Free The Scarlet Thread by Francine Rivers

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    T H E
    S C A R L E T
    T H R E A D
    “Ready to go?” she said as though speaking to a recalcitrant
    child.
    Chatting gaily, Audra drove to stores far beyond any ordinary
    citizen’s budget.
    “Aren’t you going to buy anything, Sierra?” Audra said the
    last time while signing the slip for an eight-hundred-dollar dress.
    “That blue dress you were looking at would make you look wonderful.”
    “At six hundred and fifty dollars, even a chimp would look
    wonderful in it.”
    Audra had laughed at her remark, but Sierra felt the full force
    of an affronted glare from the elegantly attired saleslady. One
    just didn’t say such things on Rodeo Drive.
    Actually, Sierra had wanted to say more. She wanted to add
    for both women’s benefit that if she had an extra six or seven
    hundred dollars lying around, she certainly wouldn’t put it all on
    her back!
    Audra offered to treat her to lunch at Lowry’s. Sierra declined.
    She had been taught to reciprocate, and she doubted Audra
    would feel suitably recompensed at Denny’s.
    “I’m sorry, but I need to get home, Audra. The children will be
    getting out of school soon.” She’d glanced at her watch to make
    her point. “I always pick them up.”
    “You should get involved in a car pool,” Audra had commented, shooting the Mercedes in and out of traffic with the skill
    of an experienced Indianapolis 500 driver.
    Sierra was tired of Audra “should”ing all over her. “Chauffeuring children to school is one of the delights of motherhood.”
    “Delights?” Audra laughed. Weaving smoothly across three
    lanes of dense traffic, she glided down an off-ramp. “That
    doesn’t say much for the quality of your life.” Her eyes twinkled
    merrily. “We’ll have to do something to give you a little excitement.”
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    T H E
    W I L D E R N E S S
    And now it seemed she had.
    Was it really Alex’s idea that they look for a house so soon? Or
    had Audra through Steve advised they do so? Once they were
    under the weight of a mortgage, it would be pretty hard to
    change their minds about working in Los Angeles.
    She pushed thoughts of Audra away and tried to reason with
    Alex. “I think it’s too soon to think about buying a house,” she
    said.
    “You like living in a cramped apartment?”
    She bristled anew at his sarcasm but remained calm. “You
    haven’t even been at your new job for four months, Alex. What if
    you decide you hate it?”
    “I love it.”
    “I’m saying if you changed your mind. You’re having a honeymoon at Beyond Tomorrow right now. The whole thing may
    come down around your head like a house of cards.”
    “Thanks for your vote of confidence.”
    “I’m confident in you, Alex, but I don’t trust them. Everything’s
    moving too fast. It’s all too easy. We should wait at least a year,
    Alex. So much can change—”
    “Get it through your head, Sierra. I’m not changing my mind
    about anything.” Face rigid and pale with anger, he glared at her.
    “I’m getting pretty tired of you walking around with a black
    cloud over your head all the time.” He picked up his briefcase
    and went to his computer. Opening the briefcase, he took out a
    diskette. He turned on the computer and slipped the diskette
    into the slot. “Either you can look around for a house and help
    make the decision, or I’ll just take care of it myself,” he said, his
    back to her. “The choice is yours.”
    So much for priorities, she thought, tears brimming as she
    went into the kitchen.
    She called the Realtor the next morning and made an appointment. Roberta Folse said she would be by at ten, which would
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    T H E
    S C A R L E T
    T H R E A D
    give Sierra enough time to drop off the children at school and do
    her grocery shopping.
    Roberta had penny-red hair, dark brown eyes, and was
    slightly