“Welcome to Pilgrim,” she said, giving first Francine and then Monika a warm hug. “I’m Sister Campbell.”
His wife. Did she know she was married to a monster? Francine wondered.
“We enjoyed the service, Sister Campbell,” Monika said to the older woman.
“I’m glad you did, and I’m sure the reverend is too. He should be in here in a few minutes to greet you. Do you have a church home in the area?” she asked.
Francine nodded. “Faith Central,” she said. “Rev. Thomas is our pastor.”
“That’s right. I remember now.” The woman smiled broadly. “I know Faith Central and Rev. Thomas. Both have excellent ministry reputations. I believe my husband is doing some business with Rev. Thomas. We’ll have to ask him when he shows up.” The woman glanced up, and Francine watched as her smile softened with love. “There he is now.”
When Sister Campbell waved her husband over, Francine felt Monika stiffen beside her. She hugged the girl to her side briefly in a show of support and love, and felt some of her tension ease.
“Reverend,” Sister Campbell said, reaching out her hand to pull him into their circle. “You have to meet these two visitors. Francine Amen and Monika King. They’re from Faith Central.”
“Oh, yes,” he said, “Rev. Thomas’s church. You have a good ministry there.” He shook both their hands. “We’re glad to have you here, but I can’t imagine you’re looking for another church home.”
That comment was directed to Francine. She knew it was, because he had yet to meet Monika’s eyes. Francine had no sympathy for him. Her esteem for him went even lower because he refused to look at his daughter. “We decided to go visiting today.”
“Are you by any chance related to the Amens of Amen-Ray Funeral Home?” Sister Campbell asked.
“My grandfather was one of the founders.”
“How wonderful,” Sister Campbell said. “Amen-Ray has done a funeral or two here. Always a very professional job. It’s a wonder we haven’t met before.”
Francine saw no need to go into her history, so she didn’t. “You’re probably familiar with Monika’s family too. Her mother owns Kings and Queens Day Spa.”
Sister Campbell smiled at Monika, but for some reason the smile didn’t seem to reach her eyes. “Why, this is wonderful. I’ve heard so many good things about that establishment. I’ve been meaning to go in for a treatment myself. You must be really proud of your mother.”
When Monika answered, she let her gaze slide from Sister Campbell to the father she was meeting for the first time. “I’m very proud of her,” she said. “She’s worked really hard to build a good life for us. She’s the best mother in the world.”
Sister Campbell tilted her head toward her husband. “Now, this young lady appreciates her mother. I hope the boys say such glowing things about me.” She turned back to Francine and Monika. “We have three sons. Two are grown and married, and one thinks he’s grown. Our baby is in college. In fact, he’s in summer school now.”
“No daughters?” Monika asked, her glance sliding back to her father.
“We weren’t so blessed,” Sister Campbell said, “but we always wanted a girl.” She glanced up at her husband. “Didn’t we, Reverend?”
“All children are a blessing,” he said, not answering the question. “Well, it’s been a pleasure talking to you, Ms. Amen, Ms. King. If you’re out visiting again, we hope you’ll stop in here at Pilgrim. Our door is always open.”
Sister Campbell took one of their hands in each of hers. “You’ll have to come again, I’ve enjoyed talking with you so much I almost hate to stop, but we do have to greet the other visitors. Enjoy your day.”
Francine and Monika murmured good-byes. When the couple were out of earshot, Monika said, “I wonder what my brothers look like.”
Francine smiled down at the girl, proud of the way she’d handled herself. She’d been more of an adult than Rev. Campbell had. “I’d bet they’re handsome.”
She nodded. “I look a little like him, don’t I?”
Francine considered the man in question. Monika did have his wide brown eyes, slight nose, and full mouth. “There’s a resemblance.”
“He had to notice it, didn’t he?”
He’d noticed all right, though Francine was sure he hadn’t wanted to. “I’m sure he did.”
Monika nodded. “Me too.” She released a sigh, this time a lighter one, as though she was getting rid of a long-held burden. She looked up at Francine. “I’m ready to go home now.”
