Emerald Fire (Christian Romance) (The Jewel Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

who knew him best. So he didn’t go to any friends with his problem. It seemed too enormous. He figured he knew what they would say, anyway, so why bother? Maxine would advise him to just ditch Jacqueline and all of the evil and drama Jacqueline constantly introduced into his life. Tony would counsel him to pray and seek the will of the Holy Spirit.
    Barry kept it all inside and, after a few weeks, he called Jacqueline. They met and he told her he was willing to forgive her, raise her child as his, and love them both. His condition was that they begin living together as husband and wife with the same bedroom, the same vacations, and the same social activities.
    He also asked her to begin attending church together with him every Sunday and, after services, spending time in fellowship with friends. He said that if she didn’t think she could do these few things, they likely would have no way of working things out.
    After he finished speaking, she had stared at him for a very long time. For the life of him, he could not read her expression.
    At last, she had said, “Barry, I appreciate all the thought you’ve put into this. But the fact is that I just don’t love you anymore. I’ll tell you the truth for once. I don’t know if I ever really did. If I ever did, I certainly haven’t for a very long time. I think I just want a divorce. The thought of us playing house again after all this time, honestly, is disgusting to me. Charles and I have been talking and he is going to leave his wife. We’re going to get married and have our baby.”
    This morning, he reflected on the fact that he had no idea where Jacqueline even was. The next time they met, he would hand her the divorce papers he had quietly drawn up and he fully expected she would sign them.
    That fact, that fact alone, paralyzed Barry. He would be a divorcé – a childless divorcé. After nearly twenty years of marriage to the same woman, he had nothing to show for it. The shame of that burned his mind like hot coals. Ultimately, after all of his successes, he had utterly failed in his marriage.
    God , he silently prayed, if You are the author of this situation, then You already have a plan to spare me from any shame . Please spare me from this shame.
    His entire life all he had ever wanted to be was the very best husband and father he could be. Since he had married Jacqueline, the only thing on this earth he craved – more than the adoration of 20,000 cheering fans and more than the grateful praise of any of his clients – was to be seen as a hero by his wife.
    Why did she have to ruin everything? Was his enduring love for this woman, his wife, was that just God mocking him for a fool? Just ripping his heart and life to shreds even as God had allowed Job to suffer?
    Was it something as common as pride that made him want to reconcile with his wife? Was it just that base and banal? Or did he really love her?
    The shame of it alone would crush him. The weight of that shame loomed over his head like the sword of Damocles. For the first time in his Christian life, Barry felt a constant speck of mistrust in his relationship with the creator of the universe.
    One thing was certain, Barry would never again let a woman undo him so completely.
     

CHAPTER 3

    MAXINE unzipped her boots and slipped her feet out of them, thankful for the privacy of the hotel room that allowed her to grab a few hours of comfort before she had to put the boots back on.
    Her meeting at nine-thirty ran over. It was originally intended to be an informal meeting. The client wasn’t certain she wanted Maxine representing her as her advertiser for a local veterinary hospital, and Maxine wasn’t really ready to put too much effort into a proposal that might or might not be selected. When the morning meeting turned into a lunch meeting, and they haggled over details and concepts and price, she left the meeting feeling like maybe she had won the client over.
    After shooting a few e-mails from her