Free In the Paths of Righteousness (Psalm 23 Mysteries) by Debbie Viguié Page A

me?”
    “I can read you just fine,” she said, feeling her blood pressure rise. “But you’re not making any sense. I’m not in love with Jeremiah.”
    Kyle looked at her confused. “It’s not the cop then, is it, because he’s married and that’s not cool.”
    “I’m not in love with Mark!” she burst out horrified, and then felt her cheeks burn as she realized how loudly she had said that. Half the camp had probably heard.
    He frowned. “Well, it must be Jeremiah, because it’s got to be someone. Mom always says when a woman is in love you can tell because she has a glow about her and you’re glowing, that’s for sure. I’ve never seen you like this before.”
    “Maybe it’s just because you haven’t seen me in years. I’ve changed a lot, you know.”
    He didn’t say anything and she forced herself to take a deep breath. He hadn’t done anything wrong, after all. Maybe she did glow. She was certainly happier than she had been the last time they’d seen each other. A lot had changed in her life since then. Her eyes drifted toward the camp and she realized she was looking for Jeremiah.
    She looked hastily back at her brother, not wanting him to notice what she was doing. She forced herself to unclench her fists and did her best to calm herself down. “So, are you in love?” she asked.
    “I think so,” he said, his voice getting a little hoarse. “It’s all kind of weird and new to me, but I think it’s possible that she could be the one.”
    “ Fangirls the world over will be crushed to hear that,” she said, forcing a smile.
    He shrugged.
    “So, what is her name?”
    He fidgeted for a moment, dropping his eyes, then sighed. “Her name is Lisa.”
    Cindy felt as though something exploded inside her. “Are you kidding me?” she hissed.
    “Now, hold on, I know what you’re going to say-”
    “You’re dating someone with the same name as our dead sister. That’s wrong! Wrong and creepy! You just-you just can’t replace her.”
    “I’m not trying to replace her. Crap, this is exactly what I was talking about, Cind, about not wanting you to go all mental and freak out.”
    “I’m not the mental one, that would be you.”
    “Really, because what you’re doing now, that’s insane. You’re not being rational. It’s just a name. They don’t even look alike, not really.”
    “Not really? What does that mean? What, do they have the same hair color, eye color?”
    “No, nothing like that,” he said, raising his hands as though to fend off her questions.
    “I can’t believe you! And you weren’t going to tell me. What, were you saving that surprise for the wedding invitation?”
    “Listen to me, Cindy. Lisa, our sister, she’s dead, and there’s nothing we can do to bring her back.”
    “You don’t think I don’t know that?” She was yelling. She could hear herself, but somehow she couldn’t force herself to lower her voice as she just kept going. “I live with that every single day.”
    “And you don’t honor her by shutting yourself up away from the world and not living your own life!” Kyle was shouting now, too.
    “Oh, and you honor her by stupidly risking your life on all these crazy stunts?”
    “More than you!”
    Cindy swung her fist and hit Kyle as hard as she could in the face.
    He staggered backward, a look of shock on his face.
    Then she felt hands grabbing her shoulders, dragging her away from him. She was shaking with rage and something else that she realized must be shock. A moment later she was sitting cross-legged on the ground, head in her hands.
    “Seems to me we’ve been down this road before,” Mark said. “Only last time all you did was slap Jeremiah. Seems you’re graduating. That was a nice punch, by the way, I’m just sorry I wasn’t the one who threw it.”
    She looked up at him after a minute. “I hit him,” she said.
    “I know. You’re still working your way through the PTSD. You’re going to lose it every once in a while, the