Francine took one final glance at Rev, and Sister Campbell mingling with the visitors. Then, shaking her head, she turned to follow Monika out of the lounge and to their car. She pulled up short when she made eye contact with Toni’s mother, Mary Roberts. Acting on impulse, she raced toward the older woman, stopping within arm’s reach. “I’m so sorry,” she began, tears on her cheeks. Mrs. Roberts placed an index finger on Francine’s lips and, without saying a word, pulled her into a warm embrace. There in the arms of the mother of her dead best friend, Francine released the full grief she felt over her friend’s death.
When the women pulled apart, their cheeks were damp and their eyes red. “I want—” Francine began.
Mrs. Roberts shook her head. “I can’t talk about it, Francie,” she said. “It’s still too raw.”
Saddened, Francine sucked in her grief and nodded. She watched Mrs. Roberts turn away from her and head down the hallway, away from the pastor’s lounge.
“Francine?” Monika called. “Are you all right?”
Though Francine wasn’t sure she’d ever be all right again, she gave Monika an affirmative nod. “We can leave now,” she said. And they did.
Chapter 26
For Francine, the drive from Pilgrim to Monika’s house seemed much longer than the initial drive to the church. She couldn’t shake the pain she’d seen in Mrs. Roberts’s eyes. As evidence of the stress she was under, she was relieved to see Stuart’s car in the driveway when they arrived, despite the awkward ending of their last conversation.
Monika turned to her. “You called him, didn’t you?”
“I thought he could help.”
The teen folded her arms across her chest. “Help what? Can he make my father want to know me? I don’t think so.”
“Monika—”
“Don’t,” Monika said, getting out of the car and slamming the door behind her.
With a sigh, Francine opened her door and followed the teenager, whose mood had grown progressively worse during the drive home. Dolores pulled the front door open before they reached it. “You have some explaining to do, young lady,” she said to Monika.
“Not now, Momma,” the girl said, walking into her mother’s open arms. “I just wanted to see him.”
Love softened the concern in Dolores’s eyes. “What did you think of him?” she asked, after they all were seated in the living room. Monika sat on the couch between Dolores and Stuart, while Francine sat in the chair facing them.
“I look like him,” Monika said.
Dolores pushed her daughter’s locks back off her forehead. “A little.”
She met her mother’s gaze. “More than a little. Enough that he knew who I was.”
Dolores turned to Francine. “He said he knew who she was?”
“Not exactly”
“There’s no ‘not exactly.’ He hardly even looked at me,” Monika explained, her calm maturity surprising the adults. “But he knew who I was.” She dropped her eyes from her mother’s. “His wife was nice.”
Dolores lifted her daughter’s chin with her palm. “It’s all right, Monika. She’s not at fault in this.”
Francine wasn’t so sure about that, but she kept her thoughts to herself.
“You’ve met him, Monika,” Stuart said, “so now what?”
The girl met his gaze directly. “I want to meet my half-brothers and my grandparents, if I have any.”
“Oh, Monika,” Dolores said. “I knew this was
going to happen. I knew you weren’t going to be satisfied with meeting him.” She pressed her forehead to her daughter’s. “We can’t make him want to know you, sweetheart.”
“I know that, Momma,” Monika pleaded, “but his family may be different. Maybe they’d want to know about me.”
Dolores brushed her hand across Monika’s head. “Sweetheart, I can’t help but think you’re setting yourself up for a big heartbreak.”
Monika took her mother’s hand. “My heart’s already broken, Momma. I’m trying to fix it.”
Dolores couldn’t fight those words. Instead, she had to fight tears. “What can we do?” she asked Stuart. “I’ve talked to him, you’ve talked to him. Nothing works.”
Stuart shook his head in disagreement. “We started the process, but we haven’t given it time to work” He inclined his head toward Monika. “Our young lady here got a bit ahead of us.
“What do you mean?” Francine asked.
