Genesis House Inspirational Romance and Family Drama Boxed Set: 3-in-1

by Angela Benson

  Dawn returned the smile. “My husband is moving back to our bedroom.”

  “You go, girl!” Francine said. “I thought the giggling I heard this morning was a good sign.” Francine laughed at the blush that graced her sister’s cheeks and widened her eyes. “All I heard was giggling.”

  Dawn chuckled, then beckoned her sister to join her in the master bedroom. “I’ll have to tell Sly about the giggling. He may never be able to face you again.”

  “Don’t you dare,” Francine said.

  Dawn dumped the clothes on the bed, then began picking them up a few at a time and returning them to their rightful closet. “You’d better be nice to me then.”

  “I’ll think about it,” Francine said, sitting down on the side of the bed. “So all is well with you and Sly?”

  Dawn glanced down at her sister. “It’s much, much better. We’re working through our problems together.”

  “All I have to say is, y’all do some loud work.”

  Smiling, Dawn tossed one of Sly’s shirts at Francine’s head. “You’re bad.”

  Francine pulled the shirt off her face. “I’m not the one throwing stuff at people, you are.” Tossing the shirt back to Dawn, she asked, “I know y’all got busy in Florida, but did you do any funeral home business?”

  Dawn lifted her chin in mock consternation. “Of course we did.” The corners of her mouth turned up in a smile. “Mr. E-Z loved the idea. His funeral home is on board.”

  “That’s great, Dawn. Ezekiel Vines is no pushover. I know Sly was happy.”

  Dawn smiled a secret smile. “He was. About a lot of things. It was a good trip all around. Sly plans to call a meeting later this week to update you and Stuart and to make plans for our next steps.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Francine said.

  Dawn sat down next to her sister. “We want you to think about heading up the collective, Francie.” When Francine would have interrupted, Dawn said, “I’ve always thought your job at the bookstore was temporary. I know you’ve needed the time to get adjusted to being back home, but you belong at Amen-Ray. It’s your heritage. It needs you and you need it.”

  Francine knew her sister was right. Amen-Ray was her heritage, a part of her, but was she ready to reclaim it? “I don’t know, Dawn,” she said. “I’ll think about it.”

  Dawn placed a reassuring hand on her sister’s shoulder as she stood. “That’s all we ask.” She went across the hall for another load of clothes. When she dumped her second load on the bed in the master bedroom, she asked, “How was your weekend?”

  Francine sobered as she thought about her conversation with Mother Harris. “Eye-opening.”

  Dawn arranged the shoulders of one of Sly’s shirts on a wooden hanger. “What in the world does that mean?”

  Francine gave her a brief update on her conversation with Mother Harris and the Monika saga. “You know, when I was going through the fallout at Temple,” she said to Dawn, “it never occurred to me that other people were going through, or had gone through, what I was experiencing. Now it seems everybody has a story, a secret story.”

  “Well, I know about secrets,” Dawn said. “I had my own. I didn’t want anyone to know about my problems with Sly. It was too embarrassing. Maybe that’s a part of it too, for the people with stories about illicit sexual encounters with members of the clergy, including the wives. I can only imagine the embarrassment and humiliation a minister’s wife, this woman whose marriage is supposed to be an example to the entire congregation, would feel if she had to go through what I went through with Sly.” She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “You know, you said all this when you made your confession at church. It’s odd how I didn’t hear it then, or at least I didn’t see it as applying to me. I guess you really don’t hear things until your heart is ready to hear them.”

  “You must be right.” Francine remembered the words she’d shared about sin and shame. At the time, she’d been thinking of herself and not anyone else. Even when Pastor Thomas had opened up the prayer time for the church, she’d still focused on herself. She realized now that even back on that day, Mother Harris and Dolores had struggled with their own sin and shame. Even the innocents, like George and Monika, suffered as a result of the sin. She guessed even Sister Campbell suffered.

  “You know,” Dawn said, “since we’re being honest with each other, I have to tell you I’ve been a little jealous of your past relationship with Sly.”

