Free One Thursday Morning: Inspirational Christian Romance (Diamond Lake Series Book 1) by T.K. Chapin Page A

sounds like she’s finally coming out of her shell. Just took a year to hatch.”
    Her comment reminded me of last night’s encounter with John. I hope he really left town. “There’s more.”
    “I thought you were a church girl,” Miley said.
    Shooing my hand at her, I said, “No. Not Charlie.” Leaning in, I got quiet. “My ex-husband is in town.”
    Her eyes bulged. “What? You were married?”
    I nodded and took a deep breath. I have to tell her. My heart spilled out to Miley at the server station in Dixie’s Diner. My story didn’t leave any stone unturned, and by the end of it, we were both in tears.
    “I’m so sorry you’ve had to hold that in all this time. You have to tell Charlie, Amy—I mean, Serenah.” Miley placed her hands on both my shoulders and shook her head. “This is too big.”
    “I know. I’m going to tell him tonight after the barbecue.”
    “Good.”
    Leaning in, I gave Miley a hug. “I love you. You’ve been like the sister I never had.”

Chapter 11
    Arriving at the barbecue with a bag of chips in one hand and a twelve-pack of soda in the other, I saw Diego manning the barbecue as people crowded the back yard. Guess this is a bigger barbecue than I anticipated. Seeing me, he pointed me out to whom I suspected was his wife, Kathy. She waved and smiled as she came my direction.
    “So you’re Amy,” she said, grabbing the bag of chips.
    “Yep. Kathy, I take it?”
    She nodded. “We can put these inside,” she said, leading me over to the house and up the back steps. Coming inside to the kitchen, I set the soda down on the table.
    “How long have you and Diego been married?” I asked.
    “Fifteen years this August.”
    Raising an eyebrow, I said, “Wow. That’s awesome.”
    “Are you dating anyone?” she asked, leaning against the counter for support. Kathy didn’t wait even a minute to go straight to the reason she threw together the barbecue. It was kind of strange but a tad bit funny that she would think Miley or I would be interested in Diego. He was a cute man, but he was older and married, two things that were deal breakers to any decent person. There was no way of knowing Kathy’s reasons. Maybe they had issues in the past that I didn’t know about.
    “Dating? Um . . . yeah. No. I don’t really know what it is right now. I invited him to the barbecue, though.” Fumbling with my words, I felt embarrassed. Not knowing how to define what Charlie and I had made me feel uncomfortable. We had kissed already a few different times and shared parts of our life we didn’t really share with just anyone. “I think we’re together. It’s still new.”
    Kathy smiled and went over to the fridge. Pulling out a container of Hawaiian punch and a bottle of lemon-lime soda, she brought them over to the table. “Those early parts of the relationship are so . . . electric, aren’t they? It’s not like the hum-drum of marriage at all.”
    “Yeah. I was married once. It’s different, that’s for sure.”
    She furrowed an eyebrow as she poured the punch into a clear bowl on the table. “Diego never mentioned you were married before.”
    My heart took a freefall from what felt like a cliff. I had forgotten the conversation Diego and I had about a month after my arrival to Newport. He had asked if I was ever married because of a tan line along my finger. I lied, claiming it was just a ring a boyfriend gave me. I was more protective back then of my past. Thinking quickly in the moment with Kathy, I found an excuse that would work in more ways than one. I said, “I don’t tell Diego everything, Kathy. He’s just the line cook where I work.”
    Her smile widened with my words. I was glad to ease her insecurities. Turning back to the sliding glass door, I about jumped when I saw John out in the backyard chatting Mayor Laney’s ear up. What’s he doing here? The mayor let out a hearty laugh and grabbed his belly. Ugh, he’s laying it on thick. That was John, always