“I mean we didn’t allow Jesus’s three-step process to work through. Rev. Thomas still has to talk to Rev. Campbell. If that doesn’t work, we’ll go to his wife and the Board of Trustees at the church. And if all those fail, there’s still the civil court system. We can’t make him want to do the right thing, but we can make him do it. Don’t ever doubt that.”
“What’s the point if he’s not interested?” Dolores wanted to know.
Though Dolores had addressed the question to Stuart, Monika answered, “Because they’re my family and I want to get to know them. If they don’t want to get to know me, at least I’ll know I’ve tried. Otherwise, I’ll always wonder.”
Dolores pressed her daughter’s head against her shoulder. “I don’t want you disappointed, sweetheart.”
Monika wrapped her arms around her waist. “I’m already disappointed, Mamma,” she said. “Let’s finish this now.”
“For what it’s worth,” Francine said, “I think Monika’s right and I think both of you are very brave for going ahead with this.”
Dolores hugged her daughter to her side. “We couldn’t have done it without your support, you and Stuart both. You’ve been there for us.”
“And we’ll continue to be there,” Stuart added. “We’ll see this through to the end.”
“Whatever that may be?” Dolores said.
Both Stuart and Francine nodded. “Why don’t we pray?” Stuart offered. The four people clasped hands and prayed. When the last “Amen” was uttered, Francine stood and said, “I’m going to head on home.”
“I’ll walk with you,” Stuart said, standing as well.
When they were alone outside, Stuart asked Francine, “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
He tilted her chin up. “You don’t look fine. What happened? Did seeing Rev. Campbell again upset you?”
She shook her head. “Not that. I saw Toni’s mother.”
“Ah...”
“She’s hurting so much, Stuart.”
Stuart pulled Francine into his arms. “She’s not the only one, is she?” he murmured.
Francine let herself accept the comfort Stuart offered until the bulk of her sadness passed. She pulled back and looked up at him. “I’m sorry, Stuart.”
“Don’t be,” he said. “Crying can be good for you.”
“But it doesn’t solve anything,” she said. “Actions speak louder than words or tears.” She looked away from him to the immaculate lawns of the homes across the street, debating whether to tell him her plans. Seeing Mrs. Roberts this morning had settled it for her. She was definitely leaving town as soon as this matter with Monika was settled. She knew it would be best for everybody, just as she knew Stuart wouldn’t agree. “I’ve started looking for another job.”
“You’re leaving the bookstore? Why?”
She exhaled a deep breath and turned to him. “I’m leaving Atlanta, Stuart.”
“So you’ve decided to run away?”
She shook her head. “I’ve decided to do what’s best for the people around me. You didn’t see the look in Mrs. Roberts’s eyes. She couldn’t even talk to me.”
“In time, she’ll get past it, Francine. She needs time to grieve.”
“How can she if the wound’s reopened every time she sees me?”
Stuart stared down at her and she knew he wanted to shake some sense into her. “You’ve made up your mind, haven’t you?”
She nodded.
“You’re going to do what you’re going to do, but I have to tell you I think you’re wrong. Running away is not going to help you or George or Mrs. Roberts or anybody else. In the end, your martyrdom will only make you bitter because you’ll realize all you had to give up.” He eyed her suspiciously. “Maybe that’s what you want? Maybe this is the ultimate penance for the wrong you felt you did to Toni? That’s it, isn’t it?”
Francine didn’t answer. He’d come too close to the truth.
“It’s not going to work, Francine, because God doesn’t work that way. The only answer to sin is obedience; the only answer to wrong past behavior is obedient present and future behavior. You can’t live your life making up for the past; you have to live it being obedient to what God has for you now. That’s the only way to make up for the past.”
Francine grew weary at Stuart’s words. “I know you don’t agree, Stuart, but it’s my life and I have to do what I think is best.”
Stuart shook his head. “You’re wrong. What you have to do is what the Lord tells you. You’ll never know what that is if you spend your life running from the mistakes of the past.”