  “There was no need for you to be.”

  Dawn chuckled. “Jealousy isn’t a rational emotion. I was insecure about my relationship with Sly, so it didn’t take much to make me jealous. Thank God, that’s over.”

  “So you’re okay with me and Sly, our friendship?” Francine was ready to give the relationship up if she thought it would cause continued problems in her sister’s marriage. In fact, she’d been ready to leave town.

  “More than okay,” Dawn said. “You know, the Lord used your coming back home to bring things to a head between Sly and me. If the anger and hurt between us had been allowed to simmer over a long time, the way it was doing, I’m sure our marriage would have died a courteous but slow and agonizing death. So I guess I owe you one.”

  “No, you don’t,” Francine said. “If anyone does any owing, it’s me.”

  Dawn looked down at her sister. “Okay, let’s not get into an argument over who’s the better sister. Let’s just agree you’re my best sister and I’m yours.”

  “I like the sound of that,” Francine agreed. “Anyway, it’s good to know my coming back was good for one person.”

  “It’s been good for more than just one person, Francine,” Dawn said. “Just look at how your testimony at church affected people. Then the way you’ve been there for Monika and Mother Harris. I don’t think either of them would agree with you.”

  “All I did was listen,” Francine said.

  “Maybe that’s all they needed, somebody to listen. But you know what? People have to feel that they can trust that somebody. Apparently, you made them feel free to talk. You gave them a safe place to share their feelings. Don’t discount how important that is.”

  Francine stared down at the floral comforter that covered the king-sized bed. Her sister’s words were confirming a lot of things in her heart. “What about what you said to me a few nights ago when I confronted you about what I saw at Friendly’s?”

  “What’d I say?”

  She looked up at her sister. “You said I was being judgmental toward you, believing the worst before I had all the facts, just as I had done with Toni. Mother Harris said basically the same thing about my attitude toward Sister Campbell. She said I was harsh, but I think she meant judgmental.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself. I was pretty angry that day when I said that to you. And if Mother Harris really thought you were judgmental, she wouldn’t have shared her secrets with you. Face it, Francie,” Dawn said, “you have a gift. Don’t run from it, embrace it.”

  “The gift of listening?” Francine scoffed. “I don’t think I’ve read about that one.”

  “No, but you have read about hospitality, mercy, and encouraging. If you haven’t, check out First Peter 4 and Romans 12.”

  Francine considered her sister’s words. They did describe the person she’d been before she left town with Bishop Payne and Company, and they even described the person she’d been in Temple Church. Until Toni. “So what do you think happened with Toni?”

  “I don’t know, Francie, and I’m not sure it matters.” Dawn put down the shirt she was holding and sat next to her sister. “I went through this with Sly. I kept asking myself and him why he slept with somebody else. Then I wanted some tangible proof that he wouldn’t do it again, but I finally realized that Sly could never explain what had happened to my satisfaction and that there was no way for him to prove to me that he wouldn’t cheat again. I had to decide if I wanted to trust him and God and try to move forward with the marriage I wanted. I decided I did.”

&n
bsp; “You make it sound easy.”

  “Oh, but it wasn’t. I wanted to love Sly again and live a full marriage, but I wanted to feel safe before doing it. I found out that the feeling of safety came after I allowed myself to love him.” She cast a glance at her sister. “I think you’re going to have to do the same.”

  “Do what? How?” Francine asked.

  Dawn rested her forefinger against her chin. “Well, maybe instead of focusing on what happened with Toni, you can focus on what the Lord would have you do now. It’s all right to figure out why we made mistakes, but it’s no good to study the past so much that you end up wallowing in it at the expense of moving forward.”

  Dawn’s words, an echo of those Stuart had spoken, made a lot of sense. Francine smiled at her sister and took her hand. “I’m glad you’re my sister, Dawn. I love you very much.”

  Dawn smiled back at her. “I love you too. Now, would you like to pray together?”

  Francine nodded and they did.

