Free Private Sins (Three Rivers Series: Book 1) by Brenda Barrett

I'll go inside now while you greet your friends.”
    Kelly handed her the baby and then turned around—her eyes collided with Hyacinth Donahue's.
    She came over to Kelly with a determined look in her eyes, “Pleasant morning, Sister Kelly.” She had on a broad hot-pink hat that matched her suit and shoes. She looked so dainty and elegant that for a moment Kelly felt gauche.
    “Good morning,” Kelly smiled at her.
    Hyacinth lowered her voice and asked, “Can I have a word with you outside?”
    They walked outside and stood under a tree which was surrounded by some beautiful caladium flowers.  The breeze lifted Kelly's curls and she swiped her hair away from her face.
    “Yes Sister Hyacinth,” she looked at Chris' mother intently, a trickle of fear in the pit of her stomach alerting her to the fact that this might not be good news. Hyacinth had gone out of her way to avoid her since she had returned to church. She had thought it strange and had even wondered if Chris had told his parents but had quickly dismissed it from her mind.
    “My husband warned me about talking to you about this,” Hyacinth looked at Kelly pleadingly, “I feel so cut up when I see that woman, Sister Valda, with my grandson and I am not able to go near him or to even look at him properly. I just would like the opportunity to know him too. That’s all I am asking. Is it too much to ask?”
    Kelly froze. Her knees felt weak and she felt a faint sensation in her head, she quickly leaned on the tree, crushing a caladium or two in her hurry to find support.
    “Chris told you?” She whispered hoarsely.
    “Yes,” Hyacinth said earnestly. “We don’t want to make trouble for you or get involved in the whole situation, but in here,” she pressed her chest, “I hurt. I want to meet him properly…I am very family-oriented you know.”
    Kelly cleared her throat, “Hyacinth, Mark is not your family. He's a Palmer. He's mine and Theo's. Chris and I were never supposed to happen.”
    “But it did,” Hyacinth said a steely glint in her eye, “and I want to meet my grandchild. That’s not too much to ask is it? It's Christmas season, my other three grandchildren are here but I just want to hold him.”
    “Your daughters are here?” Kelly asked, her mind clicking in overdrive, one of the daughters Marie had two sons and the other Fiona had a daughter. The three children could be siblings, the way they resembled each other―same hazel eyes, pink lips, light skin, just like her son. She shuddered. “Are they at church today?”
    “Oh yes,” Hyacinth said smiling, “I got Sister Pauline to involve my grandchildren in the children's choir.”
    That would mean that Valda would see them singing. Please God, let her not try to put two and two together , Kelly inhaled sharply. Was this to be her last day of escape before Theo found out about her infidelity?
    She glanced at Hyacinth and sighed, “I can't. I am sorry.”
    Hyacinth shrugged, “I might have to tell Pastor Palmer then.”
    Kelly laughed a hint of hysteria coating her voice. “Blackmail,” she threw up her hands, “first thing in the morning at church! Do whatever, I don’t care.”
    She stomped off toward the entrance of the church, leaving Hyacinth behind.
     
    *****
     
    She entered the foyer, which had interior stonework of a warm brown color, and attractive poinsettias in matching gold pots scattered throughout the space. Usually the décor would have a calming effect on her but even after inhaling and exhaling rapidly, the feeling of panic persisted. She tried to calm her nerves but felt jumpy and anxious. For the past two days she was walking on a knife's edge, first with her mother-in-law and now Hyacinth.
    Hyacinth was the least likely blackmailer she thought, but now here she was at church threatening to tell her husband the truth.
    If he wasn’t going to preach today, she would run around to the vestry and confess to him first. But then again the fall out that she