One Thursday Morning: Inspirational Christian Romance (Diamond Lake Series Book 1) by T.K. Chapin

was. His eyes glistened, and the hurt I saw stung. Coming across the road the rest of the way, I arrived over to him. When I reached for his hand, he pulled it away. “Don’t, Amy. Well, I mean . . . Serenah? ”
    “I was going to tell you.” Tears welled in my eyes as I felt every part of my life shatter into little shards of glass.
    He let out a sarcastic laugh. “When did you plan on telling me that you’re married and have a husband?”
    “ Tonight. You don’t understand. John is a bad man, Charlie.”
    “You’re right. I don’t understand. You had a baby, a husband and a whole other life. I don’t know you. I didn’t even know your real name.”
    “You might have known me by a different name and nothing of my past, but what we had was real. The way we feel about each other—”
    “The way I felt about you was based on concrete information.” He peered back toward Diego’s house and continued, “I don’t want to come between a husband and wife. That isn’t right.” He went to get into his car, but I grabbed his arm.
    “Why do you think I ran across the country and changed my name, Charlie? You think I just didn’t like the guy? It wasn’t that simple.”
    He looked at me and shrugged. “Telling the truth is always simple.”
    “I never lied. ”
    Charlie got in his car and shut the door. Turning the key over, he rolled the window down and said, “Goodbye, whoever you are.”
    The taillights of his car blurred in my vision as tears rolled from my eyes and onto my cheeks. My heart was breaking. The twisted, mangled mess of emotion all stemmed from one source—John. I felt as if he would follow me to the ends of the earth, making sure I’d never be happy and always destroying any good that would come into my life.
    “Serenah, doll,” John called out to me from the edge of the driveway of Diego’s house. “Why don’t you come back over here and let me introduce you to the Mayor? He’s going to let me head the reconstruction project on City Hall.” John’s voice in that moment set me ablaze. It was like hot coals being raked over my open wounds. Turning to face him as he stood on the other side of the street, I saw a few of the locals around him, but I didn’t care—I charged him.
    I laid a punch into his face for everything he had done. The marriage, the beatings, the stress that led me to miscarry, and now, Charlie. He didn’t dodge my attack. Instead, he let me hit him and send him crashing to the driveway, spilling the drink in his hand. Frank and Sue were a few paces back and saw it. They shook their heads in disappointment at me. They didn’t understand. The locals who stood by his side were Jackie and Monty, who ran the convenience store on Main Street. Monty helped John to his feet, and Jackie stepped between me and John as I panted heavily, trying to catch my breath.
    “You can’t hit people because you don’t like them. Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?” Jackie asked. She looked mad. So did Monty. I was the bad guy in all their minds.
    Monty let go of John’s arm and added, “Obviously, she was taught it was okay to lie too. Right, Serenah? ”
    Diego approached with a somber expression on his face. “I think it’s best you go.”
    Nodding my head, I agreed. Not because I was misbehaving, but because John had already managed to get everybody on his side. Turning around, I headed to my car to leave. Unbelievable. As I felt eyes on my back, my blood boiled inside. As I drove, I began crying out to the Lord to help me, save me and make me whole again. I needed a miracle, now more than ever, if I was going to survive.

Chapter 12
    Avoiding Jody’s phone calls, knowing John was most likely staying there, I kept a low profile for weeks following the barbecue. The Monday after the barbecue, I turned in a petition for divorce against John. There wasn’t a point in putting it off now, since John knew where I lived and an address wouldn’t give me away anymore. The