  ~ ~ ~

  The next day Dawn made a step of faith like the one she had discussed with Francine. She wanted the future that lay before her, and to have it, she knew she had to close the door on the past for good. Instead of taking a booth in the back of Friendly’s the way she normally did when she met with Walter, Dawn took a seat near the front that gave her a good view of the entrance. She glanced at the clock above the door. Her three guests, scheduled to arrive in fifteen-minute intervals, should start arriving any minute now. To ease her anxiety about the upcoming talks, she scanned the menu even though she knew she’d only order coffee.

  “I didn’t expect you to call so soon,” Walter said, sliding in across from her in the booth. He leaned toward her, flashing what some women would regard as a sexy smile. “I’m glad you did though.”

  Dawn knew Walter thought she had called him here to take him up on his offer of sleeping with him. “Sly and I are back together,” she said without preamble. She needed to get that truth on the table quickly.

  He sat back against the wall of the booth. “So Sly talked his way back into your bed, huh? What exactly is it that this guy has?”

  Dawn’s heart went out to the man seated across from her. “I love him, Walter. I never stopped.”

  “Despite what he did?”

  Even though those words made her sound weak, Dawn knew she wasn’t weak. She’d had to be strong to try again. She took comfort in her strength. “Yes. Despite what he did.”

  “How do you know he won’t cheat on you again?” he challenged. “You know what they say about leopards and spots.”

  Dawn shook her head sadly. “I know what God says about forgiveness and I know He can change a person. You should know it too, Walter.”

  Walter gave an empty laugh. “So Sly pulled the God card on you, huh? Gave you some sob story about sin and repentance and you fell for it.” He moved his head from side to side. “Sly’s proof that a man can get a woman to believe about anything he wants her to believe.”

  Though Walter’s words hurt, Dawn refused to allow them to settle in her spirit. “I wanted you to hear it from me,” she said, choosing not to respond to his taunts. “If Sly and I can work things out, maybe you can work things out with Freddie. You still love her, Walter.”

  “Sometimes love isn’t enough,” he murmured.

  “What else is there, beyond love and forgiveness? What do you want from Freddie? She’s asked you to forgive her. She’s told you she wants to come back home. What more do you want from her?”

  He glanced away from her. “I want her to make me believe she won’t do it again.”

  Dawn reached out for his hand. “Oh, Walter. You ask the impossible. She can’t do that, only you can.”

  Walter turned her hand over in his. “Sly’s a lucky man,” he said. “I hope he knows that.”

  A voice beyond their table said, “He does.”

  Walter and Dawn looked up at Sly. He frowned down at them. Dawn saw his internal struggle with jealousy and accusation. Saw it cross his face and pass. He chose to trust her. She saw the decision reflected in his face when he made it. “Join us, Sly,” she said, sliding over to make room for him to sit next to her. She pulled her hand out of Walter’s and slid it into her husband’s. Pressing a kiss against his cheek, she said, “Thanks for coming.”

  “No problem,” he said, but he was staring at Walter.

  “What’s going on, Dawn?” Walter challenged. “Did you bring me here to throw your reconciliation with your husband in my face?” He turned hard eyes to Sly. “You know I only came because I thought she was ready to sleep with me, don’t you? I knew I was wearing her down.”

  Dawn squeezed Sly’s hand and was proud of him when he didn’t react to Walter’s charge. “My wife is only sleeping with me,” Sly said. “And I’m only sleeping with her.”

  “Today, you mean,” Walter said. “What about tomorrow?”

  “Today, tomorrow, all the tomorrows,” Sly said.

  Walter sat back and folded his hands over his stomach. “I have to give it to you, man,” he said. “You got her to believe that trash.”

  Dawn looked from one man to the other. “This is getting us nowhere,” she said.

  “Depends on where we’re trying to go,” Walter said. “Why don’t you tell us, since you arranged this little party.”

  Dawn looked up at her husband. She hadn’t prepared him for this meeting any more than she had prepared Walter, but she trusted his heart and she knew he’d do the right thing. “Don’t you have something you want to say to Walter?”

