All in One Place by Carolyne Aarsen

Author:Carolyne Aarsen [Aarsen, Carolyne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction, cookie429, Kat, Extratorrents
ISBN: 9780446696821
Publisher: FaithWords
Published: 2007-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Are you sure this outfit is okay?” I hissed, grabbing Leslie's arm.

Leslie pulled her attention away from the lady she was talking to in the church foyer and gave my outfit a cursory glance. “You look fine.”

Hardly fine, I thought, tugging on the skirt. Leslie was still a little shorter than me, so instead of hanging demurely at my knees, the skirt I'd borrowed from her stopped a few inches above them. I had topped it off with a camisole of my own and then toned down the streetwalker look with a sedate sweater Leslie had gotten from Gloria as a hand-me-down.

As I looked at the women accompanying their husbands into the church building, all I saw were suits, suitable dresses, or dress pants and blazers. Some of the younger girls were dressed a little more casually, but they were teenagers, and I suspected their choice of clothing was the result of a battle their parents had wisely decided to forgo.

At thirty-two years of age, I couldn't claim that amnesty.

Leslie finished chatting with her friend and turned her attention back to me. When I had asked Leslie if I needed to wear a hat, she laughed, but just to be on the safe side, I tried to tame my hair by pulling it into a ponytail. She reached up to tame a wayward strand that had curled loose.

People milled about, some moving into the church proper beyond two sets of large wooden doors, others chatting and laughing as background music, played by an organist and pianist, created a holy ambience.

An older woman, wearing a tag that read “Greeter,” came up to us and, well, greeted me, pressing a bunch of papers into my hands. I presumed I was supposed to use them during the service.

The lady was very friendly. Very nice. A little too much hearty sincerity and unblinking eye contact, though. Maybe she saw me as a potential convert. After all, whatever it was this particular congregation did, it had worked with Leslie. Why not the miscreant older sister?

“Everyone is staring at me.” I tugged on my skirt in a futile, last-ditch effort to stretch it to a respectable length.

“They probably are. You're new. I had to deal with exactly the same thing when I started coming here.”

My sister. A rock.

“Is Wilma going to be here?”

“I would be surprised if she wasn't.” Leslie adjusted Anneke's ponytail, then looked over at me. When her expression softened, I knew she was thinking of last night. “People aren't here to judge you, Terra. They're here to worship.”

“Well, you can act all self-confident and know-it-all,” I muttered, my eyes darting around, “but don't tell me you weren't afraid when you first came here!”

Leslie laughed me off. “You've never been afraid of anything in your life.”

“Prison changes people,” I said.

“Prison?” Dan asked, coming up beside us. “What prison?”

“I think she's referring to her little stint in the Harland jail,” Leslie said, shaking her head at me and holding out her hand for the papers Dan was holding.

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