Laurie’s Wolves(42)

“Oh no, you don’t. You let those church people get to you, didn’t you?” Jazmine grabbed Mary’s hand and squeezed it. “Baby, don’t do this. What happened?”

Mary leaned her head back against the headrest and turned to face Jaz. “They believe such horrible things.”

“And you can’t let them make you feel like this. You’re in control of you. Stop going there. It’s damaging.”

“It’s all I know. I’ve belonged to this denomination my entire life.”

“And there are men who have abused women their entire life too. That doesn’t make it right.”

“What if they’re right? What if what we’re doing is a sin?”

“You think your God would bring us together and make us feel what we feel for each other and call it a sin? Do you really believe that?”

Mary shook her head. “No,” she muttered. “But it’s hard. I don’t know what to do.”

“Yes, you do. You just aren’t willing to make changes yet.”

Mary sat up straighter. “And you are?” Her voice rose. “You want to tell your parents about us? You want to come out to your friends and the community? You know we would both lose our businesses if we did that.”

Jaz slumped in her seat. “No. You’re right. But the difference is I’m not letting anyone influence me into believing I’m wrong, baby. I’m just doing what’s necessary to keep my job. If I could erase society’s warped views and move in with you, I would in a heartbeat. We’re trapped. We can’t help the fact that we live in backward small towns in the short run. All we can do is live for now and plan for the future.”

Mary took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She smiled at Jaz. “You’re right. Of course. You always are. Thanks for getting my head back on straight. I feel like such a hypocrite, telling Laurie I can’t hire her. Don’t you?” She caressed Jaz’s face and then gripped her hand again, tighter.

“Yes. I nearly vomited after I turned her away. But we have no choice for now. We have to do whatever is necessary to survive. We’ll plan for the future, but we can’t risk losing our businesses over this.”

“I know. I just feel sick about it.”

“When are you going to leave that church? They’re giving you an ulcer.” Jaz lifted Mary’s fingers to her lips and kissed them.

Mary closed her eyes. “I don’t know, but I can’t right now. Some of the members are planning to do something drastic. They formed a damn committee to run the Masters out of town. They even have a guy who works at the resort on their damn committee. I feel obligated to fake like I’m with them for now so I can make sure they don’t plan anything that would get someone killed.”

“Killed? Do you think it’s that bad?”

Mary nodded. “I’m afraid for the lives of the Masters and their significant others. The ideas they tossed around made my skin crawl. Whatever the Masters do in private is not nearly bad enough to warrant killing them. I’m not sure how I feel about threesomes,” she shivered, “but bitching about interracial marriage is absurd.”

Jaz chuckled. “Threesomes… You say that like it’s a bad word. Who cares what the Masters do behind closed doors? You can’t really judge anyone else if you’re with me, can you?”

“No. But it’s taking me a while to see things in a new light. I’m still green.”

Jaz giggled. “You definitely are.” She cupped her face again and leaned forward, setting her nose against Mary’s. “Recently released from the bounds of society. And all mine. Now stop fretting and let’s talk about something more uplifting.”

Mary smiled. How did Jaz always make her feel so much better about herself? The woman knew just what to say to ease her mind. Or perhaps it was simply being near Jazmine that brought out the best in Mary.





Chapter Eleven


When Corbin pulled back into the parking lot of his apartment, he dragged himself out of the truck as though he weighed a ton.

Laurie slid out behind him and took his hand. She lifted onto her tiptoes and kissed him briefly. “I’m sorry. You know we support you one hundred percent, right?”

“Yeah.” He slid his arm around her and headed for the door to his apartment.

Zach led the way, his body blocking the view. “Hello. Can we help you?” he asked as he stepped onto the narrow concrete porch that stretched along the entire front of the multiplex.

Corbin jerked his gaze up as he stepped around Zach. And he nearly swallowed his tongue. Veronica.