Whispers of Refuge Box Set

CHAPTER 17

CHAPTER 17

“No, I’m not setting a single foot back in the hotel district.” Why couldn’t his wife understand? Juliette had arrived at Roger’s office that morning under the pretense of helping him clean off his desk, but she obviously had ulterior motives for visiting him today.

“It was just an idea I had.” Juliette threw a granola bar wrapper into the trash can.

Roger couldn’t remember how many times Juliette said, “It was just an idea I had,” and he ended up risking his life or reputation. He took the unopened envelope she passed him. “We burned all those bridges already.” Didn’t she remember the threats? Didn’t she remember crying, hugging her husband, and pleading with him to stop going into the brothels once the managers found out what he was doing?

Juliette stuck some old invoices in the filing cabinet. “I guess I just thought it might be a good time to get back into it, now that we’ve sent all the students out.”

Roger moved a box off his desk and sat down. “I know it hasn’t been easy for you, Baby Cakes.” Juliette had been so wrapped up in motherhood for the past eighteen years that the empty nest would have been hard on her no matter what. Losing the Secret Seminary students at the same time only worsened the blow. “Do you think that maybe God just wants you to relax a little? Do we have to jump right into another round of ministry right away?”

Juliette labeled a new filing folder. “I like to stay busy.”

He smiled. “I know. But sometimes all that does is leave the rest of us exhausted. Why don’t you spend some extra time with Eve or something? She enjoys your attention.”

Juliette stopped working long enough to brush some curls behind her ear and out of her face. “It was actually talking to Eve that gave me the idea.”

“Eve talked with you? About the brothel?”

She nodded. “I know. I was surprised, too. But it just made me start thinking about doing something there again.”

Roger sighed. “Why don’t you go visit the hotel district yourself?” he asked.

She didn’t respond to his joke. Roger couldn’t remember the last time his wife laughed heartily. Probably sometime before Kennedy went off to college.

“I’m about done with this pile over here,” Juliette announced abruptly. “Do you want me to start on the human resource file now or save it for later?”

“Let’s forget it until tomorrow,” Roger answered. “It’s a pretty big one.” He patted her bottom as she walked by. “You’ve been working hard. Why don’t you go get a candy bar from the vending machine as an early payment?”

She turned the corners of her mouth up. “Just let me sort through this junk mail first.” Roger wondered when the smile would return to his wife’s eyes.

***

Eve sat in the den, staring down at the scene below. A fine layer of frost covered Mrs. Stern’s bushes and herbs. She spread a blanket across her lap. In the garden, Benjamin dug holes to fit posts for a new gate around the garden. She studied him through the slats in the blinds, her eyes tracing the outline of his bare arm muscles. She counted back the months on her fingers. How long had it been?

Eve glanced at the tall grandfather clock, its ticking frustratingly out of sync with Benjamin’s shoveling. Mrs. Stern had gone to help her husband at the office. Besides Benjamin, there was nobody else home, and nobody was expected back for several more hours. She pouted and brought a finger to her lip. She nibbled on her nail in rhythm with Benjamin’s labor. He looked up once. She pulled back, startled. Could he see her even through the blinds? She let the blanket fall to the ground. They might be the only two at home, but Eve may as well have been completely alone.