  Sly’s eyes widened in question before they smiled in understanding. He squeezed her fingers and turned to face Walter. “I was wrong, Walter,” he said. “I was wrong to betray our friendship. I was wrong to sleep with your wife.”

  “You’ve got that right,” Walter said. “And for the record, we were never friends.”

  “All right,” Sly said, accepting the denial. “If I could go back in time, I wouldn’t make the same mistakes, but I can’t and unfortunately all of us have to live with it. I ask for your forgiveness, but I understand I may never get it. If there was any way I could restore to you what I’ve taken, I would.”

  Dawn’s heart grew proud at her husband’s words. She wasn’t sure how Walter was receiving them, but she hoped he heard the sincere regret in Sly’s voice.

  Walter studied him. “There is a way that you can make it up to mc,” he said. “Let me sleep with your wife.”

  “Not happening,” Sly said, his eyes hard. “No way, no how.”

  “I guess your little apology wasn’t so serious after all,” Walter challenged. “You sleep with my wife and all I get is a kiss from yours.”

  Dawn felt Sly flinch at the mention of the kiss, and she was glad she’d already told him about it. He didn’t say anything. Both men stared at each other. Dawn looked toward the door, thinking this would be the perfect time for her next guest to arrive. A few seconds later, the door opened and Freddie entered. Dawn lifted her hand and waved her over.

  “What’s she doing here?” Walter demanded of Dawn.

  “You told me once that there were four of us in your bed, Walter. Well, I figure two of us need to get out.”

  Walter grudgingly slid over when Freddie arrived at the table, and she sat down next to him. She glanced at the three faces present. “Well, this looks like fun.”

  Walter cut her a scathing glare. “You’re in no position to make jokes.”

  She met his stare. “What do I have to lose, Walter? I’ve lost everything that matters to me.”

  “Whose fault was that?” he shot back.

  “Mine,” she murmured. “Not yours. Mine.”

  “At least we agree on that.”

  Dawn was struck that the circuitous conversation of Waiter and Freddie sounded very much like the ones she and Sly had engaged in. She knew it would lead nowhere productive. “I asked you to come here,” she told Freddie. “And it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I
think I could live my whole life without ever seeing you again.” Sly’s hold on her hand tightened. “But that’s not possible or right.” She inhaled a deep breath and let it out. “When I saw you at Kings and Queens a while back, I got the impression that you were trying to apologize to me. Were you?”

  Freddie lifted damp green eyes to Dawn. “I’m so sorry, Dawn,” she said. She glanced at Sly. “Sly was a good friend to me and I took advantage. I guess I was jealous of the two of you. Sly seemed content with all the time he spent alone while you and Walter worked with your choirs, but I was so lonely I thought I would die. I wondered how Sly could not be lonely, so I played on that.” She looked away. “I did it, and I did it on purpose.”

  “Why, Freddie?” Walter asked, pain filling his voice.

  Freddie looked at her husband. “Because I was lonely, Walter, so lonely.”

  “But I was there. I loved you. I never thought about cheating on you. I was happy and I thought you were too.”

  Freddie shook her head. “You weren’t there for me, Walter. I love you, but sometimes I wasn’t sure if you loved me.”

  “What are you talking about, Freddie?” Walter accused. “Don’t try to turn this on me. I didn’t cheat. You did.”

  “I know that, Walter. Believe me, I know it.”

  “Then what are you saying?”

  “I’m saying you spend more time at church than you spend at home. I’m saying you say you want children but I’m afraid I’ll have to raise them alone because you’ll always be off doing something for the church.”

  Walter looked away. “If things are so bad, then why do you want me back?”

  “Because it’s worse being without you.”

  Walter didn’t say anything. He juggled a pink packet of sugar substitute from one hand to the other.

  “I’m sorry too, Freddie,” Sly said. “It wasn’t all your fault.” She accepted his words with a slight inclination of her head. “Isn’t this nice,” Walter smirked. “We’re all sorry. What is this? Good Christian Week or something?”