Chapter 7 An Explanation At Last #2
“I think this is the first time in weeks my head hasn’t been spinning,” she admitted quietly.
Billy glanced toward her but didn’t interrupt.
She smiled faintly. “Everything at Veronique moves so fast. Meetings, campaigns, interviews, social media… every day feels louder than the one before it.” Her fingers rested loosely together in her lap.
“It’s not much different than working at Pimico, but then I come here and your dad’s arguing with your mom over twists from the Challah bread and which Psalms to sing. ”
Billy laughed softly under his breath. “Dad thinks King David would've made a great Country singer.”
“Why does he believe that?” Carry giggled.
“He absolutely believes that Country singers like David know how to feel persecuted and pour out their soul in prayer by music.” Billy shook his head. “Until I tried my hand at it, I didn’t understand what he meant.”
That eased her further. Carry looked out toward the darkening street again. “It’s so beautifully peaceful out here. I didn’t realize how much I needed this.”
Billy rested his forearms against his knees, looking out across the yard himself. “Sometimes you don’t notice how exhausted you are until things finally get quiet.”
She nodded slowly. “Yeah.” Then after a moment she glanced over at him. “You really grew up with this every week?”
“Pretty much,” Billy replied. “Mom made sure keeping the Sabbath stayed integral in our lives. We kept the Sabbath no matter what was going on.”
Carry smiled faintly. “It feels... different than church growing up.”
Billy looked toward her curiously. “Different good or different bad?”
“Different peaceful,” she answered honestly. “Like people actually mean it instead of just performing it.” She paused slightly. “I think I understand now why Veronica started coming to synagogue with you.”
That got Billy’s attention for a second, though he kept his expression calm.
“She’s been searching for something steady since Quinton cheated on her.
She needed something that explained it all in the simplest terms and didn’t tell you that you were going to hell for every mistake you ever made. She’s needed it for a while.”
Carry nodded slowly, thinking about Veronica differently now than she had before.
“Maybe we all have.” The porch swing moved gently beneath them as the night settled further around the house.
No cameras. No interviews. No expectations.
Just the sound of crickets beginning to rise in the distance and two people quietly trying to understand where life was taking them next.
“Maybe I’ve been searching for something too. ”
“I know it’s not my place to ask you, but how are things between you and Greg?”
“I don’t know. I really just don’t know.
” She sat there, still with an almost glazed-over look in her eyes.
“I love that man, but I can’t tell if he loves me or if he loves Veronica, or if Erica still holds his heart.
” She let out a long-exasperated breath.
“I just don’t know where we stand after how I left things at Pimico. ”
“I guess I understand that. You’ve been a good friend, helping me as I get past my break up with Mia.
I just want you to know that I’m here for you as your friend in the same manner,” he said assuringly, gently laying his right arm over her shoulders and pulling her toward him in a side hug.
“I won’t judge your actions. I’ll just listen so you can sort this out yourself. ”
“I’ve been working beside Veronica for a few weeks now, and it’s strange that we don’t mention Greg at all.” She turned and kissed Billy on the cheek. “Thanks for being here, but I think I need to talk with Greg about everything at some point.”
“Make sure you do it on neutral ground. Not at Pimico, the Studio or Veronique. Maybe somewhere like a coffee shop or meet for lunch.”
“I’ve still got to go back to Pimico for my last check. Alice requires my signature on some documents before she can release it to me.”
“Do you want me to come with you, so you don’t have to face Greg alone?” Billy inquired gently.
“No,” she softly replied. “I’ve got to do this on my own.
I know this is a strange thing to ask of you right now, but would it be alright if I crashed here for the night?
” Billy just looked at her softly, gazing into her enchanting green eyes.
“I don’t think I can face going back to Cassie, Wendy and Katie after feeling some sense of peace. ”
“Umm, sure,” he stumbled out. “We’ve got a guest room. I’ll show you to it.”
Billy and Carry got up from the swing on the porch, taking one last look at the starry sky above. “You’re sure I’m not putting you out?”
Billy shook his head slowly. “We’ve got plenty of room. Mom will probably insist you eat breakfast before she lets you leave tomorrow anyway.”
