The Lights of Tenth Street by Shaunti Feldhahn

Author:Shaunti Feldhahn [Feldhahn, Shaunti]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-56444-3
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2011-08-23T16:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-SIX

The voices were warm and cheerful, the smiles—as far as she could tell—genuine. Linda Hanover stuck close by Angela Dugan’s side as the younger woman maneuvered her way through the church lobby, introducing her as she went.

“Nice to meet you, Linda … Welcome … Good to have you with us today … Hope you enjoy the service …”

Linda could only smile and nod, hopelessly lost as to names and faces, uncomfortable in the unfamiliar environment. She was wearing the one nice dress she owned, although Angela had assured her that no one would care what she had on. She followed Angela to where her husband had saved them two seats. The two women sat down just as the small choir began to sing.

It was happening again. As the pastor preached, and as the choir sang its final song, Linda choked up and tried to wipe her eyes on her sleeve so no one would see. This love, this new life, was overpowering. How had she missed it all these years?

Her thoughts turned several hundred miles away, to Ronnie alone in the big city, and to who-knew-what temptations and struggles her beautiful daughter must face every day.

If only she would come to know You, Lord. Please, Lord …

And suddenly, without knowing why, her tears were no longer for herself.

The music was pumping and Ronnie’s night was in full swing when Marco grabbed her on the fly. He had one of the other dancers by his side, her eyes glazed from an excess of cocaine.

“We’ve had another request for the girls to double up on stage. Extra five hundred dollars tonight for the takers. Tina’s in. Want it?”

“No thanks. Not my thing.”

“Fine.”

Marco hurried over to another girl, who gave an eager nod. He gave some quick instruction to the two dancers, and they disappeared backstage.

Within moments, the stage went black, and the DJ announced the next act. Ronnie turned away as the two girls appeared onstage and every man in the audience began to hoot and cheer.

School would start in a few weeks, and she still needed some extra tuition money, but she would just have to work extra hard for it. A five-hundred-dollar windfall for the five-minute act wasn’t worth it.

She took the opportunity for a short rest and changed into a different outfit. She paused in front of the mirror in the empty dressing room, and looked at the view. She had been working out almost every day, and it showed. She looked and felt fit.

Tiffany came breezing in and began touching up her makeup. The two girls gossiped for a moment, comparing notes. Ronnie was again narrowly beating Tiffany’s take—the fifth night in a row.

As the girls went back on the floor, Ronnie saw Marco gesture Tiffany into his office. A few minutes later, Tiffany reappeared in a stunning silvery sheath dress beside a table of four men having some sort of party. The little group headed toward one of the private rooms. Ronnie growled in good-natured annoyance. Her friend was going to beat her take this evening after all.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.