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“That makes me feel better…thanks, Cara,” Shannon said, standing and making her way back over to her chair.
Rose got up and took a seat on the mat. The entire room went quiet.
“I signed the papers on Friday. It’s final.”
Three of the women got up and placed their hands on Rose. Erin was one of them. When she started to pray over Rose, a lump formed in my throat.
“Dear God, thank you for giving Rose the strength she needed to leave that bastard of a husband.”
“Erin!” Patty chastised. “I’m pretty sure the Lord doesn’t want you swearing in prayer.”
Erin gave an apologetic shrug but kept going. “Thank you for giving her the strength to leave that low-life, dirty-rotten, good-for-nothing piece of pond scum.”
Patty sighed. Meanwhile, I couldn’t take my eyes off of the women. They all had their heads bowed; their eyes closed.
Except for Rose. She was staring at me. Our eyes met and locked as Erin kept praying.
“Lord, we know it took a lot of courage for Rose to do what she did. Thank you for being the guiding hand that led her to make the decision she made for her safety and that of her daughter. Her strength is through you, Heavenly Father.”
Amens filled the room as Rose continued to stare straight into what felt like my soul. My entire body began to shake, and the idea that she knew my secret made me feel like I couldn’t breathe.
Landy added to the prayer. “Lord, also please lay your hands upon this poor woman and teach her how to cook. She nearly killed me with undercooked pork two days ago. I’m still feeling the effects.”
The anxiety attack I felt coming on disappeared just like that as I fought to keep from laughing, but I needn’t have bothered. The prayer was over and laughter from the others filled the room. I pulled my gaze from Rose and looked at Tammy. She was smiling, but when she looked at me, she did a double take and grabbed my hand.
“Are you okay, Emma? You’re white as a ghost.”
All the years of secrets I’d kept, lies I’d told, rushed through my head as I took a deep breath. “Of course. I think I’m just hot. This sweater was a poor choice.”
I could still feel Rose’s eyes on me, but I didn’t dare look her way. Tammy got up and poured a glass of water and brought it back.
“You need to make sure you drink a lot of water. Even being here for what, almost a month? You might still be affected by the altitude.”
Sipping the water, I nodded.
The rest of the meeting was filled with talk of the church’s winter wonderland; a potluck for next week’s circle; and an upcoming trip to Denver for a girls’ weekend, which Shannon and Tammy were very much on board with.
When the meeting broke up, Tammy laced her arm around mine and walked me out. “Told you they’re a fun group.”
She was right, they were an amazing group of women. “They did make me chuckle a time or two.”
Tammy laughed. “Just wait. They were tame today because you’re new and they didn’t want to scare you. Next week, the gloves will come off.”
“Oh boy, I can’t wait.”
I stopped at my car and gave Tammy a hug goodbye. “Thank you so much for being my friend, you have no idea how much it means to me, Tammy.”
Her head tilted and she gave me a soft grin. “Do you not talk to any of your friends back in Dallas?”
“No, most of them are wives of my ex-husband’s friends.”
“So, they picked him over you.”
With a shrug, I acted like it was no big deal. “It is what it is. A lot of them are military.”
This made Tammy raise her brows. “Was your ex in the military?”
“Yes. The Marines. He was in when we met and served two more years after we were married.”
