Free Sweetest Desires (A Sweetest Day Romance) by Beverly Taylor Page A

tears trickled down Bethany’s cheeks.
    Carson opened his mouth but said nothing, leaving Katharine to handle the awkward moment. She saw him glance over his shoulder with a defensive expression as if he blamed her for making him resort to girlie magazines for sexual satisfaction. He turned away without a word to her or the children and went downstairs.
    She heard the door open and shut with a swish and a click. Deep in her soul a voice struggled to cry out, but she silenced it.
    Later that night when she went to bed, she woke to the sounds of Carson snoring beside her. She cried silently. While she mouthed her prayers, her tears—remorseful, bitter and hopeless—slid noiselessly down her cheeks.

Chapter 9
     
     
    Come by here, dear Lord. Come by here
    I really need you, Lord. Come by here
    Oh, Lord, come by here.
    Katharine sang the tune in her head all morning long. It helped her to find the right words to console her children before she took them to catch the school bus. Certainly, it wasn’t the first time they’d heard their parents arguing.
    She faced the day at work in exhaustion. Before she left work, she’d called in a pizza order for pick-up on the way home.
    CJ and Bethany rushed into the house and dropped their bookbags and jackets on the floor. CJ carried the pizza into the kitchen, opened the box, and was just about to lift out a slice when Katharine said, “You two know better than that. Go wash your hands first and say your grace before you eat.”
    Katharine escaped into her bedroom to allow herself a moment to breathe and think. Noticing a flashing red light on the cordless phone, she pressed star zero to retrieve the messages. One was from Natalie, one was a hang-up, and the last was from Ms. Cavacas, CJ’s third-grade teacher, reminding Katharine of the parent-teacher conference for the next day to discuss CJ’s failing grades and insubordinate conduct.
    Katharine made a mental note to call Natalie, and she was too concerned about CJ to give much thought to the caller who’d hung up. What’s going on with my son? It had to be the bickering that she and Ca rson had been doing so often lately.
    She thought it would be a good idea to sit and eat pizza with the children and talk to them about what had been happening between Mommy and Daddy. Standing in the doorway, she watched her two little ones eat and talk. Well, Bethany was talking while CJ was eating and not necessarily listening as his little sister babbled on about nothing and yet everything.  She jabbered about being angry with her friend, Bri tain, for not sharing her snacks, to talking about her favorite Play-Doh colors and how much she wanted a Baby Alive doll for her birthday, not to mention other things in between.
    Katharine needed to rescue her guy from his chatterbox sister. “Hey,” she said, strolling in and sitting down in her place. “Did you guys save some for me?”
    “Yes, Mommy,” Bethany said, swinging her feet under the table and talking with her mouth full. “CJ had three pieces and I had two, but I only have one left. The rest is for you and Daddy.”
    “Why thank you, darling, and don’t talk with your mouth full. It’s very unladylike.” Katharine opened a napkin and placed a slice of pizza on top of it.
    “She ain’t no lady, that’s for sure,” CJ inserted. “She talks too much.”
    “Mommy said don’t say ain’t ’cause it ain’t—I mean”—Bethany put her fist to her mouth and blushed—“ ain’t isn’t a word. Right, Mommy?”
    “Right, sweetheart. Ain’t isn’t a proper word. It’s a slang term.”
    “Why don’t you just shut up sometimes?” CJ fussed.
    “I don’t have to if I don’t want to. Right, Mommy?” Bethany looked at her mother with tear-filled eyes.
    “CJ, in this household we say be quiet, not shut up.”
    He remained silent, peeling a pepperoni from the crust and tossing it into his mouth.
    Katharine folded one arm and held her cheek in her hand with the other as