,” Sarah said. “A fat mom.”

They hugged warmly and then Jake was introduced. “It’s nice to meet you, Jake,” she told him. Her voice was considerably more reserved than it had been when she was speaking to Laura and Jake was catching a vibe of watchfulness coming off of her.

“Nice to meet you as well,” Jake told her, shaking her hand demurely.

The other two people in the room were teenage girls, both of whom looked considerably more wholesome and innocent than the LA teens that Jake was used to seeing. Joey made the introductions to both Jake and Laura since she had never met them before. Grace was the older of the two, her hair red, though a softer shade than Laura’s copper-colored red. She was full-figured, tall, and very pretty. She was blushing as she shook Jake’s hand and seemed unable to speak at all. The younger girl was Chastity. She was blonde, like her mother, and more petite, like Laura. Her facial features showed a definite family resemblance to Laura and overall, she was very pretty as well. She was not as shy as her sister.

“Dad says that you guys know Celia Valdez,” she said.

“That’s right,” Jake said. “Celia and I and Laura are all good friends. Laura was on tour with Celia and played saxophone for her during her concerts and on two of her CDs.”

“That is so cool,” Chastity said, looking at her aunt with new respect now. “I love Celia’s music.” And then, as an afterthought: “Your music is pretty good too, Jake.”

“Thank you,” Jake said with a smile. It was always good to be validated by the teen demographic.

“Where’s Brian?” Laura asked.

“He and his family will be here for dinner,” Joey said. “He’s at work right now. He has a job as an apprentice meat-cutter down at the butcher shop in old town. He doesn’t make much now, but it’s a good paying profession once he learns the trade.”

“Interesting,” Jake said, with sincerity. It had not occurred to him that there were still butcher apprentices in the modern world.

“We’ll get to meet the baby?” Laura asked.

“Of course,” Joey said. “That’s the purpose of the visit.”

Is it really? Jake thought cynically as he heard the words. Or is it that you need some money to buy a new car or to put a new roof on the house? His plan remained unchanged. If Laura’s family asked for cash, he would simply give them whatever they asked for. Anything to get this trip over with so they could go back to their normal lifestyle.

“All right then,” Joey said. “Now that we’ve got the introductions made, how about a beer?”

Jake looked at him, positive he had heard the man incorrectly. “A beer?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Joey said. “You just flew in from up north. What did that take you? A couple of hours?”

“About that,” Jake said.

“I like to have a cold one after I travel,” Joey said. “What do you say?”

“Uh ... sure,” Jake said. “I’d love a beer, but ... uh ... I thought you were ... you know ... Mormon.”

Joey laughed. It was a pleasant laugh that had a lot in common with Laura’s. “We’re what you call Jack Mormons, Jake,” he told him.

“Jack Mormons?” Jake asked. He had never heard that term before.

“It means we believe in the Heavenly Father and were raised Mormon, but we don’t really follow all of the ... you know ... the rules, like not drinking beer or coffee, and like giving ten percent of our hard-earned money to the church.”

“You don’t participate in the tithe?” Laura asked, seemingly more surprised by this than the fact that her brother drank beer.

“Are you gonna start lecturing me like Mom used to, Little Bit?” he asked.

“Not at all,” she said. “I’m just surprised. I haven’t given money to the church since I moved out on my own.”