Kimberla Roby - Be Careful What You Pray For

“Well, I still want you to send me a copy.”

“I’ll make sure to put one in the mail tomorrow.”

“So, what else is going on? And how’s JT?”

“He’s fine,” Alicia said, thinking about the horrible rumors relating to JT’s first wife. She wanted so badly to tell Melanie, but she couldn’t. Melanie was her best friend and if there was anyone in the entire world she could trust with her life it was her, but she just didn’t want her thinking negatively about her new husband. She didn’t want her feeling any ill will toward him.

“Good. You seem really happy and content, and that makes me happy.”

“I truly appreciate that, Mel. You have always supported me, even when I messed up my marriage with Phillip, and I never could have gotten beyond all of that without you.”

“Girl, please. That’s what friends are for.”

“I know, but you’re the kind of friend most people never get a chance in life to have, and I just want you to know how thankful I am.”

“I’m thankful to have you as well. I sort of hate that you had to move ninety miles away, but that will never change how close we are.”

“No. It won’t. Distance is one thing, but you’ll always be like my sister, no matter what. As a matter of fact, what we should do is schedule a lunch or dinner date right now.”

“Well, actually, I have next Thursday off, so if that works for you, we can get together then.”

“Thursday is perfect.”

“Do you want me to drive over there?”

“No, I’ll just come to Mitchell because that way I can drop by to see Matthew and Charlotte before I head back home.”

“Okay, that’s fine. So, will your dad be out of town?”

“I don’t think so, but why do you ask?”

“Because you said you wanted to see your brother and Charlotte.”

“Well, if you really wanna know the truth, I’m not all that happy with my dad right now.”

“Oh. And why is that?”

“It’s a long story, and I’ll fill you in when I see you.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it now? I mean, my break is almost up, but I can extend it and get one of the other nurses to cover for me if you need me to.”

“No, it’s not that serious at all.”

“Okay, well, then I’d better get back to work.”

“I’m sure I’ll speak to you again before next week but I’m really looking forward to seeing you, Mel,” Alicia said, signing on to her computer.

“We’ll have a great time.”

“All right then, well, take care.”

“I will, and you do the same. Love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Alicia hung up the phone and smiled. It really was wonderful hearing Melanie’s voice, and Alicia missed her a lot more than she’d realized. She loved her new life with JT, but there was a part of her that missed her old surroundings and the people she’d known and cared about since she was a child. She was sort of shocked to be feeling this way, what with her finally having all that she’d ever prayed for. But deep down, she did miss attending her father’s church on Sunday mornings, seeing her family on a daily basis, and visiting Melanie a lot more than she was able to now. She did have her mother and stepfather right there in the area, but she still felt a tiny void in her heart. In a perfect world, everyone she loved would reside in the same city, but sadly she knew that wasn’t possible.

After browsing Neiman Marcus’s website and that of Marc Jacobs, she checked some of her NLCC e-mail. She read one after another and was elated to see she was still receiving so many responses from church members. Their words continued to show such amazing support and approval of her marriage to their pastor, and she couldn’t wait to become more involved with the overall ministry.

She read a few more messages but got nervous when she saw the last one, which said, “Guess who?” She didn’t recognize the address and hoped Levi hadn’t found some way to e-mail her. She wasn’t sure if inmates even had Internet or e-mailing privileges, but just the fact that Levi had asked his friend Darrell to contact her one week ago was enough to put her on edge.

But she clicked on the message and felt relieved when she saw that it was from a girl she’d gone to elementary and junior high school with. She hadn’t seen Renee in years, not since they were children, and she was so excited to be hearing from her. They’d been such good friends, but when Renee’s parents had divorced, Renee’s mother had no longer been able to afford private school tuition and Renee had been transferred to one of Chicago’s public schools instead. She and Alicia had talked on the phone for almost a year and sometimes visited each other, but eventually they’d lost touch.

Alicia read the rest of the e-mail and thought about how wonderful it would be to have a girlfriend close by. No one could ever take Melanie’s place, of course, but it would certainly be nice having someone she could get together with, every now and then, on a moment’s notice. It would be neat having someone to shop with, do spa days with, and maybe even confide in from time to time. It would feel good having someone she could laugh and talk with face-to-face whenever she wanted to, so she printed out Renee’s e-mail message and called her.

JT’s heart plummeted, his chest muscles tightened, and he knew he must have been dreaming. Had to be if Carmen was sitting in his living room with his wife and acting as though they were best friends for life.

Alicia smiled when she saw her husband and went to go greet him. “Hi, sweetheart. I’m so glad you got here in time to meet Renee. Well, actually, I should say Carmen, but when we were kids, I always called her by her middle name. Anyway, this is Carmen Wilson.”

Carmen stood and reached out her hand. “It’s very nice to meet you, Pastor.”

JT wanted to rush back out to his car but tried acting as calmly and as unsuspectingly as he could. “It’s nice meeting you as well.”

“I was going to call you,” Alicia said, “but since Carmen got here, we’ve pretty much talked nonstop. She’s been here for three hours, and we’ve been catching up on everything. Oh, and thanks, baby, for the beautiful flowers.”

JT looked at both of them in a stupor.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” Alicia asked.

“What? I mean, yeah, I’m fine. So, how did you guys meet?”

“In kindergarten. We went to school together all the way through eighth grade but we haven’t seen each other since right after we started different high schools. But thanks to you, Carmen was able to find me.”

“What do you mean by that? What did I have to do with it?”

“Well, since you decided to make me your wife and someone told her I had just gotten married to the senior pastor at NLCC, she went to the website and saw my e-mail address. And that’s how she was able to send me her phone number.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, and I’m so glad she did. We’ve had the best time this afternoon, and it’s almost as if we were able to pick right back up from where we left off nine years ago.”

JT was dumbfounded and wondered what Carmen was up to. He wondered why she’d had the audacity to come into his home like she was welcome and why she’d never once told him she knew his wife personally. He wanted to kill her, but he stood there pretending he couldn’t have been happier about their reunion.

Alicia started out of the family room. “When you came in, I was just on my way upstairs to get some photos of my parents and of Matthew and Curtina, so I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Carmen picked up what looked to be a glass of iced tea. “We’ll be right here,” she said, taking a sip of her drink. Then she set it back onto the coaster on the coffee table and made herself more comfortable on the sofa.