Boxed into Love by Candice Miller Speare

Author:Candice Miller Speare
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2013-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Nine

Shannon pulled into the church parking lot on Sunday morning as the radio announcer warned of high-wind conditions the following evening. Low visibility on the roads was expected due to a probable dust storm. She sighed. One of the drawbacks of living in the middle of the desert.

After she’d exited her truck, Shannon caught sight of Venus getting out of her little Toyota.

“Hey, wait up,” Shannon called out.

Venus stopped, and Shannon walked to her and opened her arms wide. The teenager’s hug was less than enthusiastic, and Shannon stepped back. “Is something wrong?” She took note of the dark circles under her eyes.

“I didn’t feel like getting up today.” Venus shrugged. “I was up way too late last night.” She shot her a covert glance. “I came like I said to support you, and I also invited some friends. Will that make you more nervous?”

“Not your friends. I’m glad they’re coming. But Glen said something about coming, and I told him next week would be better. I don’t want him hearing my testimony.”

“Huh?” Venus finally gave Shannon her full attention. “I don’t understand. You’re the one who taught me not to judge people. You accept everybody, and you’re worried about Glen accepting you for who you are? If he doesn’t, he’s not good enough for you. Isn’t that what you told me? It’s something I’m still working on.”

Shannon stared, mute. There was nothing worse than people using her own words against her.

Venus rubbed her foot on the ground. “You’ve accepted me from the beginning. I hope you always will.”

“What? Of course I will.” And she meant it from her heart. “Take it from me, you shouldn’t crave approval, except from God.” Words she needed to apply to herself.

“Sometimes God feels very far away,” Venus said softly.

“I know how that is. I usually feel like the odd man out. I think I flaunt my differences just to prove. . .” Shannon shrugged. “I don’t know. Just to prove I can? And all my life I’ve had relationships with people I was positive wouldn’t reject me.” Many of them people who were lost and broken.

“I want Louis to accept me,” Venus said, her voice filled with longing. “I’m meeting him this afternoon.” She blinked away tears. “I feel like he’s going to break up with me.”

Louis? Shannon tried not to wince. She had met the boy once and didn’t like him much. He was arrogant and treated Venus poorly. But Shannon could see there was a certain “bad boy” appeal to Louis.

“Is he from a wealthy family?”

“Not really.” The faraway look returned to Venus’s eyes. “He works hard to get nice things.”

“Works hard doing what?”

Venus shrugged. “I’m not totally sure. He says he does something with his dad.”

“Oh.” What exactly would that be, and how well did her employee know her boyfriend?

Venus took a deep breath. “My friends are excited to hear you speak. It’ll be good. They’ll hear your testimony and realize if you could turn your life around, anybody can.”

Shannon managed a smile.

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