Chapter Nine

Kevin laughed. "Cassidy, you're so funny."

Lucy blushed. No boy had ever said that to her. Many had said she was a brat—the main reason for her breakups. "Thank you," she replied softly.

Kevin grinned, as a young woman rounded the corner. "Hey, Dasey."

She glanced up and smiled. "Hey, Kevin! I'm glad I caught you. Mindy is up at her room—she's waiting for you." Dasey gave him a wink as she hurried down the hall.

"Who is that? Whose Mindy?" Lucy asked, as they resumed walking.

"Mindy is my ex-girlfriend, though many people here think I'm still dating her." Kevin shook his head. "It's a long story, Cassidy."

Lucy nodded. "You don't have to tell me."

Kevin grinned. "Come on, I have a few minutes to spare before my first class. I tend to like to get up early for stretching and football practice. Practice was cancelled today—the coach's mother is ill—so until they can find a replacement, there is no practice. But the problem is that unlike Ben, once I'm up, I'm up. I can't go back to sleep."

Lucy nodded, smiling. To many people what Kevin rambled on about was boring, and to Lucy the subject was, but she was drawn to the way Kevin told it.

Kevin must have realized that he was rambling. "Oh, I'm sorry. I like to talk." He grinned, and Lucy laughed.

"That's okay. I do that sometimes."

"Thanks. Say," Kevin said, "Why don't we go to the coffee cafe? It's in this building, actually. Maybe we can get to know each other."

Lucy nodded, smiling. "Sure. Why not?"

"Annie?" The back door flew open and her husband made his way inside.

"Eric? Oh word, where have you been?" she cried, flinging herself to him.

"I'm okay, Annie. I'm okay."

"I'm not worried about that," Annie snapped. Seeing her husband's tired face, her tone softened. "Well, I was, a little." Annie sighed. "A couple of men came over last night."

Eric's tone became sharp. "Did you let them in?"

Annie nodded. "Well, Mary did."

"What did they want?"

"They are looking for Brian. I tried calling his house after they left, but there was no answer."

"Annie, what types of questions did they ask?"

"Why are you s—oh, wait." Annie looked at her husband, "Does this have to do with Brian? Eric, are you helping him? Why isn't he around?"

Eric took a deep breath. "Brian's in trouble, Annie."

"Trouble? With the police?"

Eric shook his head. "Not exactly. Remember how Brian and Alexia adopted Lucy?"

Annie nodded, smiling. "You should have seen her that day, Eric. Alexia couldn't have been happier."

Eric nodded. "Right. Well…" Eric paused and then shook his head, "Annie, I can't tell anymore."

"What? Why not?"

"That's confidential."

"Don't you trust me? I'm your wife!"

"But when it involves church business…"

"I don't think this is specifically church business, Eric." When Eric didn't respond, Annie shook her head. "Fine. I'm going out. Go cook yourself some dinner. Oh, and Simon and Ruthie will want some, too."

"Annie, don't do this."

"Do what, Eric? I'm only taking a break! I've been a mother for the past fifteen years—"

"Annie, please." Eric sighed, exhausted. "I'm not in the mood to fight. But you can't leave. We need you."

"Am I expected to sit at home all day, cooking and cleaning without a chance to get out of the house, except for errands or to run to the kids' schools because they got into trouble?" Annie didn't wait for an answer. She threw her glove down and grabbed her coat and purse. "I'll be back when I'm back."

Eric sighed as the door shut behind him. When did all of these lies become so complicated?