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“I bet you’ll be with Danny again,” Lauren said as we hurried toward the church.

“Yes, probably.” I suppressed a sigh. Whoever made the Faith Formation pair schedules usually put me with Danny Miller, because everyone knew my father wanted us to get married in the spring. I couldn’t stand it. It felt so wrong to think of marrying another man now that Mason was here.

Surely my father would see that God had brought us together for a reason. He simply had to.

“Looks like I spoke too soon,” Lauren said when we arrived in the little alcove near the front of the church. The schedule was right before our eyes, written in white chalk on a blackboard. “Look who you’re with!”

My eyes widened. Whoever created the schedule had placed me with Mason this time around.

“Praise Him,” I whispered, so quietly that only I could hear. This must be another sign that Mason and I should be with each other.

“Things must’ve gotten mixed around because of Mason’s arrival,” Lauren said. “See, Danny is with Martha now. But I’m with Adam Landry, same as last time. So not everything has changed.”

I pressed my lips into a thin line as I thought about Adam Landry. He was the son of one of the Elders. Elena used to have a crush on him, back in the time when we were allowed to have silly crushes and impure thoughts about boys. Back in the time when girls didn’t have to marry their crush’s father instead.

But those times were gone, and so was Elena.

“I wonder who Mason will be paired with in the spring,” Lauren said, cocking her head to the side. “You’ll obviously be married to Danny. But what about me?”

I frowned. “What?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “Now that I’m a widow, I have to be remarried, remember? So maybe Mason and I will be paired with each other. I wouldn’t mind that. He’s very handsome.”

My face turned hot again. I couldn’t stand the thought of Mason marrying another girl here. Lauren might be my closest friend here, but even she shouldn’t be with him.

He should be mine.

Lauren looked at me, a small smile playing on her lips. “You wouldn’t mind that, would you?” she asked, her words soft and coy.

“I… I…” I tried and failed to find the right words to say I was not okay with it. How could I? We weren’t supposed to covet men like this. We were supposed to accept whomever we were married to without complaint. If Lauren was paired with Mason in the spring, I would have to get past it and focus my attention on my own husband.

Lauren’s smile grew wider. “A-ha!” she said triumphantly, amusement sparkling in her eyes. “I knew you liked him. It’s so obvious to me. You’ve practically been fawning over him ever since he arrived.” She leaned in closer. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

My shoulders slumped with relief. She didn’t really want to marry Mason. She was just teasing me; trying to get me to admit my feelings to her.

“I just think he’s handsome, that’s all,” I said lightly. “Same as you and every other woman here.”

She shrugged one shoulder. “If you say so,” she said, still smiling.

I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. If Lauren had noticed how I felt about Mason, how many others had noticed? What if they could somehow read my mind and know my lustful thoughts about him? What if God spoke to my father again and told him about the time I touched myself to the thought of Mason? Worse, what if it came to him in a vision, and he had to see it all unfold in front of him? He would be horrified. Disgusted. Ashamed to call himself my father.

“Jolie, are you all right?” Lauren asked, concern washing across her face. “You’ve turned pale.”

“I’m fine.”

She sighed. “Are you sure?” she asked, brows knitted. “You’ve been a little strange lately. Like your mind is always elsewhere.”

I didn’t meet her eyes. I couldn’t tell her my impure thoughts about Mason. I couldn’t tell anyone.

“I’ve just been thinking about Elena a lot,” I said instead.

It wasn’t exactly a lie. I was consumed by thoughts of Mason most of the time, but Elena was on my mind for all the rest. I missed her so much.

Lauren’s lips turned down at the corners. “I think about her too,” she said softly. Then her face brightened slightly. “I have an idea.”

“Yes?”

“Why don’t we go to her old room? No one else has taken it yet, and her things are all still there. It might make us feel better to be in there for a while.”

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