Free Take Three by Karen Kingsbury Page B

survive a night of temptation, He would show him how to survive a lifetime of it.
    He wasn’t going to let the devil tempt him with Kendall or anyone else. This was God’s mission field, not a Hollywood playground. He wouldn’t fail his wife or his faith or his family. Chase was surer about that than he was about his next breath. And with that certainty, he was finally able to drift off to sleep dreaming about the only woman he would ever love.
    His precious wife, Kelly.

Five
    A NDI HAD HER TEST RESULTS . M OST of the night she’d been staring at the white plastic stick, her pulse fast and irregular, her mouth dry, panic coursing through her. One minute she’d lie on her bed crying her eyes out, and the next she’d pace her room, frantic, desperate for a way out. There was none.
    She was pregnant with Taz’s child. There was no hiding from the fact any longer.
    This new reality had been a part of her for several hours, but the shock was still decimating its way through her, tearing apart her soul and screaming at her for all the ways she’d failed. Andi looked at the clock and saw it was nearly two in the morning. She pulled herself out of bed, and in a rush, a wave of nausea dragged her down. As fast as she could move, she hurried to the bathroom and fell to her knees at the edge of the toilet. For the third time that night, she dry-heaved into the cold porcelain bowl, gasping for air between convulsions.
    She hadn’t eaten all night, so nothing came up. Nothing but the reality that her life was never going to be the same again. Her stomach twisted and turned until Andi wondered if she might collapse there on the bathroom floor. It was like her body was rebelling, the way she had rebelled against God and her family, against the wisdom of her roommate, Bailey, and her deceased friend, Rachel Baugher.
    The wave passed, though her stomach still hurt desperately. She rocked back on her heels and hung her head. Maybe if she threw up enough times the pregnancy would go away. She clungto the toilet and tried to steady herself. But the room rocked and tilted and she didn’t dare move.
    Like she’d done countless times that night, she thought again about her lack of options. In the moments after she had her news she made a desperate call to Taz. Stupid , she told herself now. What good could he possibly do now that she was pregnant? Did she really expect him to take the news with kindness and compassion? Come to her and promise to stay by her side? Did she think he’d offer to marry her and make a life with her and their child?
    Her attempt to reach him never even got that far. A girl answered his phone, and in the background she could hear Taz scolding her to hang up. “That’s my phone,” he hissed at her. Then the line went dead. Andi vowed it was the last time she would call him. Her next call had been to her parents, not that she was about to tell them her news. Rather, she wanted to hear their voices, to know that the safe world of hope and truth in Christ still existed somewhere.
    But her father didn’t answer his cell, and when her mom picked up, what sounded like a loud celebration in the background made it impossible for her to hear. “Andi,” her mom shouted above the noise, “everyone loved the film! Your father and I are so happy, sweetheart. Wish you were here.”
    “Mom…I don’t feel good.”
    The noise on the other end grew louder. “What? Andi, can you speak up? Is everything okay?”
    “Yes.” She practically yelled her response, tears streaming down her face. “Go celebrate, Mama. I’m fine.”
    “Okay. Talk to you tomorrow. I love you, honey!”
    And with that she was alone again, sitting in her room, the walls closing in around her. The room stopped spinning and Andi opened her eyes. She was weak and drenched in sweat and her stomachache spread through her whole body. She moved slowlyto the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror, but all she could see was Taz. She covered her