Chapter 6 #2
That wasn’t entirely true. It could be undone, just not without a lot of pain and suffering, and someone, or someones, had to pay.
In this case, Clancy had been able to get out of it, he’d been able to skip the country, but she and the kids were paying.
They would probably spend the rest of their lives paying.
Especially the children. She would probably get over it, most likely anyway, but things that a child suffered in their childhood would mark them for the rest of their lives.
It made her angry every time she thought about it, and if Clancy was standing in front of her, she couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t grab him by the hair and body-slam him into the ground.
She hoped she was a better person than that, but she honestly wasn’t sure.
“Thanks. I guess that’s what I was asking. If there was some kind of big red flag that I was missing, that someone else could see and could tell me about.”
“If you need music for your wedding, you know my number,” Kyra said.
“You’re almost done with all of your holiday parties. Are you ready to get your life back?” Charity asked, trying to turn the subject from herself to her friend. It seemed like every time they talked, she took up the bulk of the interactions. She hated that she seemed to do that.
“I’ll be happy when they’re over, although my checkbook really likes the holiday parties.”
Charity laughed. “And I love listening to you. I wish I had been able to listen more.”
“We’re playing on Christmas Eve. You are planning on coming, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Of course. I wouldn’t miss Christmas Eve for—” She stopped. If she was married to Wilson, it wouldn’t be just her decision. But Wilson wouldn’t keep her out of church. Of that she was certain. And that was part of the reason why her decision wasn’t that difficult.
He was a believer, quite a strong one from her experience and from everything she heard.
That was probably more important than anything, and that was where she had gone wrong with Clancy.
He went to church, but only because she wanted him to.
And that was before they got married. Once he got married, he didn’t feel the need to please her anymore and had stopped going.
She supposed that happened to a lot of people, but she resented it.
Why had he pretended, when he knew he wasn’t going to follow through?
They both would have been happier with other people.
She’d only wanted someone who was committed to the Lord, or she’d rather have been alone.
Clancy would be happier with someone like his current girlfriend, who didn’t think anything about committing adultery with a married man and father of five.
If that was the kind of character he was looking for, it made Charity wonder what he had ever seen in her.
“Did you just remember something else you have to do on Christmas Eve?” Kyra prompted when she didn’t say anything more for a while.
“No. I just went off on a rabbit trail in my head, but I know that wherever I am with Wilson, he’s not going to keep the children and me out of church. And he’ll be there too.”
“I’m sure he will. He and his family are staples in the church. It would be weird to be there without them.”
“They are there every time the doors are open as far as I know,” Charity said.
And that was true. They really were there, and that’s what she wanted. More than romance, more than everlasting love, she wanted a man who followed the Lord. Even more than she wanted that sexy stubble on his chin.
Although, she wouldn’t turn that down.
“All right. I better get going. I have to head in to work. Are you going to be okay?”
“Actually, if this works out the way I’m hoping it will, I’ll be more okay in the coming year than I’ve been in the last ten.”
“Yeah. I hope so, and I hope Clancy comes back and you can rub it in his face.”
“I don’t think so. He didn’t have a problem giving up custody of the children and sending the divorce papers. I signed them, they’re filed, and that’s that.”
“Oh, you might be surprised. I don’t think he’s going to be happy with that bimbo that he ran off with, and when he comes crawling back, you can spit in his face.”
“I don’t think that I would spit in his face, although maybe that’s just me liking to think I’m a better person than what I actually am.”
Kyra laughed for a bit, and then after a few more comments, they hung up.
Charity sat on the step watching her children, feeling a little better now that she’d talked to someone. Sometimes she was pretty good at making decisions in her head, by herself, and basing what she thought on the Bible, but the Bible didn’t have a whole lot to say about this.
She could point to Isaac and Rebekah as a marriage of convenience, so she didn’t think that it was forbidden. Although the Bible didn’t label it as such, and their situation was much different than hers.
It did say that to be divorced and remarried was to commit adultery, although Jesus said except in case of fornication, which to her understanding meant that if one of the people in the relationship committed adultery, the other one was free to go.
That would be her. And her ex-husband had committed adultery.
She consoled herself with that for a while, telling herself that she was doing what God wanted her to do, even though it was hard.
On the other hand, Clancy had stepped completely outside of God’s will, and while he might prosper for a season, there could be no good in the end.
While she expected to step into heaven and hear “well done.”
That did not negate the fact that every day was a struggle.
Although times like this, when her children were playing and getting along and not going to her crying every two seconds, were the best times, the happy times, but she supposed she wouldn’t appreciate happy times nearly so much if she didn’t have those other times.
Glancing at her phone, she realized that she needed to get the kids in and get them settled in for their naps since Wilson and his mother were going to be there shortly.
And she was going to go get a marriage license. For the second time. Hopefully, it would be the last time.