Free Jilted by Varina Denman Page B

marveled at her beauty, then studied Susan’s puffy, blonde hairdo. He quickly compared her looks to other women in the congregation, but none of them had the same large mass.
    For the hundredth time since coming home, he wondered what he had ever seen in her. No, that wasn’t quite right. What he had seen in her twenty-two years ago was now gone. She’d been sweet and innocent back then, but now she was hard and brittle, and he cursed himself, realizing he was at least part of the reason she had changed.
    He stood with the congregation and hummed along with “I’ll Fly Away.” When he was locked up, he had enjoyed booming the hymns, but here in this place, it didn’t seem acceptable.
    Like a bird from prison bars has flown …
    He felt a slap on his back, and Troy and Pamela Sanders scooted past to the pew in front of him, coming in late from whatever Sunday school class Pamela had volunteered to teach.
    Troy leaned toward him and whispered loudly, “There’s a task force coming in tomorrow to rappel down the rotors. You should come and watch.”
    â€œAw, now … I don’t know, Troy.”
    â€œSure,” Pamela said, not bothering to whisper. “You can wait on the ground and catch them when they fall to their deaths.” But then her frowning eyebrows lifted into soft arcs. “I heard about you and Lynda, and all I can say is it’s about time.”
    â€œPam,” Troy mumbled, “I’m not sure that’s honest news.” He looked at Clyde, and his eyes held a question.
    â€œProbably not,” Clyde admitted.
    As the song ended and they sat down, Clyde realized Lynda had been right after all. The Parker sisters had been on a rampage, and it hadn’t even been twelve hours.
    Dodd mounted the stage, traipsing back and forth behind the podium and pulling Clyde’s attention back to where it belonged. The preacher had mellowed in the two years he’d been at the Trapp church. His accent had softened into a drawl, and his homespun Bible training had given way to a broader version of the gospel. Not that Ruthie’s husband would ever be a pushover, but he could no longer be called naive.
    â€œGod doesn’t want us to sit back and wait for Him.” Dodd’s eyebrows bounced. “He wants us to run into His arms, to get busy and work, to show others His love.”
    Clyde didn’t see how his own mundane routine would please or displease God either way. He kept to himself, stayed out of other people’s business, and worked hard to pay his bills. He tithed regularly and was kind to others … whenever they got close enough. What would he change about his life … if he wanted to?
    Dodd’s mother coughed into a tissue, and Clyde’s gaze slid from her to Ruthie, then down the pew to Fawn, JohnScott, and Susan. His insides tightened.
    He had made a mess for Susan years ago, and maybe God expected him to clean it up now, but the woman didn’t need anything. She had Fawn and Nathan. She had a huge ranch house and a fancy car. She had friends here at the church. She had a million civic responsibilities that kept her busy. And she had Neil.
    Dodd wrapped up his sermon with a final challenge. “Get out there and use the gifts God blessed you with.”
    Clyde stood for the last song, but this time he didn’t even hum. He was too busy pondering Dodd’s statement. There was only one thing Clyde could think that he truly wanted to do with his life.
    And that was to make Lynda Turner smile.

Chapter Eleven
    â€œLynda, I’m about to melt into a puddle right here in the middle of the Trapp City Park.” Velma fanned herself with a wrapped Golden book while I poured a bit of water on the nape of my neck.
    â€œYou’re not the only one.” I leaned back in my camp chair, happy to be at Nathan’s first birthday party but silently wishing the Blaylocks weren’t there.
    Fawn claimed