“That’s great advice, Jackie,” she called after them, voice dripping with sarcasm. “After all, who in their right mind would everdreamof coming to a church to work things out with God?”
More gasps.
Beth’s head was spinning. She barely had time to process what had just happened before Lynn casually flipped up both middle fingers at their retreating backs.
“Lynn!” Beth gasped.
Lynn just grinned. “What?”
Beth shook her head, too stunned to respond.
CHAPTER 18
Beth didn’t notice Bryce until he was right beside her, his arm sliding around her waist.
“What happened?”
His voice was calm, but there was a sharp edge beneath it. He had arrived just in time to see Jackie pointing at Beth before storming off, the tension in the room so thick it felt suffocating.
Beth just shook her head. “I—I don’t know.”
She turned to him with wide, tear-filled eyes… lost.
Whatever had just happened—had cut deep.
Pastor Steve ushered them into Beth’s now empty Sunday school room, shutting the door behind them to give them privacy.
Bryce drew her into a hug, and she clung to him. Tami stepped up, placing a gentle hand on Beth’s back.
“Honey, I am so sorry. That was completely uncalled for. They had no right to speak to you that way,” she said, her voice warm and reassuring.
Bryce needed answers, and he needed them now. He looked to Pastor Steve.
The slight lift of the older man’s shoulder told him he was just as in the dark. That left Lynn.
“Regina George showed up to church today and set her sights on Beth,” Lynn quipped.
Bryce scowled. The Ambroses looked confused.
“Ya know, the Queen Bee of the Plastics? Mean Girls?”
It took every ounce of self-control not to snap at his sister-in-law.
“Lynn… please. Just tell me what happened.”
The anger in his voice—the love behind it—was enough to make Lynn uncharacteristically sober.
“They publicly shamed her, Bryce,” Lynn said flatly. “I’d bet money they don’t actually know why you got married, but that didn’t stop them from making sure everyone heard their version.
They told Beth she wasn’t welcome at church until she ‘got her act right with God’—after they announced to the entire room that she’s pregnant.”
Bryce stiffened, his grip tightening ever so slightly around Beth.
“Elizabeth, look at me.”
His voice was so soft, so tender, that the other three instinctively looked away.
He cupped her cheek gently. “Sweetheart,” he said, searching her expression. “Did you take another pregnancy test?”
