it for her.
When they got inside the church, the congregation was singing the first hymn. Lifting their hearts in song, Samuel thought—and that thought was followed by a rush of emotion. A yearning for a congregation of his own. Most men in Samuel’s shoes might have asked themselves whether they had done something to displease the Lord, but Samuel didn’t think like that. The God he knew was giving and kind, so he was convinced that this experience was going to turn out to be a blessing, maybe the greatest blessing of his life. That didn’t keep him from hurting, though.
Bernice hobbled down the aisle, slipped into the first vacant pew, and stepped on over to make room for the rest of them. The kids filed in after her, then Willadee, then Samuel. Swan started singing lustily before she came to a full stop. People turned their heads to look at her, the way they always did when she opened her mouth and that big voice came out. Swan didn’t notice. Anytime she was singing, she was in a world of her own. She would pour herself into the music, and it would pour out of her, tumbling like a waterfall, and there was nothing else she’d ever known that compared to the feelings that took her over.
Samuel and Willadee nudged each other and smiled. The boys were wincing at their sister’s volume. Bernice stood erect, gazing straight ahead. Involuntarily, Samuel cut his eyes to see what she was looking at. It couldn’t be the scrawny, red-faced song director, because he was a constant blur of motion—strutting around, waving his arms in time to the music. Whatever Bernice was looking at was stationary. But knowing Bernice, she might not consciously be focusing on anything at all. She had a curious way of living inside her own head. You never knew what was going on in there.
One thing was for sure. She was up to something this morning—and Samuel figured it had to do with her trying to get him back. You’d think, after all these years, she’d have given up, but if she gave up, what would she have? A marriage she never wanted, to a good man who loved her so much that she despised him.
It wasn’t that Bernice ever actually chased after Samuel. She just managed every time he was around to drape herself someplace where he couldn’t help seeing her, and she talked to him in that silky, honey-drip voice, and she acted, well—amused. As if there was some powerful electric current between them and she found it comical to watch him trying to resist it.
Samuel responded by treating her the same way he treated everybody else. He was gracious and polite, and respectful as you please. He never avoided looking her in the eye. He never looked away first. He never let her get under his skin.
Truth was, Samuel felt sorry for Bernice. She was the most alone person he had ever met—so intent on staying forever breathtaking that she could never let any of life’s glories take her own breath away. He hadn’t felt a tingle for her since the day he met Willadee. (Talk about one of life’s glories. Talk about something taking your breath away.) But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be extra cautious around his sister-in-law. An electrical cord doesn’t have to carry a charge in order to be dangerous. It can still be used to tie people up. And strangle them.
Chapter 10
The way you trained a horse was, you taught it that life was uncertain and punishment was sure. At least, that was the way Ras Ballenger trained horses. If the people who entrusted their animals to him had known his methods, most of them would have found another trainer.
A few people would have used Ras anyway. Those who only cared about results. Ras definitely got results. He could get a horse to do damn near anything. You wanted it to be a high stepper? He could turn it into a high stepper, all right. You wanted it to prance around with its head at an elegant but unnatural angle? He could get it to where it would prance all day long and never bob its head
Chris Kyle
Lee Harris
Darla Phelps
Michael Cadnum
Jacqueline Wilson
Regina Carlysle
Lee Strobel
Louise Stone
Rachel Florence Roberts
J.J. Murray