Carry laughed softly for the first time in what felt like forever. “That sounds dangerous.”
“It is,” Billy admitted. “She weaponizes French toast.”
That earned another quiet laugh out of her as they moved away from the porch swing and stepped back inside. The warmth of the house met them immediately again. Wilhelm was still humming while helping Bethany put away dishes from the drainer by the sink.
“Well?” Wilhelm asked, glancing toward them with a knowing grin. “Did the porch fix the world yet?”
“Not yet,” Billy answered. “It was nice and quiet though.”
Bethany smiled gently at Carry. “But sometimes peace starts small.”
That stayed with her. “It was really nice to feel that sense of calm after all these weeks of chaos and confusion.” Carry dropped her head and Bethany noticed.
“Carry’s asked to stay the night,” Billy interjected quickly. “I was going to show her to the guest room.”
“Absolutely, Billy—Carry needs to experience more Shalom and she’s not going to find a better place for that then right here. Don’t forget that breakfast is early tomorrow. Synagogue is at nine because of the holiday weekend.”
Morning came quieter than Carry expected.
No buzzing phone every five minutes. No campaign meetings waiting downstairs.
No social media team already tracking engagement numbers before breakfast. Just the smell of coffee drifting through the house and soft music playing somewhere in the kitchen.
That’s when she realized that she wasn’t in the apartment with Cassie, Wendy and Katie.
By the time she stepped out of the spare bedroom, Bethany already had breakfast half prepared while Wilhelm sat near the window with an acoustic guitar in his lap softly working through another Psalm melody, Billy nearby with his own guitar.
“Told you,” Billy muttered as she moved beside him. “Weaponized breakfast.”
Carry smiled as Bethany set a plate down. “Sit. Eat before synagogue.”
“Synagogue?” Carry asked, surprised.
Billy looked over at her. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
Carry found herself hesitating for a different reason than refusal. Last night still lingered in her chest somehow. The quiet. The peace. The feeling that nobody expected her to perform for them. “…Could I?” she asked softly.
Bethany answered before Billy could. “Of course you can.”
Wilhelm pointed his guitar pick toward her dramatically. “Fair warning though. You survive one Sabbath around this family and suddenly you start questioning your entire life.”
“Wilhelm,” Bethany sighed.
“What? It happened to me,” he smiled. “She hit me with a Sabbath Skillet, and my whole world changed overnight. I probably would have married Willamina Danus if she hadn’t,” Wilhelm said softly. “She was a beautiful dancer.”
“You can always remember her that way, dear. As a past flame,” Bethany said, casting him a look that said this discussion was over. Carry laughed again, softer this time, but more genuine than before. “She comes up from time to time, but Wilhelm knows that the best woman won in the end.”
The drive to synagogue felt different than anything else she’d done recently.
Veronica’s world moved with cameras, schedules and momentum.
Pimico had moved with pressure, contracts and expectations.
This felt slower. Intentional. Carry followed Billy and his parents toward the synagogue entrance just outside Overland Park as the late Saturday morning sunlight settled warmly over the parking lot.
Families greeted one another outside. Children ran ahead laughing while older couples stood talking quietly beneath the trees.
Then Carry slowed slightly. Veronica was already there.
Not Veronique’s Veronica. Not the woman commanding interviews and directing campaigns.
This Veronica wore a simple modest dress with her hair resting naturally above her shoulders, standing beside Cassie and Wendy while speaking quietly with an older woman near the entrance.
Carry blinked once. Billy noticed immediately. “Told you she comes. She’s got Cassie and Wendy coming too, though Katie is still up in the air about it all.”
Veronica looked up then smiled warmly the moment she saw them approaching. Real. Unforced. “Well,” Veronica teased lightly, “looks like Billy finally recruited another one.”
Carry smiled faintly. “I was curious.”
“That’s how it starts,” Veronica replied knowingly.
There was no pressure in her voice now. No branding.
No manipulation. Just calm certainty. “Curiosity builds to belief and faith.” And somehow that unsettled Carry more than all the controlled confidence Veronica showed at Veronique.
Because this version felt sincere. “I am glad to see you here,” she said politely. “Shall we go in?”