Free Behind Closed Doors by Kimberla Lawson Roby

good feeling about that Little Lotto tonight, and I only played five dollars.”
    Karen picked off each piece of pepperoni and set it to the edge of the pizza box. Cheese and sausage were more than enough for her. “That’s five dollars you’d still have if you hadn’t gambled it away. You’re never going to learn, are you?”
    John smiled with a mouth full of pizza. “Don’t be mad. It’s only the lottery, and you’ve got my promise about not going back to the track.”
    Karen didn’t like this at all, but she genuinely understood how hard it was going cold turkey. It had taken her three months to give up chocolate muffins and sixty days more before she’d successfully weaned herself off those sinful Twix bars. But then, gaining weight and losing bill money were hardly one and the same. There was a lot more at risk with the latter, and that meant she had to get down on her knees and pray more this week than she had in a long time. Faith was the only chance she had with this gambling situation, and it was time for her to start acting like it. She hadn’t been to church in a long time, not because she’d become some horrible, backsliding sinner, but mostly because she was too lazy to get all doodied up, especially since she was already having todo that five other days in the week. The Sabbath day had become her rest day, and she felt guilty. It seemed as though this problem she and John were having was God’s way of reminding her that she needed to be prayerful at all times and not just when things were heading for destruction. Her grandma Claire used to say, “Get down on your knees and pray, even if it’s just to give the Lord thanks.” And starting tonight, that’s exactly what she was going to do.

CHAPTER 6
    “I ’ LL HAVE A half-pound cheeseburger, small fries, and large Coke,” Larry said. Regina had just ordered a grilled chicken sandwich and a medium pink lemonade. It was the quarter-pound burger that she wanted, but she’d decided against it. She’d made entirely too much progress with this weight thing to fall off the wagon now.
    Regina made her way to the other end of Fuddruckers, a popular restaurant located right in the heart of Schaumburg, and secured a table, while Larry stood at the pop machine filling their cups with drinks. Afterward, he walked over to their table and seated himself directly across from Regina. Usually he sat kitty-corner from her whenever they ate out, wanting to be close to her, but not today. Maybe there was no substance to her thinking, but she was starting to feel paranoid again. He’d seemed so distant lately, as if he didn’t enjoy being in her company. And yesterday, he’d phoned her at the last minute to cancel lunch, claiming his Monday morning staff meeting was going to run into his lunch hour.
    “So, how’s your day going?” Regina asked.
    “Busy, but fine. I really should be working instead of having lunch, but I knew how much you were looking forward to this.”
    Damn. He was sounding like he’d been forced there against his precious little will. “Well, if you were that busy, you shouldn’t have come. All you had to do was tell me,” Regina said with a bit of salt in her voice.
    Larry took a sip from his cola. “So you could accuse me of God knows what? Listen to you. You’ve got an attitude already.”
    Regina reached across the table and grabbed Larry’s hand. Her feelings were clearly hurt, but she was hiding it well. “Let’s not argue. Okay? I know you’re busy, and I’m sorry for pressuring you about it.”
    He let out a sigh and turned his head toward the window. Why couldn’t he look her straight in the eye? Her mother always said that when a person shied away from direct eye contact, it usually meant they were guilty of something. She hoped that wasn’t Larry’s case.
    “So when do you plan on recruiting those supervisors you talked about over the weekend?” Regina asked, trying to smooth things over.
    “When I met with