Page 27 of Betrayed

Granny laughed. “If only. I’m her grandmother.”

Eric winked at Granny, who ate up the attention.

Eric got to work on the cable and asked AJ, “Do you live here?” His overly friendly smile hadn’t faded.

“No, well, sort of. I have an apartment over the garage.” Why did she tell him that? Her concussion was probably taking her better judgment. She was tempted to add her roommate was a cop. Oh, and her husband too. But she was not going to explain that complication.

She focused on eating her breakfast and answered his twenty billion questions in the shortest, simplest way possible.

He seemed liked the same nice guy he had been in college, although maybe more mature than the prankster he was back then. “Will still lives in town too. I’m sure he’d love to see you.”

“Maybe we can all get together.”

He didn’t ask about Logan. She wasn’t going to bring it up either.

Eventually, the cable was fixed, and Eric left with a “See you around.”

She simply smiled and waved. She’d be fine if they didn’t run into each other ever again. Simply looking at him brought back the feelings of mortification she’d felt when he caught her and Logan in the dugout. She never wanted to feel that again.

With him gone and Granny on the phone with one of her younger siblings, AJ wandered out to the front porch with her Bible. Reading it wasn’t going to work very well because of the concussion, but a few verses could only help.

She settled in the rocking chair and opened the Scriptures to the Psalms. A few verses was all she could focus on. She closed the Bible and held it against her chest. Jesus would sustain her. He always had, even when she’d been living in sin. And she sure had done that plenty in her life.

With her eyes shut and leaning her head back against the rocker, she rested in the arms of her Savior. She didn’t have words to pray, but He knew the groanings of her heart.

At least a half hour later, she heard a car horn and opened her eyes.

“Hey, AJ!” Daryl.

She half waved—grateful the banister, yard, sidewalk, and his car door were between them.

“My offer still stands. We should—”

“No, Daryl. Drive on.”

“You’ll come around. See you soon.” He drove away.

She resumed her eyes-closed, head-back position. When would he get a hint?