Kim’s hands shot to her face, covering her eyes. “Was he… naked?” she croaked, peeking through her fingers.
Beth bit her bottom lip and nodded. “But I didn’t see anything! Just his back… and his chest!” She rushed to explain, describing how she had stumbled to the bathroom, sick, and by the time Bryce came in to help her, he had already put on pants.
“What were you wearing??” Kim asked, horrified.
“A top sheet,” came Beth’s muffled reply from behind her hands.
Kim’s squeal echoed through the apartment.
She let out a dramatic sigh. “I am so thankful it was Bryce and not Eric.”
Beth blinked. “It never even occurred to me it could have been Eric.”
“I’ve always thought, deep down, that Bryce was the sweet guy. Eric is a little too full of himself, and I don’t see him treating you—or the situation—with the respect and class that Bryce would,” Kim said.
“He’s not what I expected.” Beth paused, thinking about her husband. “We’ve talked to Pastor and Tami. We spent last weekend with Mom and Dad, and Lynn even stayed the whole weekend and went to church with us. But Lynn’s fiancé? Never made an appearance,” Beth said, condensing the last week’s activities into one sentence.
“What? When did Lynn get engaged?” Kim looked shocked.
“The same weekend I got married. She’s known the guy for three weeks. His name is Rick. Mom said he’s nice enough, but I haven’t met him. He’s a bartender at one of the bars she worksat—or maybe just frequents. I’m not really sure.”
“Wow. Drama, drama, drama with Lynn, as usual,” Kim commented.
“Speaking of drama… enough of the Stoner Sisters drama. Tell me about your trip! I really do want to hear everything.”
“Not so fast.” Kim raised a hand. “You told me about Vegas and this week—but what’s next? Where do you guys go from here?”
Beth began stretching her hamstrings. “The Ambroses and my folks all think we should remain married.”
“What do you and Bryce want?”
“He told me that morning he wanted to make it work, to find a way to honor God with our marriage. I thought and prayed about it all week and told him today that I was okay with that.”
Kim chose her next words carefully.
“I didn’t think he was a Christian.”
“I didn’t either,” Beth admitted, before sharing Bryce’s whole testimony—all of it, even the painful parts. By the time she was done, they were both in tears.
“Oh, Beth… God used you—your ‘accidental marriage’—to bring His prodigal son home to Him.”
“That’s kind of like what Tami said. I hadn’t thought of it that way before.”
Kneeling next to where Beth still sat on the floor, Kim wrapped her in a tight hug.
“You’re married! Congratulations.”
Beth stared at her. Kim was the first to congratulate her.
“Will you have a second ceremony?”
Beth shook her head and grabbed the notebook she had shown Bryce earlier, handing it to Kim. “I don’t see why we would. We’ll just print something like this up and send it out.”
“You should have a small ceremony with friends and family.”
Desire stirred in Beth.
“What’s the point?” Beth asked, sounding forlorn.
