Getting Lucky Read Online Free PDF

square piece three stories high, and glued it to one side.
       It was considerably smaller than the church Julie and Annie had attended with her parents in Jefferson, but she wanted a small place where she and Annie could put down roots with no history. Annie was dressed in a powder blue dress with white lace trim around the neck and hemline. Her long black hair with the white streak had been pulled back into a ponytail with a blue ribbon around the base. Julie had chosen a floral tiered skirt, predominantly mint green with splashes of bright pink and yellow, and a yellow tank top with lace trim around the neck. She wore white sandals and spent extra time that morning taming her red curls with mousse and lots of patience.
       She held Annie's hand and they walked through the doors in time for the first hymn. They stopped at a pew about halfway up the aisle that had enough space at the end for them to sit comfortably. An older lady scooted over to give them a little more room and then stared at Annie as if she were seeing a ghost.
       The music director gave out the hymn. Julie picked up a song book from the back of the pew in front of her and held it so Annie could see. She couldn't read yet but she did try on the hymns she'd heard most often. Announcements were made: two babies were born that week.
       A grin tickled the corners of Julie's mouth. People had sex in Saint Jo in spite of the name of the town, which suggested that only the pure and holy lived there. Mrs. Smith died and the funeral lunch would be in the fellowship hall Tuesday. Anyone interested in bringing food should contact Mamie Pickett over at Miss Molly's Shoppe. A potluck dinner was planned on Friday for the senior citizens Sunday school class.
       Julie recognized the name: Mamie Pickett. She was the realtor Julie had dealt with when she bought the Lassiter place. She was still thinking about Mamie when the preacher began his sermon. She had barely settled into listening mode when Annie tugged on her arm. She looked down to see her daughter with the biggest smile on her face and her small finger pointing straight ahead.
       Julie whispered behind her hand into her daughter's ears. "Annie, don't point at the preacher. It's rude and it will make him nervous."
       "Look," Annie squirmed and kept pointing.
       Julie finally looked where she was pointing. Griffin Luckadeau sat right there not three feet from her in the next pew. God must carry a grudge for a long time. She'd expected bad things to happen after Derrick divorced her, but life had gone on the same as always. Now, when she thought she'd been forgiven, she was being punished.
       Lizzy had turned around on her knees in the pew right in front of them and was smiling at Annie. When her father touched her arm and said something to her, she flipped around, but all through the sermon she and Annie both wiggled at the same speed—which was a little faster than if they'd had ants in their pants but not quite enough to rub the velvet off the pew cushions.
       Julie checked her watch every thirty seconds. The thirty-minute sermon lasted three days past eternity, and she didn't have the foggiest notion of what the preacher said. He could have been advocating burning in hell for one-night stands or asking for donations to build a new barn for an elder member of the church for all she knew when he finished his sermon. Julie couldn't keep her mind or thoughts from the Luckadeau man sitting in front of her. She studied the shape of his head and resisted the urge to brush a lock of hair from his shirt collar. She got angry all over again for her decision to move to Saint Jo without at least checking the phone book for the Luckadeau name.
       Finally the preacher asked Griffin Luckadeau to give the benediction as he tip-toed down the aisle to the door to greet the people as they left.
       Julie fidgeted while he prayed. Evidently, he had come home from Iraq and gotten saved,