Pastor Adam nodded and steepled his fingers in front of his face as he listened. His expression remained neutral, although Harmony was certain hers flashed a full range of emotions.

“He was the perfect boyfriend as long as I never did anything to upset him. That’s why it took me so long to notice something was wrong.” She paused and shook her head. There were no tears left to cry, not for Alan and certainly not for herself. “I remember thinking that I was so lucky, that I’d finally found a family and that Alan and I were it, that we’d be together forever. He was attentive, showered me with compliments, was generous with his time and what little money he had, but it seemed there was a darkness in him.”

She shivered as she recalled the first time she’d watched as something change in his eyes. The love he always wore transformed into the brightest burning hatred she’d ever seen in anyone. “One night I went out with some friends after work. I hadn’t called to let Alan know since he had plans himself that evening, but when I got home, he was standing by my open door, waiting, glaring out into the darkness. He’d busted in, said he was worried when I hadn’t answered my phone, thought something was wrong, that he loved me so much and couldn’t stand the thought of anything happening to me. I’d told him my phone died, apologized a million times, and then we moved on. Things were good again for another few weeks after that.”

The Pastor leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, staying quiet because she still had words pouring out of her. Now that she’d started this difficult conversation, she just couldn’t bring herself to stop until she reached the very end.

“He started checking in more often, making sure I called him once in the afternoon and once in the evening, asking about even the minutest details of my day. I started to consider myself lucky again, chalked it up to him just having had a bad day that one time. We all have bad days, right?”

Pastor Adam frowned, but nodded his head all the same.

Harmony let out a sad laugh and shivered again. The little dog in her lap had fallen asleep to the sound of her voice and was now having a dream that spurred her to twitch his legs and make tiny, whimpering sounds.

She took a deep breath and continued. “When he asked me to move in with him, I can honestly say I considered it, but in the end, I decided I’d rather keep my promise to God about staying pure. He took it hard, and even though he tried to hide his dissatisfaction, I felt something shift between us again. Not even a week later he asked me to marry him. He wanted to drive off to city hall that very moment—no more waiting, not even for a day.