“Thanks for taking the kids there for me. I just couldn’t bring myself to go back.”

“I get it. And it was no problem. Everyone was glad to see them and a few folks even seemed glad to see me. It was good to be back, though I wasn’t sure I would ever walk through those doors of New Kingdom Temple again.”

“You and about twenty percent of the membership, right? That’s what was reported on Abundant Life and Abiding Love when Angela Wiley did that follow up show on the fall of Reverend Williams.” I shook my head. “She had built him up when she did the show with us, but it seemed like she was just as happy to tear him down.”

“But isn’t that what so many people do with pastors?” Dru asked. “Sometimes I feel like we, as a society, set pastors up for a fall. And then, we kick them when they’re down.”

“That’s true. But what I say is just don’t give people the ammunition to kill you.”

“That’s true, too,” Dru said. “Well, all I know is that the sanctuary was packed today and the way Jeremy set that place on fire,” she shrugged, “it won't be long before he takes the membership rolls back up."

"It doesn't surprise me," I said. "Jeremy is a great preacher. He was just a horrible husb..." I stopped myself because what I was about to say wasn’t the truth. Jeremy wasn’t a horrible man and I really couldn’t say he was a horrible husband. He’d just done a horrible thing that I’d been able to forgive, but still had to walk away.

My words brought a small smile to Dru's face. "I really am proud of you."

"Thank you.” I took a sip of my tea. “How's your job going?"

She shook her head. "Stella is no Ginger," she said, referring to her boss at the African American Museum, where she'd started working shortly after I moved away. "But since I’ve gotten that promotion to event coordinator, I’m enjoying it more there."

Just as I lifted my cup for another sip, I saw Jeremy through the glass doors and I hated that my heart quickened a bit at my first sight of him. I had reconciled our divorce in my head a long time ago, really from the moment I read the paternity results. I may have been able to forgive an affair, but once a baby was in the mix, it was deuces. So my head understood; I just needed time for my heart time to catch up.

When he opened the door, Jasmine skipped inside in front of her brother and father.