Free The Big Bang by Linda Joffe Hull

Hannah asked.
    “Like here?” Margaret asked.
    Lauren’s cheeks seemed to color. “Since it’s Easter and all, I figured…”
    “Reverend Griffin and Mr. Pierce-Cohn are full-on enemies,” Libby said.
    “He’s also half-Jewish,” Eva said.
    “My bad.” Lauren opened the napkin she was clutching in her palm and began to chow down on a chocolate bunny like she hadn’t eaten in a week.
    Eva sighed and started toward an unmanned table full of Easter baskets. “My dad’s going to bite my head off if we don’t get to work.”
    ***
    Frank shook hands with Jim Jordan, but looked past him at the collection plate.
    He hadn’t imagined that extra zero on the Trautman check.
    One Thousand and xx/100.
    Despite the statement inherent in leaving a big check faceup for all to see, the sudden, exhilarating boost in funds made it that much easier for Frank to slip a friendly arm around Hope. “I think I may owe you an apology.”
    Never mind that Pierce-Cohn owed her the bigger apology for being a desperate letch in the first place. Or that no matter what her current state of mind, the Jordans would one day thank him when they had children who spent countless hours enjoying blissful outdoor play in plain sight of home. And, if by some sad twist of The Lord’s plan, Hope was never blessed with the offspring she so wanted, the real estate appreciation, especially with a never-to-be obstructed view, would certainly ease the pain of a move to a loft in LoDo or some other trendy, more adult-oriented community. “About the playground going in across the street…”
    It took everything he had to merely hand her a Kleenex and not wipe away the stray tear that drifted down her cheek as she looked up at him with her clear, blue, already contrite eyes.
    Surely, her apology would follow.
    “I want you to know I do understand the construction process may be stressful in the midst of your attempts to start a family. And, for that, I’m sorry.”
    “Thank you,” she said. “I’m sure it’ll be nice when it’s done.”
    Jim, who seemed unmoved in one direction or the other, nodded.
    “I prayed on this and I’ve been assured that, in the long run, you’ll enjoy all the benefits of having such a strategically placed playground across the street.”
    Hope’s pretty face still seemed awash in pain.
    He reached out, gently placed his hand atop her silk headband, and bowed his head. “Lord, help Hope to conceive a healthy baby. She asks for your intervention in everything she tries and has faith in you, for you said none shall be barren, may your will be done. Amen.”
    Both Hope and Jim smiled.
    “The Lord wants you to have what you want,” Frank said, anticipating the apology for her shortsightedness in signing P-C’s ill-fated petition that would soon follow.
    She merely nodded in agreement.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    With new, state-of-the-art top-flight schools, libraries, and educational facilities you’ll rest even easier knowing your children are getting the education of a lifetime.—From the Melody Mountain Ranch initial offerings brochure.
    L aney reclined in her Jacuzzi tub, a library copy of
Bring It On
in hand, Celine Dion on the CD player, and her head on a lavender-scented aromatherapy pillow.
    Happy thoughts or your favorite tunes can instantly transform your well-
being.
    She added a capful of organic bubble bath to the water.
    If you want to change your life, think positive!
    She’d opened the book before bed. The idea of drawing happiness, good health, and abundance through positive thought hooked her on page one, and she couldn’t put it down. Instead of her usual irritation over being congested, overweight, short of cash, and relegated to mat Pilates at the rec center, she’d fallen asleep picturing herself with clear sinuses, taut and toned as Hope Jordan, and working out at the private studio on Parker Road. Her hot-yet-enlightened instructor, complete with washboard abs and tan legs, would flash his approving