Page 13 of Between the Shady Groves
So, knowing that, she made a decision that was very much unlike her.
She wasn’t going to listen to what the Bible said. She was going to ignore that, and ignore her husband, and ignore the fact that she was supposed to be submissive and obedient. She wasn’t going to put up with him.
Even as she made the decision, it made her exceptionally uncomfortable. This wasn’t the right decision. She knew it, and yet…she didn’t want to do anything else. That was the bottom line. She wanted to be happy. She wanted to have someone who cared about her, she wanted to feel safe and secure and…comforted. Just to have someone understand what she was going through.
Was that too much to ask?
She figured it probably was, but she wasn’t going to think about it anymore. Because she didn’t want to feel any more guilty than she already did. Instead, she looked at the beautiful sky, which had started to turn a deep, sober blue, and then looked out at the lake, which reflected the blue back. Lifting her head, breathing in the bracing, fresh lake air, she focused on what she planned to do that day.
Maybe she would go pick out a couple of books, and sit between the shady grove of peach trees, and read for the day.
Or maybe she should make some cheese bread and take that over and get several books instead of just a couple.
Man cannot live on bread alone, so she probably should take some money too. But she had a very limited supply of it, and she wasn’t sure what her husband was going to do. So she didn’t want to spend any more than what she’d saved from her teaching job years ago. After all,she didn’t want him saying that she had pilfered money from his business in order to leave him and start her own.
Not that she thought her husband would say anything of the kind. He’d always given her money for whatever she needed. They had a shared checking account, and there was always at least four figures in it and sometimes five. She could spend it however she wanted to, and he wouldn’t ask any questions. He was a very, very generous man.
One more point in his favor.
Maybe she was the one who was wrong.
Eight
“Thanks for your hospitality,” Cannon said as he got ready to walk out the door. He had a mug of coffee in one hand, which his sister told him not to worry about returning—it was a tumbler. She’d grab it at his house the next time she was there. He knew she wouldn’t hesitate to do that, and he needed the coffee. It was early, the sun was barely out.
“Let us know if you find her. I’m worried about her,” Monique said, holding a baby in one arm and looking like she’d slept all of five minutes the night before.
Why did people want to do that to themselves? Babies made people miserable. And yet, Monique looked at her child with such love and affection in her eyes, and Philip looked at his wife and child in the exact same way.
What was he missing?
He hadn’t managed a response when his phone buzzed.
It was probably his foreman, asking a question about the day, and he pulled it out.
To his surprise, Lauren’s name came up.
“She’s alive,” he said.
“You should require a picture. Maybe it’s just a kidnapper trying to fool you,” Philip said.
Sometimes with Philip, Cannon couldn’t figure out whether he was joking or not.
“I’m going to ask where she is. I’ll let you know if I find anything out.”
“All right. Have a safe trip,” Monique said, giving him a hug with her free arm. He hugged her back, his coffee in one hand, waiting for Lauren to respond. It was taking forever.
He made it out to his truck and had the motor started before she finally told him that she was in Raspberry Ridge. At the shop that her mom had owned, and she was thinking about reopening it.
How could she? Their home was in Cincinnati? What was she doing in Raspberry Ridge?
Except…she had said that she was leaving him. She was lonely. And…he kept wanting to forget that.
He had the note tucked in his wallet so he could get it out and read it if he ever needed to be reminded. But he knew that she had been right. He had not been a very good husband, and neither Monique nor Philip had tried to disabuse him of that idea. Just that in itself said that obviously, this was all his fault.
So, he pointed his truck northwest. He was going to get to his wife today. It would be late, but he’d be there. And hopefully, she would talk to him. He didn’t see why she wouldn’t. Lauren was not an unreasonable person.
Just like he’d done every day since he’d found the note, which felt like ages ago but had only been a couple of days, he started praying and didn’t stop until he had pulled into Raspberry Ridge.
