Free Steps to the Altar by Earlene Fowler

teenager at the police department picnics, and the first opportunity she had to seduce him, she took. That’s the kind of woman she is. I just wanted you to know it.”
    Her face blushed a deep red under her coppery skin. This was hard for her, this intimate woman-to-woman confessional talk, and I thought it spoke a lot of her integrity to attempt it.
    I licked my suddenly dry lips, wishing I had some Chapstick on me. “I appreciate you telling me,” I said, not certain if that was entirely truthful. “But I’m not clear about what you think I should do about it. I mean, I knew Gabe had a life before he came to San Celina and that sometimes that life overflows into ours, but I trust him.”
    “Benni, I know how much Gabe loves you. I see it every time he looks at you. I feel really foolish coming to you like this, but Sam was so upset that I felt I had to do something. And trust me, I’m not being all that noble. I don’t want her anywhere near my son, and frankly, I’d rather you have Gabe than her. ” She didn’t hide her bitterness on that last word.
    I waited for a moment. An uncomfortable silence hung heavy between us. Were her motives really that aboveboard? Or was she trying to get back at Gabe by ruining his happiness with me? She’d just gone through another painful divorce and there was one thing I’d learned in my short years on this earth, that there were some people who, when they were in the midst of bad times, did everything they could to bring you down with them. Was Lydia one of those people?
    The apologetic, embarrassed expression on her face led me to believe she wasn’t. This time, I chose to believe that she was sincere.
    “Thanks for telling me this. I do appreciate it and I’ll keep an eye on the situation. Please assure Sam that I’ll be okay.”
    She nodded, her luminous eyes still troubled. Then, as if some unseen puppeteer had pulled her strings, she stood up, back as straight as a two-by-four, transformed back into the controlled, every-vowel-in-its-place attorney who could intimidate a prosecution’s witness with one cynical, dark-eyed glance.
    “I have an appointment in three hours,” she said. “I just thought this was a situation better dealt with in person.”
    “Thank you,” I said again, just wishing she’d leave now so I could mull over what I’d just learned.
    “You’re welcome.” She held out a hand and we solemnly shook.
    “Take care,” I said, not knowing what was the appropriate goodbye to your husband’s ex-wife who was warning you about his ex-girlfriend. Did Miss Manners have a chapter covering this modern situation?
    “You too,” she replied.
    I sat for a moment in the visitor’s chair, scratching behind Scout’s ears, a bit dazed at what had just taken place. As if I didn’t have enough to worry about with two showers, two weddings, and the Mardi Gras ball, I now had this uncomfortable situation with Gabe’s past. He and I would definitely have to talk about it tonight, something I wasn’t anticipating with any pleasure, but knew was necessary if we wanted to keep our still fragile relationship from imploding.
    Scout picked up a tennis ball he’d hidden in his bed and dropped it in front of me, making me laugh out loud.
    “Ball? You want to play ball at a time like this?”
    His tail thumped on the braided rug in front of my desk. He picked up the ball and dropped it again. It’s always a good time to play ball, he informed me.
    I picked it up and led him out into the big, still empty main room, where I tossed the ball across the wide floor, bouncing it off the cabinets and tables. When no one was working in here, there was nothing in this room that could be harmed, and Scout and I had many lively games of ball here. I sent a grounder that he missed and it rolled under an oak credenza one of the woodworkers had made for the quilters to store their extra supplies.
    After laughing at Scout’s unsuccessful attempts to try to squeeze under it,