Pretense by Lori Wick

tonight, a year feels like forever."
    Shay nodded but said no more, although she felt she could relate. "Forever" was the way she'd started to see her progress with the Bishops. She had told the Lord that she would hang in there with this family no matter what, but at times it felt as though she were spinning her wheels. Several months ago she had even gone so far as to put some distance between them, but Marrell still sought her out. Shay worked to live her life before Christ, no matter whom she was with, always assuming that Marrell would be turned off and keep away, but that was not the case. If Shay made herself scarce for a few days, Marrell called.
    "You look far away," Marrell remarked, cutting into her thoughts.
    "I was," she admitted. "I'm suddenly very tired. Maybe I'll head home."
    "Okay." Marrell smiled. "Thanks for dinner, Shay. You're a lifesaver."
    Shay grinned. "I'll see you Saturday morning. Do you want me here or at the apartment?"
    "At the apartment."
    "What time?"
    79
    Marrell pulled a face. "We're going to get going before eight o'clock, but that's your only day to sleep in, so come whenever you want."
    "All right."
    Marrell walked Shay to the door, everything seemingly fine between them. She waved her friend off and then thought some more about the conversation. What would Paul say if he knew she was thinking a lot about Shay's life compared to her own? Marrell shuddered at the thought, not because Paul would be angry, but because there was a slight chance he would be irritated.
    Not this close to your leaving, Marrell spoke to Paul in her heart. Whatever I've got going on right now can wait. I can't send you away on a fight. Nothing's that important.
    This settled in her mind, Marrell went back to the living room. Paul joined her soon after and turned the TV on. Marrell nearly sighed with relief that he didn't want to talk about the conversation with Shay. She could keep her thoughts private if he didn't ask, and she was determined to do that right up to the moment he left.
    Colorado Springs
    "It already feels like forever," Marrell admitted to her grandmother on the third day they were there. "And he hasn't even been gone a month."
    "The girls seem to be doing well," Pearl Walker rejoined.
    "They are now, but Mackenzie was inconsolable right after Paul left."
    "Mackenzie was? I'm surprised."
    "Why is that?"
    "She's grown up so much, Marrell. In many ways Delancey is still a child, but Mackenzie has become a young lady."
    Marrell couldn't help but smile with pride. Mackenzie was growing swiftly. She had shot up in the last six months until she was within a half inch of looking Marrell in the eye. Her emotions had gone through some transformations as well. One minute she was open and ready to talk, and the next moment she was quiet or buried in a book. She wasn't what Marrell would term sullen, but it wasn't unusual to catch her staring into space with a dreamy look on her face.
    80
    "You didn't tell me how you like the apartment," Pearl cut into Marrell's thoughts.
    "It's very nice. Quieter than I thought it would be, and that suits me just fine. About the only drawback is the lack of yard. There's no real place for the girls to play. D.J. often rides her bike in the parking lot, and I worry about that."
    "I worry about San Francisco in general," her grandmother admitted.
    Marrell's brows rose. "Some of the things I see in the paper and on the news make my hair stand on end. It's amazing that we really aren't all that affected by it. We have good friends and good neighbors."
    "It's the Lord's way of taking care of you," Pearl said softly, and Marrell stared at her. Pearl didn't notice; her eyes were on the yard.
    Never had Marrell heard her grandmother speak in such a way. Pearl Walker was not a religious person, so where had that come from? Marrell was still staring at her grandmother when she looked back at her.
    "I guess I'd better get a snack ready. I can see Delancey coming with a towel wrapped