Free Forgiven by Vanessa Miller

my
husband was frantic with worry, so I had to get someone to take
over my shift.”
    “That’s good to know… Not that your little
boy got sick. I just thought you were trying to avoid me or
something. Anyway, how is your son doing?”
    Erica smiled. “Much better. My husband knows
everything about history, but very little about a boy with the
flu.”
    “Your husband is a teacher?” JT asked. Funny
thing was he didn’t feel the least bit jealous about the man that
had obviously claimed Erica’s heart. All a person had to do was
look into her eyes when she spoke of her husband to know that she
was in love. JT used to see that look in Cassandra’s eyes. But he’d
stolen that happiness from his wife with his infidelity.
    “Professor of History,” she answered and then
asked as she pointed to the wedding ring on his finger, “You and
Mona still together?”
    JT shook his head as he touched his ring
finger. “That ended a long time ago.” He then had the decency to
show a glimmer of embarrassment as he said, “Look, I never got a
chance to apologize to you for how bad I treated you.”
    Erica raised her hand to stop JT. “We were in
high school… Too young to be in love in the first place. And
anyway, Charles is the man I was supposed to marry. We’ve been
together for ten years now, and I love him more each day.”
    “That’s good to know. But just so you know, I
was supposed to be in your life back then. You were the first
person to ever tell me anything about God. And I want to thank you
for that. About a year after you and I parted ways, I got into so
much trouble that I had nowhere to turn. Then I remembered the
things you told me about God and I started praying.”
    Tears bubbled in Erica’s eyes as JT related
his news. She covered her face with her hands for a moment and then
looked at him with renewed joy. “You don’t know how happy I am to
hear that. I prayed for you so much the first couple of years after
we broke up. But I never knew what happened to you. I will admit,
through the years, I envisioned that something awful had happened
to you. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but every now and then the
Lord would remind me to pray for you.”
    “Well, let me be the first to tell you that
your prayers worked. God saved me, but more importantly, He
delivered me. These last five years have been rough for me and my
wife.”
    “What’s her name?”
    Now it was JT’s turn to smile when talking
about a spouse. “Cassandra,” he answered.
    “I can tell by that big grin on your face
that you love her quite a bit.”
    “I do. She’s the woman God had for me,” JT
said with a smile that quickly evaporated as he finished. “I’m just
not sure if she still thinks I’m the one for her.”
    Erica gently put her hand over JT’s, gave it
an encouraging squeeze and then released it. “I’m sorry to hear
that. Is there any certain thing you want me to pray about?”
    Just a year earlier, JT would have taken
offense at someone offering to pray for him in the manner Erica was
doing now. He would have told them that he knew the Lord, and was
well able to pray for himself. But the past year had humbled him
and helped him to see that prayer changes things; and the more
people praying the better. “Here’s the thing, Erica. I lost my
church almost a year ago because of the multiple affairs I’ve had.”
Erica didn’t look shocked or like she was condemning him straight
to Hell for his failings, so he continued. “I have three children,
but only two of them belong to my wife. Cassandra and I are trying
to get full custody of my newest child.
    “Even though I have repented and turned my
life back to God, my wife still feels the pain of my adultery. She
lives with it every day and I want her to be free from it. Can you
please pray that Cassandra will learn to trust me again?”
    “I will,” Erica said, then she punched JT on
the shoulder and pointed in his face. “And you, you big jerk. Don’t
ever