It took several tries, but eventually, her sapphire eyes met his.
“Get in the shower, Beth. You’re freezing.”
“What have I done?” she whispered, her voice small and frightened.
“Whatever you did, we did together. We’ll figure it out.” He paused. “After you get cleaned up.”
Directing her to the shower, he tested the water once more, then took the sheet from her shaking frame and helped her in. He stepped back, shutting the curtain as the hot water poured over her.
For a long time, she stood with the water cascading over her frozen body, while her foggy brain slowly started to clear.
I slept with him.
Her stomach twisted. Her fingers clenched tighter around the bar of soap. How could she have done that?
The last thing she remembered was laughing at the bar. Now she was here, stripped of more than just clothes. She looked at her hand. The ugly plastic band mocked her.
I slept with Dr. Bryce Jensen.
A man she barely knew.
A man who—wait—wasn’t Crystal his girlfriend?
She scrubbed her arms, her shoulders, her hair. She tried to scrub away the shame, the confusion, the regret. But it clung to her skin.
At least I married him before…The thought barely flickered before it died. There was no comfort in it.
Her tears mixed with the spray of the shower and then vanished down the drain. She watched them disappear, feeling as though she was watching her dreams disappear.
She tried to convince herself this was not the end of the world.
She failed.
She had to do something. Fast. Before the despair drowned her.
An annulment. That’s it.
She’d talk to her parents. Maybe her pastor. Ask the Lord to forgive her. Move on. Quickly. No one else had to know. She did not have to live in shame.
I can handle this. No—she straightened her shoulders and her resolve–I will handle this.
In the next room, Bryce sat in the desk chair, hunched forward, head in his hands. The sound of Beth’s muffled sobs in the other room cut sharper than any scalpel.
A tear slid silently down his cheeks. He didn’t bother wiping it.
How had he let this happen?
How had he stolen something so sacred? Broken someone so beautiful?
He whispered the only thing that came to mind.
“I’m so sorry, Lizzy…”
For the first time in over a decade, he prayed.
Oh Father… help me. Forgive me. I know I said I didn’t want to live for You anymore, but I never wanted this. I never meant to hurt someone like her. I never meant to drag her into my mess. Please… help me make
this right. Not just for me—for her.
