Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar

Author:Jill Duggar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 2023-09-12T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Three days out from the shoot, the phone rang. It was early morning, and even before I looked at the screen, I knew who would be calling. Pops had called twice already that day.

Saying no to the Houston trip felt like torture, but Derick and I had been doing it for weeks now, and we were committed to standing firm. After years and years of compromise and giving in to whatever demands the network made, finally we had found a hill to die on. This was our moment to take a stand. We were not doing it to make things difficult for the network or for Pops. We wanted to make everyone happy. We wanted to work things out and we were still trying to be as accommodating as possible. However, we just felt like we had to make the right choice. Instead of feeling happy or empowered, I felt angry that things had come to this. Angry, and terrified too.

“Pops…,” I said, trying to get a word in as soon as he began. “That’s not… that’s not what we’re saying…”

The tension made my voice sound different. Younger, like I was twelve instead of twenty-five. Maybe that’s what he wanted, to put the right kind of pressure on the right nerves. But I didn’t want to cave and just give in. I wanted Pops to understand why we were taking a stand like this. I wanted him to know that we’d made a commitment to our ministry. I wanted him to be proud of us for that, but instead all I could hear in his voice was frustration.

“It’s so important that you’re there for this. It’s Jill and Jessa: Counting On, and they need you. Surely Mike can spare you for one day?”

Derick came and stood beside me, his arm around my shoulders. My heart was racing. I felt sick.

I put Pops on speakerphone so we both could hear what he was saying, but his request hadn’t changed in any of the calls he’d made over the previous days. He wanted us on a plane that weekend, arriving in Houston in time for the shoot. But while the request was the same, his tone was different. On all the other calls he’d tried to persuade us. Now he was trying to guilt us.

“Is this you or is this Derick who is being the problem here?”

I’d never heard Pops say something like that before, and it pierced like a dagger to hear him try to pit us against each other like that. I was speechless.

“This isn’t like you, Sweet Jilly Muffin. Is Derick behind this? Are you having problems financially? Are you depressed?”

I could feel Derick tensing beside me.

“Pops,” he said, his voice calm and controlled. “We really aren’t trying to ruin anything. We wish we could help, but we’ve made a commitment here.”

There was pause before Pops spoke. When he did, his voice had a new, harsher edge to it.

“If you don’t come back for this filming thing, everything’s going to get messed up.

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.