Page 1 of Love for a Lifetime

1

OLIVIA

Olivia’s foot slid on the gas pedal, causing her entire vehicle to jerk. “He what?”

“He put eggs in Brett’s backpack!” Heather shouted through the speakers of Olivia’s trusty old car. “I’m going to have to buy him a new one. It was already starting to smell by the time he got home yesterday. I had to toss it.”

Olivia leaned closer to the steering wheel and peered up at the darkening sky. She needed to get home before the rain if she wanted to make the trek to Cluckingham Palace and back without turning into a wet mop.

But seriously? Eggs in a backpack?

Kids were cruel.

“They weren’t my eggs, were they?” Olivia shouted. The thought of her eggs somehow contributing to a middle-school prank had her ready to riot.

The local news headlines would be epic. The Chicken Chick Conducts Citizens Arrest Following Egg Misuse.

On second thought, her Instagram followers would love the scandal. Maybe she’d go viral again with a reel of her exacting revenge on a twelve-year-old bully.

Heather laughed. “Honey, I have no idea, but I consider you innocent in all this. It’s a crime to waste your eggs.”

Olivia huffed, not at all appeased about the abuse of poultry, but this call wasn’t about the prank. It was about Heather’s son. “How is Brett?”

Heather sighed. “He’s upset. Embarrassed. I mean, kids don’t have enough to do these days if they spend their time thinking up new ways to humiliate their peers.”

“I’ll be praying for him. And you. I know this is hard, mama.”

Heather let out a sarcastic chuckle. “So hard. I’m at the end of my rope with these awful kids. I just want Brett to have a decent middle school experience. He can’t even focus on his schoolwork because he’s terrified to look anyone in the eye.”

“You’re a good mom. Remind him how special he is. Remind him that middle school and high school are preparing him for something greater. Brett is a smart kid, and he’s going to be a great man one day.”

Heather sniffed. “You’re right. He’s the best. I hope he still remembers that after all this mess. Thanks for talking me off a ledge.”

Olivia took a deep breath and stopped at the only stop sign in the tiny town she was driving through. “Anytime. I’m always here if you need me. Only a call away.”

“I’ll call you Thursday about the bake sale.”

“Talk to you soon. Tell Brett I said hi.”

Olivia pressed a button on her steering wheel to end the call and looked at the clock on the dash. Heather’s need for a chat couldn’t have come at a better time. Now, Olivia could pray the entire way home. Anything to keep her mind off the terrible news the doctor had just doled out.

A cold heaviness slid down her back. Why did she think about the appointment? She’d done such a good job of pushing it out of her mind since she left the doctor’s office.

Not today, Satan. She was going to pray, not wallow in self-pity.

Olivia’s silent pleas to the Lord soon took on a desperate tone. Despite her determination to push the thoughts from her head, thoughts of the impending surgery kept creeping back in. She’d had plenty of bad news about her endometriosis before, but it never got easier.

The panic was rising, and she couldn’t turn her thoughts back to Heather and Brett’s problems, no matter how hard she tried.

Her phone rang through the speakers, and she pressed the button to answer faster than a contestant on Family Feud.

“Hello.”

“Hey! Are you busy?” Lyric asked.

The possibility of wedding plans made Olivia sit up straighter. “Not at all. What’s up?”

Lyric sighed. “Wendy’s having a rough day. Things are slow at the flower shop, and she thinks Julia might let her go soon. Can you say a prayer for her?”

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