Husband by Choice

“Brian responded with contrition and shame and asked for a sabbatical from the church so that he could enter an abuse counseling program immediately.”

Renee shifted in her chair and Jenna’s eye fell on that bruise at the same time her heart sank.

Renee’s eyes had filled with tears, though the older woman wasn’t crying. Jenna recognized the look. The pain was there, but buried so deeply it couldn’t be released.

“Thinking that all was well, the pastor left. We’d met in the public park by the amphitheater downtown and....”

She could have filled in blanks. “There were people around. I thought I was safe....”

“What did he do?”

“He grabbed my arm.” Renee was looking at Jenna, but her arm jerked on the table, as though remembering....

“He told me that I was a traitor to him, to his father, and to God. He said that I was evil for trying to come in between him and God’s work. And he said that if I didn’t want to end up in a home for the elderly, I would never, ever embarrass him like that again.

“He also told me that I could expect to pay all of his bills until he could get back to work.”

Glancing at Renee’s arm, Jenna asked, “He did that just by grabbing your arm?”

Renee gently covered her bruise with her free hand. Did she think she could make the problem disappear if she could just stop feeling the pain?

Did Jenna?

“He gave my arm another hard squeeze for each accusation.” Renee’s throat caught on the words. “I felt something snap. I think he may have cracked the bone.”

Jenna’s chair scraped across the floor as she stood up. “We’ve got to get you to the clinic. You need to have that set or it won’t heal properly. It’ll hurt you for the rest of your life. It also might continue to bleed and cause more problems.”

She wasn’t a medical professional, but she was married to a doctor and knew enough to know that Renee’s injury could have serious repercussions.

“I can’t.” The other woman shook her head. “If I go to Lynn, she’ll be under obligation to inform the police and I’m not going to have my son arrested.”

Lynn Bishop—the newly married chief medical officer at the Stand—was a nurse practitioner. Jenna had met her briefly her first day at the Stand. And had seen Lynn and her little daughter Kara walking across campus a time or two. She’d yet to meet Lynn’s new husband, the man apparently responsible for the beautiful grounds at The Lemonade Stand. He and his older brother also lived on the property.

And Renee’s son deserved to be arrested...and worse.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Renee said, her expression ancient, yet calm, as she glanced up at Jenna. “I’m not excusing his behavior, but I know my son. If I have him arrested he’ll only get angrier. And blame me rather than taking accountability for his own actions.

“He agreed, in front of Pastor Johnson, to go through the recovery program. Pastor Johnson will see that he does so. If he’s in jail, that won’t happen. If he’s in jail, he’ll have much less hope of ever getting back to preaching. And if he doesn’t see that as his goal, he’s not going to be influenced by Pastor Johnson....”

Renee had good points. And obviously had given the matter a lot of thought. Clear thought.

“I’m under no illusions where my son’s treatment of me is concerned,” she said as Jenna continued to stand over their half-eaten meal. “But neither can I walk away. He’s my son.”

Jenna had fought too hard and too long to accept that there were options other than leaving. Hope kept you captive.

“Do you have any children?”

The question shot at her out of the blue. Two days after she’d nearly fallen apart at the sight of her son.

And she realized too late that her silence was answer to Renee just as earlier Renee’s silence had been answer to Jenna.

“One? Two?”

With her hands gripping the back of her chair she said, “One.”

“Boy or girl?”

“Boy.”