~ ~ ~
Francine frowned as she hit the Return key on her sister’s computer to submit her resume to the four most promising listings on monster.com later Sunday evening. She hoped the Internet would land her a position, but if it didn’t she had a backup plan in the stack of newspapers from Charleston, Raleigh, Charlotte, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Jacksonville. Though she was applying for jobs, her heart wasn’t in it. She was glad to be back home surrounded by people who loved her. She didn’t know how she’d make it without that support system, but she owed it to the people she loved and cared about to give it a shot.
The doorbell gave her the excuse she needed to get up from her job searching, though she did wonder who’d be visiting at this hour. It was a little after eight. She pulled up short when she saw through the sidelights that her visitor was Sister Campbell. Taking a deep breath, she pulled open the front door.
“Sister Campbell,” she said. “This is a surprise.”
The older woman’s gaze didn’t waver. “I know it’s late,” she said, “but I’d like to talk to you about something. Is it all right if I come in?”
Francine stepped back so the woman could enter. “Forgive my manners. You caught me off guard. As I said, seeing you at the door was a big surprise.” Francine led the woman to a seat on the living room sofa. “Can I get you something to drink?” she offered.
Sister Campbell shook her head. “I won’t be here that long.”
“Oh,” Francine said, sitting on the couch next to her. “Well, what brings you by tonight?”
Sister Campbell met her eyes. “I want to know the real reason you and that young girl came to Pilgrim this morning.”
“What?”
“You heard me. I want to know the real reason you were at Pilgrim this morning. I’m not stupid enough to think you were just out visiting churches. You see, I know who owns Kings and Queens Day Spa.”
Francine slumped back on the sofa. “You know?”
“I know that woman was after my husband fifteen years ago and I guess she wants to start her games again. Were you her emissary? Are you trying to ruin my marriage?”
“You’ve got this all wrong, Sister Campbell. No one is after your husband.”
“You’re a liar,” Sister Campbell spat. “I know all about you. You had another little girlfriend who messed with a minister, and now you come here and take over where you left off. Well, you and Dolores King are
not getting my husband.”
The woman’s anger unsettled Francine. She stood. “Look, Sister Campbell, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Nobody is trying to get your husband. You need to talk to him about his relationship with Dolores and Monika.”
“There is no relationship!” the woman screamed. “I told you, Dolores King has been after my husband for years. I don’t know what her game is this time, but she won’t get him. And you can tell her for me that sending that girl around is not going to help her cause.”
Francine’s eyes widened. “You know, don’t you? You know about Monika.”
Sister Campbell stood and took a step toward Francine with a menacing glare. “I know my husband, and I stand behind my husband. You and your friend need to understand that. A number of women like you and Dolores King have come against our marriage, looking at my minister husband like he was a chocolate bar with your name on it. Well, he was mine then and he’s mine now. There’s no way some little skeezer like you or your friend is gonna come between us.” She poked Francine’s chest with her finger. “You’d best understand that.”
Francine stood speechless as Sister Campbell strode out of the room, and the house, slamming the door behind her. When she heard the car start, she collapsed onto the couch and covered her face with her hands. When she had calmed down sufficiently, she picked up the phone and called Stuart.
When she finished telling him the story, he said, “Are you okay? Do you need me to come over? Sly and Dawn aren’t back yet, are they?”
“I’m fine,” she told him. “And even though Sly and Dawn aren’t back yet, I don’t need you to come over and sit with me. I’m a big girl.”
“And you can take care of yourself? Okay, I hear you.”
“I’m more concerned about Dolores and Monika. Do you think we need to tell them about Sister Campbell’s visit, the things she said?”
“I don’t think so,” Stuart said. “It would only upset them. Let’s wait until we hear back from Rev. Thomas’s efforts. I have a feeling that all this is going to wrap up rather quickly. Besides, I don’t think Sister Campbell wants a face-to-face with Dolores. She gave you the message, hoping you’d pass it along, when she could have gone straight to Dolores if she’d wanted.”
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